Bainbridge Island, The Bite of Seattle, and RED SOX!!

Saturday July 18th

Well the four 10 hour days are getting better but by Friday night, both of us are tired! I had planned the majority of the weekend during the week, so early on

Saturday, I got Amy out of the house before 10AM!! We drove down to

Seattle and took the ferry from downtown Seattle to Bainbridge Island where we could check out the sites, vineyards, and small towns of the Kitsap Peninsula. We reached the dock around 10:30 on the chilly Saturday and drove right onto the ferry. We walked to the top level to assure a good viewing platform as we cruised from the port. It's only a 35 minute ferry ride, because MAN!! that ferry cruises at pretty good speeds. Coupled with the temperature in the

mid 50's and the wind from the speed of the ferry, it was quite chilly on the main deck. We toughed it out, and got some great shots. I personally thought the ferry boat ride was more fun and had better views than the cruise of Elliot Bay that we did earlier in the month. It was a beautiful day and Mt. Rainier was out in the background, so we were able to take great pictures. After landing on Bainbridge Island, we didn't have plans, other than to roam around and explore the town. We drove to Winslow which is right off of the port and parked in the town. We ventured into the farmer's market where we got to sample some good food and had some lunch. Afterwards, we walked around the town and explored the little shops that line Main Street. After looking into some of the other activities of the island we visited a couple local wineries and sampled their wine. One in particular is the only winery to grow their own grapes on the island, where the others ship them in from Walla Walla. We came out with about 4-5 different bottles of mostly white wine. We then drove to a small town
across the bridge from Bainbridge to a Swedish community named Poulsbo. Amy's Grampie was Swedish so she thoroughly enjoyed the T-shirts like "Built Fjord Tough" which she was going to get for her brother Scott. We walked around the little town there which had trolls and vikings in every knick knack store. Still not sure about the Norwegian affinity for trolls, but it was an interesting town. The town is right on the water in a valley surrounded by mountains and we bought some ice cream and walked around the water. We drove back later that night to Bainbridge, caught a quick Mexican meal for dinner, and boarded the ferry to catch sunset across Elliot Bay while we ferried back to Seattle. The views on the way back from Bainbridge were beautiful, especially at sunset, and I really enjoyed the ferry ride to and from the island. 

The next morning we had plans to attend the annual "Bite of Seattle" which is the equivolent to the "Taste of Chicago" where numerous restaurants and food vendors from around the area set up booths. For a fee, you can try little dishes that they offer. We decided to leave early in the morning and find choice parking in the city. We then decided to check out the views from the Space Needle before heading to the "bite". Built in 1962 for the World's Fair, the Space Needle elevator soon thrusted us 41 seconds up to the top level floor where we were greeted with gorgeous views of the city, the Puget Sound, Elliot Bay, the mountains, and even Canada in the distance. The 360 degree view of the city and the surroundings were breathtaking. We spent an hour or so walking and sightseeing around the Needle. Afterwards, we

bought tickets to come back at sunset/dusk so that Amy could snap a few more pictures. We then took the elevator down to the base and walked to Seattle Center for the "Bite". With tents lined throughout Seattle Center, we tried to attack the "Bite" methodically. We tried multiple things from different tents. From Beef and Cheese Piroshky's to Smoked Alaskan King Salmon, to wild boar chili, to vietnamese spring rolls we tried small dishes from many of the vendors. We also enjoyed the sights and sounds of the festival, with 4 stages of music playing we sat on the grassy field and relaxed under the beautiful sky. We also caught a horrible comedy act, which I wanted to walk out on, and a corny cooking show which was disgustingly fake because it was being televised. At the end of the "Bite" we went back to the Space Needle at dusk to take more pictures of the scenery. It was gorgeous to see the sun setting over the Cascade Mountain range from the top of the Space Needle. 

The next day we had plans to go see the BOSTON RED SOX!! We had great seats (thanks to Amy) on the third base line, 7 rows up from the field. We drove into the city around noon and first took a tour of SafeCo Field. The field is nice, and we got to see the field and all the luxury seats, and sit in the visitors dugout. I wanted to engrave "Go Sox" into the dugout bench. We also saw Terry Francona hanging out on the field warming up with some of the coaches hours before the game. We then walked over to the Pyramid Ale House next to the field for a quick bite of lunch and beer. Amy again, tried the beer sampler of 5 different beers and really enjoyed them. They actually had some great beers, with my favorite being their Hefeweizen. Afterwards, we walked back through Pioneer Square, and to Pike's Place Market to get Amy a

"Pike's Market" apron (and some more ice cream) before we headed back to the stadium for the game. We got to the stadium as the gates opened 2 hours before game time to watch some batting practice. We took some great pictures of the Red sox with Amy's new telephoto lens and sat in right field to try to catch a home run ball. JD Drew actually line drived a home run right at me, but after judging the velocity of the ball, I allowed a guy behind me to catch it with his glove. I still regret not taking my hat off and trying to catch the ball. We tried the world famous Grounders "garlic fries" which is just fries that are literally covered with a entire bulb of minced garlic. Amy said they rivaled the famous Chickie's and Pete's Crab fries of Philly!! We found our seats and awaited the first pitch. I was still a little nervous, as the Red Sox have dropped 4 of the last games that I have attended. Our friend Murph from Florida said I would be forbidden to attend any more if they lost out here. In the 4th inning Jason Varitek came through and busted a left field home run, and Jon Lester pitched an awesome game, and, of course, the Red Sox won 4-0. It was a great end to a great weekend!! Until next time!!

Here are pictures of Jon Lester's awesome pitching performance, The Papelbon stare in which he got his 30th save, and Youkilis after he was falsely called out on strikes!