Peg’s order of favorites flipped the Chicken Wings and Scallops, but kept the same two top choices, which was interesting after she didn’t even want to order the Spam when we first sat down.

Next came the dessert. We ordered three: Chocolate Potato Cake; Chocolate Crumble with Poached Pears, Candied Hazelnuts, and Cranberries; and Blood Orange and Meyer Lemon Sorbet. The Choclate Potato Cake came with Chocolate Grenache and a small vanilla malted. There should have been instructions. Like the scallops, the subtle taste of the vanilla was lost in the complicated chocolate, nuts and berries and we shared each plate. Had we known, we would have spooned out a helping or two of the malted milk shake first.

We took home leftovers of the first two, but completely finished the sorbet. My tongue was frozen for the rest of the night. The sorbet was just this side of sour and was the perfect accompaniment to cleanse the pallet. The bar had a fruit press for the citrus selections. I could eat that sorbet and drink freshly squeezed Blood Orange Juice every day. The total for our dinner was just over sixty dollars, which included drinks, pop, four appetizers, and three desserts and a nice tip. We shall return.

After dining, we walked the block back to our hotel and dropped off our desserts and took a cab to the theatre. We had a friendly driver who talked about how tough it was to rent commercial space downtown. He had owned an Oriental carpet store before returning to Turkey to help his parents. Now, in addition to his stint as cab driver he operates an Oriental carpet cleaning service. I didn't have the heart to tell him that I do my best to market my client Hammond Knoll on the internet. Hammond Knoll sells, cleans, and repairs/restores Oriental Carpets in the Seattle and South Puget Sound Region.

We arrived at the 5th Avenue Theatre and our cabbie told us where to stand after the play to flag a cab down easily. We were in Seattle to see Legally Blonde. I enjoyed the film and Peg REALLY enjoyed the film, so it was a treat to see the musical version.

Legally Blonde tells the story of Elle Woods, a UCLA graduate who follows her ex-boyfriend to Harvard Law. Because her degee was in fashion studies and her bright blonde hair and her bright pink clothes give the illusion that she is less "brighter" than the other law students, she is looked down upon by most everyone. This is specially true when she squeaks and says things like, "Oh, my god. Oh, my god you guys," which just happens to be the opening song, which is repeated several times. In the end Elle converts doubters, defends a client, and saves the day only to be hit on by her professor who promptly fires the aspiring intern when she spurns his advances. The rest is history . . . and tons of fun.

We generally attend opening nights. The theater is usually sold out and there are excited people everywhere. The audience is usually filled with local entertainers and Seattle notables: Sunny Kobe Cook, Penny LeGate and many other journalists and newscasters there to review the latest musical in Seattle. This night was no different, except news veteran Connie Thompson tried to explain to me that we were in seats for her and her husband. When I pointed out to her husband that the Thompson tickets were in the "left" section and not the "center" section where Peg and I were sitting, we shared a laugh.

The musical should do well. Every time we mentioned the play to people around town, their eyes lit up. It should have a really good following. The play was wonderful. Dancing, singing, and lots of laughs. At the end the actors as well as the two dogs in the play received a standing ovation. The dogs were as well trained as the actors. Each knew their part and performed brilliantly on queue. Please, take a look at Peg's review of Legally Blonde the Musical at Seattle 5th Avenue Theatre.

After the play was over, Peg and I stood on the corner where our cabbie had recommended and within minutes we had a cab and were on our way back to the hotel. Cabbing to and from the theater worked really well. For our round-trip cab rides we paid $15.00 total, including tips. Parking would have cost $8.00 or better and taken considerably more time.

Back at the hotel, we stopped in at the bar for a drink and watched the final six Olympic women skaters perform. A gentleman from Korea joined us. He remarked that the Korean skater makes eighty million dollars a year. From the performance we saw of Gold Medalist Kim Yu-Na, she certainly deserves it. It was nice watching the international competition sitting less than two hundred miles away from the actual competition with a visitor from half-way around the world.

The next day we kept an easy schedule. I awoke early as I always do and ventured downstairs to read my email and then sat in the lobby reading area and looked through the Seattle Times. Peg slept in a bit and then we came back down stairs for breakfast at Brasserie Margaux on the first floor of the hotel. The waitress Pat took good care of us. Peg ordered an omlet and I ordered what I thought would be interesting, Salmon Hash. The Salmon Hash was interesting, but it wasn't good. It tasted bland and watery, so I am guessing it had been frozen and then heated up by microwave. It tasted, well . . . nasty. At $13.00 it should have been outstanding. I asked for extra crispy hashbrowns and they were crisp on both sides, but inside they too tasted warmed-up via microwave. The poached egg was over-done. After eating an excellent poached egg the night before as an appetizer in a teeming restaurant, having an overcooked egg in a reasonably empty restaurant was just not acceptable. Pat took the selection off our bill. Pat made us feel at home and highly recommended the fresh fruit. The coffee, the bacon, the toast, and the fresh fruit made up for the mostly picked over Salmon Hash on my plate. The badly prepared breakfast could have been a lasting memory, and not a good one, but Pat's attitude followed by the clerk at the front desk provided a good experience . . . but I certainly won't order the Salmon Hash, again.