So I spent some quality time on I-84 today. It runs along the Columbia River on the Oregon side and is really a pretty road. Most importantly it had virtually no snow, though the waterfalls along the way were frozen and that was pretty cool. I stopped to get gas and remembered again that I’m not allowed to pump my own gas!
The Oyster House at 320 4th Avenue West, Olympia, burned down in July 2013. The 1924 structure was originally built to cull and ship oysters, but in 1925 a small oyster bar was added. By 1949 it had evolved into a sit down restaurant. In 1957 it burned down with the exception of some structural elements. It was rebuilt, but closed in 1995. The restaurant reopened under new ownership in 1996 and has operated as a high quality, destination seafood restaurant until the most recent fire. Their website says it is the oldest seafood restaurant in Washington State. The owners plan to rebuild. The second photo is mere steps away.
I turned the corner at the Scholastic Book Warehouse at 5103 D St, Auburn, WA 98001 and there was Clifford, the Big Red Dog! He is about the size that he is portrayed in the ever loved Clifford books. Clifford has his own, barking, website. The Clifford books were first published in 1963 and Clifford acts as the mascot for Scholastic Books.
Darn it was cold today, so I had a very quick stop to photo the vacant lot on the southeast corner of Pacific Avenue and South 38th Street. I remember when there was a building on the large lot, office space I think. Somebody demolished the buildings and there were plans to building something, maybe a drugstore? Anyway, its been vacant for years now. Maybe now that the Northwest corner is being redeveloped, this lot too will see new life. One can hope.