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Dateline: Seattle Washington; No miles counted (used Bill & Eden's car); Current location of writing: Bill & Eden's house

First we hit the Science Fiction Museum, which B&E had never managed to get to before. (We out-of-town guests have to be good for something.) It's truly an excellent presentation, not only surveying the development of sf as a genre, but examining various themes and motifs in detail. There's both a sense of humor and a sense of the social and historic context of the field. Definitely worth seeing.

One of the things I count on when visiting Bill & Eden is taking advantage of their status as serious foodies in a foodie town. For lunch we went to a little literally-hole-in-the-wall charcuterie place. While I nibbled on an assorted meats and cheeses platter, they bumped into a friend (also stopping by for lunch) who was burbling about his girlfriend's new position as a serious food reviewer for some local zine. This was followed by a visit to the Theo chocolate factory, with a side-trip to see a local piece of whimsical art -- the Fremont Bridge Troll. (Yes, that's an actual VW bug it's clutching.)

We finished off the afternoon with a trip out to see Snoqualmie Falls

which were truly spectacular. A pity that they're soon going to be surrounded by suburban subdivisions.

After considering a number of dinner options, we tried a Basque tapas place called "The Harvest Vine", which I recommend with great enthusiasm. We went through about six different dishes and not a single one disappointed. Particularly good (especially for being tricky) were the squab with bacon (nicely succulent) and the pan-fried mackerel (crispy and salty on the outside, cooked just barely to perfection inside -- definitely passes the close-your-eyes test).