And On to Alaska!

At the beginning of the western leg of my Silent Counsel tour, what better place to start than Seattle Mystery Bookshop? A warm refuge from a chilling afternoon rain.

I was, however, treated to some spectacular weather yesterday, on arriving in Seattle from New Jersey. Being a complete stranger to the area, and at the mercy of my hotel's list of nearby restaurants, I settled upon Anthony's Homeport, in Des Moines. (Who knew there was a Des Moines, Washington?) Located on Puget Sound, it offers a “sunset dinner”--the baby boomer's answer to the early bird special--and I partook. Oh, there is the sunset too, of which the panoramic windows afforded a breathtaking view. I had to chuckle when I heard one or two of the wait staff grumbling about the intensity of the sun glare, even inside the dining room, as I was fairly certain there had been sunsets on previous nights. The phenomenon couldn't have been totally unexpected.

That this was not the first "indoor sunset" encountered by the servers was confirmed when, moments later, they all reached into their aprons and retrieved sunglasses. I gotta tell you, though, there's something just a little unsettling about interacting with someone wearing sunglasses inside--it was like being served by the Secret Service.

On to Anchorage tomorrow, for my first Bouchercon. Do come into Seattle Mystery Bookshop -lots of signed copies of Silent Counsel!

Ken Isaacson