Triple D in the Pacific Northwest (Part 2)

After a very full day of adventures in Portland I had about a half a day in the city before I had to catch a flight to Seattle for work (of course I was also going to fit in a few DDD locations to try!).

I got up and headed off to my last two Portland places, both were in the downtown area and since it was a Saturday, traffic and parking were pretty much a breeze.  My first stop was a place that was featured in one of the early episodes and was a real interesting place.  The "Byways Café" is in the middle of a city block and is a pretty small place with may 15 tables and a small counter.  I got there a few minutes before it opened and when they did open there were about 6 or us waiting and the entire time I was there a steady flow of customers.  The place is adorned with all kinds of souvenirs and knick-knacks from all over the USA and they seemed to have auto license plates from every state, I took a seat near the Virginia plate!

I remembered in the episode that Guy loved their Corned Beef Hash, he also really enjoyed the baked goods that they make on premises, so I know I had to try one of those items.  I chose a hash dish called the Mt. Rushmore, which was chucks of Corned Beef mixed with peppers, onions and other vegetables and cooked with cheese.  I decided not to get the egg (both Guy and I are not fans of eggs!). 

The Mt. Rushmore at Byways Café

The meal was huge and the best part was the chunks of Corned Beef Hash, now I must admit that Corned Beef is not my favorite meat, but this was very tasty and flavorful.  They didn't load it down with cheese which made it even better.  As I finished the place was really hopping and the owner signed my book but couldn't leave the kitchen so I didn't get to meet her.  Byways seems to have a very loyal following as the staff knew just about everyone that walked in.  The staff there was great!  Everyone there was so nice and engaging and that made my experience there even better.

From Byways I headed to the "Blue Collar" area of Portland.  The "Industrial Café and Saloon" is in a small building surrounded by warehouses and maintenance buildings.  The place has a World War 2 metal factory feel to it with metals work decorations all over and the silverware seems to be Military surplus.  the kicker is they play 1940s music! 

Some of the cool décor at Industrial Café and Saloon

They had a large breakfast menu and when Guy visited the breakfast item he made was a version of Biscuits and Gravy that they call "Gears and Gravy" and I decided on the "Half a Gear and Gravy" which was one biscuit covered in Sausage Gravy.  I can only imagine how the full order must be because the half was pretty large.

"Half a Gear and Gravy" at Industrial Café and Saloon

This was hands down THE BEST Biscuits and Gravy that I have ever had.  It wasn't too spicy and the thing that really made it was the sprinkle of Old Bay seasoning on top.  Not sure if I will ever find it that good, again.  As I was about to leave, a few of the other customers saw my book and I had a nice conversation with them about their own food travel adventures, they were also there due to Triple D.  One nice surprise is there is no sales tax in Oregon!

It was time to get ready and head to the airport for a quick flight up the coast to Seattle.  I got to the airport about 1030a about 3 hours before departure and noticed that the 1030a flight was delayed about an hour so I asked if I could be moved to tat one and the agent moved me but told that die to Seattle weather the 920 flight was headed back and would cancel due to fog in Seattle and she wasn't sure they could put me on.  I waited and was trying to figure out if I should just go and rent a car for the 3 hour drive.  The flight came in and all the passengers got off and the agents were re booking them as the third agent started boarding for the flight.  the crew was anxious to get going and I thought no way for me, but they called me up and gave me a seat, so I just about ran to the plane!  The flight went out with empty seats, go figure!  The 40 minute flight was very scenic and I got some really great photos of the Cascades.

Mt. Hood

Mt. Hood in the background and Mt. St. Helen's in front (notice the volcanic crater on Mt. St. Helen's

Mt. Rainier

One of the many ferry docks in the Seattle area.  The ferries are a huge part of the Seattle transportation system

Downtown Seattle

Downtown Wharf area

Seattle's sports stadiums (Century Link Field on right home of the Seahawks and Safeco Field on left home of the Mariners)

I arrived into Seattle a day before my co-workers would arrive, I had planned that so I could get to a few places.  After checking into the hotel I headed off to a few places in the Tacoma area, which is south  of Seattle.  My first stop was "Bruno's European Restaurant".  This place is very German but is in an industrial park area so although it is adorned inside with photos and all types of German memorabilia, it is sort of non-descript outside.

It is very German inside as the service staff is in authentic German outfits.  Most of the staff is either family or of German heritage.  I chose a smaller meal called Curry Wurst with a side of Spaetzel.   Curry Wurst is a homemade sausage with curry as the predominate spice.  It was very good and curry wasn't too overpowering.  Spaetzel is a German style pasta and was very good.

Bruno's Curry Wurst and Spaetzel

I asked to get my book signed and Christina, Bruno's wife came out and took my book with a big smile back to the kitchen and she had Bruno sign it for me, he was busy cooking so could not come out to visit, but I appreciated him taking the time to sign it!

I headed off into the city area of Tacoma and ended up in what can only be described as the "bar district" of Tacoma.  I headed into a bar with pub grub called "Dirty Oscar's Annex" or DOA by the locals.  It really was just a bar with some restaurant seating.  I got a place at the bar and ordered the Pretzels and Cheese appetizer. 

My DOA Pretzel and Cheese Appetizer

The plate came with one very salted pretzel and one non-salted (I preferred the non-salted one) and a crock of Beer infused cheese sauce.  It was delicious!  The place is a lot of fun, a very lively place.  From DOA I headed into a town nearby called Puyallup to a place called "Crockett's Public House".   The area where Crockett's is was bit like Mayberry (or at least that's how I saw it).  When I arrived the place was packed and I was told there would be about a 2 hour wait but I could try the bar area, well there was not a sea to be found at the bar so I decided to leave, not sure if I could get back there on this trip.

I headed back to the hotel to end a very full day. 

Now for the fun!  About 4a I woke up and noticed that while sleeping I knocked over a cup on the night stand that had a few ice cubes.  The melted ice had seeped onto my phone and killed it!  I don't get many calls on my phone, but with the team coming in and I had to pick them up, this was now a big deal.  I was able to communicate with them before they left Dulles and it worked out, but it was something that I didn't need. 

The team didn't arrive until 11a so I decided to head back to Crockett's for breakfast.  The place was busy but I got right in and chose the old favorite, Biscuits and Gravy.  The difference was the biscuits were described as scones and that made it a bit different.  The Gravy was good, but they use a lot of crushed red pepper flakes and that really gave the dish a kick. 

Biscuits and Gravy at Crockett's

I headed back to start the work portion of my trip.  This was the Sunday one week prior to the Seattle Seahawks playing in the Super Bowl and let me tell you Seattle was Super Bowl Crazy!  As I approached the airport there were about 10,000 people gathered to watch the buses of the team driving to the airport to board their Delta Airlines charter to Newark!  I would not get to another DDD location for a few days, but our team was able to go into the city and visit the Space Needle and took the Alweg monorail from the 1962 World's Fair.  We also got to the Pike Public market but it was too late to see the Flying Fish and all the fun stuff!

Seattle's Space Needle

Alweg Monorail from the 1962 World's Fair

Lake Union as seen from atop the Space Needle

Monorail from the Westfair Station

Riding the Monorail

Seattle's iconic structure

Pike Public Market in downtown

"The Big Wheel" at night on the Seattle Wharf

The next two days were spent at Boeing's Duwamish Operations Center and the training was excellent.  They surprised us with a tour of the Renton factory where the Being 737s are assembled.  Boeing does not allow photography so the only shots I could take were from the bus in the  parking lot but I did get some ok shots so here some of them are.  The fuselages for the aircraft are built in Wichita, Kansas and sent by rail to Renton, that trip takes about 7 days.

Two recently arrived fuselages

Landing Gear Assemblies

Soon to be painted Delta 737-900

The Boeing back lot

 I had one more place to get to.  A few years back on my first Seattle DDD trip I met up with a friend from high school.  Kim brought her friend, Jeanelle with her and we had a great day together.  Kim has since moved from Seattle but I have stayed friends with Jeanelle and we met for dinner on my last night in Seattle.  Jeanelle was gracious enough to bring me to a store to take car of my phone issues and afterwards we headed to the northern part of the city to a place that lived up to it's name, "Bizzaro's Italian Café".  This is one wild place.  the walls and ceiling are adorned with all kinds of stuff, funny pictures and knick-knacks.  This place made the décor at  Byways seem very tame!  I got the Gnocchi in cream sauce and it was really good.  The Gnocchi was very light and I know that light and Gnocchi usually don't go together, but in this case they did!

My Bizzaro dinner

When I told my DDD story to the waitress she told some of the staff and one came over just to verify my story and then the owner came over to sign my book.  It was a great dinner and time with a good friend.

The Bizzaro owner and me

 

My friend Jeanelle and I

What a great trip, I got to go to two cities and try a lot of cool and delicious places and see a few old friends, what more can you ask for?  My DDD count is at 340 and 400 isn't that far off, I hope!