Killer Whales and a $250 Breakfast

Our daughter Ami lives with her husband Paul in Seattle and they invited us to sit their home last week while they vacationed on the coast so we made the ten hour drive up and celebrated Sally's 70th and Father's Day by 'doing the town' as they say.

And what a town. For starters we did brunch at Salty's in West Seattle which was on their way to the coast. It's a very famous place and our friends Ted & Nancy Pfeiffer who used to live in Tacoma raved about it so we thought we would treat Ami and Paul in thanks for the kindness they were showing us. Salty's is a two-story affair on Alki Beach, right on the water, with outdoor dining when the weather is nice which it was that day (we'd brought it with us).

But the food! Both floors were taken up almost entirely with buffet tables spilling over with everything from eggs and pancakes to oysters and crab legs. The spread was just mind boggling. Each floor was nearly the size of your average basketball court. They must surely employ dozens of chefs who start Saturday morning and work through the night. The choices were endless and world-class. Even Paul who is an EMT and noted for his big appetite only made one refill.

So, with four of their equally renown Bloody Marys and tip we dropped two and a half bills. The most we've ever spent on any meal, anywhere, anytime. But unforgettable.

Anyway we also did an overnight on San Juan Island, famous home to the Orca or killer whale pods that reside in the San Juan de Fuca Strait. San Juan is one of four large islands in the group served by the Washington State Ferry system so we drove north to Anacortes where the ferry terminal is and caught an early one on Wednesday, Sally's birthday.

It's incredibly lush on the island and we immediately started out on the loop road that encircles it just looking to explore. We spotted cars pulled over with people pointing and shooting cameras and without realizing what it was all about we just fell into an amazing scene ___ the arrival of a pod of killer whales. Not having my wits about me I only took still shots rather than video but at least I can share them more easily. We were on a bluff overlooking the water and shooting downward. We could not have been more fortunate or close, even the whale watching tour boats farther out by law cannot approach these animals.

The island is a millionaire's retreat, yachts and private aircraft clog the many harbors including famous Roches Harbor where rooms go for $400+ per night. We had fish tacos and crab quesadilla for lunch there and Sally bought alpaca yarn at Krystal Acres, the huge luxurious alpaca ranch in the photo. There were several thoroughbred horse and alpaca operations on the island all worthy of a Hollywood movie. A local bragged that San Juan had more pilots per capita than most places in the world.

This is getting long, best quit while I'm ahead.

Sunburn, Light Wallets, and Dietary Indiscretions

We took a couple days off and visited San Francisco, our favorite if-you-want-to-do-urban-do-this place. There's no way around it, The City is a bottomless well of things to do and beauty to enjoy. The fact that we both came home sunburnt, broke, and exhausted should say it all...the classic American vacation.

It was in the 70's so of course I burned. I'm Scotch-Irish you see, and where the freckles aren't, it's epidermal pastures. The air was typically opaque, with teeny-weeny droplets of moisture too small to be fog which basically magnified the sun. I looked like a tomato after the first day of hiking around Crissy Field just east of the Golden Gate Bridge and Fort Point. It used to be an Army airfield, a lifeboat station, and a base for several long distance record-setting flights.

Then OF COURSE one has to have oysters on the half-shell along with a bottle of wine. You must understand that dining out here is an investment not to be taken lightly. A hundred buckaroos buys a mediocre meal and tipping is well, an adventure. There must have been two dozen top-end restaurants of all stripes within blocks of our motel. Luckily we didn't have time for them all.

The room (Cow Hollow Inn) was $82. A pittance compared to $50 to see Tutankhamen at the de Young or $150 to tour Angel Island (parking, ferry, Segway tour). And Crissy Field was free.

Day two was Pt. Reyes National Seashore because the weather was even warmer and it did not seem like the kind of day you want to spend indoors in a museum. The park is huge and probably the reason we use words like "verdant" and "pastoral". Carnation's Contented Cows were all over and the vast open expanses reminded us of Scotland. The road wandered for miles over rolling pastures of ranches that dated back to the 1850's. Oddly, they were lettered __ the "M" Ranch came first on the way out and the last one we saw was the "B" Ranch. Not sure where "A" went and there were several letters missing in between, too. Probably off north or south of the road somewhere.

At the lighthouse gray whales were heading north and we saw one spouting. There is a no-way-in-heck 300 step stairway down to the actual lighthouse ( down, because the regular fog would have smothered it on the bluff top) and some younger sorts were scampering around down there. A few cardiac cases in the making were crawling back up.

We made the mistake (okay, it was my call. Sally wanted to go the way we'd come, over from 101) of returning via Highway 1 through Stinson Beach and Bolinas. Despite the torturous hairpin turns Sally had memorable views of the ocean and beaches. My memory of that span of course is a solid yellow line, no way could I take my eyes off the asphalt.

Next time we would stay over in Olema, the jump-off town on Highway 1. There were several cute b & b's and it would save a whole lot of driving.