Day One in The Emerald City

"When are you going to post about Seattle?" asked Hawkeye, with a twinge of disappointment in his voice.

I was about to fall for this before I quickly threw the ball right back at him, "When are you going to post about New York?"

"Hhhhhah!"

"Hhhhhah!"

Hawkeye came to see me in New York at the beginning of December. I went to see Hawkeye in Seattle at the end of December. Who's more behind reporting on the fun times? There's no pressure, really, but he did insist on guest blogging about our first dinner together. We had an amazing time and great food at one of Winette's favorites, Peasant. I just have yet to see it in writing.

I'm way behind in my posts, but I'm so compulsive I can't write my meals out of order, so here I go backtracking to the last few days of 2006, and the best mornings of a new year a girl could have.

Getting to Seattle from Carmel was easy. But leaving my parents during the holidays, something I've never done, and especially for a boy, wasn't so easy. I was really excited to see Hawkeye, and to celebrate New Year's with a boy for the first time in my life. But I still felt a pang of guilt and doubt. Was I going to have fun? Was I still going to like Hawkeye once I got there?

I told my mom as we drove to the airport, "Whenever I leave you guys behind in Carmel, no matter for how long or short a time, I get this weird feeling in my stomach, and I can't help but feel sad." My mom smiled and told me not to be so silly. Silly, maybe, but the moments we share as a family together are rare, and it's hard for me when those moments end.

A short, but delayed plane ride later, my sadness was gone and I was enjoying new moments with Hawkeye. The stress we dealt with planning the trip made it that much sweeter to be together. I couldn't buy my plane ticket until the last minute because Hawkeye was supposed to work New Year's weekend in Seattle or Las Vegas. It's standard procedure for our company to make last minute plans. Thankfully, a woman in New York volunteered to work for Hawkeye because she wanted to be with her husband working a New Year's show in Vegas. What were the chances? I had nightmares I'd buy a ticket, arrive at Sea-Tac, nobody would pick me up, and I'd have nowhere to stay. That's when I'd turn to my blog-o-dex and look up food bloggers in Seattle.

We had plans to eat out the first night, but we canceled once my plane was delayed. Instead, Hawkeye made me one of his signature omelettes. I call him to wake him up in the mornings and unlike any other guy I know, he sets aside time to make himself an omelette every morning. I guess you could say, lucky for me, my plane was delayed.

5 Spot, 1502 Queen Anne Ave North, at Galer Street

My first morning in Seattle we had more eggs, meat and vegetables than you can imagine. Hawkeye took me to one of the best places in town for breakfast, 5 Spot. There was a small wait, but as I watched servers dancing in and out of tables, with overflowing plates piled high with grub and mugs frothing with milk and coffee, I knew it'd be worth it.

Hawkeye ordered eggs over easy with toast and bacon, I ordered what an ironman eater wouldn't touch: the pizza frittata with peppers, marinara sauce, sausage, and mozzarella. I couldn't help but laugh when it came to the table. Our server looked at me like I was nuts, then he started cackling. Once I saw our side order of biscuits and gravy, I knew why.

Our server was extremely friendly, and our larger-than-life coffee mugs never went less than a third empty. He laughed when the food came to the table, but he was silent when he cleared our clean bare plates away. I think he was muted by the shock. We wouldn't need to eat again until, well, next week, but that was fine with me. I could definitely live like this.

After breakfast, we had a few hours to kill before we started drinking heavily to show our support for the Iowa Hawkeyes playing Texas in the Alamo Bowl. Hawkeye politely asked me if I minded drinking away an entire afternoon to watch football. I was in Seattle to be with him, and if that's how he spent any given Saturday, I would go with the flow. If it was the other way around, and Virginia was playing while he was in New York, I don't doubt he would have been thrilled to watch.

Buckley's, 232 1st Avenue West

When we walked into Buckley's, I couldn't believe my eyes. Either everyone was dressed up like the girl on the cover of the old Blind Melon CD or the place was packed, wall to wall, with U of I fans. I didn't know there were that many people from Iowa, let alone in a sports bar in Seattle. The place was crawling with fans, roaring with fans. We thought we were early. What a joke! If it wasn't for a sweet couple at a four-top, we would have stood the entire time. Instead, they offered us the two seats at their table they weren't using. I know I loved one Seattleite from Iowa, now I love them all.

Phuket, 517 Queen Anne Ave N

After several beers, a great game, but a not-so-great loss, Hawkeye, myself and our new friends who shared their table with us, headed to dinner. For some reason, we picked a Thai place Phuket. I'm sure it has a great reputation, and I did like their pad Thai, but dozens of pints of beer and Thai don't really mix too well. Only none of us realized this until it was too late. Our friend, who will remain nameless, disappeared from the table for a good while. We started to worry about him when his darling wife, who was five foot three and had the mouth of a 2oo pound sailor, got a phone call. Turns out he was in the bathroom finding out that beer and Thai don't mix so well. That marked the quick end of our Phuket dinner and my first full day in Seattle.

*I'm on a plane to Chicago to meet Hawkeye, and decided for the first time, I would leave my baby MacSilver behind. Until next Wednesday, friends!