The next day dawned and I had a little snooze in until 8am. It was the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, and it was going to be a day of eating to the max. I successfully managed to get on the right bus and get off at the right stop in the U District. As I was walking to my intended destination, I went by a Korean Tofu House with this sign up:
I love it. Vegan proudly advertised. They also had their vegan menu up in the window, which did seem pretty tasty. But they were closed and I was on a brunch mission! Which was...
Wayward Vegan Cafe. I had heard so much about this place on the PPK, and had spent a lot of time before I went reading their extensive menu, and here I was. With one shot.
I got a strawberry lemonade, to continue my lemonade exploration. It was from a bottle of a brand that I had seen in WFs, and was really nice. I wish that I could have brought some back with me, but a glass bottle full of pink, sticky liquid is probably not a wise idea in checked baggage.
While I was waiting for my food, I took this photo of the condiments tray. Nooch in a shaker. So cool.
In the end, after umming and ahhing, I chose The Country Bumpkin - herbed biscuit with scramble, gravy and garlic kale. This was my first time having an American-style biscuit, and it was nice! I keep forgetting that in America gravy is thick, creamy and a bit chunky, but I do like it!
I also ordered a side of hashbrowns, because breakfast should have potato. I temporarily forgot that a side of hashbrowns would not be a diminutive plate of a few crispy browned potato cakes, but would instead by a giant pile of fried grated potato. That is OK with me. I did find it a little bit undercooked in the centre though.
And here is a picture of my breakfast all together. So pretty. So happy. I like Wayward a lot! I was pretty much the only person in there, except for a family who came in shortly before I finished, so I missed out on seeing Tad, a mysterious figure the Seattle-ites on the PPK seem to have fun spotting. I don't actually know who Tad is or what Tad looks like, but it all sounds fun.
Just across and up the road from Wayward is Sidecar for Pig's Peace, a great all-vegan shop with food, bags and other accessories. Coming in here was the best decision of my day! I had struggled to find a good map of the U District and north Seattle, and I couldn't access my Google Maps without a wifi connection (unless I wanted to pay a billion dollars), so I had brought a printout with an idea of places to go and walking directions to them. Turns out Sidecar has their own vegan map of the area, with all the places clearly marked - SCORE! They also gave me some suggestions on opening hours and places to go to, thus changing my original plan for the day but helping me fit a lot more vegan eating in.
Just across the road from Sidecar was Pizza Pi (what is with all this vegan goodness in the one place?), so with my changed plans I decided I would come back that evening for some Sidecar shopping and a pizza dinner.
My plan was to walk to a magical doughnut kingdom, because it would take almost as long on the bus with having to change connections and a half an hour walk after a big brunch seemed wise. On the way, and with my new vegan map in hand, I just happen to pass by Chaco Canyon Organic Cafe, a high raw vegetarian cafe. I was still pretty full from brunch, but I thought I should try something since fate had brought me here.
In addition to their menu, they had a beautiful display case filled with goodies, most of which were vegan.
But ultimately I chose a drink to help keep my energy up on the walk to doughnuts. A Chocolate Cherry Raw Smoothie - bananas, cherries, raw cacao and vanilla hemp milk. It was so delicious, proving that chocolate cherry is a flavour combination that cannot be beaten.
I then walked for about half an hour. I walked through the U District and over an interstate highway, then into a very pretty neighbourhood.
There were lots of pretty flowers growing out of the sidewalk and lots of cute houses (including one purple house that seemed to have a cut-out figure peering out of the window. I can't be sure, but I think it was RPatz... Creepy).
At last I reached my destination - Mighty-O Donuts, home of the Best Donuts Of The Trip. Yes, I had tried Pepples, and I will talk about Voodoo and a WF doughnut later on, but Mighty-O was the best!
I chose two classics, the first being a jam doughnut. This was so good. The doughnut itself was just such a beautiful texture and taste, and then the jam was exactly the right sweetness. The powdered sugar not too strong. Heaven.
I also ordered a cinnamon doughnut - my favourite of all doughnuts. If these had still been warm I would have snarfed the whole tray full. Yes, I said snarfed. But as they were room temperature I purchased one and stored it for later nommage.
I was getting much less shy about taking photos inside of places that were not just of the food I was eating, so I snapped some photos of this wonderland. This is there doughnut making thingy. They are so hot and delicious looking! Sadly, these were being dunked into a glaze, and not into cinnamon sugar. If it had been the latter.... SNARF! I'm just not that into glazed doughnuts.
Here are some photos of their display case. Here were my two choices. Oh lovelies, how I miss you.
They had lots of different varieties. The shop is quite open, so unfortunately I could not get around the glare off the glass of the case, but try and peer through it.
Yes... there were more. So many!
At this point I was feeling kinda sorta really full, so some gentle exercise was in order. Mighty-O is just a few blocks from Greenlake (which is a suburb, but also an actual lake), so I thought I would meander up and see if it was pretty. Along the way, there were more beautiful flowers growing on the sidewalk and more pretty houses. This is a stunning area, it would be lovely to live in. Also it would be close to doughnuts. Win.
It turns out the lake is super pretty. It is a large lake, with lots of green space around and a wide walk way, that has lots of room for walkers, pram pushers, puppies, bikes and rollerblades (rollerblades are big in Seattle) to enjoy without the danger of running in to each other. The grass around is dotted with people enjoying picnics or sunbathing (did I mention that Seattle turned on an amazing day for me? 26 degrees Celcius and the sun was shining!). One thing I noticed in America is that the slip, slop, slap message has not really made it there. So many roasting away, so much sunburn!
There were these adorable waterbirds and their babies out swimming on the lake. So sweet! It was a really beautiful area. Seattle knows how to rock a public green space (are you listening Brisbane, because this is something you do not know how to do. Cement is not the same as grass).
Just next to Greenlake is Woodland Park. At first as I made my way over there it looked like it was just a few sporting fields, but then I saw some people making their way up between some trees and a park was found! It was gorgeous.
Just so pretty. The giant trees. The tiny flowers. I had a lovely time meandering through. Once I moved away from the school group that was there, it was really nice and peaceful, too.
Squirrel! Why don't you stay still for your photo, my little squirrel friend? I just want to adore your tiny cuteness. I am vegan! I am friend!
Also not standing still for their photo is this awesome crow/raven (I am not sure? I want to say crow). He (it could have been a girl, I got male vibes) had a lot to tell me. He flew in and sat in the branches above me, looked right down and started talking. It was serious business. I loved it! Then he just flew away. Maybe he knew I had a doughnut in my bag?
I am going to leave you there for now, halfway through my day of eating. There is still so much more to come! But I think this post is long enough by now. Hopefully more tomorrow!
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