July 27, 2014 - Reunited (Underground Tour)

We got a later start this morning since we were waiting for family to come in.  So when we went downstairs the Moore Coffee Cafe was open.

I was very excited when I saw Nutella & banana waffles on their menu but then I saw Nutella & strawberries, decisions, decisions.  I ended up with the strawberries which were delicious but the waffle itself wasn't that great.  Roger chose the Monte Christo which was fine but nothing special.   They did plate it very nicely.  Roger also wasn't too excited about their coffee. He said "it has no bite".

Elaine called me while we were having breakfast and said that they had arrived at their friends last night.  They drove straight through from Sacramento because they couldn't find a hotel to stay in the night before.  They are going to spend the day with their friends so we won'the be meeting up with them today.

Ed & Sarah flew in this morning.  We walked up to meet them at their hotel and then walked down to the ferry terminal to meet Brad & Christine.   It looks like we won't have to wait long.

As we were walking to find some place to eat we ran into the Gregory's.

We were all able to spend some time together over lunch and dessert.

We split up after lunch and the Gregory's went on and we went to the Copperworks Distilling Co..

They wanted authentic equipment from Scotland.  You can see why they named their company Copperworks

After Roger explained to the family how the distilling process is done, we did a little shopping and Roger did a little tasting.

From there we said good-bye to Ed and Sarah and we went on the Seattle Underground Tour.

Our tour guide Kari explained how the bottom floor of the building in the picture is where we were now.

Due to the fact that plumbing was put in above ground the toilets were raised up.

The skylights that were used to let light shine through the sidewalk above.  Over time they have changed color and are turning purple.  They are also losing them slowly to breakage.  So if you are walking the streets of  Seattle be careful were you are walking.

During prohibition they used the underground for their speakeasis and to a smuggle their liquor around town.

Of course the tour ended at their gift shop that was underground.  They also had a museum wall that was interesting.

One of the cappers they found.

After the tour it was time for Brad and Christine to catch the ferry.  We walked with them back to the ferry terminal which was just a couple of blocks away.  Then it was time to head back to the hotel for a cool shower.

July 26, 2014 - Friends in Seattle

This morning we are heading to Edmonds.  So before heading out we went to Piroshky Piroshky and selected the Beef & Cheese Piroshky and the Chocolate Cream Hazelnut Roll, which we shared.

Then we just went a few doors down so Roger could get a coffee.  This is the first Starbucks location.

Since it was 7:30 in the morning he was able to walk right up and get his  coffee.  Later in the day when we walked by the line was half way down the street.

We drove up to Edmonds to take some classes at Rick Steves Europe Travel Center.  We had signed up online for the free classes.  They offer varying classes regarding travel every Saturday & I believe Thursday night.

The Gregory's had arrived in Seattle last night but we had decided to meet up when we were done and after they had picked up Michael from the airport.  Since we were all hungry we decided to go have a late lunch.  To make it quick and simple we decided on Subway.

From there we headed over to the Space Needle.

There were some interesting characters in the area around the Space Needle.  They were getting ready for the Seafair Torchlight Run.

They also had some famous  characters too. The one on the right is Clint Dempsey from the World Cup.

Of course we took some touristy photos before we left.

We walked down Post Alley

on our way back down to Pikes Market.

Since most of the market had closed and the crowds of people were gone we could get a little silly.  Earlier today  we couldn't hardly get through the crowds of people that were down here.

We headed down many steps to the water front.

We just meandered our way along the water front looking for the free ice-cream Roger had said was down here.  Of course we did not find it but we did find a few places selling ice-cream.

Everyone was pretty tired so we headed back to our hotels.  The Seafair Tourch light parade was going on until around 10:00 pm with cannon fire going off every little bit, so it was a while before we could go to sleep.

July 25, 2014 - Goodbye Port Orchard Hello Seattle (Uncle Dave's Cafe, The Moore Hotel, Brew Dogs Distillery Tour & Ivars Fish Bar)

We started off the morning having breakfast at Uncle Daves Cafe.  If you are ever in Port Orchard and you like biscuits and gravy you have to go here.  The biscuits are huge, light & fluffy. The gravy is a sausage gravy and made just the way I like it.  The price is also very good.

After breakfast it was time to pack up the car, say goodbye to Christine and head to Seattle.

 I am not sure how I found the Moore Hotel online but I am really glad I did.  The hotel is just a couple of blocks from Pikes Market Place.

Our room is on the 6th floor and is a queen room with an in suite bathroom.

Some of the rooms here have a shower in the room but the toilet is down the hall.  The rate for our room is $104 a night.  For Seattle, and especially for this area, this is very cheap.

The weather has definitely changed from what it has been the last couple of days so we needed to change into shorts before we headed out for our tour at 3 o'clock.   We had to take the market picture as we passed by.

So before we left home I looked on Groupon to see what type of activities they had in Seattle and I found a distillery tour. They took us to 3 distilleries,  the first one being Two Bar.
After giving us a taste of his products he showed us his process for making spirits.

Making the mash/wort.

The barrels are for his bourbon.

The second place we went was Letterpress Distillery.

We didn't leave here empty handed.  Roger bought some Lemoncello.  They use honey and not sugar to in his Lemoncello recipe.  I may try this with the batch I am making at home.

Our last stop was at Sound Spirits Distillery.

This looks more like what the Baldwin Sisters would have used to make The Recipe with.

He does look the part of an old fashioned moonshine maker though don't you think.

I also liked their cupboard.

I thought the tour was OK but I am glad we had a Groupon because I don't think that the tour would be worth $77 a person.

We were starving when the tour ended.  After dropping off our Brew Dog tour  t-shirts and shot glasses off at the car we headed to I vars for dinner.

It was a madhouse as everyone was ready to eat dinner, so you needed to follow their ordering system especially #4.  They do have sit down restaurant next door but we decided to just get food from the walk up fish bar.  Roger liked the fish n chips but I don't think he was crazy about the claim chowder.  He thought it had to much bacon.  I had the chicken strips n chips. The only problem was they did not have any dipping sauce except for ketchup.

We had some very loud dinner companions.

I thought they were going to take the fire boat out  but the didn't.


After dinner we just walked back to the hotel and I made reservations for some classes at Rick Steves Travel Center for tomorrow in Edmonds.