(But it gets progressively more unhinged)
Before my recent trip to Tacoma for a writing residency, I researched restaurants for days. All I wanted was to eat some good PNW seafood on a patio by the Sound (that I could squeeze into a day of airports, trains, and busses). I even considered adding two extra hours of bus rides for the sake of a quick trip to Seattle, but I decided that after all these Tacoma visits where I only saw the campus of PLU, I should see what else the town had to offer. I had a vision, a sort of “best life moment,” if you will.
It ended up like this:
-The Social Bar: Panic ordered Calamari and Chardonnay at 11 am because I’d been traveling for 10 hours already and the place I’d chosen specifically for the view/menu and walked around for 20 minutes with my suitcase waiting for open had the patio closed and was no longer serving oysters or fish and chips, but I was the only person there and felt too awkward to leave. Perks: 11 AM happy hour! Best damn calamari I’ve ever had!
-The Fish Peddler: Had all the things I wanted, but I was already too full because I went there immediately after finishing at the first place 😂 Didn’t have time to wait for the patio and didn’t really want to order a whole half dozen oysters, so what I accidentally ended up with was a lavender sour, oyster shooters (?!), and a creme brûlée. I did have to google how to shoot oysters, which led me to be concerned that they might have alcohol in them, but I was too embarrassed to ask so I just took them and hoped for the best. (They didn’t! Probably!) Perks: Pretty view if you can wait! Actually had all the things I wanted! Weirdly good combinations of food!
-Lucky Louie Fish Shack: I finally got my fish and chips! At the airport 5 days later… at 7 AM. Let he that is without a hangover cast the first stone. Perks: Hangover cured! Those tiny dessert fish! Genuinely great meal!
So alas, it was not the leisurely core memory I envisioned, but it was a very authentically Tabitha experience. Which is something.
TabithaTypes 