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Well, good morning all, seems most are off enjoying their Labor Day Festivities....

AC...great pic of that Cathedral...I love big old churches with such grand histories...will have to download the webcams later on today....

Our outing into Commencement Bay was a fun day....the day was cloudy, and as we feared, it was difficult to see any mountains, tho occasionally a sun break would clear out the clouds and the mountains would come peeking through....

Our first stop was to the Ram, a really fanastic restaurant, that had been recommended to BigDom by one of his fellow coworkers...it was well worth the trip....BigDom sampled several of their beers, but I was attracted by their rather showy menu of mixed exotic drinks, and decided to give them a twirl....all different typs of liquers, tequilas, Irish Cremes, etc, were used to make these exotic drinks, and yummy they were...and they were huge, just huge...my favorite was some sort of neon bluish-green drink, with 'Chicago' somewhere in the name, and it was enjoyed quite well by me...

We had several appetizers, as we planned to have our appetizers in one place and a full meal in another...we had coconut shrimp, tons of fried calamari(squid), and a fabulous hot crab and artichoke dip, with crostini...that dip was one of the best things I have had...huge slices of Dungeness crab, and big artichoke hearts, all cooked in some sort of delightful light sauce, and topped with melted cheese, all in a big bowl....

Well, by the time we finished all those appetizers, there was just no room at all for dinner anywhere....we were stuffed to the gills, but quite happy and satiated...We then proceeded to purchase our growler of beer for consumption at home, paid out bill(which was astoundingly modest, when we considered the high quality and huge portions)...they also have a very extensive menu, for dinner, so rest assured, we will again be back to the Ram...the service was also excellent....The Ram has a huge open aired restaurant on one side, and the bar on the other...over the bar, hangs a huge shark....interesting...

The restaurant itself, is very spacious, and all the huge windows, allow on great views of the bay....the menu is quite extensive and needs further investigation on our part...there were TVs placed all round for sports events viewing, and the clientele, ranges from very young couples with babies and children clear up through senior citizens...and all are made to feel quite welcome....so I give this restaurant the hightest rating possible....

We then headed on to a little place a few doors down from the Ram..its main specialty is Pizza, voted by readers of local newspapers as the best pizza in the Northwest...we were stuffed so decided to order a take out pizza for eating at home later on...we got the Sicilian specialty naturally, because of course, Bigdom is a sicilian....but while waiting for our Pizza, we sat on the open deck of the restaurant, right on the bay...in the open air, we watched as sailboats, motorboats, ferry boats, cargo ships coming in from the straits of Juan de Fuca, and even saw two military ships and a fireboat patroling...

Watching all the activity in the Bay, makes one realize how important the waters are, for fun, for commerce, for transportation, and for military defense....we had a few beers, our pizza was ready to go, and so we were...

We noticed that the whole of Commencement is surrounded by little restaurants, a few motels, and a super duper fish market, that we went into and made a few purchases...there is also a motel, and a real estate office...but the whole of the Bay is also surrounded by apparently Tacoma Parks management, and a superb and fine job they do...

In between the little restaurants and buildings there are whole little park areas, complete with benches, tables for picnics, and interspered with piers for either folks to just walk on, or more importantly provides ample space for those who wish to go fishing....the piers appear to be fairly new, but are placed strategically near the old pilings of old piers, piers which long ago, obviously fell apart...I like the fact that they have left the old remnants sticking out of the water, a favorite landing spot for the hordes of seagulls who flock to this area...

BigDom and I just got out of the car, and sat in one of these little aprks, talking, enjoying the day and the salty air, and watching the people go by...

So many people were out walking and running their dogs...we saw tons and tons of wonderful dogs...young couples were out with their children in backpacks and strollers....fishermen were toting their equipment and their days catch around....families were having picnics...and on the water, folks were having fun with their motorboats and sailboats...the ferrys were toting folks too and from their destinations...the cargo ships, were perhaps from some foreign land, coming to Tacoma to load and unload, the fire boats were patrolling, and the military ships were doing who knows what...

It was indeed a perfect scene, to view with the eye, as the scenes of life passed by...but it was also a scene to view with the nose, the smell of the foods being cooking in the restaurants, ,the smell of families grilling their foods in the park, the smell of the salty air, the smell of fish...
It was all too perfect....

Afterwards, we headed onto one of our little favorite places in Tacoma, the Parkway, a friendly neighborhood pub, just a little neighborhood tavern really, but they provide some great microbrew beers, and have a small menu of foods, and a very friendly intimate atmosphere...we had a few more beers, shared a huge plate of nachos, and then headed on home...

We still had our growler of beer, and a full Sicilian pizza for midnight eating and drinking pleasure...

We broke no chairs, we met no grandly interesting people, we did not experience any extremely odd situations...but the whole day was wonderful, full of grand eats and drinks, and just sitting in the Bay, watching life in all its splendor, pass by our eyes, was just fine for us...

We really had a wonderful day...of course, we felt like we had to roll into bed, being so full of goodies...