ramblings of a Seattle travel, food and photography hound
As I posted earlier, the large population of Mexican-Americans in eastern Washington naturally leads to the startup of quite a few Mexican restaurants. Driving through the main drag of small towns, such as Quincy, you can't help but notice how many there are. All that competition should raise the overall quality. For dinner tonight, we... Continue Reading →
One of the biggest surprises about Northwest natural history is that there were many catastrophic floods during recent geological times that dramatically altered the landscape of Washington state. Almost half the state was inundated. This hypothesis was first put forward by geologist J Harlan Bretz in the 1920s. These floods are thought to have swept through the state... Continue Reading →
There aren't too many destination restaurants in the Georgetown area. Good restaurants, but not great. Occasionally, I'll stop at Maruta Shoten and pick up things to go, like their terrific garlic chicken wings and well-made sushi. In the northern part of Georgetown, almost to the SoDo district, is Marco Polo Bar & Grill, which has... Continue Reading →
Situated on Orcas Island, Turtleback Farm Inn is listed in 1000 Places to See Before You Die. Other travel publications have chimed in with equally effusive praise, backed by the reviews of the many visitors who have stayed there. Susan and Bill Fletcher purchased the farm when they were simply looking for a second home,... Continue Reading →
Several years ago, Orcas Island residents opposed plans to develop Turtleback Mountain, once privately owned by Norton Clapp of the Weyerhauser Corporation, and sold to a foundation. They filed a lawsuit in court and won. The mountain is now an island preserve. Additional trails beyond the logging roads have been developed in the park, with... Continue Reading →
Ever since the closure of La Famiglia many years ago, Orcas Island didn't have a good Italian restaurant to go to. Portofino hardly qualifies since it's mainly a pizza joint. That all changed when Bill Patterson purchased Chimayo and opened Sazio di Notte. His plan was to convert Chimayo, a favorite Southwest restaurant among locals, to a... Continue Reading →
The venerable Bilbo's Festivo, a popular and long-time Mexican restaurant in Eastsound, is now Chiladas, after having gone through several ownership changes. The current one is Bilbo's original owner. While the menu has changed and aims higher than standard Tex-Mex fare that mostly (though not entirely) made up its previous menu. Now, the entrees represent... Continue Reading →
Over the past few years, good friends of ours have invited us over to their cabin on the shores of Lake Chelan. Prior to a wedding in 2009 and our friends' invitation two weeks later, we'd never been here. In the summer, it is a very popular playground for water sports, rarely raining here as... Continue Reading →
Seattle will soon open its giant ferris wheel. At 175 feet, it's the tallest on the West Coast. We noticed it for the first time when we were walking around Pier 57 at the waterfront.
One of the great hikes for wildflower viewing is in my own backyard, on the east side of the Olympic peninsula, part of Olympic National Forest. The Big Quilcene River Trail climbs 3,500 ft in a little over 5 miles, past old growth forest of hemlock and Western red cedar, yellow cedar and subalpine fir. The... Continue Reading →
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