For our honeymoon, my wife and I traveled to Seattle and then Portland. I’d never been to the Pacific Northwest, and my wife had been to Seattle and loved it, so we thought it’d be a relaxing, interesting trip to cap-off a busy year of job-changing, moving, and wedding. And, we were right. I shared a lot of what we did via Path, FourSquare, and Twitter, but I thought for my own memory and (maybe) the benefit of others, I’d give a rundown of the various places we went and what we thought of them. We spent a lot of the trip just walking around and exploring, and then stopped for meals, snacks, and the occasional shop, which is most of what I recorded below. Because we went so many places, I’ve broken the list into two posts — this one for Seattle, and a later one for Portland.

But first, the pictures — these are a selection of both snapshots from my phone and more carefully composed shots from my X100.

• Hotel Vintage Park (loved) — We stayed at the Kimpton Vintage Park downtown, and it was lovely. We had a beautiful room with a tremendous view, and the staff could not have been friendly or more accommodating. They had champagne and chocolates waiting for us when we got to our room, and the concierge was very helpful for helping us plan the night when our plans to see Lyrics Born fell through. I’d definitely stay there again.
• Pike Place Market (loved) — A wonderful, huge market. We went to it several times, and I still can’t be sure we saw everything. They’re famous for their fishmongers, but there’s also food stands, restaurants, craft and art sellers, a tremendous farmer’s market, and much more. It’s just a really neat place. While there, we got a tart from Le Panier (a French bakery with a friendly staff), a breakfast pastry at Cinnamon Works, some Piroshkies (which is like a Russian empanada, and is delicious) from Piroshky Piroshky, black forest cherries (my new favorite candy) from Chukar Cherries, pork buns and pot stickers (both of which were good for the price but not “best ever”) and some really disappointing sesame buns from Mee Sum Pastry, some nice gifts from the artists on the right-side of the market, and took a trip to the original Starbucks (which was amazingly friendly, especially given the crush of tourists they are constantly exposed to). Pike Place is nearly overwhelming, but the people who work there are so friendly that instead it’s energetic and fun.
• Blue C Sushi (liked) – Blue C is a Seattle-based chain where the sushi comes by on a conveyer belt. Each plate has a color that corresponds to its price. We ate there our first night, because we were tired from traveling and wanted something fast and very low-key. The quality is really quite good, and it’s definitely the fastest sushi meal I’ve ever had. I’d certainly recommend it if you’re in a hurry and want a snack or quick sushi meal.
• Long Provincial Vietnamese Restaurant (liked) — We go to Nam Viet /Pho 79 a lot at home and were craving Vietnamese, so we stopped here for lunch after a morning at Pike Place. The menu was pretty different from Nam Viet, but the food was good — they used coconut milk in their crepe, which really added something, and the spring rolls were nice and fresh. I wouldn’t go out of my way to go there again, but it was a good find for the time.
• The Ballard Locks and Fish Ladder (liked) — We went here on a tour of the city and it was really neat to see the salmon swimming up stream. It looked like a ton of work for them. Not necessarily worth going out of your way for, but really cool if you’re in the neighborhood.
• Skillet Diner (loved) — Someone (on foursquare I think) said this was comfort food for hipsters, and that’s about right — but really good comfort food with a really friendly staff. My wife had a “life changing” veggie burger here, and I had some excellent fried chicken. Next time we’re in Seattle, we’ll make it a point to go here again.
• Cupcake Royale (so-so) — A nice cupcake shop with so-so cupcakes. They were a little dry and reminded me of DC’s Hello Cupcake — not as good as the excellent cupcakes at Baked and Wired or Something Sweet though. It was a nice place to sit and enjoy a book though while we waited to go to Barboza for a show.
• Barboza (loved) — Seattle has a ton of cool venues, and this was the one of two we managed to see a show at. It was probably the size of the main room at DC’s Rock & Roll Hotel, with the cleanliness and lighting of the 9:30 Club. Plus, the surrounding neighborhood is really cool. It’s a really nice venue — just the right size to feel intimate without being so small as to have poor acoustics. We saw Cold Specks there, and they were amazing.
• Seattle Coffee Works (liked) — Just up the street from Pike Place Market (on Pike Street), a large and wonderful coffee shop. I had my first coffee (a cappuccino) in probably 10 years here, and it was a good place to do so. Coffee was smooth (not at all burnt tasting), the staff was very friendly, and there was ample seating. Certainly worth hitting up if you’re near Pike Place Market anyway.
• Piecora’s Pizzeria (liked) — In Capitol Hill, a pizza shop that calls it pie and claims New York heritage. It was good, straightforward pizza — great if you’re in the neighborhood anyway, and they had a good beer list to go with it. We got the Queens, and I’d definitely get it again.
• Frye Art Museum (so-so) — A free museum of 19th and 20th century German and American romantic paintings. It was nice that it was free, and the paintings were attractive, but nothing to write home about — I am spoiled by the National Gallery and Corcoran here though.
• The Seattle/Bainbridge Ferry (loved) — This is a weird thing to have loved, but the views of the city from the water were breathtaking. The ferry itself is a commuter boat, and it’s huge. You can get from Seattle to Bainbridge and back for $7.50, and the ride takes about 50 minutes each way. There’s a garage for cars, a restaurant, restrooms, and an observation deck, which is where I spent all my time. I got some of my favorite pictures of the trip from the boat, and it was a surprisingly fun way to spend two hours.
• Umi Sake House (loved) — Some of the best sushi we have had, and a sake menu as long as any wine list I’ve ever seen. We just ate at the sushi bar and still had amazingly fast and friendly service. They have these wonderful rolls with citrus sauces that make them taste a little like ceviche, but better. I suspect I will dream of this sushi again for some time.
• The Fremont Troll (liked) — I feel like he deserves his own mention because he’s so strange — it’s a huge troll under a bridge (see photos above). He was supposedly built to reduce crime in the neighborhood, and I do think he’s improved the economy; there were many other tourists like us there just to see him.
• Milstead & Co. (loved) — An amazingly hip but friendly coffee shop. They make their own vanilla syrup and it shows — I will probably spend the next year failing to find a latte half as good as the one I had here. It looked like everyone there would be far too cool for school, but no — the baristas were very friendly, made smalltalk as we waited for our drinks, and clearly took their craft seriously.
• Chiso (liked) — A nice sushi bar and Japanese restaurant in Fremont. I had some incredibly light (and not-at-all greasy) tempura, and my wife had some tasty yakisoba. Also, they had this amazing basil lemonade that sorta outshined the meal. Certainly worth stopping at if you’re in the neighborhood.
• 112-printworks (liked) — A custom silk-screen printer. They do simply beautiful work — lots of vibrant and beautiful posters for tours and bands, and a friendly staff to boot.
• Theo Chocolate Factory (loved) — It you’re at all interested in chocolate, this is a really fun tour. Theo sources their own beans and roasts their chocolate on site. It’s easily worth the $6 for the wonderful smell of the factory and the many samples. I also learned a lot about the process of making chocolate (bars, barks, and filled chocolates), which was fun.
• KEXP Concerta at the Mural (liked) — KEXP, a really cool radio station based in Seattle, holds free concerts in August at Seattle Center. We got a beautiful afternoon and enjoyed some good music there — it felt like the hip counterpoint to the Smithsonian’s “Jazz in the Garden.”
• Local 360 (loved) — A restaurant in Belltown that sources 90% of its food from within 360 miles. Supposedly the best burger in Seattle (it was good, but I had a better one the next day). I did, however, have the best old fashioned ever (and that’s my usual cocktail), and overall the food and service were both excellent.
• Harbor City Barbecue (liked) — We had Dim Sum in the International District with a friend, and we went to Harbor City. It was quite good — on par with our beloved Oriental East in Silver Spring, both in terms of price and quality. 
• Uwajimaya (liked) — An Asian market that takes up pretty much an entire city block. You can get sushi-grade fish there, all kinds of appliances, fruits and vegetables I’ve never heard of, and so on. Interesting to visit just for how foreign it feels.
• Espresso Vivace (liked) — A nice sidewalk cafe with a very friendly staff. They educated me on the virtues of Hemp Milk as a dairy substitute for us lactose-intolerant people. What’s funny is the cappuccino I got here was substantially better than almost anything I can get at home, but because of how excellent places like Milstead and Zeitgeist were, it doesn’t entirely stand-out.
• Nordstrom downtown (liked) — The original Nordstrom. Much bigger than the ones I’m used to, and, as promised, we got exceptional customer service. Not worth traveling for or anything, but neat to stop in if you’re nearby and need some clothes.
• REI (liked) — This is their flagship store, with a climbing wall and bike-test path. It’s absolutely huge, and I got some fall gear here because I couldn’t help myself.
• Top Pot Doughnuts (loved) — Seattle pretty clearly takes pastries seriously, and Top Pot is simply amazing. We went twice and both locations had friendly staffs and plenty of seating. We were told people “freak out” for their bavarian cream filled, and I can see why — this is another thing I will likely dream about for the next few months.
• The Cake Spy Shop (liked) — This one is hard to explain; it’s sort-of like going into a curated Etsy, if that makes any sense. They had all kinds of paintings and crafts and T-shirts. I’m not sure exactly how it gets to exist, but I think that’s part of the magic of Seattle.
• Luc (loved) — Friends of ours recommended we stop at Luc, so we had a nice dinner there. They had a Julia Child tasting menu, but I got Beef Bourguignon on recommendation, and it was indeed worth writing home about. We also had these baffling but delicious “soufflé potato crisps” that were like extremely classy French fries. 
• Bill Speidel’s Underground Tour (liked) — Many buildings in Downtown Seattle have entrances both at street level and 10-feet below street level; apparently, the street was built twice to make room for a proper sewer and buried electrical. It’s a fun walking and talking tour where you learn a good bit about the early history of Seattle.
• Ballard Farmer’s Market (liked) — An absolutely huge Farmer’s Market in downtown Ballard. It was roughly twice the size of the big farmer’s market in Dupont, and you could pretty clearly do most of your shopping for the week there. We met friends and had pizza and were generally impressed.
• Venue (liked) — The Cake Spy people told us about Venue, which is an artist’s workshop and boutique. The workspaces were neat to see, and many of the crafts were pretty cool, if a little on the expensive side. 
• Alki Beach (liked) — A little beach-park and boardwalk in Seattle. It’s not like a beach like Rehoboth, but it’s also only a 30 minute bus ride from downtown and is certainly picturesque. There’s also lots of pavilions and grills for outdoor parties, and bars and restaurants for a nice afternoon with friends.
• Quinn’s Pub (loved) — A pretty amazing gastropub in Capitol Hill in Seattle. This is where I actually did have the best burger I’ve ever had. As with everywhere else we went, the service was good and the food came out quickly. 
• Bauhaus Books & Coffee (liked) — Another extremely hip coffee shop, with a nice view of the neighborhood, lots of seating and very good espresso. The kind of place I wish we had more of in DC.
• Zeitgeist Kunst & Kaffee (loved) — Our last wonderful coffee in Seattle was at Zeitgeist, and it may be tied for my favorite I had (with the one from Milstead). We also got sandwiches for our train ride to Portland, and they were quite good. If you’re in Seattle, it’s definitely worth stopping at.

For our honeymoon trip to the Pacific Northwest, I got a Fujifilm X100. A few people have asked me what I think about the camera, and so I thought I’d sum up my experience with it so far. In short, it is a wonderful but quirky camera. For me, the image quality and lens make up for any control issues — the images are on par with my DSLR, and the shooting experience isn’t too far off. But, it is a camera with frustrating flaws, and I’ll discuss those below. You can see the results of my trip on camera diem, my photo blog, or my Seattle and Portland set on flickr. Below, I’ll explain my motivations for picking the X100 and how it’s worked out for me.

For me, one of the great joys of traveling is making photographs, and so I pretty much always bring a camera on any trip, and the camera goes almost everywhere I do on the trip. I shoot between 50 and 100 photos a day while traveling (and keep 3-5 per day). I have previous usually traveled with an SLR — a Nikon N65 in college, then for the last seven years with a Nikon D70. I had tried to travel with a RAW-shooting compact (a Panasonic Lumix LX2) on a road trip, but I just couldn’t stand the image quality. Although the D70 doesn’t pack a ton of pixels, it does have a nice large sensor that produces little noise at ISO 200, and with a prime lens you can get beautiful bokeh and excellent sharpness. A smaller camera simply couldn’t match the image quality, nor the shooting experience.

The trouble with traveling with the D70 is primarily one of size. My best-quality lens is a 90mm f/2.8 macro, and it’s what I shoot with virtually all the time. Because the D70 has pretty poor low-light performance, I also typically carry an SB800 speedlight and a beanbag stabilizer to give me more control over my exposure without having to push the ISO over 400. It’s a not-small bit of kit for vacation. And, carrying the D70 with a prime lens around on my neck, it feels conspicuous — I typically keep it in my bag as much as I can, because I just end up feeling very “tourist.”

The X100 is different from any small camera I’ve seen though. I find the images produced by the X100 easily rival those that I can produce with my D70, both in terms of ease of capture and in raw image quality. The low-light performance is substantially better than what I’m used to — I’ve been happy with images shot all the way to ISO 1600 after lightroom’s noise reduction is applied. I miss the 1:1 macro of my 90mm lens, but I do not miss its heft (and the macro performance of the X100 is surprisingly good). A friend joked that I’d need a helmet because I’d be doing so much “zooming with my feet,” but that didn’t give me much trouble. I have a telephoto and a kit-zoom lens for my D70, but because I typically do my photography while traveling on foot, I almost never carried them, so maybe I’m just used to zooming with my feet. The 35mm equivalent lens turned out to be a good size for travel photography — and when I do want a subject to be larger in the frame than I can get it by moving closer, I just crop — they key is knowing your final output goal (typically a print no larger than 13x19” for me). The ergonomics of the camera work well for me — it took a little adjusting to the dials and menus, but after a few days, the main controls felt adequately intuitive. The shutter has no noticeable lag, and quick-start mode was quick enough that I missed few shots waiting for the camera to boot up. Additionally, the hybrid viewfinder is glorious — I love how bright, large, and immediate the optical is, and being able to see through the lens with the electronic viewfinder for more careful previews and composition is at times a godsend.

As reported in the more thorough reviews, the camera is not without its flaws. I’d say 70% of the time, the autofocus is just fine — not particularly slower or less accurate than what I’m used to in my D70 (which is, granted, an old camera). However, probably three of every ten shots are focused bafflingly. I keep the autofocus zone small and well aimed, and still I get plenty of pictures of people where the camera has decided that the background was more interesting to focus on. Also, if you’re at-all close to your subject, you need to flip to macro-focus mode, which is slow. In practice, this has meant a lot of missed shots of people — it’s difficult enough to time and compose a shot to get a natural expression out of a person, and then to see the shot focused incorrectly can be heart-breaking. I had heard of the focus problems and had thought that the manual focus would ameliorate the problem (I shoot manual on my D70 plenty and can often focus quickly); however, the manual focus is slow and fiddly, making it more useful for slowly composed macros than anything with motion or change. In the end, I’ve just accepted that a number of my shots of people will be out of focus and shoot more to compensate. It’s disappointing, but not a show-stopper for me. If I did more street or people photography (or had cute kids), I may feel differently.

Additionally, one of the cameras greater strengths — its many, retro-inspired external controls — turns out to have a downside. I keep the camera in a domke camera messenger bag when I’m not using it, for protection and, again, to avoid looking too much like a tourist all the time. Unfortunately, when I pull the camera out, typically at least one dial has moved unexpectedly — usually either the exposure compensation or the speed. This was much less of a problem on my D70, since the aperture, exposure compensation, and speed controls only changed anything when the camera was on. With the X100 though, those dials are dedicated and work whether the camera is on or off. The speed is easy to tell when composing a shot — I keep the camera in aperture priority mode, so if the speed dial moves to 1/4000, I see that in red in the display when composing a shot. The exposure compensation is more subtle. I have taken dozens of shots at +1 EV without meaning to. Occasionally, the focus mode will switch to manual, which you’d think you notice right away, but isn’t obvious if you’re using the optical viewfinder (as opposed to the electronic). There is an indication that the focus mode has changed (the focus indicator in the viewfinder changes) — I can say from sad, blurry experience that it’s a subtle change. With time, I’m getting better at checking the camera’s settings as soon as I turn it on — but so far, it’s meant more missed shots.

Unrelated to its performance, the camera was a mixed success at one of my more vain goals. As you probably picked up from the above, I don’t love looking like a camera-crazy tourist as I wander around a new city. I always felt like the D70 (or really non-pro DSLR) was second to only a fanny pack in the way it labels a person. So, I’d hoped the smaller, classier-looking X100 would be more discrete. However, because of its conspicuously retro style, it instead attracted more questions in a week than my D70 did in seven years. Not that I’d want it to look any other way…