While we were in Port Angeles, WA, we ate lunch at a place called Michael's Divine Dining. It is located in the basement of a Natural Foods store on the main street of town. The service was slow, but the food more than made up for it. They did warn us when we sat down that everything was pretty slow there because it is all hand made when ordered. I had the best clam chowder of the trip here, though I still wasn't wowed by it. The clams were very good, but there could have been more potato, and it was a bit more watery than I like for a chowder. The highlight of the meal though was my sandwich. I had a Torpedo Sandwich (which I don't see listed on their online menu). This was the very best sandwich I have ever had. I also had their garlic fries, and I would reccomend avoiding those.
It was not uncommon for us to have to pay $2.50 for gas when out on the Olympic peninsula. Gas was even higher on some of the islands, like Friday Harbor.
Banana and I both loved the weather in that area (Pacific NW). We both agreed that we would be willing to live in that region if that option ever becomes available. Banana loves water, and I love mountains, and both are available in this region. I also have my fondness for the Seattle SuperSonics.
--------------
Outline of our trip
__________
Friday: Banana flew out via Northwest Airlines early in the morning.
Saturday: I flew via Northwest Airlines with my flight leaving Minneapolis at 9:30ish PM. It was a long flight. We had a lot of turbulance and had to fly around a couple of large weather systems over the Dakotas and Montana. Adding to that was two young children who cried and screamed for the 3+ hours of the flight. It wasn't an occassional outburst either. One child screamed for at leat 45 minutes straight, from the moment we pulled away from the terminal. It was like having a nail driven through my skull, very, very slowly. I was picked up at the SeaTac airport by Banana and two of her college friends (Ryan and Jennifer). We stayed at the Westin in downtown Seattle, which has the most comfortable beds imaginable. Very nice accomodations.
Sunday: We got up early and made a trek to Starbuck's and McDonald's for breakfast with Shawn. We then walked a mile or so and visited the Space Needle. The skys were clear and we got some great photos. That afternoon/evening was the wedding on Lake Union. Beautiful location for a small wedding. Following the wedding a group of us (including the newlyweds) went to Palace Kitchen in downtown Seattle, just two block from our hotel. We didn't stay long though as it was late, and the newlyweds had other places to go.
Monday: we slept in a bit and then went to lunch with Chris and Leigh Hafner. We at at The Alki Cafe in West Seattle. After a great lunch we packed up and took a cab to pick up our rental car. We got a new (only 1200 miles on it) Kia Spectra5. It was black, with light grey interior. It is a sharp looking car, and had a nice amount of room. There was a good sized space in back, accessable via a hatchback. It got great gas milage, especially considering I drove it pretty hard in the mountains. It was absolutely gutless though. No power. They need to add a squirrel or two under the hood. It was especially underpowered when trying to pass at highway speeds. It would kick down, and then think about it, and finally a few miles later begin to build speed. The car also had NO CRUISE CONTROL. What a pain. I didn't realize this missing feature for the first hour or so, as we were driving in heavy Seattle traffic. We drove down through Olympia and then up to Port Angeles on Hwy 101. It was a pretty drive, but next time I would take the Ferry. Takes a long time to drive down and around. Early in the evening we did some great driving. We hoped to drive up to a place in the mountains, 17 miles outside of Port Angeles. The last 8-10 miles of the road is a very narrow dirt road clinging to the side of the mountain. It was so narrow, that at places I suspect a Hummer H2 might not have fit. It was an endless climb, and endless blind tight curves. We actually never made it to the top, as we wanted to make it back down the mountain to catch the fireworks. The drive was perhaps the most fun stretch of road I have ever driven. We watched fireworks from Downrigger's restaurant in Port Angeles with Ryan and Jennifer.
Tuesday: we drove up to Hurriacane Ridge. Another fun drive, but unfortunately we did it through rain and fog. When we got to the top, visibility was about 100 feet. There was a brief period though where the weather broke and we were able to get some limited views and photos. I was also able to stop and take some really nice wild flower photos on the way down the mountain. We then drove over to Port Townsend where we would spend the next couple of days with Banana's Aunt Sallie.
Wednesday: we were able to get onto a whale watching tour by waiting on standby. We got the last two seats on the trip when a couple didn't show for their reservations. We toured around the San Juan islands, and stopped for lunch in Friday Harbor. That afternoon we were able to catch up to the orca's, and I got a number of pictures of the whales. I wasn't really impressed, but Banana really wanted to do this. That evening we went with Aunt Sallie and her roommate Gwen to a place in downtown Port Townsend called Pete's. I had the best bacon wrapped sea scallops I have ever had. They had a delightful creamy citrus sauce they were baked in, and the flavor was nearly indescribable. Usually I like sharing my food with Banana, but these were so good it was a real sacrifice to give her a taste!
Thursday: We packed up and said out goodbyes to Aunt Sallie. We spent an our walking around downtown Port Townsend checking out the art galleries and grabbing lunch. We made our way down to Bainbridge Island and took the ferry across to Seattle. The ferry is really a great way to travel, and made the trip very quick. I think it was $14 from Bainbridge to Seattle, but it costs more to go the opposite direction. We discovered when we left the ferry that finding a gas station in downtown Seattle is not an easy task. We then drove to the SeaTac airport where we had a late lunch and caught our flight back to Minnesota (NWA again). Once again, we were surrounded by crying children. Immediately behind us was an infant who cried whenever it wasn't being breastfed. Across from us was the infant's 3 year old brother who screamed and cried whenever the video on his computer stopped, which included the whole take off and landing time when electronics are not allowed to be used. Adding to this stress was the fact that the airline decided that 85 degrees is a good temperature to keep an airplane while in flight. Even with the air blowing down on us at full power it was uncomfortably hot. Nobody needed blankets, which is a rarity in my experience when flying. The one good part was we were able to snag exit seats so we at least got some extra room.
So that was our vacation. At lot of fun, and much too short.
No comments:
Post a Comment