The Coolest Store I've Never Been In

Many Saturday mornings of the year we trek out to the Phinney Ridge neighborhood of Seattle to take Sadie to her acting class through Taproot Theatre. During the 1 1/2 hour class, Jason and I divert ourselves by walking around this charming and quirky enclave. Sometimes we have the best coffee in a town renown for great coffee and a slice of Basque cake at Fresh Flours. Sometimes we ingest absurdly large morning repast at Rooster's Breakfast Club. Sometimes we walk to the Woodland Park Zoo and see if we can catch a Burmese Vine Snake in the act of swallowing a goldfish more than twice its girth. Sometimes we merely wander about aimlessly -- amusing ourselves by counting the number of Subarus with Obama/Biden stickers on them (seriously, do Subarus come from the factory with Dem candidate stickers already attached?). This would be a great drinking game, but we're bound to be on the road again shortly, and public drunkenness is still a crime, even in Phinney Ridge.

But, the most intriguing store of all we have yet to shop. It is The Daily Planet Antiques; and despite what reads to be generous hours of operation on the sign posted in the door, we have yet to catch it actually open for business. It has become a quest to surprise the vendor in his lair some lazy Saturday morning; but that crafty devil continues to elude us. So, all I have are these pictures taken longingly through the window:

On your next visit to Seattle, be sure to plan an afternoon in Phinney Ridge. See the zoo, grab a cup of liquid nirvana, have an omlette, and, if you happen to penetrate the forbidden gates of The Daily Planet, then I tip my cap to you, stalwart adventurer.