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bigmacbear) wrote2021-05-23 11:08 pm
bigmacbear) wrote2021-05-23 11:08 pm
Sunday Funday
Gary drove us to South Everett Freeway Station just before noon in a light drizzle. We rode upstairs on a Double Tall, me behind the staircase and Gary on the opposite side a row behind me. I noticed several parking lots at Ash Way had been cordoned off for a vaccination clinic. A party of five ladies of disparate ages boarded at Ash Way and sat forward of us, chatting in what sounded like Spanish. At Lynnwood I noticed the light rail track structure was largely complete from the tail end near La Quinta to just past the HOV ramp, where a few empty pillars separated it from the track in progress to the south. Similarly, the I-5 overcrossing north of Mountlake Terrace and the station structure were much further along than the connecting tracks. The prefabricated pedestrian bridge was visible in the median at Northgate, ready to be hoisted into place. There are a lot of new apartments north of UW east of I-5 in the 60th Street area. Traffic was light even across the Ship Canal bridge.
When we arrived downtown and left the bus at Marion Street, we decided to have lunch on the waterfront in Seattle before boarding the ferry to Bainbridge Island instead of Bremerton because the latter sailings were two hours apart. To save walking, I suggested descending the hill on Marion instead of taking the bridge to the terminal. Lunch was outside on the deck of Ivar's Pier 54 Fish Bar: a 4-piece salmon basket for me and a cup of white chowder apiece. The seagulls were busy trying to snag a French fry or two. It was a short walk from Ivar's to the ferry terminal. We had a short wait in the terminal before boarding the vessel, and we were soon underway.
I took a walk around the deck to take pictures and sat down with Gary when the ship's engines shut down for several minutes. We speculated whether this was because we needed to wait for another vessel to clear the dock, or because of an orca pod in the vicinity.
Once we docked, Gary had checked online and found the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art was within easy walking distance of the terminal. Admission is free and there were a number of interesting exhibits. After exiting through the gift shop, we explored the pocket park across the street from the museum before making our way to the ferry terminal. The return trip was uneventful, although I did appreciate how different the skyline looks without the Alaskan Way Viaduct.
Once we docked and reached the bus stop for the trip up to Capitol Hill, I spent the few minutes' wait for the bus catching up with Colleen by phone, and had to hang up suddenly when the bus arrived. Gary complimented the driver on his Kraken hat, and the driver likewise complimented Gary on his T-shirt. I noticed a few new buildings on the way up Madison St., and an elderly lady had a bit of difficulty boarding with her walker and groceries and needed assistance from the driver. Also, this dude seated behind us spoke loudly on his phone, and Gary said, "I don't need to know his business."
When we arrived at Diesel there was a sign informing folks to wait to be seated for table service. We were ushered to window seats right by the door, and we were greeted by Joey who was seated opposite the door. Gary had a diet Coke and I had a cider. Mike wasn't there, but there were two big bears behind the bar, and the waiter was thinner but super nice, considering how busy he was. Joey came over once we got settled in and gave us hugs. I also spotted EK from the XL Bears and Bo who I met at Pride a few years ago. For dinner Gary ordered the Trucker Cluckers and fries, while I got the Biker Bear Burger. As we prepared to leave, I saw a cute cub in a black T-shirt with a unicorn and pink highlights, and Keith from the 2nd Tenor section; I wanted to say hi to Keith but he spotted the cub in the unicorn shirt and greeted him enthusiastically as Jason. So rather than wait for their conversation to finish, we left them to it.
We decided there wasn't enough time to visit Doghouse Leathers before they closed. The 2 bus stop was around the corner and we didn't have long to wait. A petite, gray-haired lady with a tween-aged boy and a fluffy white dog in tow exited the bus a couple of stops before we left. As we waited for the 512 back to Everett, a car rounded the corner from Seneca to 4th dragging significant chunks of its exhaust system and making a lot of noise. They managed to fix the problem and drive off. Later, a 512 bus passed us without stopping, and the driver realized he'd forgotten to change the sign to Out of Service, which he took care of before the bus crossed the intersection. The real 512 came about 5 minutes later. I got some video of the sunset over Lake Union and Gary took some pictures of the construction at Lynnwood Transit Center, but the ride was otherwise uneventful.
I was very glad to get home because my back had been acting up all day, but it was worth it to get back to something resembling normal for the first time in 14 months.
When we arrived downtown and left the bus at Marion Street, we decided to have lunch on the waterfront in Seattle before boarding the ferry to Bainbridge Island instead of Bremerton because the latter sailings were two hours apart. To save walking, I suggested descending the hill on Marion instead of taking the bridge to the terminal. Lunch was outside on the deck of Ivar's Pier 54 Fish Bar: a 4-piece salmon basket for me and a cup of white chowder apiece. The seagulls were busy trying to snag a French fry or two. It was a short walk from Ivar's to the ferry terminal. We had a short wait in the terminal before boarding the vessel, and we were soon underway.
I took a walk around the deck to take pictures and sat down with Gary when the ship's engines shut down for several minutes. We speculated whether this was because we needed to wait for another vessel to clear the dock, or because of an orca pod in the vicinity.
Once we docked, Gary had checked online and found the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art was within easy walking distance of the terminal. Admission is free and there were a number of interesting exhibits. After exiting through the gift shop, we explored the pocket park across the street from the museum before making our way to the ferry terminal. The return trip was uneventful, although I did appreciate how different the skyline looks without the Alaskan Way Viaduct.
Once we docked and reached the bus stop for the trip up to Capitol Hill, I spent the few minutes' wait for the bus catching up with Colleen by phone, and had to hang up suddenly when the bus arrived. Gary complimented the driver on his Kraken hat, and the driver likewise complimented Gary on his T-shirt. I noticed a few new buildings on the way up Madison St., and an elderly lady had a bit of difficulty boarding with her walker and groceries and needed assistance from the driver. Also, this dude seated behind us spoke loudly on his phone, and Gary said, "I don't need to know his business."
When we arrived at Diesel there was a sign informing folks to wait to be seated for table service. We were ushered to window seats right by the door, and we were greeted by Joey who was seated opposite the door. Gary had a diet Coke and I had a cider. Mike wasn't there, but there were two big bears behind the bar, and the waiter was thinner but super nice, considering how busy he was. Joey came over once we got settled in and gave us hugs. I also spotted EK from the XL Bears and Bo who I met at Pride a few years ago. For dinner Gary ordered the Trucker Cluckers and fries, while I got the Biker Bear Burger. As we prepared to leave, I saw a cute cub in a black T-shirt with a unicorn and pink highlights, and Keith from the 2nd Tenor section; I wanted to say hi to Keith but he spotted the cub in the unicorn shirt and greeted him enthusiastically as Jason. So rather than wait for their conversation to finish, we left them to it.
We decided there wasn't enough time to visit Doghouse Leathers before they closed. The 2 bus stop was around the corner and we didn't have long to wait. A petite, gray-haired lady with a tween-aged boy and a fluffy white dog in tow exited the bus a couple of stops before we left. As we waited for the 512 back to Everett, a car rounded the corner from Seneca to 4th dragging significant chunks of its exhaust system and making a lot of noise. They managed to fix the problem and drive off. Later, a 512 bus passed us without stopping, and the driver realized he'd forgotten to change the sign to Out of Service, which he took care of before the bus crossed the intersection. The real 512 came about 5 minutes later. I got some video of the sunset over Lake Union and Gary took some pictures of the construction at Lynnwood Transit Center, but the ride was otherwise uneventful.
I was very glad to get home because my back had been acting up all day, but it was worth it to get back to something resembling normal for the first time in 14 months.