Tag: food

Woke up to a beautiful day in Seattle. After discussing options with the desk clerk, I decided to walk to the wharf for my 1:25 pm boat trip. I left early so I could do some exploring along the way and at the wharf. I got a Marion berry muffin. A Marion berry is a cross between a blackberry and a blueberry. I went into the Old Curiosity Shoppe and saw Sebastian, a guy who died in the 1880’s and was preserved.

The boat trip was around the bay with a guide pointing out the various landmarks. Unfortunately, I didn’t take notes. Taylor Swift set off a 2.4 magnitude earthquake when she was here. For the other stuff, you’ll have to visit and get on the boat.

One other thing I remember and that was the mention of Pikes Place Market. I decided to stop there since it was on the way back to my hotel. Seattle has some hills but nothing like San Francisco, so I wasn’t too surprised when the entry to the market was by elevator. I got off on the fifth floor because a few other people did. There were stores all around. I visited a few and went up stairs to find more. I think all seven floors were part of the market. I bought some chukkah cherries, some I sent to Debbie because she introduced me to them. If you are reading this Debbie. They will be shipped to your house mid April. I figured you’d be back by then. I also shipped some home to Naomi. Then I found a fish place and shipped some smoked salmon home.

Next door to the fish place as the Athenian seafood restaurant. I sat down and got a big mug of hard cider. While trying to decide between the Seafood Sauté or the Athenian Seafood Bowl, the young man at the next table had ordered the latter and he showed it to me. I ordered the former and he joined me for lunch/dinner. Michael is a master’s student at Michigan and is due to graduate this spring. He’s from Taiwan. He’s into data analytics, so we had an enjoyable time talking shop. I wish him well, I think he will be successful in anything he does. Michael, check out mfpt.org. If it’s of interest, I know the current leader, Suri, although it’s been 20 years since we talked.

Michael pointed out the restaurant was the one in the movie ‘You’ve Got Mail’. I forgot to take a picture of the staircase on my way out.

I walked back to the hotel, tired, but happy for a good day.

Looked at my ticket and realized I’m on a bus again. Here’s where the grumpy comes in in my grumpy old man name. I’m riding almost as many buses as I am trains. Since nothing can be done about it now, I’ll make the best of it. I checked on the internet at Amtrakguides.com, and the suggestion is I sit on the right side of the train for the best views when going from Spokane to Seattle. I hope that’s true for buses too.

I stopped at the Satellite House for breakfast. Rather large pancakes. So I’m sitting at the train station waiting for a bus with a full belly (mine, not the bus).

The bus ride was, well let me just say I’m glad it’s over. The bus stopped at every little town, so it took a while and none of the stops had eating places. Fortunately I had brought some food. It didn’t matter which side of the bus I was on, there were nice views on both. The worst part was there was a homeless drug addict sitting in the seat in front of me. He tried to talk to me but I told him I was tired and going to sleep. So he spent most of the time talking non stop to the driver. The driver deserves sainthood. Well, it’s over. I’m in my hotel room ready for bed and I checked the remaining trip, no more bus rides.

Got in about 1:00 am last night. It was a short walk to the hotel. I got a Double Tree cookie. Life is good.

Woke up to the sun shining and went out to breakfast. There is an Original Pancake House three blocks away. I’ve eaten there in Huntington Beach and Utah. Menu was the same but the omelette was made differently. Still good though.

I went for a walk on the river front. They had the World Exposition there in 74. The place still looked good. I walked to the falls and around the clock tower. It was a beautiful day.

After a short rest I went to a local market to buy some fruit which I took back to the hotel to eat. Later on I went to the Onion for dinner. I had some really good cider, a glass of Moon Berries, which had blackberries and blueberries in it and a glass with boysenberries. Dinner a big burger.

On my way to the hotel I stopped at the market and got some things to eat on the train tomorrow. The hotel gave me another cookie. A relaxing day that I needed.

I took the cable car down to the wharf. I got off at Lombard St, not sure why. Turns out it’s known as the crookedess street in the country. Not for illegal stuff but because it has bends in it. So I searched for what to see and it came up with a farmers market. Sounded good so I started walking. I started up a steep hill, at the top I turned right and found a corner grocery store named the farmers market. My bad. So, not seeing any twists and turns and not knowing how to search for them, I headed down the hill to the wharf.

I arrived at pier 39 and strolled among the shops until I came to an out door magic act just starting. I got picked to assist in a magic trick. Thinking of a card number. Then I walked to the end of the pier and took pictures of some sea lions sunning themselves.

I walked to the next pier and went into the Musee Mecanique, featuring antique coin operated arcade games. I tried a couple and took some pictures. I then went to see the exhibit of the WWII submarine USS Pampanito. I just saw the outside because I couldn’t find a place to buy a ticket.

I was getting hungry so I started looking for a place to eat. I got a clam chowder bread bowl and cioppino. Then I went over to the Ghirardelli chocolate place. I say place because I there was an ice cream store and chocolate store, but no sign of a museum. By now I was tired so I headed back to the cable car stop and took it bad to the hotel.

I’ve got a couple of days in San Francisco to see the sites and recover a bit. This trip has been fun, but it is tiring. I am on the bus that will take me on a tour of Muir Woods and Sausalito.

Last night, riding the bus across the Golden Gate Bridge, I was amazed at how pretty San Francisco looked all lite up. I couldn’t get a good pic, though, so you’ll have to come out here and see it. The buildings are so tall. I know they’ve been designed to withstand earthquakes, so I imagine they will do a lot of swaying during one. The walk to the hotel was nice, not too cold and people were out on Friday night. The good thing was, it was mostly flat. This morning I saw the hills. Also saw the cable cars.

Went over the Golden Gate Bridge on the way to Muir Woods. We stopped at the bridge viewing parking and got some good pictures.

Muir Woods was great. The trees were huge and it was so peaceful. The drive to Sausalito was nice too. I did some shopping and decided to take the ferry back to SF. It was a good choice. Nice ride.

I had lunch/dinner at Nick’s Lighthouse at the wharf, clam chow and Sauté Shellfish Platter. Too much food for me to eat but it was good. I took a cable car back to the hotel and later went out for a donut for dinner.

What a great day. I’m thinking of taking the cable car back to the wharf tomorrow to do some shopping. It’s a 30 minute walk, but these hills are killing me. I thought about doing Alcatraz or Treasure Island, it I think I’ll save them for my next trip to SF. Definitely a place to return to.

I woke up to cold, very cold. It’s due to start snowing this afternoon. My train leaves at 10:17 pm. Most of the places I planned to see are closed due to weather. The hotel, a Hilton Home2 property, has extended my checkout until 1:00. It’s a great place. I spent the time doing my laundry. Not too many hotels have a washer/dryer for the guests, but Home2 does.

I decided I had enough of sitting in my room watching old comedies. The Amtrak station has a lot of stuff to see and do, so I checked out and walked the short distance. It’s cold. Surprise, surprise, most of the attractions are closed due to the weather. I got a few hours to figure out something to do.

Good news. I was able to leave my bags with the Amtrak ticket person. Now I can tour the station and take the walkway to the shops on the other side of the street.

Lots of good stuff to see, unfortunately, most of it closed because of the weather. I tried to go back to the bbq place I ate at last night, but it was too cold. So I went to one at the shops at the end of the walkway, called Burnt Ends. Good stuff, but I think I’ve had enough ribs for a while. Kansas City is a place I will return to when the weather is warmer so I can see all the things I’ve missed.

Back at the station I met a young man on his way from Arkansas to Los Angeles to help his aunt. Stephen is a nurse, married for two months to an airman (airwoman?). It’s people like him who give me hope that the next generation can fix some of the problems that my generation has created. Meeting people has been one of the best experiences of my trip.

Had to get up early to catch the train to Kansas City. I debated walking vs Lyft, Uber was more expensive. After talking to the hotel desk clerk, I decided to walk the 1.2 miles in 13F weather.

I’m taking the 311 Missouri River Runner. It makes 9 stops so I won’t get into Kansas City until 1:50 pm. I have a piece of pie from yesterday’s ginormous lunch and I’ll get a cup of coffee on the train.

Riding on the train and passing through towns called Otterville and Knob Noster. There was a 50 minute delay outside of Sedalia blamed on track congestion. Country side is nice, a lot of undeveloped land and manufacturing plants with small towns around them. One made corn cob pipes. Wonder if they’re still in business?

The train got in an hour late. No big deal, still daylight and it’s too cold to do anything. It’s 19F in Kansas City, going down to -8F on Thursday. Fortunately, I’m leaving tomorrow night. The low tomorrow is 0F.

The hotel room was a short walk. I’m having dinner at Jack Stack BBQ – Freight House, a very short walk from the hotel. Got a ginger bull drink to take the chill off. I’m feeling good. One of these is plenty. Got a sample plate of pork ribs and burnt ends, it’s good. Definitely a place to return to. I’m having carrot cake for dessert. Fortunately there isn’t a scale nearby. I’m going to have to rename this blog ‘how to eat yourself into a cross country stupor’.

It’s cold in St Louis, 25F, and flurries. I got a 9:10 am to take the tram up to the top of the Gateway Arch. Fortunately, it’s a short walk. At the visitor center I got into a small pod that took me up to the top of the arch. My group stayed up about 10 minutes, looking through the small windows and taking pictures. Then we took our pods bad down. That was it. A little disappointing. The museum at the bottom made up for it though. The exhibits told the story of St Louis from early Indians to the building of the arch.

Now I needed to eat. My choices were the bbq place I ate at last night or a breakfast place. I chose the bbq place. Bad choice. There was a long line to order. I sucked it up and 40 minutes later, ordered a full rack of ribs (see picture). It was so much, I only ate half of it. I took the rest back to my hotel room.

I decided I had to see the Mississippi River no matter how cold it was. So I went back to the gateway arch and walked down to the river. Afterwards I went to see the Old Cathedral and its museum.

That’s enough for today. I have to get up early to get to the train. Kansas City is a lot colder than St Louis.