Day Two in the Emerald City

Top Pot, 2124 5th Ave., between Blanchard and Lenora

Sunday morning Hawkeye and I struggled to rally from our previous night's festivities. The first intelligent thing we did was skip a big breakfast. Who needed a re-do of the previous morning's breakfast bonanza? Instead we went for donuts at a place Hawkeye loves, Top Pot.

I learned Hawkeye not only loves to eat there, but he loves to say the name with the utmost sophistication, "Top Pot." I noticed the great donut place, first for its bright neon lights, then for its hypnotizing aromas. From a distance, it looked more like a Carvel ice cream store than a place to pick up coffee and a donut. But the smells drifting from it were nothing that could ever come from Carvel.

The front of Top Pot is all windows, which makes for fun people watching, whether you're sitting on the top or on the ground level. When you walk in, the walls on either side of you are filled from floor to ceiling with books.

"Are they real?" I asked Hawkeye.

I felt like I was the silly drunk man in The Great Gatsby, questioning Gatsby's library collection, thinking the books were fake. Before he had time to answer, I went to the wall and picked out some obscure encyclopedia and was amazed it had pages inside. They were real.

With one look at the counter display, I realized Top Pot is a lot more than just a donut place. This was a five star home of dessert and good cheer. These donuts weren't just breakfast bites, they were pieces of heaven, and most of them were covered in a layer of thick fresh frosting. If it wasn't frosting it was sprinkles, and if it wasn't frosting, the donut dough was so thick and fluffy you didn't need frosting.

People were buying the donuts in boxes by the dozens, probably taking them back to the office, where they were rewarding their staff for a job well done, a client won, or a good month in sales. I wanted a box to take home with me, to share with no one, well, maybe my family and a couple friends. They'd never bite into a Krispy Kreme donut after having Top Pot's version of the donut.

Hawkeye and I got to the front of the line and I had to lift my jaw up from the counter. I tried a raspberry donut and he got a chocolate bar. My raspberry donut was delicious. Hawkeye's chocolate bar was an eclair on steroids. Apart from the donuts, one of my favorite parts of the meal was how pretty they made my coffee look. I didn't want to ruin the milk leaf they made.

We sat at a table for a few minutes. Hawkeye read the paper, I struggled to do a crossword puzzle. I was hoping my donut would last me forever, but it didn't. I am craving a Top Pot donut right now. Maybe if I'm good this month, and I hint at it enough times, Hawkeye will ship me a box.

After breakfast, we spent the first half of the day driving around Seattle. Hawkeye wanted me to get a good feel for the city. Seattle's downtown is small, but the many neighborhoods outside the downtown area extend its character and charm. And the water! Everywhere you look, you're surrounded by beautiful bodies of water. It wasn't until after I met Hawkeye I learned Seattle isn't even on the ocean. But it sure feels like it. You have Elliott Bay and the Puget Sound on one side, and Lake Washington on the other, not to mention the beautiful majestic Olympic Mountains, or the Olympics, off in the distance. Mount Rainier is some hundred miles away but it looms so large on the horizon it feels as though it's in every Seattleites' backyard.

After driving through Fremont and passing by the Lenin and troll statues, we stopped in Ballard. Nothing struck me about the neighborhood until we pulled up to a marina and started driving right up to the docks.

"Where are we going?"

Hawkeye started slowing down, "Want seafood?"

There, to our right, were a few small fishing boats with a couple cars parked alongside them. Each had their own colorful flags, signs and chalkboards advertising the latest catch and cost. Shrimp, salmon, and scallops were all there for you to take right off the boat.

We stopped at one we liked and got out. A few moments later, an old bearded man hopped out of his Toyota pickup and hopped onto his vessel.

"Can I help ya' today?"

It was love at first sight. I'd never been so excited and thrilled to purchase anything in my life. It's not often I buy food directly from the person who caught, harvested or grew it.

Conan Johansen, of North Sea Fish Co. (206-856-5000) told us about his fishing trip to Alaska, and where the other boats went and what they caught in the harbor. Hawkeye found out some of the boats in the harbor were the famed boats of one of my favorite TV shows "Deadliest Catch." I could have stayed and racked Conan's brain forever, but it was chilly and a local was waiting behind us. I knew he was a local because he didn't see what the novelty was.

We bought about a pound of salmon and a pound of shrimp. I wish I had a party to cook for because I would have bought every pound of his catch. Meeting Conan and buying his fresh seafood inspired me to find ways in New York to buy directly from local farmers and fisherman. If anyone knows how to do this, please let me know.

From Ballard's fresh seafood purchases, we headed home to Hawkeye's apartment to park the car and walk to Pike's Place Market. We hadn't eaten anything since our high end donuts that morning, and I was hungry for a snack. The choices at Pike's Place seemed endless and I had no idea how I would choose until I saw this woman.

According to the signs, she was making piroshkys. I can't pronounce what they're called. I can't even tell you what's in them. I suppose they are the Russian version of a crepe, though they look nothing alike. Just know that it was the shape of a massive cinnamon roll, but it was covered in cheddar cheese and chives and it was warm and the dough was soft and chewy. I felt like Meg Ryan in "When Harry Met Sally." Every bite was better than the last and I couldn't stop moaning in the streets at how good it was.

After the piroshkys, we headed in search of some vegetables and fruit at the stands. How do you choose?

Stick your hand in, that's how! The beautiful red strawberries called my name. That's how easy it was to decide on our dessert that night.

After walking through the beautiful array of food and crafts, we ended our food-venture by heading to the Daily Dozen Doughnut Company. I know, we can't get enough donuts, can we? Hawkeye raved about this donut stand from the moment we started walking through Pike Place. We tried timing it just right to avoid the long lines, but once we finished shopping, we couldn't wait anymore. Good thing we decided to wait in line because they finished their daily rationing.

One of the donuteers announced to everyone in line, "We're closed! No more fresh donuts. But you can take one donut hole of the remaining batch!"

It was as if these people hadn't eaten in months. They were finagling ways to get more than just one of the donut holes. While the sugar-dusted hole was good, it didn't compare to my donut that morning at Top Pot.

Hawkeye and I returned to his apartment and cooked up a New Year's Eve feast. We drank champagne and enjoyed everything in our Seattle food collection. A few hours of champagne-drinking made us silly and sleepy, but I somehow managed to stay awake to see the fireworks, on TV anyway. When I turned around to give Hawkeye the ten minute countdown warning, I found him fast asleep. Once I shook him out of his donut dreams, we shared the countdown and a quick kiss, and it was off to dreamland for both of us.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!