DrivingMsLindy.jpg So now that the inaugural address is over, what about this inaugural ball business? Lindy West and I are on our way to Olympia to investigate.

Ms. West, in particular, is excited that the url for the inaugural ball web site, if you just glance at it quickly, looks like: wastedatgovball.org. One can only hope.

Myself, I am still humbled and slightly humiliated by our treatment at the hands the Committee on Committees about Committees Concerning the All-Volunteer Committee that assigns credentials to the ball. To make an exceedingly long story short, The Stranger was initially denied press credentials to the ball—after being provisionally accepted by one committee head, who had to talk to another committee head, who checked with the president of a third committee, who apparently did not desire our presence. Or something like that. It would be highly impolitic to reveal how this was arranged, but there followed a deus ex machina that resulted in apologies from the committee on credentials and, voila, two tickets ($100 value each!) awaiting me and Ms. West at the Capitol.

Among the questions being discussed in this car at this moment: Where should an excited pair of committee-approved ballers eat in Olympia? Is Lindy going to get pulled over for her expired license tabs? If so, is the appropriate response, “Goddammit, I have to get to the governor’s ball before midnight when Christine Gregoire turns into a pumpkin”? If that doesn’t work, will the guv issue a pardon? Or should we save the pardon pleas for after the ball, when we might really need them?

Eli Sanders was The Stranger's associate editor. His book, "While the City Slept," was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. He once did this and once won...

12 replies on “Road Trip!”

  2. Might the Bus suggest Quality Burrito? What it lacks in ambiance, it more than makes up for in quality and quanitity. 113 4th St W.

  4. For great Thai try Lemongrass on 4th Ave. Fabulous food and reasonable prices. Their almond chicken is to die for. If you want to hit Dickerson’s, that BBQ place someone on Slog was raving about last year, they moved two blocks south of their former spot and are now on Union between Chestnut and Cherry. Best ribs around IMO. For lunch you simply cannot do better than the 5th Ave Sandwich Shop. Everything is made from scratch and the family that runs it is wonderful. They have cinnamon rolls the size of your head.

  7. If Lindy still wants Korean meatfoods, try Seoul restaurant. It’s Korean-approved and you get all the side dishes you can handle. I’ve been eating there about 20 years. Take 4th ave east of downtown, it’ll turn into Martin Way, and it’s a mile or two on the right. My Korean mom and her friends don’t eat at any other Korean restaurants in Olympia. They just installed some flat screen tv’s too so if you’re lucky you can watch Korean soap operas.

  8. Nobody has plugged Old School? I always eat there when I’m in Oly. Though all of Mike @4’s suggestions are looking good right now… damn I’m hungry.

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