Sights of 2011 Holidays

Although mostly rainy, we did manage to get out and about the Seattle area.  The Seattle Sheraton had its annual Gingerbread House display to raise funding for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.  On the flight to Seattle, we took in the sights from 30,000 feet to spy Crater Lake, Mt. Hood, Mount St. Helens, Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainier.  Although Christmas evening dinner was the height of food smells and sights, we sampled small and large bites at:

Locol Barley & Vine in West Seattle where Chuck had a gig playing jazz adaptations of tunes by local grunge bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden to name a few as part of a keyboard, drums and bass trio; the atmosphere was local, the food was good (we sampled kale chips, a beet salad and a spicy corn and chicken chowder), and the music was a hit;

boom noodle at the U Village (which is no longer the U Village that I remember from my days as a kid going to the Village to bowl); while walking to the place from where we parked a horde of young men only wearing underwear crossed our path (didn't get this photo);

Red Mill Burgers in the Magnolia area; drive by this place several times as it is near where our relatives live; we first heard about this place on a show on the Food Network; the burgers and fries were terrific;

Kaname Izakaya in the International District that we visited for Happy Hour and consumed way too much food, the idea was to go and eat a little bit of this and little bit of that off their Happy Hour menu; we continued onto order ramen, soba and donburi; the food was good but the service was a little off;

Blue Star Cafe & Pub in the Wallingford district that must have one of the largest selection listing of scrambles and omelets known to humankind; I think I already know what I'd order for the next 10 times that I visit; not only is the menu large so is the establishment itself;

Stell's Burgers and More across the street from Seattle Pacific University is another place that we drive by frequently but had never tried; we tried the gyro sandwiches and Greek fries and were pleasantly surprised; the pita bread used for the sandwiches were warm, light and fluffy;

Old Mill Cafe outside Sequim where we stopped on the way back from our visit to the Olympic Game Farm; another stop being the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge and Spit (could see Canada across the way!);

Getting to the Olympic Game Farm included crossings of Puget Sound on the Washington State ferries.  In all the years going to Seattle, this was the first such crossing for our kids.

Mixed into this fun was two movies with the kids:  The Adventures of Tintin in 3D (we even convinced Ojiichan to see what was his first or second movie ever) and Arthur Christmas.  The parents had a movie night too and took in the latest Sherlock Holmes offering.

The Adventures of Tintin was at the IMAX theater at the Pacific Science Center which we visited a second time to see the exhibits.  Finally, we hiked over the Fremont district on two occasions - the place has really grown up to have an interesting mix of restaurants and eclectic shops.

But really for the kids the best times seemed to be when they were just hanging out.  They built forts with the bedding.  They built their own arcade and shops.  They played games and discovered a new favorite game called Forbidden Island that was actually based on the need for teamwork to succeed rather than on winning or losing.

Perhaps that should be the message for all of us in 2012 - let's succeed together.