Grumpy Bean. That was the name of the coffee shop where we began our morning. Of course, it started at a coffee shop. We went from there to a very early lunch at Beecher’s Handmade Cheese. I learned before we left Dallas that they have a mac and cheese that you absolutely must try. Mission accomplished. I think I may have overdosed on Lactaid, but no worries- I got the mac. It was pretty great.
With our carbs all sorted out for the day, Cas and I headed to the Ballard locks. These are a pair of locks connecting Lake Union to Puget Sound, and their primary function appears to be to let boats pass through peacefully. The water levels in these two places are different, and the locks bring boats in to either lift or lower them to the correct level for where they are headed. It was interesting. I know it’s not the properly touristic thing to do, but watching a large mechanism raise or lower a whole boat is pretty interesting to me. Also to Cas. Heck- maybe we’re a little nerdy when doing tourist things, but we are that way together, so it’s okay. After that, we wandered down Ballard Avenue, which was nice as we have been staying in the downtown area, and seeing another neighborhood was pretty neat. We stepped into a wine shop and had a very strange glass of Lebanese wine before heading to a funky restaurant where Cas had a cup of salmon chowder and I had a BLT with the thickest bacon I have seen in a while. It was a neat spot, a cool neighborhood, and as we have come to expect in Seattle, a nice bunch of people.
After that, our city bus passes were good for a trip back to the main downtown area, where we took an underground tour. When it was founded, Seattle was built up of wood. There was a horrific fire, and the rebuild was strange. There’s a large potion of that rebuild that is currently underground, and more was built on top of that. Enough to be significant and interesting- and worthy of a unique tour. We learned about hotels, banks, hardware stores and sawmills. We learned about houses of ill repute and spaces that later housed bootleggers. We got an underground-tour-look at the city where we’ve been sleeping for several nights. It was a very cool tour.
And now, we need to hit the hay. It’s time to get to bed, because tomorrow morning will come very early, and we have to make our way back to Dallas. This has certainly been a strange spring break trip- it started late and ended at a time we didn’t necessarily anticipate, but it was another good one. Cas and Heather approved. I’ll check back in from the house in Dallas, but after that, you’ll have to hold your breath for the next bit of adventure this summer. If we haven’t told you where we’re going I will leave you in suspense. You’ll see in June- hoo boy- it’s gonna be a good one. Until then, here were are underground.
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