I touched down in Seattle with tons of stereotypes prancing around in my head. “Was it as good or bad as one of my boyfriends had described to me? After all, he was my God of Travel in college. Was it grungy because it was the home of late musician Kurt Cobain, and grunge music? Or what about the fact that Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, and Jimi Hendrix had ties to the city? Late author, Lynn E. Harris wrote a book based out of Seattle. Or would there be these geeks from Microsoft walking around and drinking lattes all over the city? “To say the least, I landed with very foggy expectations and colorful stereotypes.

I was the only African-American on my Northwestern flight that day, so all I thought to prepare my mind for was the fact that this may be the most non diverse city that I had ever visited. Boy was I wrong. Yet, the environment was not very convincing when I got off of my flight. The Seattle airport is folksy. It’s not modern and it looks as if you could grab your luggage and then go chop wood or so in the …

Greetings from South Africa! I am an African-American woman that has recently moved to the African continent to fulfill a dream of one day living in the country her mother was born- South Africa.

I moved here with my dog, Biscuits Jackson- launching myself into a whole new culture and landscape. One that can be at turns prickly and off putting, while being stunningly gorgeous and welcoming. One of my promises to myself is that I would travel widely and see as much of this gorgeous country as I can- despite warnings that is dangerous and foolish to travel here alone.

Quick intro to South African geography: South Africa is a medium-sized country, it is one-eighth the size of the US, about a third the size of the European Union or twice the size of France. South Africa measures some 1 600 km (994 miles) from north to south, and roughly the same from east to west. For example, the driving distance between Seattle, WA and Los Angeles, CA is 1135 miles.

I'm beginning my drive from the huge and modern city of Johannesburg- which is a higher elevation then Kathmandu in Nepal and in the eastern …

Compact in size, yet filled with opportunities to experience both spectacular scenery and culture in many forms, and facilitated by a functional public transit system, Seattle is an fun and easy city to visit. Most visitors find the downtown area attractive. The urban core contains excellent restaurants, live music venues, art museums and galleries, bookstores, an active regional theater hub, the renowned Pike Place Market, the Seattle Symphony and Pacific Northwest Ballet Company, as well as the Seahawks pro football and Mariners major league baseball teams.

Many of Seattle’s top restaurants feature African American chefs and/or owners. I recommend the efforts of Daisley Gordon, executive chef at Campagne Restaurant and Café Campagne; Wayne Johnson, executive chef at Andaluca, Mulugeta Abate owner/chef of Pan Africa Market Restaurant; Richard Dwyer owner/chef at Casuelita’s Caribbean Cuisine; co-owner/chef Sabrina Tinsley at Osteria La Spiga Italian Restaurant; and a few miles south of downtown, Jacques Saar, chef at Afrikando Afrikando, serving food based on the cuisine of Senegal.


My other favorite restaurants in or near downtown are Wild Ginger for Pan-Asian cuisine; Black Bottle for informal dining in a stylish, youthful atmosphere; Boka Restaurant …