Post-Seattle Trip

[Pat Germain]

Thanks for the advice I got on things to do and see in Seattle. Here's a quick rundown of what we did:

* The weather was spectacular during our entire visit. We got no rain whatsoever.

- Black Bottle restaurant for our anniversary. My son took my wife and I to this restaurant and it was amazing! The atmosphere was urban and a bit eclectic if you're used to the average Chili's. But the food was just so good as well reasonably priced.

- Rode the ferry to Bainbridge Island. Yeah, many people ride this every day as part of their commute. But for people from land-locked Colorado, it was a nice ride. We got ice cream over there which was pretty much the best I've ever had.

- Underground tour. This was actually pretty cool. Sure, it's very "touristy". But our guide was great and shared much local history, which I really enjoyed.

- Pike Market Ghost Tour. Meh. It was OK. We did the 9 PM tour, which is supposed to be the best. It was mostly just walking around while patio diners gawked at us. Our guide was alright, but nothing special.

- Hard Rock Cafe'. My son works there. We dropped in and got drinks and dessert comp'd. It's actually a pretty cool place with many interesting Rock artifacts. It has a patio on the roof overlooking the sound. I didn't get up there because it was packed!

- Dukes Chowder House, West Seattle. Dude! We sat on the patio roof overlooking the water. I had fish and chips combo with chowder and it was delicious. (My son thought Iver's was a tourist joke. So, we never went there. He did say the fish & chip window was pretty good.)

- We saw Duck Boats everywhere! My wife thought they looked like fun, but I wasn't very interested.

- Aviation Museum at Boeing Field. Absolutely wonderful! I sat in an SR-71 cockpit. I walked aboard a Concorde (although it was hermetically sealed in plexiglass). I walked through JFK's Air Force One. I saw the original "Red Barn" where Boeing began. You know, it should be obvious, but I never considered that early aircraft manufacturers were woodworkers! The Red Barn had some way-cool hardware: very early iron table saw, planer and jointer. Also some wooden hand planes and examples of early wing and fuselage structures. I wish I had more time there. I saw only a tiny part of the museum.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Pat,

Sounds like a good time.

You didn't happen to see Dewey while you were there did you?

[Pat Germain]

Ken, unfortunately, Dewey got underway with the Abraham Lincoln battle group only days before I arrived. Bummer.

[Belinda Barfield]

Sounds like you guys had a great trip. Thanks for sharing your opinions. Too bad on missing Dewey by days.

[Pat Germain]

Oh, I forgot to mention one activity. We drove to Woodinville which is the local "Wine Country". (Apparently, the grapes are grown in Eastern Washington, but the wineries are in Woodinville because it's close to Seattle.)

We went to a very traditional looking winery with very nice grounds. My son and I ponied up $10.00 each to taste four samples. One white was really good. It had a slight hint of apple. One tasted like cough syrup. Another had a nasty aftertaste. The last was so sweet it was just crazy. Yeah, it was a dessert wine. But it was more like dessert.

Then we went across the street to tour the Red Hook brewery. We each coughed up $1.00 for this experience. A very fun group of folks followed the guide upstairs to a large room. It had large windows on two sides which allowed views into the brewery. On one end was a bar with five taps for five different beers.

The tour guide said, "Hello. Welcome to Red Hook. Let's have a beer." Classic rock started blaring from a sound system. Everyone bellied up to the bar and received a 5 oz. glass of beer.

The guide talked about that particular beer, how Red Hook got started and when they built the current brewery. Then he said, "Let's have another beer". And we all bellied up to the bar again.

We heard some details about that beer. The guide asked a few questions about beer. The people who answered correctly got another beer. Then he said, "OK, let's all have another beer." I think I was first in line at the bar that time.

This happened five times. All the beers were very good. At one point we went into fermenting room where the guide talked about the process. He answered questions and we went back into the main room. Then we got another beer. At the end, we got to keep the glasses!

We waited awhile, but I had to drive home because my son said he was still light headed. (The beer was strong and he's even thinner than I am.)

So, if you're ever near Woodinville, WA, you might might want to drop into a winery for a tasting. But you should DEFINITELY visit the Red Hook brewery. That was my kind of tour! :D