Tag Archives: cold

The lunch view at Marketplace Grille in Gig Harbor

2 Replies

The Marketplace Grille at 8825 North Harborview Drive in Gig Harbor has been in place for 16 years, but dear husband and I just discovered it and we are glad we did. The reasonably priced restaurant has a quirky layout with seating on either side of an open air hallway. We arrive at about 2:30 for a late lunch and were seated at a table for two with an impressive view of the harbor (see photo). Marketplace Grille is known for its clam chowder, made without bacon, and it was indeed delectable. We each had our own chowder and then we shared the three piece halibut and chips. There was enough left over that we got a to go box. Our server, Carline, was professional, warm and upbeat. I felt like I made a friend! Afterward dear husband drove off to a bookstore and I took a chilly, but stunning, walk into town. As you can see with the last photo, the mountain (Mt. Rainer) was out.

More information, including a menu, can be found here.

 

Deep Lake at Millersylvania State Park, Olympia

Leave a reply

I found a little bit of winter at Deep Lake at Millersylvania State Park in Olympia. And while I’d like to write that I took a long healthy walk on the trails, the truth is that I stood admiring the lake for about 10 minutes and then gave in to the cold and trotted back to the heated car. I haven’t seen a lake completely frozen over in decades and it brought back memories of ice skating in New Jersey during my high school years.

The image below is on a shady rural street. I thought the ice configuration was interesting.

Snow Flake Lane, Bellevue Square

Leave a reply

snowflake-lane

 

So I say to my dear husband, “let’s go up to Bell Square on what is probably the most hectic shopping weekend of the year” and oddly he agreed. Neither of us are big mall people, but he likes to see the upper end merchandise so he can later look for it at estate sales and I wanted to see Snow Flake Lane. At 7 each evening there is a show with singing and dancing. The night we were there, there was a Seahawk, #72, Michael Bennet. The Snow Queen was blowing bubbles with her wand, so I figured that was the promised snow. But then snow flakes appeared in blue and green on the walls of the shopping centers, so I figured that was the snow. But then it really did snow! Well, maybe they were fine bubbles, but it looked like snow and it was cold enough for snow, so snow it was. The children were delighted! The streets were so very crowded, but everyone was in high spirits. We spent sometime afterwards in the mall to give the parking lot a chance to clear out. Really it was a lovely evening.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Vicious Weasil at the Museum at Longmire, Mt. Rainier

Leave a reply

img_8220

Dear Daughter, home for her last Thanksgiving Break, needed to visit Mt. Rainier as part of her geology class. OK, fine, I like Mt. Rainier. I pack up my emergency backpack,  extra blankets, water in case we hit bad weather and dear husband and off we went. Luckily there are many pullouts from the street near the mountain and DD got her photos. Not the full glorious mountain, of course, because it was raining and even snowing, but some close ups of rocks that seemed to make her happy. We got as far as Longmire and had lunch and checked out the small museum (the Longmire Museum at Mt. Rainier). I was so busy staring at the vicious face on this little weasel that I didn’t notice his poor prey until I reexamined the photo!

So here are the photos. Beside the Longmire Museum there are two shots of the Mountain taken on clearer days, a photo of the road going through the National Park, the porch at the lodge and the graffiti rocks approaching the park.

BTW, you need to have chains in your vehicle to enter the park after November 1st. It gets dark at about 3 pm in the winter (its all those trees!). There is no cell service on the mountain (at least the part we were at). Here is a link to Longmire.  And Happy Thanksgiving.

 

 

 

Beyond the Bluff, Beneath the Bay

Leave a reply

mural corner 2“Beyond the Bluff, Beneath the Bay”, by Janice Lee Warren is part of the Tacoma Murals Project. More work by Ms. Warren can be found here. It was painted this year along Stadium Way and replace another mural that had been in place. That mural, featuring sailboats on the bay, had been extensively tagged. The house shown represents the home of “Skookum” Smith who made history by bringing the Northern Pacific rails into Tacoma just one day before the line’s charter expired. While I was out and about, I noticed the mountain was out 🙂

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Reindeer at the North Pole (or Watson’s Greenhouse)

1 Reply

 

15910306452_2e818bc6d4_k 15723477868_ec750aa6e7_k

Dear husband and I went to see real reindeer today, Luckily we didn’t have to go to the North Pole (though that would have been fun!). Watson’s Greenhouse has a small herd (2) of the sleigh pulling helpers, When we got there it was really cold and the deer were taking a nap. I was very impressed with the size of their antlers!

15723480618_b4978e945b_k

LeRoy Jewelers and Happy New Year

Leave a reply

8334865058_63066c71dd_c

Happy New Year. Dear daughter, her friend and I went downtown to First Night to ring in 2013. The theme is the Year of the Snake and the unofficial mascot seems to be Quetzalcoatl, which is cool since I had just checked out Tacoma’s Quetzalcoatl art in November. http://blog.firsttries.com/quetzalcoatl-mask/

LeRoy Jewelers had a wonderful Quetzalcoatl Mask in their store window. at 940 Broadway and they were welcoming people in from the cold for First Night. Besides wonderful jewelry, they offer arts and crafts in their Art Shop. It is always a pleasure to see their wares.

http://ljewelers.com/

The site for the building had originally been occupied the Far West Lodging House, which was demolished. By 1928 the Metropolitan Chain Stores, Inc. was in place and then in 1961 it was the Lundquist Lilly Men’s Wear, which closed in 1968. LeRoy Jewelers moved into the building in 1970 and the clock on the sidewalk was installed in 1988. LeRoy means king in french.

8334858690_fb60c6184a_c(1)

 

 

Owen’s Beach on a summer day

Leave a reply

Dear daughter and I were going to go to one of the local pools, but it was packed! So, I suggested Owen’s Beach in Point Defiance, Tacoma. It was a great choice.The weather was perfect, there was a comfortable crowd and I found a parking spot in the shade. We were bold and went out into the water and some nice lady was right when she said that it wasn’t cold after about five minutes. That’s because my feet had lost all feeling!

The park, which was named for Floyd E. Owen, a Metro Parks employee of 48 year, has plenty of shoreline/beach, picnic areas, restrooms and a concession stand.

http://www.metroparkstacoma.org/owen-beach/

Golfing in Scotland

Leave a reply

In Scotland we practiced our golf in a golf academy near St. Andrews. It was raining and by raining I mean pouring. Also windy and kind of cold. But it was an adventure and for the most part we were glad we had done it once we were dry again.