Notes from the Northwest

It is nice to know that cultural differences between different metropolitan areas of this country still exist. Sure, Gap, McDonalds, Urban Outfitters, Safeway, Bank of America pervade; Priuses, bicycles, strollers, and BMWs roam.

But the nuances of local cuture still exist. Alluded to before, coffee is taken very seriously up here. This might be expected of the home of Starbucks; but where Starbucks is serious coffee in the rest of the country, here, it is the Sizzler of coffee—lost among the bevy artful coffee establishments.

And, in the land where people choose their Salmon by the river from which they spawn, seafood is taken very seriously. How many of you can go to your local grocer and pick up some fresh clams or fresh oysters? I’m not talking about some specialty seafood shop, I mean your local grocery store, along with bread and milk. Okay, some of you? How many of you have a choice of 3 different kinds of oysters and 8 different types of clams?! I thought not.

Coffee and seafood are serious here. How they mix, I'm not sure.