Seattle and Olympia

We headed from Kalaloch back to civilization (i.e. Seattle).  On the way we had to pass through Aberdeen, an industrial mill/port town, which is also the hometown of Kurt Cobain (for you young or old ones, he's the lead singer of Nirvana who committed suicide in 1994).  Kurt always hated his hometown & said so - driving through, it's hard to disagree with him.  Ugh.

We thought hey, we've never stopped in Olympia.  Let's check it the capitol (as they spell it in America).  30 minutes of free parking gave us just enough time to check it out. Though the legislature wasn't in session, it was still a lot more open and featured less overt security than BC's legislature.

The great seal

Entrance hall

The House.  The Senate is a mirror image on the other side, but nicer and without plasma screens.

I came all the way to Olympia, and no reporters show up for my legislature-steps press conference...

We got a very good deal on a cheap/old/seen-better-days motel in Fremont (north Seattle), and spent about 1.5 days relaxing and washing the "camp" out of us.  I took Sarah to Brouwer's in Fremont, an excellent craft beer pub with fantastic food.

Chad with a Cascade Barrel Room "Summer Gose" at Brouwer's.  Yum.

The next day we took a drive just a few kilometres west of our motel, stopping at the locks between Puget Sound and Lake Union, and got to watch the ships going through and the fish climbing the fish ladders.  You can walk right through the lock area, and there's a nice botanical garden right beside the canal.

Big Tugboats

Medium-sized yachts

Even wee kayaks.  Hang on, brother!

There were a ton of big salmon waiting at the entrance to the fish ladder, right beside the locks.  Unfortunately, this ladder entrance is at the corner of two sea walls - seals would rush up and bust through the waiting, cornered salmon.  We then noticed at least three seals further out in the canal, going to town on the returning salmon.

The foamy water is from seals catching a tasty salmon meal

We stopped in the heart of Ballard, a former blue collar community that now has a quiet main street (Ballard Avenue) full of cool up-and-coming restaurants, pubs and shops.  We stopped at a hipsterish sandwich shop - The Outer Coast Cafe - for a great lunch.

This sandwich is named "The Stud"

I definitely want to check out Ballard Ave. in the evening sometime - that one short street has enough great eating and drinking spots that I could stay for days.  First stop would probably be The Noble Fir, an excellent-looking newer craft beer bar.

Always a good sign when Pliny The Elder is on tap

In fact, when I return to Ballard Ave, here are the eating and drinking places I will want to visit (all within about 4 blocks):

• Outer Coast Cafe (sandwiches)
• Anchored Ship coffee bar (had a great coffee here)
• The Noble Fir (trendy craft beer)
• Old Town Ale House (comfortable-looking pub)
• McLeod's Scottish Pub (huge wall of scotches behind the historic-looking bar)
• The Bastille (lovely-looking French bistro)
• Bitterroot (trendy but tasty-looking food)
• and it would be a treat to stay at the quite upscale-looking boutique hotel, the Ballard Inn

That evening, we walked over the Hale's Ales, one of the older brewpubs in town.  Service was a little slow, but they had some nice beers which we sampled.

Entrance to Hale's, with brewing equipment behind a low fence to the right

Hale's gravity-fed brewing system

Tasters

On the way back to our hotel, we discovered an interesting 7-Eleven marketing scheme.

Your can get a Democrat or Republican cup for your coffee - each cup sold is one "vote," and they award a winner of the "7-Eleven vote" at election time.  I know where my lobbying money is going!

And so came to a close our Olympic odyssey.  Much more to do an see than we expected, and all aided by continuous warm, clear weather.