Well, a lull at DD, so I shall commence with Saturdays Seattle adventures...
We woke up leisurely, I cooked a hearty breakfast, and we planned our day...we made a number of phone calls, trying to locate a large Coleman soft sided cooler...BigDom carried such a bag to work each day, loaded with a large bottle of H2O, frozen blue ice, two bottles of juice, and his big lunch...he has had this bag for years and years, and its beginning to show wear, so he wanted to get a new one...man, those things are hard to get...he went to the place in Tacoma, where he had originally bought it...they had one, but it was red, and BigDom really wanted one in either blue, or teal, like his old bag...so he passed, thinking Seattle, being bigger would have one...
We called numerous sporting, camping, and outdoor shops and could find only one which carried such a bag, so we set out for that place...then we got lost, not knowing Seattle too well, so we got a small tour of the city...finally we found the store, and yes, ,they had the exact Coleman bag we were looking for, but in two colors only...the red, such as BigDom had seen before, and then the other color was pink...Yikes, pink was definitely not what we wanted...so poor BigDom finally conceded, and bought the red one...but I know, when he gets on his little shopping 'vendettas' as we call them, he never gives up...so altho he will have his red bag, he will continue to hunt and shop until he finds the blue or teal colored bag...
So after all the pbone calling(such hard work), and shopping for the Coleman bag, naturally we were now thirsty...so our destination was a little place, a recommendation given to BigDom from one of his co workers, a little place called the 'Jolly Roger Taproom', run by the brewers of the Maritime Pacific Brewing Company, which is right next door to the taproom....
Its an innocuous looking place from the outside...but once inside we were greeted by a bar in the back and tables and chairs up front, on a floor, made to resemble a pirates map...pirate flags and banners hang from the walls and ceilings....the bar was full, and a number of the tables already had patrons sipping their beer...
The waiter brought us the menu...we started off with a sampler...sampler of beers, that is...for a set price, you can pick 5 different beers off the beer menu, and then get a nice sized glass of each of those beers to sample...I picked mine and BigDom picked his, and we settle in to toasting and tasting...we were feeling good...
Then we ordered some food...we each got a platter of the 'Littl Jollys', three snappy little burgers(like an upscale White Castle), with melted cheese and grilled onions, and served with the side sauce of your choice...
We also split a platter of these delicious onion rings, like I have never seen, nor tasted before...they were not the usual golden smooth looking onion rings, but rather they were crusty, almost barnacled, and a deep, deep brown, and smoked and of course beer was used in their batter.....they were not spread out on the platter, ,but rather piled mile high one atop another, like a big tower...
More beer was ordered, and we were surely enjoying our eats and drinks...people were coming and going, folks carrying out barrels of beer(no doubt for party time)...
At one of the tables, sat a middle aged woman, a younger woman, and a very old man with his walker...they were all having their own beer samplers, and then had some eats...soon the old gent needed to make his way to the mens room, and he was stepping pretty lively with his walker, for as old as he seemed to appear....he seemd to be really enjoying his beer, and the company of some younger women, as least younger compared to himself...he really put away quite a few beers after that...kudos to him...creeping age, and a walker, will not detain him from eating, beer drinking, and enteraining the ladies...
We noticed on the bartenders was wearing a black shirt, with the 'Jolly Roger' on it...Jolly Roger is actually a Christmas beer put out by the Maritime Brewery, and their skull and crossbones wears a Santa cap...so their black shirt had the Jolly Roger skull and crossbones wearing the Santa hat, and we were wondering if the bartender had it made up special or if we could get one somewhere...fortune smiled upon BigDom as he wanted that shirt...and the waiter said they sold them right there...so BigDom made his purchase of his snappy black Jolly Roger Christmas shirt, and also bought a more conservative grey shirt, with the just the Maritime words and logo...
The whole time we were there was grand, tho I had the urge to holler out, 'Ahoy, Matey', or 'Shiver me Timbers' or 'Land Ho', or 'Aye Aye, Captain'..this reminded me of the Seinfeld episode, where Kramers girlfriend invents a 'puffy shirt' and she wants Jerry to wear that shirt on TV, so help her career...the shirt has puffy sleeves, and ruffles in the front, hence its a 'puffy shirt'...But Jerry does not want to wear the shirt, because he thinks it looks like a pirate shirt, and he cries, "But I dont want to be a pirate"...
Told BigDom, the next time we visit the Jolly Roger Taproom, he needs to wear a scarf wrapped around his head, he needs to sport an eyepatch, needs to sport one front gold tooth, needs a hook for one hand, and needs a peg leg...and of course, needs the Seinfeld 'puffy shirt'....I will be his captive lady friend...
For those who may be interested, here is a link to the Maritime Pacific Brewing Company and the Jolly Roger Taproom...tour around the site, and see some pics of the inside of the taproom, read the food menu, read the beer menu, read about the history of this fine brewing company...it is
http://maritimebrewery.citysearch.com/1.html
Once back at the motel, we were feeling fine, tricky and frisky...and BigDom had some time to kill before he had to get ready for his Seattle Seahawks Football game at the new Seahawks Stadium...and thus we were engaging in what normal healthy males and females engage in, and just having a fine old time on this chair, when all the action and commotion caused the poor chair to crack its weak leg and break, spilling us onto the floor(That will teach us to engage in risky experiements)....Thats as much as I will say about the chair incident...
Anyway, the time came for BigDom to be off to the game, and he called for a cab...he no sooner hung up the phone, then the cab was there...aparently when the dispatcher called in our location, there was an empty cab just 1/2 block from the motel...needless to say, BigDom was not quite ready, and the kind cabdriver just told him to take his time...
Soon off they went...The Seahawks lost the game, but BigDoms real goal was to scope out the new Seahawks Stadium, which is right next door to Safeco Field(Home of our baseball team, the Seattle Mariners)....the new Seahawks Stadium is almost a replica of Safeco Field, except for the retractable roof...Seahawk Stadium does not have a retractable roof, because, naturally, football players are supposed to be tough, and be able to play in snow, rain, storms, mud, hail, ice, etc, etc...so having a retractable roof, would be too sissified for football players...
Anyway, BigDom was impressed with the new field, and hopes to attend at least one regular Seahawks game this season...tho he hopes they would win some games, instead of losing as they did this past Saturday evening...
After the game, he reurned to the motel, satisifed most fully with his day...
It was full of touring, eating, drinking, sex, breaking chairs, and football...a full day, making for a good nights sleep...
Tomorrow, I will talk about our Sunday in Seattle...
Sweet Jesus! What an evening...I'll have to re-read, and re-read this classic. Thanks so much.