Seattle, WA
My husband and I are planning a vacation, and the likely destination right now is Seattle. On the list to see are Mt. St. Helens and Pike Place Market, and possibly some kayaking. Any other recommendations?
...Any other recommendations?
Uh, yeah. Be careful around
Mt. St. Helens. :eek:
Sure
emplive, Mt Rainier and
Olympic National Park.
Olympic has Spanish Moss...I swear, Spanish Moss! :biggrin:
Take the ferry to Bainbridge Island. Beautiful views of downtown, and lots of cool stuff to see.
See
http://www.TychoUnder.com/Alaska2004/index.html (first two days and last four days) for our pictures of Seattle from last June.
Enjoy your trip.
- Pie
Here's a few
- Eat at the Scaleburger in Elbe on the way to Mt. Rainier
- Visit Paradise Lodge on Mt. Rainier
- Hike around Paradise Lodge
- Take the Boehm's candy tour in Issaquah
- Space needle - especially nice at sunset
- Walk along the piers
- Eat at Ivars on the pier
- Walk around Pioneer square and thereabouts. Lots of neat gallerys and stuff.
- Snoqualmie falls
- Northwest railway museum in Snoqualmie
- Take a tour to watch the whales
- Take a tour to catch salmon.
- Air museum in Renton
- Take the tour at Chateau St. Michelle winery
Take warm clothes when you go to Mt. Rainier. My kids played in the snow - during the first week of August.
Sunset on a hike near Paradise Lodge
Seattle is a city of music and wonderful fresh seafood. I agree with dar on Ivars on the pier. Space neddle is unique. Snoqualmie pass is cool, If you like snow and beutiful lakes. Also if your sports fans, you got the mariners, seahawks, supersonics etc... For me it was the taverns with live music and the olympia beer. whenever you go make sure to take umbrellas. I don't think their is a state with more rain per year than Washington...... Have fun!!!!
For me it was the taverns with live music...
How is the music scene up there these days? Any favorite bands?
Sunset on a hike near Paradise Lodge
Pics like that make me want to move there. Tomorrow. One of these days, I want to spend at least a month checking out the area between Seattle and Vancouver.
And, oddly enough, Los Angeles has more
rainfall (32 inches) than Seattle (16 inches) this season.
My husband and I are planning a vacation, and the likely destination right now is Seattle. On the list to see are Mt. St. Helens and Pike Place Market, and possibly some kayaking. Any other recommendations?
A couple of years ago I went on a week long kayak expedition through the San Juans out of Anacortes. It was the paddle of a lifetime! We have some of the most beautiful, rewarding paddling options in the world.
Here and
here are links to a typical outfitters in the area.
This account is an excerpt of a trip through the San Juans, and the part about Deception Pass is really exciting. The tidal currents there run up to NINE KNOTS!
For more urban trips, I have enjoyed in-city trips in both salt and fresh water, sometimes in the same trip! I will never forget my trip through the
Ballard Locks! A couple of good places to put in are
14th street boat ramp,
Golden Gardens park, and on Lake Union at
NWOC, you can rent a kayak and start your paddle there. These guys rock, but they don’t let you take their boats through the locks, though. Another cool trip from there is to head north and west through the ship canal and the
Montlake cut (watch out for the
clapotis under the bridge if there’s any other powerboat traffic) into Lake Washington.
I've been to Mt St Helens several times, since the eruption, and the evidence of the awesome power of the devastation is almost unbelievable. There's one campsite we go to near Ghost Lake and it's on the fringe of the blast zone and you can see trees that are still standing that have been scoured smooth on the mountain facing side and intact on the opposite side. The level of Spirit Lake rose 600 feet that day. There is a raft of logs of downed trees that wanders about on the surface of the lake like a little swirl of foam on your mocha, but it's hundreds of giant logs. If you make a trip to the park, be sure to go all the way to the end of the road and stop in at the
Johnstone Ridge Observatory center. It is extremely informative and entertaining.
It's not "Seattle" exactly, but an incredible trip, very worthwhile. Highly recommended.
What kind of things do you want to see/do? City, country? Indoor, outdoor? Eat, watch, walk, listen, etc?? I've lived here about for about 15 years now, and though still an import, I'm and informed import.
If you give me a more specific topic, I can give you example, mileages, costs and maybe even a review--I love my city and enjoy showing it off. I've done lots of the "tourist-y" things myself. I know a lot about the city proper from spending most of my time here.
What kind of things do you want to see/do? City, country? Indoor, outdoor? Eat, watch, walk, listen, etc??
Um... all of those things? I don't know. Outdoors is great, but I'm afraid rain might keep us from too many of those types of things. Music is probably last on the list, simply because my husband and I could never agree on what type of group to go see. :) Walking/seeing things mostly, I guess. And eating too... I have very fond memories of the Boeing factory tour that we took when I was a kid, do they still do those?
--snip--
I have very fond memories of the Boeing factory tour that we took when I was a kid, do they still do those?
um, I guess...in Witchita!
[size=1]no, I'm not bitter...[/size] :mad:
--snip--
Outdoors is great, but I'm afraid rain might keep us from too many of those types of things.
The rain in Spain--wait--sorry. The rain in Seattle has a justified reputation for it's near-omnipresence (sunny today though), but really, you don't get
wet, it's just really light rain, really often. Your head and shoulders will be wetter than your shoes probably.
Another thing, when do you intend to visit? In the summer, we have much less rain, and droughts and lawn watering restrictions are not uncommon. I can't think of any reasonable activity that is substantially inhibited by the rain here. I camp in the rain, walk in the rain, visit the parks in the rain, etc. Little league games have been rained out I confess. But if I had to depend on dry skies for outdoor fun, there'd be a whole lot less fun.
For my outdoor fun I keep this in mind: There are no unfavorable conditions, only inadequate preparation. For Seattle in the winter, layering is key. Fleece, and Gore-Tex and a hat will be adequate for most all situations.
The proximity of the city to the water means our temperatures are pretty well moderated so we don't have the lake-effect snow I saw in another thread.
Kayaking is certainly the wettest propostition mentioned yet, and all the other land or boat/ferry options are much drier prospects.
I guess the factory closed? It was a long time ago, I admit...
We'll probably be going in late March.
What kind of things do you want to see/do? City, country? Indoor, outdoor? Eat, watch, walk, listen, etc??
Um... all of those things? ...
In the city... hmm. A really cool tour is called
Underground Seattle. Seattle had a terrible fire over 100 years ago and the rebuilding took place
on top of the burned remains (kinda). Much of the old stuff can still be seen at the original grade level on this tour.
Bruce mentioned EMP, the Experience Music Project. I know you said listen was low on your list, but if minimal musical taste overlap is the reason, you can both be satisfied here, I promise. I know it's an awful/wonderful pun but this place
[SIZE=5]ROCKS!![/SIZE]
Adjacent to EMP is the
Seattle Center, site of the 1960 World's Fair, and home to the Space Needle. It's a cool but expensive trip to the observation deck. There's also a restaurant that revolves once per hour. Verrrrry swank. You can see forever from up there. Speaking of seeing, you know, Seattle (and this local area) is the
only place in the country where you can stand in one spot and see three different National Parks! The Cascades National Park to the east, the Olympic National Park to the West and Mt Ranier National Park to the south. We have an embarassment of riches when it comes to natural beauty.
There's a ton of stuff to do at the Center, IMAX, fountain, bite of seattle, pacific science center, planetarium, laser light show, seattle supersonics, opera house, thunderbirds, squaredancing, Butterfly exhibit and the Monorail to name a few. (Hey, sorry, I was gonna try to give you links to alllll the above, but you're smart, just check out the seattle center link. You can get the info there, and beaucoup more)
Ride the monorail and ride the waterfront streetcar. The streetcars were imported from Australia(!) The
Seattle Aquarium and the
Woodland Park Zoo are family favorites. We have annual memberships to both.
Sports? Tbirds are the junior hockey league team, the SuperSonics are first in the West for the NBA, the Seahawks play in the winter and the Mariners, my favorite, play in the spring and summer.
Take a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island. You can walk on too. The views of the city on the eastbound trip are killer in the low angle light of the afternoon.
Wow! Thanks a ton, BigV!!
um, I guess...in Witchita!
[size=1]no, I'm not bitter...[/size] :mad:
Witchita has been sold. :mad:
My knowledge of Seattle is predominately about it's parks and schools.
The Ballard Locks is one of my favorite places here, and whenever friends or family visit for the day that's where I go. You can watch the Locks ebb and flow as the ships go through, and you can walk across to the other side of the canal. On one side is the neighborhood of Ballard :) and on the other side is Discovery Park.
If you want a great view of Seattle that includes the Space Needle, go to Kerry Park on Queen Anne Hill.
Walking around Green Lake in the afternoon before the sunset is very popular. =]
Each year one of the local seafood restaurants runs a fun promotion called the
Oyster Olympics. I am the returning champion in the Oyster Slurping Contest, 2004. You thought all those "You SUCK!" remarks were
insults, didn't you. Heheh, nope, they're right, I do. Well, slurp is more like it. And fast too. Think of it as oysters as performance art, on fast forward.
They bring you the obligatory seafood bib with the restaurant logo on it and an enormous platter covered with crushed ice, with a dozen oysters on the half shell, already cut from the shell, resting obliviously in their own delicious juice. You are permitted to arrange the oysters on the platter to your liking, (condiments, anyone? I like mine naked) then your hands go behind your back and you wait for the starting signal. After the signal, the first contestant to get all the oysters down, and stay down, with no hands wins!
One Friday last March, I called up MrsV and asked if she wanted an after-work cocktail, and we decided to meet at Chinook's. We went to the bar and as we were reading over the appetizer menu the waitress handed us the "Oyster Olympics" menu, filled with several different kinds of oyster dishes. They looked delicious, but kind of expensive for just a trifle before dinner. There was a commotion at the end of the bar and when asked about it, she said it was the contest starting up. Wow, they
give you a free platter of oysters? Cool! They had room for one more, so I signed up.
The contest proceeded as I have described--my platter came and I arranged my treats in two concentric arcs. I planned to start on the upper right and move to the left, inhaling as I went and swallowing as I needed. At the end of the row, I adjusted downward a couple of inches and continued my motion. The round trip took about 4 seconds, and I threw my hands in the air: First Place!
I got a paper crown, my picture, a $30 gift certificate for lunch or dinner, an invitation to the championship round at the end of the month, and, of course, free oysters. Not a bad deal for a minute's worth of work.
The championship round was the following Friday, (I had qualified in the last round--lucky), and the process was repeated. All the winners from the previous 4 Friday competitions lined up, leaned over, and followed me across the finish line. I'm told I looked like a duck pecking up crumbs, dart, dart, dart, gobble, glug. Another crown, picture, gift cert, and free treats. Ahhh.
So, this afternoon, I am trying to qualify for this year's championship round. The show's at 6:00 at Chinook's at Fisherman's Terminal. Please cheer me on, from wherever you may be (come on down, if you can!). I'm excited, but not stressed. I can honestly say winning isn't everything. There's free oysters, too.
Well good luck you big slobber snot sucking so-n-so !!!!!!
Just mess'n with ya , i like my oysters with a dash of hot sauce and a sprinkle of lemon , swich and slurp !!!! Ahhh , life is GOOD !!!!!
Well, it's 8:30 now... didja win?
Naa here's the big V , the one on the right !!!! :D
Aw *shucks*, he's cute! :D
Aw *shucks*, he's cute! :D
owie.
The only problem with such a contest is that you actually have to eat raw oysters drenched in oyster piss.
I don't think so.
Perhaps this should be in that foreign food that scares you thread ...
But I do have to ask ... BigV, did MrsV reap the benefits of your oysterage?
Well, it's 8:30 now... didja win?
[color=Black][size=7]WINNAH!!!
[size=2]
[/size][/size][size=2]
[/size][/color]But I do have to ask ... BigV, did MrsV reap the benefits of your oysterage?
By the time I finally got to sleep, I was thoroughly
bushed...
This is the view last week up and down my street. Beautiful, don't you think? The cherries broke their slumber early this year, very early, some blossoms in early January even. But this reckless showy exuberance always gladdens my heart. And January or March, their ephemeral beauty makes me remember that Winter does not reign.
First pic down the street a few days later. Can you see the effects of the wind? Drifts of flower petals line the streets and sidewalks!
Second pic is of one of my favorite Saucer Magnolias in the neighborhood, a couple of blocks away. The canopy on this tree reaches to the ground almost and could easily envelope the two cars in the foreground, and a couple more besides.
Nice, first signs of spring! I was wondering where all that 'global warming' was going on I keep hearing so much about.
And here in CT we're waiting on another snow storm coming in sometime this morning. :(
We're having sleet or so I'm told. I'm not going out in it.
We are having what we always have winter and early spring: Suicidal Skies--Grey, grey, a little white, and lots more grey. Feels like the sky is right on top of my head.
Today I saw posted pictures of flowers fom CA, NC, Netherlands and Israel. Three days ago I noticed I have crocuses, uh, croci, pushing the deutrius up. :thumbsup:
I took this picture of some really determined croci at the end of Febuary outside of the butterfly museum.
test :eek:
This post was composed and posted while onboard the Bainbridge Island ferry. It's cool to read and post completely wire-free.
I also took a couple of pix, but I couldn't get the browse button to appear, and consequently could not attach the file. :mad:
I wonder if I can use the other img tools.
Hey folks,
Ideally, April and I want to go to Seattle and Vancouver for our honeymoon. What we're thinking is...flying to Seattle, spending a couple of days there, driving to Vancouver, spending a couple of days there, then flying back to St. Louis from Seattle.
As far as things we'd like to do, well...we like food and art and quirky shit. We like tourist stuff, but we also like the stuff that isn't in the pretty brochure.
Thoughts? Suggestions?
Gracias.
Seattle is an awesome seafood town. If it's like it was a decade ago, you can go downtown and head to any of the restaurants at the edge of the sound, and get awesome seafood.
The
Chateau St Michelle winery is not in France, it's just north of Seattle. A winery tour is a great way to spend a little time and learn about how they grow grapes in Eastern Washington and ship them to this place to make some of the finest, most consistent fine wine, year after year.
but not this perspective. This is Mount Rainier. Gorgeous.
Granite Falls native, doin what comes naturally.
a barn swallow, doing what comes naturally, even if it is rarely captured! They're soooo fast and sooooo agile and so beautiful!
the Olympics from Golden Gardens park.
bee-u-ti-ful! Thanks BigV
Nice! I'm land-locked and usually hot. These kinds of images make me feel like I'm on a vacation. Thanks Big V!
Nice! I'm land-locked and [COLOR="Red"]un[/COLOR]usually hot. These kinds of images make me feel like I'm on a vacation. Thanks Big V!
typo ;)
Me getting a $56 jaywalking ticket from a member of Seattle's Finest on 2nd Avenue in Belltown earlier today:
You can take the guy outa Philly...:headshake
See today's Manifesto...I can laugh about it now, but I was so fucking pissed earlier today.
I just read it...I sure hope you guys keep laughing, and enjoy the rest of your trip!
Is this the Space Needle?
Actually, that looks like the CN Tower in Toronto. Not sure who the boobs belong to though...somebody out there is very lucky. :)
It's been a few months now but I've got some photos and a message to post here today.
Before I flew out here to the Philippines there were several other stops made. One of those stops was in Seattle.
I knew that I'd have some time available to meet someone from the cellar out there during the stopover. A quick search listed BigV as being there in Seattle.
I PMed him about the possibility of getting together for a few hours. He had time available at the time and we made plans to meet at the airport.
The flight landed and all my BIG boxes were collected and ready for the next flight or for someone to stash in the truck of their Caddy. :)
BigV met me there at the airport and we took a short tour of Seattle. It was getting late but there were still things to see there and I was glad to have the tour, not having ever been there.
For those that have never met him, he's a very BIG guy and every bit as nice in person as he is here on the cellar.
As we parted at the airport I told him that I'd surely post something on the cellar about the micro GTG. Little did I know.
After I arrived in Manila my desktop died shortly after downloading the photos from the Seattle, BigV event. The laptop was used as backup but the photos were gone and I kept putting off posting something about Seattlle since the pics were unavailable.
NOW, after screwing around with the desktop and endless technical BS, I have the photos and I'd like to post a few and tell BigV thanks very much for the tour and the foods.
If we happen to meet again, I'll buy. Fish if I remember, would be your preference.
And to anyone here at the cellar with any doubts, BigV is truly a friendly helpful guy. :)
And....you just woundn't believe this but I composed this post a half hour ago and my computer crashed again. :lol: It seems that there is some unseen force that doesnt want this comment posted.
A biplane? Does that mean it can go either way?
I recognize that red building.
I believe that's that air museum. Everything was closed by the time we got there but there were a few very cool planes outside that I took a bunch of pics of.
One of those was the Concord.
Yes it is. It's also Bill Boeing's original factory.
What was it like working there compared to today? :D
Looks like I'm late for the Seattle trip planning, but I don't believe anyone mentioned Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe. They have a stuffed 2-headed black Angus calf and last time I was there offered head bobber toys of the same. Just about my favorite souvenir ever.
Hey folks,
Ideally, April and I want to go to Seattle and Vancouver for our honeymoon. What we're thinking is...flying to Seattle, spending a couple of days there, driving to Vancouver, spending a couple of days there, then flying back to St. Louis from Seattle.
As far as things we'd like to do, well...we like food and art and quirky shit. We like tourist stuff, but we also like the stuff that isn't in the pretty brochure.
Thoughts? Suggestions?
Gracias.
This is probably too late (hey, I just got here!), but how about flying home out of Portland? That way you don't have to drive back to Seattle, and you get to check out Portland, too, which is quite cool (Vancouver is just across the river from Portland).
Or were you talking about that
other Vancouver? :)
Day late and dollar short??? Damifino?
Right, ya just got here. How about looking at dates on post? Too much trouble?
Right, ya just got here. How about looking at dates on post? Too much trouble?
Not at all. sycamore's post was dated 8-28-07. In it, he mentioned that he was planning a honeymoon. On Earth, most people plan honeymoons
at least four months in advance.
How 'bout on your planet? :)
*ahem*
Welcome, Billy Rubin. sycamore's posts were of his honeymoon *IN SEATTLE* at the end of August. He and April, having planned their honeymoon long in advance, perhaps, four months or more, were finally doin' it, so to speak, as the later posts reveal.
As mentioned in the Happy Birthday thread, Tink celebrated her birthday with a party cruise! This is one of the shots of the city lights taken during the cruise, taken from the center of the ship canal, heading east.
In this picture, you're looking at two bridges, the Fremont Bridge, with the blue lights and operator towers on each side, and the George Washington Memorial Bridge, better known as the Aurora Bridge with the smaller yellowish streetlights.
The Fremont Bridge is a drawbridge, being so close to the water, it is necessary for the bridge to get out of the way of tall ship traffic, sailboats and other tall commercial vessels. The Aurora Bridge is *much* higher and is never in the way of marine traffic.
Underneath the bridges you can see the western side of Capitol Hill. If you look carefully at the city lights under the bridge, you can see a horizontal line of red lights. Those are cars on I-5.
I'm pretty happy with this picture. It was a long exposure and the sky turned out nicely, quite close to what it looked like in person.
Two shots of downtown from near the north shore of Lake Union.
How 'bout on your planet?
15 minutes tops!.
And most of that was time ill spent. 20/20. HNY at Ya.
It is
Oyster Festival time again!
Tonight is the opening round of this year's competition. I am the reigning champion, and I intend to compete tonight at 6 pm at Chinook's on Nickerson at Fisherman's Terminal. I am undefeated in eight contests, prelims and finals in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007.
I expect the same result of this ninth contest. I've asked Tink to be document the performance. The finals are at the end of the month. I'll report the results when I have them.
Wish me luck!
Competing -- was that in the shucking, or the eating? :yum: How did it go??
V! I went there with some friends after work last Friday. They were talking it up and said there was this big dude that always wins. Was that you that won?! Shit, what was that, 7 seconds or something? :eek:
Impressive. And they have good food too. A little loud but great atmosphere. I should have come and introduced myself. Next time.
oh I like BigV's perpective.
site seeing suggestions??
hope it hasn't been mentioned yet.
MUSIC PROJECT
SCIENCE FICTION MUSEUM AND HALL OF FAME
http://www.seattleattractions.com/emp.html
oh I like BigV's perpective.
site seeing suggestions??
hope it hasn't been mentioned yet.
MUSIC PROJECT
SCIENCE FICTION MUSEUM AND HALL OF FAME
http://www.seattleattractions.com/emp.html
I'll be there in two hours.
Report back tomorrow.
It is Oyster Festival time again!
Tonight is the opening round of this year's competition. I am the reigning champion, and I intend to compete tonight at 6 pm at Chinook's on Nickerson at Fisherman's Terminal. I am undefeated in eight contests, prelims and finals in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007.
I expect the same result of this ninth contest. I've asked Tink to be document the performance. The finals are at the end of the month. I'll report the results when I have them.
Wish me luck!
Another year, another plate of oysters.
This is the qualifying round, next week is the final competition. I wish my cameraman had let the tape run for another ten or fifteen seconds so I could see how far back second place was. I have to get a better start too. Some of these people started on 3 - 2 - [SIZE="6"]
1[/SIZE], and I, sucker that I am, started on "Slurp!". No biggie. I still crushed them. Puny earthlings.
Stay tuned for the finals next Friday! If any of you are in the area, come on over, introduce yourself. We'll have a great time.
[youtube]DO3qGQBiVd8[/youtube]
You suck. :lol2:
...And you do it so well!
Congratulations, V!
Wow no hands too? Thats pretty cool.
Oh, they're so pretty, I love them... we have 3 in the back yard not in bloom yet.
It's Friday in March in Seattle.
You all know what that means, right?
At this time, I'm 14-0. Tonight at 6pm I will defend my record in a qualifying round of oyster slurping. If I win tonight, I'll be eligible to compete in the championship round on the last Friday of the month.
Wish me suck!
wait!!!
wish me LUCK!!!!!
HAhahahaha! Good ruck, man!
He puts the Big V in HooVer
winnah winnah oystah dinnnah!
It's official, I'm 15-0 (shellfish of me, I know). My prize was a gift certificate for two breakfast or lunch entrees, approx $30 value. Plus the free oysters, of course. But this contest was very close, less than a second between first and second. I've qualified for the championship round at the end of March. And, I've been invited back for next week, "in case I don't have enough people". Ok, come on down for a plate of free oysters?. Can do.
wooT!!
You oystah sucker you !!!!
Congrats
do you have to shuck them first or just speed feed your self ???
[YOUTUBE]6l1GvDWtccI[/YOUTUBE]
I've been interviewing with a place in Seattle. At the very least I'm hoping I can swing a trip out and get some good Thai, Vietnamese or seafood.
I had an awesome Pho Bo two nights ago.
out of sequence update:
Today is
Ballard SeafoodFest!
There's a
lutefisk eating contest in an hour. I've already signed up and now I have to get there. I'll update you all with my victory speech afterwards! Wish me luck!
out of sequence update:
Today is Ballard SeafoodFest!
There's a lutefisk eating contest in an hour. I've already signed up and now I have to get there. I'll update you all with my victory speech afterwards! Wish me luck!
I didn't realize one could use the word delicious as an adjective before Lutefisk.
You learn something new every day.
Lutefisk? LUTEFISK!?! :eek:
*sigh*
Big V, you've totally changed my idea of who you are. I now consider you to be a what. Seriously, dude. Only psychotic lunatics eat lutefisk on purpose.
:greenface
When cooking and eating lutefisk, it is important to clean the lutefisk and its residue off pans, plates, and utensils immediately. Lutefisk left overnight becomes nearly impossible to remove. Sterling silver should never be used in the cooking, serving or eating of lutefisk, which will permanently ruin silver. Stainless steel utensils are recommended instead.
Or perhaps a stainless steel stomach ... ? I imagine the white sauce is VERY important :lol: .
It's all right - I'm Canadian (dual citizen). This is a big heritage dish for Norwegian-Canadians. Canadians are all about heritage. :rolleyes: Otoh, my heritage directs me toward Haggis ... :eek:
No wonder we Scots enjoy our single malts ...
Haggis aside ... I love, love, loved Seattle when I was there in 2009-10. Picking up purebred Siamese kittens on the Olympic peninsula for my then-cattery, but I had the chance to enjoy the city and the peninsula. I'd relocate there in a New York minute, for the market alone ...
Everything out west is BIGGER, somehow. I love where I live in the east, I love the Alleghenies, the steep conical hills, the rivers ... I love the lakes of Ontario ... and yet, the west is bigger. I could live out my days in Colorado, and I could live the rest of my life in the northwest.
What can I say? I'm a geographic hedonist.
out of sequence update:
Today is Ballard SeafoodFest!
There's a lutefisk eating contest in an hour. I've already signed up and now I have to get there. I'll update you all with my victory speech afterwards! Wish me luck!
I am here to report, regretfully, that I did not win.
I took second place in every round, up to and including the championship round. I lost to an eight time winner, so, no shame there. And I lost by a bare fraction of a second, or flake of lutefisk, as the case may be. Here's the video of the last two rounds. That's me at the far end with the blue bandana on my head.
Still, $150 for about a minute's work isn't bad. Plus, FREE LUTEFISK! Come on people, what's not to like?!
[YOUTUBE]sFzdWSfI9DQ[/YOUTUBE]
*watches video*
And nobody threw up. I'm shocked. SHOCKED! :eek:
From Wiki:
Preparation
Lutefisk is made from dried whitefish (normally cod in Norway, but ling is also used) prepared with lye in a sequence of particular treatments. The watering steps of these treatments differ slightly for salted/dried whitefish because of its high salt content.
The first treatment is to soak the stockfish in cold water for five to six days (with the water changed daily). The saturated stockfish is then soaked in an unchanged solution of cold water and lye for an additional two days. The fish swells during this soaking, and its protein content decreases by more than 50 percent producing a jelly-like consistency. When this treatment is finished, the fish (saturated with lye) has a pH value of 11–12 and is therefore caustic. To make the fish edible, a final treatment of yet another four to six days of soaking in cold water (also changed daily) is needed. Eventually, the lutefisk is ready to be cooked.
Ok, so it's soaked in fricking lye, loses more than half its protien and becomes caustic. No, but thanks for the thought.
Why wouldn't you just eat cod?
You lost because you paused to look at your plate.
snip
snip
snip
snip
snip
snip
Ok, smarties... who among you has actually tried lutefisk? Just because you read about how the sausage is made on Wikipedia doesn't make it any less delicious. Come on... First hand, in your own mouth experience? Eat up or shut up. :D
Why wouldn't you just eat cod?
In all seriousness? Because you don't have modern refrigeration, and there are months out of the year where the fishing isn't enough to keep you alive. Gotta preserve it somehow.
But someone should have explained to them that high volumes of salt work better than lye. And anyone still eating them after about 1870 has no excuse at all, including BigV. :)
Eat up or shut up. :D
No, for the same reason I won't eat dog shit.
Ok, smarties... who among you has actually tried lutefisk? Just because you read about how the sausage is made on Wikipedia doesn't make it any less delicious. Come on... First hand, in your own mouth experience? Eat up or shut up. :D
I haven't tried it only because I could smell it coming and had time to escape.
In all seriousness? Because you don't have modern refrigeration, and there are months out of the year where the fishing isn't enough to keep you alive. Gotta preserve it somehow.
But someone should have explained to them that high volumes of salt work better than lye. And anyone still eating them after about 1870 has no excuse at all, including BigV. :)
There's no lye taste (or residue, as far as I know) at all. Any of you had hominy grits? Yep, processed with lye. No little Xs for eyes because of that breakfast, right?
It was delicious, like any steamed fish. It was prepared with salt and pepper and a little parsley and lemon. I'm cracking up at your collective EWWW! This must feel like the guy who ate the first oyster felt. "No, *really*, they're delicious!"
... whatever, more for me. :)
No, for the same reason I won't eat dog shit.
Ok,
Cheborneck. How do you know?
[YOUTUBE]eY7ZX6ngOSs[/YOUTUBE]
TThis must feel like the guy who ate the first oyster felt. "No, *really*, they're delicious!"
Comparing them to oysters isn't helping your case.
I have to come to Seattle!
I've thought this before (because of this thread) and now do so again.
Not fussed about the coffee, the weather will be familiar but I am partial to a bit of seafood. Well, all seafood really.
The other night I was following random links while waiting for something to upload. I found a list of America's most popular Chain Restaurants and spent about 45 minutes browsing the menus (my original intention clean forgotten).
Cracker Barrel filled me with horror.
But I started Lottery-Dreaming when I got to Red Lobster, imagining taking my Mum.
Eating Lobster Thermidore in a restaurant is on her bucket list. I know it's hardly haute cuisine, but it would suit her down to the ground.
One day, one day.
Well, you don't have to limit yourself to Seattle, based on those desires. There are Red Lobsters (and Cracker Barrels, for that matter) all over the US.
Ok, smarties... who among you has actually tried lutefisk? Just because you read about how the sausage is made on Wikipedia doesn't make it any less delicious. Come on... First hand, in your own mouth experience? Eat up or shut up. :D
Uncle, uncle ...
But now I don't understand. If it's just basically steamed fish with salt and pepper, parsley and lemon, why the big eating contest?
And I LOVE oysters. Raw only, never cooked; so I guess other people can say eeewwwwww at my tastes. Maybe I'd better put my money where my mouth is and mosey on over to Seattle to try me some lutefisk. ;)
[COLOR="Silver"]and some oysters [/COLOR]
Any of you had hominy grits?
That shit is gross.
"...sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie..."
@ clodfobble's salt vs. lye: I'm guessing wood ash was a lot easier to come by than salt, despite being so close to the ocean. But, I'm thinking this recipe may have evolved as a result of salvaging a serious fucked up food cache
Well, you don't have to limit yourself to Seattle, based on those desires. There are Red Lobsters (and Cracker Barrels, for that matter) all over the US.
I know. But I want to see Seattle too.
And obv BigV could point me in the direction of a really good seafood place.
In my experience, there are no seafood places in Seattle which are not really good. I was there for a week and every night, the process of finding a dinner restaurant consisted of walking down to the waterfront and picking a seafood place at random.
My experience too. And don't neglect the Olympic peninsula. Great ferry ride, beautiful geography, and tiny local restaurants with great local (WA & OR) wines. Some nice art galleries too.
Sure, beautiful scenery, and wonderful food, but ya can't swing a dead cat without hittin' one of them hippie liberals.;)
Have another glass of wine, Bruce ... you won't care about the hippie liberals! ;)
Wine? Hell no, that's what they drink. :eyebrow:
Sure, beautiful scenery, and wonderful food, but ya can't swing a dead cat without hittin' one of them hippie liberals.;)
Since when has hitting hippie liberals with a dead cat been a problem for you?
In fact, you may have just invented a new Olympic sport.
It's for the cats... my god, think of the cats. :p:
You can't be cruel to a dead cat.
Remember, cats don't give a #$%&. We established that in another thread.
Aren't you thinking of the honeybadgers?
Won't somebody please think of the honey badgers!
Ok, smarties... who among you has actually tried lutefisk? Just because you read about how the sausage is made on Wikipedia doesn't make it any less delicious. Come on... First hand, in your own mouth experience? Eat up or shut up. :D
Couldn't bring myself to. The smell, man. The SMELL. :greenface
ETA: Although, with your posting of the Chebornek vid, my estimation of you has improved slightly. *wink*
wth?
delicious lutefisk makes you lower your estimation of me
a sketch about eating dog shit raises your estimation of me
You're not one of my exes are you?
wth?
delicious lutefisk makes you lower your estimation of me
a sketch about eating dog shit raises your estimation of me
You're not one of my exes are you?
Nay, merely an enigma, wrapped in a conundrum, surrounded by oddballs who make me laugh. :D
snip--
Take a ferry ride to [strike]Bainbridge Island[/strike] Bremerton. You can walk on too. The views of the city on the eastbound trip are killer in the low angle light of the afternoon.
I captured the shining beauty of my city yesterday.
[ATTACH]46249[/ATTACH]
V, Very neat pic../.
Has the building boom tapered out yet ?
Also, is Smith Tower still standing ?
That building has/had the most unique elevators ( :eek: )
when I visited there away back when.
Thanks!
The Smith Tower is just to the right (cropped out of the frame) of the Columbia Tower, the tall black building on the right of the picture.
Twitter sized update:
I won the oyster slurping championships again tonight! That makes ten years in a row without losing a single round.
More info later. :-P
I won the oyster slurping championships again tonight!
Uh...are they held at the same venue as the submarine races?
I posted a weather report a little while back, I said it might be 88 degrees. Well, 89 was the record high for this date in this area, and the temperature rose to 94 degrees. Hot. I was extremely happy to be two cars from the bow on the ferry during the hottest part of the day. Though I couldn't feel the snow, Mount Rainier's glaciers made the trip cooler nonetheless.
[ATTACH]48462[/ATTACH]
This is Mount Baker to the north. Farther away, not as tall, but that is still a LOT of snow!
[ATTACH]48463[/ATTACH]
Nice...the pix that is. Not the ttemperature.
The Mrs is interested in moving to Seattle. She's never been there...I have, and know its evil.
That was 7 years ago and a wife and a world ago...I would enjoy going back to see if my opinion of the city has changed.
What kinds of things do you like in a city?
It had a lot of what I like in a city...along with things like aggressive and obnoxious people. Not Philly aggressive, which is neat, but more like NY and LA aggressive. And it was horribly expensive, though it probably wouldn't feel expensive if I lived there. I think the biggest problem there is that you fuckers drink too much coffee. :)
snip-- And it was horribly expensive,
check.
I think the biggest problem there is that you fuckers drink too much coffee. :)
wtf? is that even possible?
Want to see a major American city stop dead in its tracks? Take away all the coffee from Seattle...shit, just take a tenth of it.
Didn't Seattle invent the hipster? If that is the case, everyone there should be shot for letting that happen.
But, just a little bit.
:D
They did give us
Heart, though, so there's that...
Twitter sized update:
I won the oyster slurping championships again [strike]tonight[/strike] last friday night! That makes [strike]ten[/strike] twelve years in a row without losing a single round.
More info later. :-P
Same headline, different year.
eta:
I went back looking for a thread dedicated to this topic and found none. But I did find
my first entry for this topic and it's in this thread. In it I talk about being the returning champion of the
2004 contest... That makes this year the twelfth consecutive year of eating free oysters faster than those other people.
Here's your "more info":
[YOUTUBEWIDE]_e89u_BsgE0[/YOUTUBEWIDE]
You suck... all hail the best of all those suckers.
At 0.20 the lesbian on the left tries to put a move on the woman on the right, but is rebuffed Angela Merkel style.
I am impressed!
Go go BigV!
Wow, where has the time gone?
No entry for 2016?
Whoops. I'll get the video from last year's contest when I get home.
Meanwhile, today's the first Friday in March. Again. Care to guess what I'll be having as an appetizer from 6:00:00 to 6:00:10?
Exploring the San Juan Island is a great day trip. You can take the ferry out of Anacortes, have lunch at the little town out there, and return before evening.
Thank you!
I have pics and videos, but no easy way to post reasonable sizes from the phone.
Did have a very, very nice conversation with Captain Brad a perennial runner up.. He's in some of the posted videos. Great guy, he runs a charter cruise operation.... Out of... Dunno.. Anyway very pleasant, especially considering my whole entourage consisted of Captain Brad..
In case of a tie, the announcer says those oysters have MSX - (Multinucleated Sphere Unknown) disease. It is caused by a single-celled Protozoan parasite.
Champion is the last one to vomit.
MSX (Multinucleated Sphere Unknown) disease is caused by a single‐celled Protozoan parasite, Haplosporidium nelsoni.**MSX is lethal to the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica), but it is not known to be harmful to humans.
So you'd better be careful, tw.
MSX is lethal to the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica), but it is not known to be harmful to humans.
Then it must be health food. High in protein?
Am I health food?
I'm high in general.
Yesterday was the championship round at my local restaurant and I won!
This year, I've been invited to the championship round for all the champions from each restaurant.
The competition take place in fifteen minutes. This is the first time I've competed outside my "home field".
Wish me luck!
Hope you had fun and did well!
Hope you suck better than the others. :thumb:
Thanks everybody!
I WON!
I set a new record for contest, one dozen oysters in 9.8 seconds. I got a very nice gift basket with some Anthony's swag, hoodie, hat, cell phone charger, steel water bottle, couple bottles of wine three bottles of beer cheese knife set, beer cozie, coffee table book about local winery, dinner for two, gift card for another local restaurant, and a couple tickets to the Space Needle. And I drank for free all afternoon. And a giant medal!
Congratulations, you sucked best. :notworthy
Congratulations on your Win!!!
This is my sixteenth year of competition. I won this week's qualification round. The championships will be in two weeks at the end of March.
Enjoy!
[YOUTUBEWIDE]LYFFWVG-0EU[/YOUTUBEWIDE]
Championship round
[YOUTUBEWIDE]CHoDIXGUyas[/YOUTUBEWIDE]
Thank you!
This will be the second year that all the "champions" from each of the final competitions come together for a final competition. I won last year's inaugural event. Having won this year's rounds at "my" restaurant, I've earned a place for this year's winners versus winners battle. It' next Saturday, 06 Apr 2019. I expect to win again this year. I'll share the video with all of you. See you next week!
I hope you go all the way to nationals, and they make an inspiring docu-drama about it. :thumbsup:
I'll watch it and be mesmerized.
Clodfobble! When If you go with husband then visit the some places of Seattle because it very attractive for visitors like as:
Smith Tower
Washington State Ferries
Seattle Great Wheel
Woodinville wine country
Seattle Aquarium
Seattle Aquarium is a beautiful waterfront in Washington. I hope your time will be very memorable.
Jacob98, obviously English is not your first language, where are you from?
Don't quote me on this, but I think Jacob is from Seattle.
Sent from my moto e5 supra using Tapatalk
Clodfobble! When you will go to with your husband then must visit these places in Seattle because all these are very attractive for visitors like:
Smith Tower
Washington State Ferries
Seattle Great Wheel
Woodinville wine country
Seattle Aquarium
Seattle Aquarium various sea animals of the Pacific Ocean. I hope your time is will very memorable.
Yeah, almost forgot the Pacific Ocean.
A must sea.
Clodfobble! When you will go to with your husband then must visit these places in Seattle because all these are very attractive for visitors like:
Dude, don't rush us! We've only had 14 years to plan. Want to make sure we do it right.
Yeah, almost forgot the Pacific Ocean.
A must sea.
Dude, don't rush us! We've only had 14 years to plan. Want to make sure we do it right.
You people amuse me.
You people amuse me.
You missspelt '...are crazy.'
:p:
Dar! Your image is very nice and cool. I really love to say that I Snoqualmie Falls is very attractive for me because I am a nature lover. I want to there soon and will many top things to do near the Snoqualmie Falls like Dirtfish rally school, Railroad Community, Wild hare Vintage and Snoqualmie Casino. Can you share with me your experience?
I'm disappointed. I was hoping Jacob would just turn out to be a bit of a loon. He sure put in a lot of effort to get that one spam link to appear for a few minutes.
REJECTED!
Coulda been both a bit of a loon and an ineffective spammer.
