What a day — arrived for the marketing meeting to find that nobody remembered to put it on their calendar with the exception of the owner — who had already left the house when Outlook dinged with the reminder. It happened, but it was an odd meeting. Can’t wait for Chris to get back from holiday to run the next meeting.
After the meeting the whirlwind continued with a call from Ron in Iowa — thanking me for the two bottles of port, talking about a job for me, and inviting me to dinner next Sunday when he is in town with his girlfriend and her daughter. Now THAT was a call that I wasn’t expecting — I’d pretty much given up on that job opportunity happening.
Of course, while I was on the line with that call, Barb from Kentucky called to say she was at the Red Lion by the airport. Plans were made for a 3pm pickup so I could finish errands and get some more work done. Damn work.
What this you say — it’s one of the Boeing Dreamlifters also known as a whale with wings. You can see the nose beyond the purple hull — that’s the front end of a 747 — with a VERY LARGE cargo bay bolted on behind it. They use these guys to fly the pieces of the new 787 under development between Japan, Italy, North Carolina, and Everett. this is the first time I’ve seen it up close and personal.
I got this shot on my phone — my first time using my phone for that. Guess it was a success. Barb and I swung by Boeing Field after I picked her up from the hotel.
Dinner was a success — but there wasn’t rice pilaf as planned. I got a bug to make pasta last night, and made some jalapeno pasta this evening while chatted with Barb — 15 minutes start to finish. Might have to do this more often.
Lynne had to leave partway through to pick up her friend Debbie at the airport — and gave Barb a ride back to the hotel since she was headed that way — Barb has a very early flight to Juneau for a Cruise West Alaska gig. She’ll be back through next weekend and we’ll have a little more time then.
I’m naked and working on a blog entry when I get the call from Swanda — I’m outside. It’s 9:30 — he is due at 9:45am — time for me to finish the entry, jump in and out of the shower and get dressed. But damnit — he’s early.
Turns out he is with Helene — fresh from Hydrabod (India) — so at least I dont’ have to dress while I run around like a madman.
Next stop is the Fairfield Suites by the airport to pickup Barbara, back from her Alaska junket.
Then we are off to brunch at the Salish Lodge at Snohomish Falls. Lovely breakfast of a Salmon Sandwich… you can get the description and menu here. And afterwards a great walk to view the falls…
And for my cellphone, this is NOT a bad picture!
And then we have to have a picture of Swanda (with Helene in the background), and Barb from Kentucky below that:
Can’t believe I forgot my real camera.
The afternoon is spent back at Swanda in a breakfast coma which reading the Sunday papers (Seattle and New York Times) while steeling our nerves for the next meal of the day — an early dinner at the Brooklyn.
Barb and I head downstairs for a tour of Uwyjamaya(the Japanese Grocery Store) to pick up bananas for Swanda, ogle seafood, and as it turns out pick up a bottle of Gruet Rose for a pre-dinner tipple.
A fine dinner (for me) of fresh oysters, ensalada caprese, and a little tuna tartar. Damn life is rough.
Nothing like deciding you want to chance the footer information half way through creating new pages for a website re-do… and unlike in MS-Word where you would change it once, each page if a unique collection of tables within tables within tables, not unlike a Chinese Birdhouse.
Now I just need to concentrate on not bitching about it, just getting it done by the end of the week so I can escape and just do the cleanup and tweaks next week while working on my tan.
And while we are speaking of tans — Cabo San Lucas next week, Panama in early April, and getting closer to booking my birthday cruise for the fall — as in, I now have a plane reservation. I was on-line looking at prices to San Diego for a possible business/pleasure trip (though it’s been a month and haven’t heard back about business) and decided to check out prices to Miami in September. Last time I looked it was $400+, but that was 8 months out when there are never deals — wasn’t expecting one now either, but found a $267.40 round-trip direct Seattle-Miami a couple of days before and a returning a couple of days after my cruise dates. Maybe this time I’ll get to explore Miami a bit.
For those who didn’t get my email — it’s the Norwegian Epic sailing from Miami on September 25th. At the moment the ship is 88 days from launching, so hopefully with a couple of month under their belt the bugs will be worked out (the the bed bugs not arrived yet). What make this interesting (to me) is they are offering Studios for single travellers (with it’s own bar with key card access). Here is a shot of the studio — amazing how photography can make 100 sq.ft. seem large:
My friend Barb at Pegasus Travel in lovely Lexington, Kentucky has a couple of studios and other size rooms on hold until May 28th. They are (with taxes):
Studio are 881.60 with taxes (two held, I’m taking one of them)
Inside J at 751.60ea based on 2 to a room
Balcony BF- 1041.60ea double occ
Deluxe Balcony D3- 1231.50- double occ
Dinner was some filet mignon and a salad — where have I heard that before:
We planned this trip months ago. The plan was fly to Chicago, spend the night, get on a train, spend the night in Cincinnati, get picked up in Kentucky by The Colonels for a couple of days in Kentucky.
Got to Chicago, oddly, we both had Chicago Transit Authority cards with money on them. Don’t we look great on the train?
We are headed to the world-class Travelodge Chicago in the Loop Neighborhood. TONS of college in the neighborhood, and inexpensive by downtown Chicago standards. They had a room ready for us, which after a long flight.
Not modern, but clean. This is the “deluxe” version of the two-bed. Good view of the city.
We were hungry, so I chose Devil Dawgs, thinking I’d eaten there on a previous trip. I hadn’t.
Chicago dog for Rache, Polish Chicago for me.
It was nap time after!
There was a wonderful feature of the hotel, no longer in use…trash chute. That should tell you the age of the building.
Rache ordered deep dish pizza in from Mainatis, delivery by someone’s grandfather.
WAY too much food for two people! Because of the tomatoes sauce (even with fresh wine-ripened tomatoes, I still had to take three antacids.
Here is where the story diverges from what the “plan” was.
We were planning on travelling this way to Cincinnati – in a private train car in swivel lounge seats:
Our seats were to be the furthest back in this section. I like the intimacy, rather than the seats in the bubble dome which were $120 more each, and you are sitting face-to-face with strangers.
Instead, here were our seats on the way to Cincinnati:
This is why you should always have a stash of miles to use if your travel plans change unexpectedly.
There were some amusing things in the Chicago Airport, like a Cannabis Disposal Bin if you forgot you had pot with you:
And a lounge that we both had access to with our Alaska Lounge membership:
With a VERY nice bathroom!
Hello Cincinnati – and an airport in another state, and now Uber/Lyft drivers – unless you book a Lux and it’s sitting in a lot waiting for you (after finding the lot with seriously BAD signage). I got the feeling that there was a cabal about airport service, but I also didn’t want to rent a car for one day and pay to park it downtown (which turned out to be $39 a night).
We got to our hotel: The 21st C Museum Hotel Cincinnati, now part of the Accor chain. I’ve stayed at the one in Kansas City as well. Not inexpensive, but worth the money.
I’ll post in the next couple of days a review of the hotel, which was STUNNING, as was the meal. I’ll try and update the link to the hotel post HERE.
The Colonels picked us up the next morning for a couple of days in Kentucky at Frog Hollow Farm, their 5-acre estate outside of Richmond. Food is king here:
First night’s dinner:
And then there was the dinner party the next night for neighbors and Rache and I’s mutual friend Barb from Lexington, just up the road a bit:
And because they have cats – which I am allergic to, a couple of cute cat pictures. Cat in a box, cat standing guard over the stairway:
I brought The Colonels a canvas print – I had frames shipped to them because I couldn’t get them at home.
Didn’t realize the Mr. Colonel was a sci-fi fan – I brought this one because it had a frog in it. I’m leaving the other three frames and I’ll ship him more images for them for his unplanned “sci-fi bathroom”.
Friday, they dropped us back at the Cincinnati Airport where we had both an unforgettable and corporate complaint snack before the plane.
Only when I blew up the photo did I see actual evidence of mask violations by the staff – days after I filed a complaint on the server and the bartender. I was surprised at the quick response to my complaint, so I’ll give them that much. And on the food side, the parmesan tots were overcooked to the point that they were all crunch. Race said the wings were mid-range, but he liked the cornmeal breading. The joys of covid-related limited menus and staff issues.
I’ll post the hotel review in the next couple of days.
Oh, the joys of sleeping in. And sleep in, I did. Made it to 10am. Rache had advised The Colonels to not worry about me, that I’d gladly eat leftover biscuits and gravy. Luckily, the gravy was simmering when I padded downstairs in my bathrobe for coffee.
No picture, sadly – but MY they were tasty!
What I did get were some exterior shots of The Colonels Southern Hospitality base they call, Frog Hallow:
After I’d showered and shaved, we were off to today’s distillery, about 45 minutes from The Colonels in the town of Danville. Wilderness Trail Distillery is the name, and once again, showed up at 15 after for an “on the hour” tour. We went off and explored the countryside a bit before returning. Even found a little tobacco growing (sadly, not “wacky tobaccy”:
Back at the distillery:
Loved their sink stand in the bathroom – of course, I would have had it open up, in the form of a cabinet. No room in my current house for it.
Here are some shots from out tour – starting with the lab, which is unusual in that it was the original beginning of the distillery – they made under contract lots of yeast for various distilleries, troubleshot other people’s yeast problems – and now offer master distilling courses. Cart before the horse, as it was. For Wilderness Trail, they use a “sweet mash” process where is where all new yeast is used in the batch, as opposed to a “sour mash” process that holds back a portion of the previous run.
It all starts with the grain:
And then the cooking in the mash and still room:
That’s a lot of creamed corn!
All of the corn in their product (minimum 51%) comes from fields less than 30 miles away.
This is their centrical force proof safe where I had a sample of the 132-proof white dog:
And here is their bottle line – defiantly low-tech.
They are due to release their first bourbon this December – having aged it four years – that’s how young this distillery is. Th current releases are a dark rum (local sorghum) aged in old Four Roses barrels. They will switch to their own used barrels starting in December when they bottle their first Bourbon.
The tour and tasting was $7 (free for active/retired military/police/fire) and included a free shot glass.
One the way back to The Colonels, we stopped for an afternoon snack – and something else Rache had heard of, but never tried:
Yep, a rolling White Castle food truck. Makes me wonder if the pad they are working on is going to be the new home of a White Castle Burger stand.
Or other stop was a return to a Liquor Barn because I’d seen an Old-Fashioned glass with a retro Indiana postcard image on it at the store in Lexington.
I didn’t see any on the shelf in glassware, but I must have had a puzzled look as staff came up to help. She found a pair in a gift basket, which she gladly cut open to sell us just the glasses. GREAT customer service! And yes, they did have 32 Craft Beers on tap – I barely got Rache out of there since you could buy and try.
Before long we were back in our temporary home, each of us taking quick naps since The Colonels had invited neighbors over for dinner. At this point, I let Rache take over since neither of us have pictures, and he is more eloquent than I, and I’ve included his observations of yesterday’s visit to Barb as well:
Besides bird-dogging booze, Markie also included some visits of people he has known through his extensive travels. Barbara recently moved to a new (to her) home in Lexington. Even tho’ she was in the middle of a kitchen remodel, Barbara took time to greet Markie and me. Those two had a chance to catch up while I slowly made friends with Barbara’s dog Petey. It took a while form to feel comfortable with us, but he finally did. That pooch is full of personality.
And we ended up spending two nights with Eric and Kate. They are retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonels and are just full of Southern hospitality. The first night, Kate made a southern dinner of fried pork chops, green beans, fresh black-eyed peas, summer squash, and some stuff I’m forgetting. It was all delicious. We finished the night sitting outside and observing the fireflies.
The next night, after Markie’s and my visit to Wilderness Trail, our hosts invited some neighbors to a lovely dinner party. I gotta tell you, this evening was like a festive scene out of Steel Magnolias. Kate outdid herself with putting together a lovely spread for nine of us that culminated with a stunning key lime cheese cake that she made. It was all just over the top amazing.
Kate and Eric were incredibly gracious hosts and comfortable to be with. Friday morning felt like saying adieu to longtime friends. And I’m now Facebook friends with the neighbors.
I had worried that Rache wouldn’t have a good time – but I think I can put that to rest!
Eventually we headed to bed, as an early alarm was going off for me (another reason to sleep in yesterday!).
Tomorrow we are headed home, many things unseen, a reason for another visit.
Once again, I’m out of bed before I’d like. The hazards of planning a trip with multiple sites to visit each day.
Rache went for his usual morning saunter, and then had the leftover ribs from last night. I stayed in bed and then had my ribs and mac cheese. Pretty good breakfast. The Microtel advertised a continental breakfast, but, they too, had a vat of gravy – sadly, not enough biscuits to go around.
First stop today is the Buffalo Trace Distillery which produces more bourbon than anyone else, under about thirty brands. Pappy Van Winkel, Buffalo Trace, Sazerac are a few – think they have Blanton and Weller as well. If you click on the link it will take you to a list of their brands. This place is HUGE:
And they let you wander around before/after the tour (which is FREE!).
As usual, tours are on-the-hour, and we show up 45 minutes before – just long enough to have missed a tour. At least we got to wander.
Our tour guide is a retired Boeing employee from Cle Elum – he was amused that a couple of Washingtonians were on the tour:
Off we go to one of the aging warehouses. Unlike Maker’s Mark (and many other distilleries), Buffalo Trace doesn’t rotate its barrels from the bottom to the top – they just use whiskies from various levels in various brands.
Next up was the building that they hand bottle all the Blanton’s Whiskey:
Everything is done by hand; filling, labeling, wax sealing, bagging, and boxing.
But, what we are really waiting for it the tasting at the end of the tour. We had two choices between four samples. I ignored the vodka and the white dog (unaged whiskey) and went straight to the Buffalo Trace and the Eagle Rare.
The poor kid at the end of the bar was Italian, and didn’t turn 21 until next month – he got root beer, which they also make. Like I said, I went for the whiskey!
It even came with “dessert” which was a Bourbon Crème, that had it not been free, I wouldn’t have tried – but it was good – especially with the bourbon laced candy they were handing out. Unlike Bailey’s, it’s real cream and needs to be refrigerated after opening.
Sadly, they wouldn’t let me into this room with their most expensive products:
We needed a little lunch snack, and since it was National Hot Dog Day, we swung through a Sonic Drive-In since they were doing dollar dogs. Sorry – no pictures of us chowing down on cheap dogs.
After Buffalo Trace we were off to Woodford Reserve. Rache and I had been drinking Woodford Reserve on the flight out and I wanted to show him the distillery, but more important, the drive to get there which is through gorgeous horse country.
Yep, those are million-dollar HORSE BARNS; heated floors, the works.
We got to Woodford – of course, 15 after the hour. We opted to not take the $14.00 tour (or $8.00 for just the tasting), took a couple of pictures, browed the gift shop and left. These will give you an idea of the place:
And one of the barrel-aging houses nearby:
Next up was a cocktail visit with Barb – my travel agent for Princess Cruises. Out of kindness (and laziness), no photos of her “new to her” home since it’s in the middle of moving in and a kitchen renovation. She has a dog, Petey, cute as heck, that, of course, Rache instantly bonded with.
The is the part of the trip where all my friends come into play – and our next stop is at The Colonels, who last I saw in Santa Fe last November.
Don’t we look all comfy!
No need to haul the luggage upstairs – make the stair climber do it.
And speaking of comfy – look at our bedroom. Thanks Colonels!
The evening meal was one of southern hospitality — fried pork chops, green beans, fresh black-eyed peas, summer squash, and some stuff I’m forgetting. Needless to say, we slept well.
It wasn’t really on my “bucket list” to revisit St. Louis, but when presented with a free shared hotel room and free evening activities all for the price of an airline ticket…got to do it. Thanks DancingBear for making me your “plus 1” at your conference.
Used a MVP Gold Guest Upgrade coupon to get a seat next to DancingBear in First Class on the way out – and a good thing I did it in advance as there were 40 people on the upgrade list when I checked in. Was in couch (albeit 6C) on the way home – being number 18 on an upgrade list of 33.
Free Digi-Player (and lunch) up front. Too bad I’ve already seen all the content I like. Maybe I’ll have to start watching the movies I don’t care about. Damn “First World” problems.
But this is what I returned to AFTER the maid had done her service call:
Coffee pot to cleaned and returned to its proper place, coffee, cups, and bottled water not replaced. Ice bucket not emptied and returned to its nook. Basically the trash was emptied and the beds made – not even vacuumed. I thought it might be a fluke, but when it happened the second day I went down to the front desk as ask for the day manager. Brought Jeremy back to the room to show him the situation, and mentioned that this was the second day of lackluster maid service. He promised a fix and an hour and a half later I got a call that the room was ready – even saw what I assumed was the housekeeping manager (clipboard gave it away) checking on the room. And though I didn’t ask for it, Jeremy comped one of our nights. Thanks Jeremy – but you also might want to retrain some of your staff.
So the Sheraton Clayton is, you guessed it, in Clayton, which is the county seat for St. Louis County which, oddly, doesn’t contain the city of St. Louis which is an independent city. Being the county set, the hotel was surrounded by courthouses, legal offices, and more shoe repair, jewelry, tailors than you might expect from a small downtown. Also, plenty of good food:
A ton of space (including upstairs offices and tasting room), and a wonderful friendly knowledgeable staff. I felt bad for just picking up a bottle of the regular Four Roses – we only seem to get the “small batch” on the west coast.
The atrium area of Knight Hall is stunning – I love the amphitheater/stairs combination:
We all piled into two motor coaches for the ride to Cardinal Stadium (technically Busch Stadium). Our driver took on the scenic route (passed signs that said no tour busses) which included Millionaire’s Row. Lots of nice brick/stone work left in the city:
And views of The Arch! DancingBear went up in The Arch the day I arrived in the late afternoon. I never made it, but I was up in it when I was a teenager, low those MANY years ago.
Technically we weren’t IN the stadium, but across a small street in the ATT Roof Top Deck. We had wrist bands to get us into the park if we wanted – I didn’t, didn’t notice anyone else go either. Why go when there is a free (and GOOD) buffet with four lanes and a dessert lane with a chafing dish full of bread pudding. Since it was also an open bar, for dessert I had them put a splash of Evan Williams on mine. Yes, that would be one of the MANY free Evan Williams and Diet Coke – can’t believe my favorite everyday Bourbon is their Bourbon pour:
But there was lots of cook food, and some questionable Midwestern food:
And the aforementioned “questionable Midwestern food”:
Yes, that would be a Rice Krispies ball mounts on a chocolate-dipped waffle cone.
But it’s really about the view – I mean the ball game. Let’s start with the entrance – a huge mural made up from broken apart Rubik’s Cubes:
And the view from our two-level venue:
What a fun evening! What a fun game. I had be root for the Cubs because of Barb (my cruise travel agent) – and they whipped the Cardinals. 6 runs in the First Inning, Cardinals finally scored 2 in the Ninth Inning, final score 9-2.
The next evening’s adventure was at the Magic Chef Mansion (picture up several screens). But here are some interior and group shots. Headed towards the main house.
I mostly hung out at the bar since it was an “awards ceremony” that was much less interesting than an open bar and a chatty bartendress. Note the black table near the back door of the main house.
Said bartendress:
Speaking of the main house, a shot from the library:
And talk about “man cave”, complete with bowling alley:
Belt-driven machine shop:
Pinball machines:
And, of course, a full bar…
But my favorite shot is from the bathroom that was originally part of the maid’s quarters…talk about uni-sex bathroom:
The owner bought the place in the mid-90s for $450,000, but just putting a slate roof on the stables (the event space) cost her $150,000 – lord knows what the rest of the renovations cost – I’m guessing well north of what she paid for the house.
Our return ride was in a stripper limo – only thing missing was the stripper pole!
After our tour, and a little lunch for DancingBear, it was off to the airport and more specifically, the Admirals Club Lounge for drinks, soup, snacks – not the level of the Alaska Board Room, but free with my reciprocal membership.
For the return flight – DancingBear was up front in Seat 1F…
And me just behind the curtain in Seat 6C…
Another trip down after a shared Uber from the airport, dropping me off in South Park.
Another week, another trip – this one is an overnight that has been made VERY easy thanks to Punch (and Jon) because they rented a one-way SUV from Seattle to the Vancouver Cruise Terminal. And I got to sleep in the far back seat the whole way (other than the border)!
We were in the regular lane because only two of us have the gilded “Nexus” card to speed entry into Canadaland – but it wasn’t too bad.
Compared to the lines to check-in, security screening, passport control. There were three boats at the terminal – maximum capacity, and they FINALLY seem to have figured it out. Not much waiting, and if so, chairs. Of course Punch (who had to return the rental car) actually found the Global Entry line as wasn’t much further behind us.
But before lone (hour start to finish, which with three boats is AMAZING), we are checked in, on board, and still have time for a sit-down lunch rather than dealing with the masses at the buffet:
I did a combination of breakfast (eggs benedict) and lunch (insalada caprese) – and that would be a Manhattan in the background.
We’d dropped bags – between the five of us, we have three rooms. Punch and Jon in one (not sure size), Salamander and I in theory sharing an inside cabin, and DancingBear with a balcony that I’m sharing with him. I should have kept my mini-suite (Barb, my travel agent for cruises, questioned my judgement considering how cheap it was – and she was correct). But the view from the balcony isn’t bad:
Like I said, there were three boats in port, here is the Oceania across the terminal:
And leaving port:
Guess we could have taken the float plane to Seattle!
But this looks more comfortable:
And the surroundings:
That would be the Loin’s Gate Bridge in Vancouver, BC, and me almost under it!
Random scenic shots from the one-night cruise:
No LGBT on the Princess Patter Schedule tonight – DISAPPOINTING since I know there are 30+ aboard. Yep – it went on the Princess Comment Form.
I was full from an afternoon snack, so we skipped dinner and joined up with the gang for the “Magic” show:
No show is complete without cocktails!
Or entertainers!
But hunger caught up with me (and others) later…ROOM SERVICE. Not sure we needed SEVEN entrees at midnight….
But somehow they all went away…
The morning found me in pain – food overdose, too much booze – and a mandatory “breakfast” with the rest of the boys. The concept is that it’s a better dollar/value proposition is you get three sit-down meals rather than two. Luckily, the pain of disembarkation was minimal, the cab ride back to DancingBear’s place fairly painless, the traffic light, and the 2.5 hour nap before work, WONDERFUL.
I might be losing my taste for these overnight cruises – even if they do fill my mini-bar for free and give me $75 in on-board credit (paid for the four bottles of duty-free).
Met up with the kids in the check-in line at the Victoria Clipper – actually not in the line, at the counter…I was running a few minutes late getting there. Turns out we were some of the first people on the boat so we had our choice of tables. I prefer the ones in the back closer to the Duty Free counter.
Joe and Lisa on one side:
Me on the other side of the table with fixin’s for a Red Baron (also known as a Poinsettia):
Three hours later we are queued up for Customs and Immigration in Victoria:
We tried to have our pre-tour lunch in The Dining Room but the soonest they could seat us was 2:30 – it was noon, AND the bus was due to return to the city. The Blue Poppy was where we ended up. Cafeteria line, but sit down, and with wine. I had the pulled pork sandwich and a glass of Cabernet. Lisa and Joe had sandwiches and shared a Salmon/Clam Chowder which looked like it had too many potatoes for my taste.
Back in the city we were the last hotel drop off as we are at the far end of inner bay. We only had to wait a few minutes for our room to be ready:
We were a little far for my tablet to get a good connection in the living room so I set up shop in the guest bathroom:
And even that took some work to get a connection – the redirect on their site after log-in wasn’t working so I had to call technical support and to have the phone close enough to the computer to work through stuff with tech support I had to string both the unit’s telephones together using the data jack on one to feed the other:
The things I do for a computer connection, at least with my status it’s free.
But the view is great – even for being on the first floor:
Joe went off to do the grocery store shopping while Lisa and I went around the corner to the mini-mart for the heavy items like Diet Coke, Tonic, Ginger Ale and ice since the clean out the ice bucket between guests which is a pain when you really want a cocktail ASAP.
I’d brought up Flank Steak for the first night large enough for leftovers with the eggs in the morning, and T-Bone Steaks for the second night. Protein is about double the price in Canada as in the US so it made more since to clean out some of the 50% off cow I had in my freezer. And dinner was good:
It being Thursday I stayed behind to get the wine shop’s website updated. We met up for lunch at Barb’s Fish and Chips at Fisherman’s Terminal – my guilty pleasure when I’m up there. The one-piece for me, the two-piece for Joe, and Lisa had the Salmon and Chips.
Little did we know that Labor Day Weekend was an antique boat gathering called Classic Boat Festival. That might explain us not getting a Penthouse Suite with the hot-tub.
Quite a schedule of events – that we will miss since we have an 11:35 boat back to Seattle. At least we got to see them arriving in the harbor”
The afternoon for the kids was poolside. I joined them for an hour before heading of on the water taxi to the marina downtown to check out all the boats:
The ride into town was amusing with this group of partiers… apparently for $15 you purchase a wrist band from the water taxi folks and it gets you four ferry rides between various waterfront bars, and if you have at least four people in your group you get a free appetizer to share at each bar. Sounds like a smashing deal to me (Pickle Pub Crawl):
And here is a really great selfie on that same trip – so good I used it for my FaceBook profile picture:
Several people have commented that it makes me look like a young Pappa Hemingway. But the point of the trip was to see the stunningly gorgeous wooden sail and power boats:
Even the dinghies are pimped out…
And maybe one of the stunningly gorgeous captains…
And the wicker chairs in his cabin that he hates but can’t get them out of the cabin without cutting them in half…apparently they were loaded in before the roof was put on:
Sorry for the glare…gives it an odd “impressionist” feeling. And speaking of pretty boys, these buskers were also talented:
Time to head back to the condo for drinks and dinner…
Our condo from the water…we are one unit back from the front on the 1st floor:
And the dinner that I mentioned:
Up earlier on the final day to catch the ferry home…
I feel surprising good considering that six of us killed 40 ounces of whiskey, a liter of vodka, a bottle of white wine, and two bottles of red.
But a good time was had by all.
A relaxing morning with my flight not until 3pm, but noon sees us packed and out of the condo by noon and off to Barb’s Fish and Chips which is a favorite of Swanda and mine.
What a zoo the parking lot was – no handicapped spaces, not anything close. Swanda gave up in frustration leaving me to battle the crowds single-handedly. It was a good thing he didn’t as the ramp would have been hard on him, as would the picnic benches.
As for me, I had the two piece fish and chips (10% discount as WorldMark guests) and didn’t finish most of the chips.
By 12:30 I was hanging out at the seaplane terminal reading the papers and worrying about my 3pm flight as the 9am and the noon were both cancelled due to fog in Seattle. But a sunny day laying outside reading, watching the boats on the harbor, drinking their free coffee, using their free wi-fi – not a bad way to spend an afternoon.
I got this great shot of the Coho Ferry which I came in on and the very seaplane that I’m about to leave on (15 minutes late but no big deal):
And here is customs and immigration checking the passengers from Seattle. No desk, no computer, just two agents on the dock.
Guess you don’t need much for 4 or 5 people. And me on the plane:
Luckily I got half the back seat rather than being wedged into the middle seat with three – was’t quite big/tall enough to score the co-pilot seat. And the view coming into Seattle:
That would be Westlake Avenue in the picture.
Customs on the US side could have gone a little quicker if not for the chatty customs guy chatting about where you grew up, etc.
After clearing customs it was off to hop a SLUT – that would be the South Lake Union Trolley, which I caught to Westlake Station where I switched to Light Rail for the run to the apartment.
By 6:30 I was home, cocktail in hand. Only bummer was that I was out of pop so after dinner I had to run up the hill to hit the bargain bins of QFC (two steaks, 4 jars horseradish, half gallon Evan Williams) and Safeway (pop a couple of other things).
To bed early tonight for tomorrow is work, filling in for Jim who is off in Idaho.
It was a VERY early morning after a very late night. It was mid-morning that I realized that I was so asleep in the shower that I forgot to shave. There was lots of napping on the boat ride north.
Interesting what happened at immigration. We were the ones picked for more scrutiny. Not only passports, but drivers’ licenses which I never heard of before. Onyx was annoyed, but Lunetta and I were more like “they need to justify their jobs.” Check-in time isn’t until 4pm, so we had plenty of time to kill.
With the room not ready (they hadn’t even checked out yet), it was stash the bags and go to Barb’s Place for fish and chips (yes, me — that will be my carbs for the month), calamari, shrimp, chowder (the boys). This is there last weekend being open until they return in the spring (just like salmon).
Still no room at 1:30pm so off to the coffee shop we went. VERY comfortable chairs — so comfortable that the boys managed to fall asleep mid-page in their books.
By 3pm we were in the room and trying to decide on dinner. I checked out the mini-mart around the corner (was too tired to think about walking to the big market twelve blocks away) and picked up some soda pop, water and chocolate. Once we decided that we were cooking in, it was off to Finest At Sea, a boutique seafood shop a couple of blocks away for scallops and sable fish (black cod) for the grill and iceberg from the mini-mart for the salad (cook thing I travel with oil and balsamic, though Onyx used lemon juice instead) and stuff for a poo poo platter. Finest At Sea isn’t the cheapest (nor is the mini-mart), but it is definitely the freshest.
And here are the results (yes, another blog food shot):
For the first time ever dining with the boys, we had the TV on because PBS was showing “After The Thin Man” with William Powell and Myrna Loy (and a very young Jimmy Stewart). There were about six of these films mad (late 30’s early 40’s black and white) and the earlier ones are the more boozy ones (before they had a child, just the dog).
Onyx was in bed early, and Lunetta and I headed to the hot tub to lessen our woes (or aches and pains from aging).
Up earlier than I’d like, or maybe it was that last martini or two.
By 10am we were in the car and on the way to drop me in Miami near the airport. Baymont Inn/Suites Doral/Airport West. By 11am I was checked in and hanging out in the room all wired up to the internet and everything.
One of the emails to come in was from Barb – my cruise travel agent from Lexington, Kentucky asking for my thoughts on the cruise and the Epic.
My response:
Here are my thoughts on the Epic…..
Entertainment was the best that I’ve ever seen on a boat — didn’t see the “Legends” show (that’s the celebrity impersonator show), but Second City (adult 11pm shows), Blue Man Group (good show, glad I didn’t pay for it though — sort of one of those, been there, seen it, don’t need to see again), and Cirque Dreams and Dinner — definitely worth the up-charge.
But… the food — it all had the feel that it came out of a Sysco can/bag/box. And a rude surprise — espresso after dinner is now at “market price” (of which none of the servers seemed to know what that price was). From my perspective — normally I would order a double espresso with a $10 Cointreau on the side. Not when they are going to charge me an additional $2.50 for the espresso. One of the most telling comments in the singles area was from a woman who regretting that she was at the end of the first week of a two week combo cruise… seems the menu doesn’t change from week to week. When I ask her about her favorite cruise line… Princess.
That brings us to service — not enough drink waiters in the bars. Geez guys — with the markup on booze you’d think that they’d have staff hovering over every half-full drink.
I wish Dan/Lisa had gotten the larger stateroom as we all spent a bunch of time there. Maybe I should have offered to make up the difference!
Odd things about rooms range from drawer slides already starting to fail (the ship has been in the water less than 6 months!), and they are changing out all the faucets because of all the complaints about the high neck ones throwing water everywhere (except the raised bowl). Don’t know how many rooms affected — at least all the balcony rooms. There are also now those Asian/European master switches by the cabin door that need a keycard in them to get the lights to turn on — two trips to the desk when I locked myself out and I made a folded paper plug to go in the switch.
Let’s see — the Single Studio rooms. The website makes it look like it’s a HUGE atrium… more like the widths of 4 or 5 rooms. NO MINI-BAR/FRIDGE in the room. For those who like to keep mixers from breakfast cold during the day — that’s probably a non-starter for me getting another one of the studios. The website says all the studios are card-key controlled areas… NOT. Well, maybe in a couple of weeks — they were wiring in access pods on the last day. The “living room” is a great place to play cards, and there was a self-service fridge stocked with vegetable/dip and club sandwiches — and there was a FREE espresso machine as well. Bar service in the Living Room is limited to 5-7ish each evening as the “solo traveler” meeting takes place. Didn’t ever go to those, but the last night we happened to be there and they were offering free champagne.
And they totally mangled the Friends of Dorothy daily meetings — for the first five days they scheduled it in bars were live music or trivia contests were going on. There were bunches of people who tried to make it work, but it’s hard to talk over musicians. Other ships have actually had a staff member who shows up and gets things going at the beginning (and then leaves).
I didn’t try the slides — but did talk to adults who did. They really liked them, but the line for the biggest one was always too long (try on port days). Dan and I did bowl — on a sea day, probably not the best for making a decent score, but silly fun none-the-less ($5 charge)
Ship layout poor. The casino was located mid-ship on a deck that you had use to get to the level below where lots of restaurants/etc. were located. The casino is smoke-friendly, which is a nice way of saying a toxic waste zone. One of the two atriums also passed though the middle of the casino, and two of the Asian theme restaurants were adjacent as well…. smoke, and raw seafood. Bad mix.
Disembarkation — stunningly quick — 10 minutes from room to curbside. Maybe it was because we chose mid-ship, maybe it was because we schlepped our non-carryon size bags instead of picking them up pre-customs.
To wrap up: Dan and I had initially planned to do the “cruise deposit” and get a hundred in on-board credit…. that plan went out the window by the second day.
Funny that as I was writing up the review I got an email from NCL with a post-cruise survey.
Lunch at Chick-Fil-A next door, dinner a couple of blocks away at Braseros’s Steakhouse. A nice porterhouse and a glass or two of mistakenly open Reverse Malbec (a DEAL for $8). FYI – the website is all in Spanish as they are from Argentina – huge place – not enough people to fill it though. A stunning wine list – they had a 2007 Ridge Three Valleys Zinfandel for $32 – I almost bought it to bring it home.
Wake up call for 5pm. Ick. But flight at 8:30am and I have to catch the shuttle.
Slept in a bit… then walked down the street and met Helene’s boat. She just had carry-on so she was off the boat quickly.
Dump the goods, hang out for a bit with computers looking all the time like an old married couple.
Lunch was at Barb’s Fish and Chips — a Fisherman’s’ Wharf institution for 33 years. Damned good, but not that healthy. I had the calamari, which actually had some squid flavor to it. Helene had the fish and chips with a side of onion rings.
Helene worked most of the afternoon after we got back from shopping for the last bits for tonight and tomorrows dinner. Tonight is chicken — since we have the wine tour tomorrow and that will run late (and the chicken will take 1.5 hours to cook).
I had a hot tub after dinner, Helene lolled around reading. Life is so hard. I could get used to this!
It is so nice to drive to the eastside with the top down, even if I am freezing my butt off in the morning.
Odd marketing meeting this morning with Barb in Dallas and Swanda in Minneapolis, and the owner nowhere to be found. Must have been a family crisis since that’s about all that would keep him off the conference call.
And what a list of errands:
Bank (2 checks)
Harbor Freight (brad air nailer for making the valances for SOB, and other miscellaneous items)
AAA (maps for the new car)
Jaguar of Bellevue (check on a new DVD for the navigation system)
Lowes (two rolls of fencing and a 2x4x1/4″ piece of oak veneer for the microwave enclosure for SOB)
Radio Shack, Shucks and Napa looking for interesting gauges to mount in the left over space in the microwave enclosure.
Whew! Who knew that the Jaguar was a delivery van…
Had a great dinner at Jimmie’s with Suzanne as well. Nothing beats having someone else cook for you.
Last night I had to trip the breaker on the GFI that controls the gate closer. Why? The gates were mysteriously opening and closing on their own. MoonSong showed up this morning to investigate.
Why are the gates posessed? Radio signals from large commercial aircraft flying overhead. Specifically the code for just opening one gate. We decided to just disable that feature and select another code for the remotes to open both door. Tomorrow we’ll try and program the remotes second button to open my regular garage door. Mystery solved. The same thing happened to my father six months ago with his door — I had him change the settings on his. Seems to be more common than I thought. So, if it’s easy, change your settings from what the installer (or previous owner) used — my old house in the city had a default code that was the same as the one the apartment building used. Guess I could have opened their doors as well!
Tonight’s Dinner (Number Four for those of you who are counting the number of days in a row that I’ve hosted a dinner party) Companions are Lynne and Deb — the neighbor girls (which I think they’d appreciate being called since they are both older than I). The menu?
Salad
Black-eyed peas with lamb, pork, turmeric, and gumbo file
Barb-B-Qued pork marinated in Arthur Bryant’s sauce
Florida at 95 degrees and 80 percent humidity vs. 70 degrees and pouring rain in Seattle. My preference would be something in the middle.
Actually got to the meeting with the top down — and to the apartment as well, and then the rain hit, complete with turned over semi-trucks on the ramp to I-5/I-90 so I took Airport Way home.
It was an interesting meeting at Events and Adventures with Mark in Phoenix and Chris in Australia, and neither on conference call. Next meeting is the 9th because Mark and Barb are in Florida next week, and Chris will be recovering from Australia.
No hair trimmer at the apartment — checked when I got home, turns out it will be tomorrow. It will be nice to have it in time for a trim before the Birthday Cruise.
Dinner tonight is with Lynne — she’s bringing thin steaks which I marinated in Arthur Bryant’s Rich and Spicy sauce with a bibb lettuce salad with wonderfully ripe tomatoes and a nice red wine.
Almost caught up with work, should be caught up by tomorrow.
It just feels like I’ve been running a day late all week… with blog entries. It’s usually the next morning by the time the previous day is posted. Maybe I should make it my evening ritual rather than my morning ritual.
The day in a nut shell. Morning with NPR and puttering around the house, answering email, reading the Wall Street Journal. Afternoon was moving Bob (the bus) as one of the neighbors complained to the cops. I really need to see about consigning it to a lot a couple of miles south of here — maybe Monday when it’s time to move it again.
In getting ready for tomorrow’s visit with Barb I was out milking the raspberry bushes to go with some Stilton cheese and white wine tasting that will be our mid-day snack after breakfast at Snoqualmie Lodge and and early dinner at the Brooklyn. Of course this means running those berries and white wine over to Swanda’s so we don’t leave it in the car all day — then it’s off to Mindi and Jeff’s going away party. I’ll miss them, but they’d been in San Francisco for the last couple of years — and now are off to Dublin. And they have a guest bedroom — guess I’d better get to looking for a ticket to Dublin.
So, I was thinking of what to do with my birthday this year — and thinking either a week in Tolyo and a week in Bangkok visiting friends…. but I’d have to be able use miles to upgrade to business, or use miles outright… or, maybe convincing friends to join me on a birthday cruise:
So — get on the boat on a Saturdayin Seattle, and getting off the boat the following Tuesday in Vancouver and then catching the train back late that afternoon. And the costs for “couple” as in for each one of two sharing:
The prices shown are US dollars per person, based on double occupancy, and subject to availability. They include port charges but do not include airfare or (where applicable) fuel surcharges or airport or government taxes or fees.
And for those who can’t stand to share (single occupancy):
So, if there is any interest, let me know asap so I can get you the rest of the info. Stuff like this goes quick so sooner/better. If there is interest I might just get the suite so we’d all have a balconey to hang out on. Hell, if we got ten people, we might even get a discount!
And here is what I am thinking about for dinner tomorrow when Barb from Kentucky is here for dinner (along with Lynne):
Grilled wild sockeye salmon ($6.49 a pound at Safeway)
Grilled yellow squash, zucchini, and sweet onions
Rice pilaf
Wilted spinach salad with a pear gorgonzola dressing
Berries for dessert
Oh, and I should mention that we are going to have a VERY SPECIAL GUEST at dinner as well — making a surprise appearance.
What a lazy time here in vibrant Victoria. Spent the day going for little walks — to the fish store for smoked cod, to Barb’s Place for steamed mussels and clams, laying around reading a backlog of New Yorkers from Swanda.
The boys went out exploring and gathering steaks for dinner. It’s a nice change to have someone else cooking, and I haven’t had any problems letting go of that task.
Here’s the odd audience question for today. What does this flag mean — it was flying on a boat in the marina next door, and the only sailor around didn’t know, but thought it was kind of “blasphemous.” Your thoughts?
And now that the questions are done, we give you the beauty shot from last night after dinner:
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