I've seen these cute little drive-thru coffee shacks on two different trips now -- in and around Anchorage and also Seattle.

They look like garden sheds, only spiffed up. You'll find them in suburban shopping mall parking lots and tucked around the bend on country roads.

This isn't one of the better ones I saw, just the one I saw when I had my camera in hand. Some are shaped like coffee pots. Others have cute names that play on coffee words like mocha and espresso. They're often decorated with crazy bumper stickers and/or signs.

It must be a Pacific Northwest thing. But seriously, why don't we have these on the East Coast?

We have drive-thru everything else these days.

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... of art in these last few posts, I thought I'd share a few examples of public art I ran across while in Seattle.

For starters, they have the Olympic Sculpture Park along the waterfront (Puget Sound). An extension of the city's art museum, it transformed a nine-acre industrial site into green space and art space.

Other pieces pop up randomly around town, offering pleasant surprises for visitors, such as this line of cement balls.

I was a big fan of the eyeballs, which double as benches for folks to stop and take a rest.

(Double click on any of the photos to see them larger)

York's parking meters, tile mosaics and murals are a good start, but historical monuments are still the norm. How should York spice up its downtown art scene? Any suggestions?

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If I'm not interested in something, my attention span can be shorter than that of a fly.

When it comes to museums -- especially art museums -- I tend to think my eyes will glaze over and I'll be waiting by the door for my companions to finish their visit.

Yet each time I have visited an art museum, I have spent hours inside and left impressed by how much I enjoyed and learned from the experience. It happened a couple years ago when I visited my friend Em in Cincinatti.

And it happened again a few weeks ago in Seattle.

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(Doubleclick on the image to fully appreciate it)

OK, so yeah, it's kind of gross. But in a fascinating kind of way.

When I learned I'd be spending four days in the Seattle area, I somehow became obsessed with seeing this Wall of Gum in Post Alley near the Pike Place Market downtown. I can't even recall where I read about it during my pre-trip research, but it sounded weird and quirky enough to merit a look.

The local folks we were visiting hadn't even heard of it, but humored me nonetheless. I thought the wall was pretty cool -- could probably even classify as public art. Art by the people, for the people. Something like that.

Sure beats gum on your shoe.

(Once again, doubleclick on photos to see larger)

Posted in Jen's Journeys Seattle area

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