Getting Soaked

To protect the innocent-and the naked-no photos accompany this blog post.

It's been the usual autumn weather smorgasbord in Seattle, stunningly shiny days with bright blue skies, monsoon-like, warm and wet from a "pineapple express", or just cold and drizzly with gusty winds. On one of these latter afternoons three of my "girls" and I gathered with towels to try out Hothouse, a woman's spa and sauna on Capitol Hill in the Pike/Pine Corridor. We spent a toasty hour soaking in the hot tub, sweating in the sauna or steam room and refreshing ourselves in the cold plunge shower. Not for the bashful, they encourage nudity; but the lights are low, the air is steamy and even though there's a lesbian bar upstairs, we straight gals felt perfectly comfortable. It helps that we've been friends since we were teenagers when the flesh was firmer. So if you don't mind dropping trou with strangers, I can't recommend a better way to spend $12 and a chilly afternoon. They also offer massages by appointment.

Afterwards, damp and relaxed, we walked up the street to Boom Noodle for a little supper. Boom is owned by the same folks who have a local chain of very popular conveyor belt sushi restaurants called Blue C. We snacked on spring rolls, katsu prawns, ahi tacos and calimari and washed them down with cold beer or mojitos. We recommend sitting in the bar, it's slightly quieter since the main dining has very high ceilings, long uncovered tables and the night were there, some noisy kids slurping noodles and fidgeting in their chairs. Deciding to skip the dessert menu, we stopped into Cupcake Royale just a few doors down to indulge in some of their very pretty cupcakes. Is this a great town or what?!

Cathy Wiese-Innkeeper