Harter House World Flavors: Seattle Grocer's Getaway July 2015

I LOVE to travel. I'm very fortunate to be my mother's travel buddy on many Grocer's Getaways.

Associated Wholesale Grocers puts together a tour for grocers once or twice a year for education purposes and this trip was to visit the Fruit Packers of the great Northwest.

Friday - July 10, we traveled to Seattle, arriving about 5:00 pm. We have come 3 days early for some extra time to explore. My high school girlfriend, Cathy, lives just north in Marysville, WA. We'll stay with her for 3 nights, before meeting up with the Grocers. Tonight we dined at Anthony's Homeport in Edmonds, Wa. Ahi tuna is my choice.

Saturday - July 11, We got up early and headed north to Anacortes, where we took a ferry to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. This Island is the second-largest and most populous of the San Juan Islands in northwestern Washington. it's a little cloudy today.

When we arrived at Friday Harbor we took a shuttle bus to the other side of the island. On our way we stopped at the Pelindaba Lavender Farm.
Pelindaba is a premier grower of Lavender plants, distiller of Lavender essential oils and handcrafter of Lavender products. I can smell the lavender in the air.

Next, we headed to Lime Kiln Point State Park,
a 36-acre Washington state park on the western shore of San Juan Island.

The park is considered one of the best places in the world to view wild orcas from a land-based facility. For that reason this park has a nickname of Whale Watch Park.

The peak whale-watching season is May - Sept, with June and July being the most likely months to see whales.The lighthouse was built in 1919 and still serves as a navigational beacon for ships in the Haro Strait. The lighthouse was open and park rangers informed us that the whales were spotted that morning, but we did not see them on this visit. The Whales and big wave pictures below, are 2 of many pictures they had on display at the Lighthouse.

I loved this little plaque on a bench.

"I like to wander through the woodlands in a place unmarked

as if I'm discovering the world"

We shopped all the little shops around Friday Harbor till our ferry returned for us.

Back on the mainland, it was just a short drive to Deception Pass. So Cathy drove us to see the bridge and explore the area.
Height from water to roadway is about 180 feet.
The roadway is two 11-foot lanes.
There are 3 foot sidewalk on each side

The total length is 1487 feet (more than a quarter mile) An average 20,000 cars per day cross.

We were able to walk from one end to the other. Then there are stairs that take you down and under the bridge and back up on the other side of the highway.

The bridge was completed in 1935, connecting Fidalgo Island and Whidbey Island. The area is just beautiful.

Sunday July 12 - Cathy & I attended Mass with my mother at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Marysville before heading back to Seattle for the day.

Cathy, and her friend Marcella, went to the theater and mother & I met up with my cousin Kyle and his girlfriend Hannah and went to a Mariners Ballgame at Safeco field.

The Mariners were playing Los Angeles Angels, so we got to see ex-Cardinals Albert Pujoles and David Freeze.
We even wore our Cardinal shirts.

After the Ball game we met up with Cathy and Marcella and had dinner at The Melting Pot.

It was my first time at a fondue restaurant. The six of us really enjoyed sharing everything dipped in pots of cheese, broth for dipping meats and chocolates for dessert. Really Yummy!

Monday July 13 -
10 am - Future of Flight Aviation Center & Boeing Tour. We toured the commercial jet assembly plant.

The picture below, from inside the plant, came from their website because

we were not allowed to take any pictures inside the plant. It was all very interesting.

Noon to 3:00 pm - We gambled at the Casino till Cathy got off work (She works at Boeing) and we headed back to Seattle.

We are staying at the Westin just a few blocks from Pike's Market.

Tonight we have a Meet and Greet with all the other grocers who have come to Seattle for this Grocers Getaway. We meet tonight at Rock Bottom Brewery.

From Harter House, Barbara Bettlach, Michele Kauffman, Randy & Kathy Richards and their daughters, Amanda and Calli Richards are here.

Tuesday July 14 - 8:00 am the bus departs for Yakima where we will first visit Sage Fruit Packers. Once we cross the mountains, we're into the desert. The drive is absolutely beautiful.

We stopped at the Indian John Hill Rest Area.

We ate lunch at Miner's
- Home of the Big Miner Burger.

Then on to Sage Fruit.

We saw the apple packing lines, cherry packing lines,

and also the storage areas.

Then we went to their orchards.
We ate peaches from the trees.

Sage produces Apples, cherries and pears. More than half of all apples grown in the United States for fresh eating come from orchards in
Washington State.

Tonight the owners of Sage Fruit are treating us to a Barbecue at one of their offices near the orchard, Green Acre Farm. We're even being served Tri-Tip tonight. We think that's pretty cool.

The grounds are lovely.

Everyone has been so gracious

to our group of grocers.

The food is wonderful.

This Evening, we are dining

on part of The Yakima Reservation.

We are being entertained by

The Yakima Tribal Dancers.

A Rain Dance

A Coming of Age Dance

The Harvest Dance

The Basket of Bounty Dance

Wednesday July 15

After a great breakfast at the hotel,
we are back on the bus at 8:00 am.
to The Apple Tree Resort and Country Club.

The owners of Borton Fruit treated us to an opportunity to show off our golf skills.
We all rode golf carts to the famous 17th Hole.

Everyone who wanted, was able to take a turn at trying to hit the ball to the "Island " Green,
shaped like an Apple.

A few golfers made it to the Green. Most did not.

This is Barbara Bettlach. She has golfed before.
However, I'm pretty sure she did not make it onto the green today.

Another short bus ride to the offices of Borton Fruit.
They had 20 cases set out for us to see the different apple varieties and each variety had 4 different grades.

We toured their Orchards. Then we saw and were educated about their Controlled Atmosphere Storage. Each room holds 5,000 bins of apples. Only Apples can be stored for a longer period of time in an atmosphere of no oxygen and added nitrogen.

We were told about grafting tree branches to a root stock they purchase.
These trees will produce fruit after three years.

Here you can see part of a wire trellis.

The tree will grow up the wires, making it easier for workers to hand pick the fruit at harvest time.

We rode back to The Apple Tree Resort and Country Club for a wonderful buffet lunch.

The Borton Fruit owners gave away a gift to one of the retailers in our trip.

Airfare and 3 nights lodging, basically anywhere.

Our own Barbara Bettlach won!

View of the golf course from the 2nd floor deck.

After lunch, we're off again to Leavenworth, Washington.
Approximately a two hour ride and we arrive about 3:30 pm at
A very quaint Bavarian Village, with beautiful mountain views 360 degrees.

We checked in at the Bavarian Lodge and started off exploring all the little shops on Front Street.

Calli Richards took this picture from a bridge over the Wanatche River, while walking with Kathy and Amanda.
I never even saw this bridge. Her picture is one of my favorites.

This is me and Marie on the bank of the Wanatche River..

Marie works for AWG and is in charge of this Grocers Getaway.

She's my very good girlfriend.!

Dinner tonight is at the Munchen Haus.

It's a very small outdoor dining area.

Brats and sauerkraut

with 22 Sauces to choose from.

German Potato Salad & Chips

And of course BEER.

Thursday, July 16

Back on the bus and departing at 8:00 am.
Headed down the road to the next small town, Cashmere.
Here we visited Crunch Pak. They package sliced apple snacks.
They also purchase from the orchards we just visited.

This large package of apples above,

is packaged for Walmart.

ONLY Walmart has this size package,

as well as other sized products

only they will carry.

Also in Cashmere,
is the very small manufacturer of
Aplets & Cotlets - a classic fruit-and-nut combination and a favorite since 1920. Real fruit in every bite! They ship around the world.

Headed back to Seattle now, a two and a half hour drive.

Beautiful scenery on our ride as we make our way to The Westin, in downtown Seattle.

A short stop on the way to Seattle.

Arrive at The Westin at 2:00 pm and had lunch provided by Aqua Star, a Shrimp and Seafood Company. A very short presentation and then an opportunity tp gp to our room and rest for a bit.

Aqua Star then hosted cocktails at 5:30 and dinner at 6:00. Each table had a Aqua Star Representative.

We're not done yet. Tonight we take a cab to the waterfront to watch the sunset. We rode the "Great Wheel". That would be me, Marie, Rich & Pat Carr. Mother is with us, but she chose not to ride.

Friday, July 17
Our last full day.

We met in the Hotel Lobby at 10:00 am. Me, Marie, Mother, Gary Smith, Deb and Wayne walked about 5 blocks downhill to Pikes Market.

First on my list was a stop at Starbuck's to purchase a coffee mug.

The Starbuck's at Pikes Market is

The Original location.

This is the ONLY Starbuck's store that sells my mug and other products

showcasing the original

Naked Lady Logo

You probably already know that a part of the movie, Sleepless in Seattle, was filmed at Pikes Market.
Tom Hanks and Rob Reiner have lunch at the Athenian Inn, inside Pikes Market.

Next is lunch at The Space Needle.

Randy, Kathy, Amanda, & Calli Richards.
Barbara, Michele, and friends Ed & Julie.

A view from the top.

View from the top.
If you look closely here, you'll see a
Daddy Long Leg Spider.
It is painted in 3D. It looks real!

Another view from the top.

The Cruise Ships dock here.

We intended to visit The Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum, but time is slipping away.

We sit for a minute and listen to the music from across the path.

Randy has rented us a Limo for this afternoon.

A tour of the city.

First we drive to Kerry Park.

This park sits high above the city,

located on the south side of Queen Anne Hill.

A beautiful view of the city of Seattle.

If you look closely in this picture, today we can see Mount Rainier in the distance.

After driving by the waterfront, and stopping for a toast,
we headed to Alki Beach in West Seattle.

Another view of the city from a totally different location.

Tonight my mother and Marie will join Kathy, Randy, Amanda & Calli for dinner at
Blue Acre Seafood.

Because we couldn't add to the reservation, I decided to have dinner with Cathy and Rex at
Queen Anne Grille.