Getting Cultured

Work was so crazy last week that a really active and interesting weekend was necessary. Between Thursday and Sunday, I saw 4 bands, 2 street fairs and a chocolate tour. So much Seattle culture all crammed into a short time frame. I'll start from the beginning. 

Concert 1: OAR

Through the same program that I saw Aaron Paul from Breaking Bad and Jai Courtney & Miles Teller from Divergent, the Amazon Fishbowl got OAR to come to play songs from their new album, The Rockville LP (as in Rockville, Maryland, where they are from, which I recently found out. Who knew). The concert was over my lunch break, on the South Lake Union campus in a couple of joined conference rooms. About 100 people crammed in there and made for an awesome show. They played some old stuff that everyone knew (had to resist singing along) and some new songs about their hometown. When they said they were from there, a few people cheered and the lead singer said, "yeah...big Maryland crowd here..." and I thought, "wait, but actually though I'm from there." Anyway, the concert was awesome and I can't wait to hear their new album. 

Concert 2: Hellogoodbye, Vacationer & some local Seattle Band

This one I paid for and was not at work. Friday night at The Crocodile, AKA one of the hubs of Seattle music culture, was something I've been looking forward to for a while. Hellogoodbye was a band I listened to in high school and their early music still reminds me of that terrible time. But they've produced a lot of stuff since then that is really good and fun to listen to. The Crocodile is in Belltown, just a few blocks from my apartments and is all ages. I don't know where they came from, but there were teens & tweens everywhere. Totally not expected for this city where no one exists under the age of 30. 

Street Fair 1: University District StreetFair

There were so many things to love about this day. 1. It was supposed to rain but didn't. 2. I got tanlines on my shoulders. 3. Amazing food. 4. Saw kids my own age. 5. University District might be my favorite place on Earth. 6. Bought an owl ring for $7. There's really not anything else to say, except for my love for Indian food grew significantly after getting chicken tagine on naan bread from a street vendor. 

Street Fair 2: Fremont Street Fair

On the way to the Theo Chocolate Tour (see below), we stumbled upon this street fair, which was very similar to the one from the day before, but smaller and more like the Ballard Farmer's Market I went to a few weeks ago. It had some of the same vendors from the U District so we didn't stay around too long. But we also saw this awesome lake/channel (still struggling with Seattle geography) and a plant dinosaur. 

CHOCOLATE: Theo Chocolate Tour

Theo Chocolate is a local Seattle organic chocolate company that started about 8 years ago, and for $7, you can tour the factory and sample all the chocolate. They supposedly sell the chocolate in Whole Foods across the country, but I've never heard of it until I came here. It doesn't taste like it's made of better ingredients or anything, but it is delicious. My favorite is seasalt almond dark chocolate but I haven't had a flavor I didn't like. Really good stuff. 

So that was an amazing weekend, but stay tuned for next weekend. My roommate and I found a last minute deal online for a trip to LA, so City of Angels, here we come! All suggestions of things to do & places to go are welcome! :)