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Heading back to Rochester via Seattle, taking the train there & then flying home via JFK after a day of sight-seeing. Net connectivity on the train so far has been very poor so more on this trip later…

UPDATE -

So I had promised myself that I wouldn’t leave Whitefish without first stopping at on of my favorite breweries, Great Northern Brewing Company – used to be Black Star beer when my family and I would come out for ski vacations at Big Mountain. I was afraid I’d have to break that promise to myself as it had been such a busy week, but after making dinner for my Mom and going over some odds and ends while packing there was stil an hour and a half before my train was scheduled to arrive. Plenty of time for a couple of beers in the tasting room, which also happens to be a block away from the Whitefish AMTRAK station.

Mom tried the Huckleberry Wheat while I had one of their new Highland Scotch Ales – which I believe won a best-of-show in a 2009 festival in Missoula, MT. I then had their new Pack Strap Porter, wow! Nice and toasty, hint of espresso and impressively smooth and drinkable.

I asked the bartender if I could take a few pictures and she showed me a balcony overlooking brewing operations. I always love how spotless and shiny stuff is in breweries!

After getting on the train, I settled in with a half-bottle of a decent Central Coast 2006 Cabernet and caught up on Formula 1 Monza Free Practices and Qualifying.

Got up this morning at 6 in order to have time for a shower and breakfast before getting into Seattle – the scenery from the dining car was amazing! As I write thus update I am an hour and 15 minutes from downtown / King Street station – very much looking forward to a day of exploring / wandering in the city.

UPDATE 2 -

After a relaxing night of catching up on F1 we got in on time to Seattle’s King St AMTRAK station.  I had left my clothing and extra computer/work related stuff in Montana to have it all shipped back to Rochester NY so I was just carrying my backpack when I got off the train.  I immediately headed up the hill toward Kobe Park in the International / Chinatown District, having seen it on some touristy map the day before.  At the base of the park, there was this really fascinating iron gate, it looked (to my uneducated eye) like something out of 500+ years-ago Japan.  Going through the gate there were a series of paths leading up the hill – half way up I was surprised to see that most of the park is actually a community garden!  People were tending to plants, weeding, watering, it was really refreshing to see. At the top of the hill was a sculpture / shrine among the pine (fir?) trees.

After spending a bit of time looking out over the city from this gorgeous vantage point I decided I’d like to see the Public Library. A few blocks down hill and to the north I got there, unfortunately, seeing as it was Sunday, it was closed until noon.  I figured I’d find a Starbucks and relax for a little while and get some work done while waiting for it to open…   except that the three Starbucks that I came across were ALSO closed.  Didn’t they INVENT it here??  Having abandoned that plan I saw some ferries and piers and figured I’d head down that way.  My parents had recommended the seafood at Ivar’s on the waterfront, it turns out that was right next to the ferry terminal.  I decided to take a trip over to Bainbridge Island and walk around for an hour or two, plus I wanted to see the skyline from the waterfront.  After buying my ticket I walked over to Ivar’s for a small platter of fried clams, yum!  Much more meaty and tender than the little-crips-of-mostly-dough you tend to get when ordering clams where I live.

Upon arriving to Bainbridge I walked toward the “town” of Eagledale.  I’d read about Cafe Nola and figured I’d relax, have some lunch and then continue to explore the island. I had a mimosa and what was quite possibly the best club sandwich I’ve ever encountered – an entire breast of chicken butterflied and grilled with a perfect mix of herbs, fresh local cheese, thick sliced bacon and wonderfully crisp, fresh lettuce, all served on a local artisan bread.  I actually asked them to pack half of it to-go for me and enjoyed the second half on my way back to Seattle on the ferry.

After the return ferry trip from Bainbridge, I wandered over to the Pikes Place Market.  WOW!  Several stories of indoor shops (not really my type of thing, most of it seemed a bit kitschy, honestly) but then I made it to the outdoor stalls.  What a fantastic place!  I ran across the original Starbucks (I guess it had been moved there from it’s first location) and quite a number of other places to eat, shop, buy fish, produce, cheese, you name it. I was still pretty full from my sandwich so I didn’t get to try Mee Sum as recommended by Rufo and Nathan but that looked quite promising!

After the market I did finally make it back to the library, it’s even more amazing inside. I spent about an hour there catching up on stuff for work, charging my laptop and phone and then made my way to Pike Brewing Company for dinner.  They had a pretty decent sized selection of beers and a great menu, I started by sampling the Double IPA and their Pike IPA, ended up getting the “regular” one, I normally like very high IBU / hoppy beers but the double was a bit too harsh in my opinion. For dinner I had their crab+shrimp cakes (with this fantastic thai-influenced sauce, and served on a nice salad of mixed greens / herbs), and then I tried their local cheese sampler paired with their beer sampler.  Absolutely fantastic stuff!

After dinner I made my way to one of the “transit tunnel” stations – they actually run the buses and light rail under the city, pretty neat. Turns out the light-rail to SeaTac isn’t QUITE finished but they provided a free transfer / shuttle from the station immediately prior.  After clearing security I had another local IPA while waiting for my flight (I’d gotten there a bit TOO early) and that might explain part of why I slept like a baby on the way back to JFK.