A grave trip to Seattle! Bruce Lee & Brandon Lee headstones, Downtown Hotel 1000, Boka restaurant.
I went to Seattle for two days and had a grim time — meaning that I thoroughly enjoyed my stay! For Goths, it’s a pleasure to wander in graveyards and dine with zombies.
The photo above was taken in a special cemetery: Bruce Lee (martial arts master) and his son Brandon Lee (of cult film The Crow) are buried here. To learn more about them, read on…
Seattle is an easy drive from Vancouver (about four hours), so I often take road trips here with friends. I always recommend staying downtown. Our 5-star host, Hotel 1000, was perfectly located a few blocks from Pike Place Market. The king suite was huge and had a grand view.
How cool: the water falls from the ceiling to fill the tub!
I’m wearing a floral Gothic Lolita dress, a present from Bangkok designers ChuChu (blog post to come about their store). And don’t worry, animal-lovers, the scarf is faux fur from Holt Renfrew, similar to this one.
Hotel 1000 takes extra steps to make you feel royal. At the check-in, we were offered glasses of champagne. When the valet brought my car, he had stocked it with bottles of water. There’s even a smiling rubber ducky in the bath.
Remember Leon Lindon from my Phoenix adventures? He joined me in Seattle for the day. We struck a Games of Thrones pose.
Travel reviewers should always test the bed. This one gets an A+.
The room came with long, bamboo sticks — for fighting, right?
Hotel 1000 personalized our stay with Halloween decor, red wine and truffles.
We had massages and facials at Spaahh, the in-house spa. The staff was most aaahh-tentive, and the natural treatments — like an aromatherapy foot bath — were aahhh-mazing!
Still wearing our robes, my friends and I tried virtual golf in the hotel basement.
After a game of virtual checkers in the lobby (using their giant tablet table), I was ready to explore Seattle. My shoes are classic John Fluevog.
We drove to Lake View Cemetery in Capitol Hill (1554 15th Ave E, Seattle). It’s a well-tended, lush site.
On days like this, I’m reminded about how much I love the Pacific Northwest.
There was a murder of crows perched on tombstones. Quite fitting, since Lake View is the burial ground of…
… Bruce and Brandon Lee, who both died too young and too tragically. Fans come here daily to leave flowers, gifts and coins on their graves.
If you are not familiar with the Jeet Kune Do founder and his actor son, I hope this post inspires you to watch The Crow (a Goth classic) and Bruce Lee’s movies (Fists of Fury is my favorite).
Some people find cemeteries depressing, but I think of them as calm, gentle places of reflection. I loved this Art Nouveau-style statue of a lady, overlooking three graves.
There was a wide variety of memorials, from simple placards to large mausoleums.
Near the entrance, we found an “Asian section” — families buried together, mostly marked with red headstones.
Quite a few were signed with flowing Chinese or Japanese calligraphy.
We enjoyed our graveyard stroll so much that we brought back friends…
… to dinner at Boka Restaurant and Bar! What’s up with the zombie makeup? All will be revealed in the next post, promise.
The cocktails were a scream. The light, citrus “Boka Reviver” was appropriate for my undead date.
With lots of fresh greens and seafood, Boka’s Pacific Northwest food rocks. I loved the tuna avocado poke with taro chips, and stuffed squid with Hoisin sauce.
Not surprisingly, my favorite dish was the pumpkin cheesecake! (I also made a run to the nearby Cinnamon Works bakery, at Pike Place, for gluten-free pumpkin bread.)
At breakfast, I got my veggies and protein fix, along with coffee and basil lemonade.
Thanks Hotel 1000 for the hospitality — the staff was fun, and enjoyed our Halloween shenanigans! Don’t forget them if you’re planning a trip to Seattle, WA.
Next, I’ll take you to a mourning market and a haunted morgue. Ah, how I love this time of year.
Have you tried eating pumpkin cake, muffins or cookies? How about pumpkin spice lattes?
SHARE & COMMENT
Celebrating Halloween in Portland, Oregon: pirate party! Watch me on German TV, Pro Sieben Joko & Klaas.
The dream of the 90s is alive… in Portland! That’s where I’ll be for Halloween 2013, with First Mate Naomi (left) and my fabulous film team.
The tourism board is shipping us to Portlandia to party and prance around in costumes (er, I mean, do travel journalism). Want to join us for Halloween festivities? Read on… and if you’re in Germany, I’ll be on your TV screens this Saturday. Full details at the end of this post.
All Hallow’s Eve is my favorite holiday, and I always try to celebrate in the biggest possible way. Last time, I nightcrawled in Los Angeles. The previous year involved Dia de los Muertos in Mexico. And before that: dark Tokyo festivities.
Can’t wait to show you my costumes for this year. I’ll be wearing something skimpy from J Valentine (remember their monster costume, which I modeled with Josie Stevens?).
This is my first time in Oregon, even though it’s geographically close to Vancouver. When I was growing up, few people went out of their way to see small and sleepy PDX. That’s changed in the past 5-10 years, with Portland becoming a mecca for comic artists, hipsters, food trucks, pickling, putting birds on things, and generally “keeping it weird.”
I can’t think of a better place to celebrate Halloween! We invite you to join us, and be in the travel video.
– On Oct 31, my crew and I will be shooting the underground party at Steep and Thorny Way to Heaven (RSVP on their page).
– Nov 1st afternoon, we’ll be at the Day of the Dead parade (see previous link).
– Nov 1st evening, we’ll hit the HP Lovecraft bar for Brickbat Goth night.
First Mate Naomi, who resides in the dark canals of PDX, has told me about the incredible alternative events here. She brings us a missive about some upcoming shanties:
Yoho! If ye dock ship in Portland, Oregon you’ll find that many a varied theme has a dedicated subculture here. Those with a seafaring spirit will be right at home with PDX Yar, Portland’s local pirate community.
I first ran into PDX Yar at Dr. Sketchy’s Portland, where a fully rigged 5 person pirate crew appeared for a three hour life-drawing session.
In addition to participating in local art and pirate fests (yes there is more than one pirate festival) Captain Redgoat McHaggis and the crew of the Yar put together their own annual bash, the Swashbuckler’s Ball.
This massive party is attended by all manner of properly dressed rapscallions. Even the dead and deep sea creatures turn out for the fun.
Folk fusion band Tempest rocked the main stage last year, while local troupe Critical Hit burlesque brought a lineup of themed performances (photo: Russell Bruner of SwingTime).
The ball happens again this November and will be headlined by steampunk band Abney Park!
But once a year is certainly not enough. This week PDX Yar has announced a new monthly event, “Shanty-aoke.” The singalong is exactly what it sounds like: belt out Sea Shanties with a full Pirate crew at your back. So if ye be at port, RSVP and get all the info here. (Captain Carmina’s note: Naomi made the scurvy illustration above.)
Finally, a head’s up for those of you in Germany: watch me Pro Sieben TV! This Saturday, Oct 19 at 8:15pm, I’m hosting a body modification segment on the hit program, Joko und Klaas “Duell um die Welt.”
Don’t worry, non-Deutsch readers, I’ll soon post a video clip and bloody insane photos from the filming.
Do you know what you’ll be wearing this Halloween? Got any outfit suggestions for Basil Farrow?
And if you have Portland, Oregon travel tips, please let me know in the comments. I’m already getting inspired by the IFC show Portlandia…
Coming up next: Bangkok, Thailand posts, and announcements about my November travels to far-off lands!
LA CARMINA
