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Friday, May 29, 2020

Mass Audubon Wildlife River Sanctuary



I found this absolute gem of conservation space in a magazine. It encompasses 12 miles of trails and boardwalks of pure nature. I went on a picture perfect summer day and walked through all the trails. I had to talk myself into leaving the property (the State Police officer helped me as well!)

























Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Our first trip to Seattle, Washington


As we did last year, we took a trip to another city we have never been to. It was a tossup between Seattle and Portland, Oregon.

After checking into hotel in the neighborhood of Queen Anne, we went go eat. We are always on the lookout for a local, non-chain restaurant to try both at home and when we travel. The missus found a creole eatery one block away from our hotel. 




This place is no joke! Toulouse Le Petit Kitchen and Lounge is world renowned for its food. My wife was craving beignets, so this place was an easy sell.



We started with beignets.




Cajun Meatloaf with scrambles eggs and home fries. Utterly delicious! We were so enamored with the cuisine, we went back again!


Seattle's most famous landmark, The Space Needle.



As we were looking for places to visit, we came across a tour that takes you under the city. There was a massive fire in June of 1889 that consumed much of the waterfront as depicted in the sign. This portion of the city was essentially raised one level. Meaning the ground floor of a business was now the basement. Some of the underground rooms were used for illegal activities in the early part of the century. 


Here we go...



















Probably not the same pavement glass. I wanted to show the view looking down and looking up.





All the different names for Seattle were written on the stairs as you go back up to street level.


Daytime panoramic of downtown from the roof deck of the hotel.


Nighttime shot of downtown from the same rooftop deck.


This was a fun way to get to downtown.



I asked the operator to, "hammer it". He looked at me and said, "ok!". 

Just south of downtown, Elliott Bay.



Pikes Place Market




The sheer selection of fresh seafood was overwhelming!







Fresh flowers in Technicolor. 

Seattle's Gum Wall

It is one of those things were you know it's going to be gross, but you have to look anyway!


We had lunch at the Market and had a great view of Elliott Bay.

Dough Zone Dumpling House
My wife's friend, Meg, lives in Seattle and she was kind enough to play tour guide for us. She showed where she works, took us on the Monorail, and suggested we all have dinner at the Dough Zone Dumpling House. We talked, drank tea, and feasted on dumplings, pot stickers, and scallion pancakes.






Optimism Brewing Company

Meg also suggested we check out a local brewery, Optimism Brewing Company. It had a good sized crowd and as with other breweries, you can see the equipment used to make the suds. 




We each ordered a flight and left with a nice buzz.



This cemetery was about 30 minutes north of were we staying. If it were not for the two people interred in the picture below, we would have not visited it.






Home of the Seattle Mariners
Fiat 124 Spyder

Dodge Charger with a 392 Hemi

Cool 1960s pick-up truck in a funky teal color

Honda S2000

BMW 8 Series (E31)

Jaguar F-Type R Coupe

Shelby Cobra, real or kit?

Audi TTRS


Monday, May 25, 2020

2018 Turner Classic Movie Film Festival , Part III: The Cars



2000 BMW M Coupe


BMW i8, center

Chevrolet Malibu with a 289.

1980s Whaletail Porsche 911

Bentley Bentayga

BMW M5 (E39)

Ferrari California

 Unreleased Jeep product in factory camouflage.



This will do! My cousin Nick got his grubby paws on a 2019 Mercedes-Benx GT-R. It is your basic 4.0 litre, twin-turbo V8, 577 horsepower, sub 4-second 0-60, 319 kph, $157.000 grocery getter. 





The pictures do not do the stunning color justice. You have to see it with your own eyes.

Chevrolet Corvette painted as Ironman.

1946 Cadillac

1950s Chevrolet Bel Air convertible 

Aston Martin Vantage

Bonus! Cousin Nick scored free tickets to The Petersen Museum. Every car enthusiast has to visit this temple of classic and rare automobiles. In 2015, I took the Vault Tour. They take you downstairs in an elevator to the basement. This tour contains the rarest of the rare, automobiles formerly owned by celebrities, cars from movies and television, and from every period of car manufacturing. The only stipulation of the tours is you cannot take any photos. They don't want thieves getting the layout of the security system.

Due to the Coronavirus, The Petersen Museum is currently closed. However, they posted a video of the Vault Tour. You can view the tour 
here.



One of the rarest and most coveted in automobile history, a 1963 Ferrari GTO. Want one? The last three that sold at auction commanded prices of, $45.000.000$52.000.000, and $70.000.000.

early Ferrari racecar


Porsche 917 or 917k racecar

Never produced Porsche wagon based on the 928


Porsche Carrera GT



Toyota 2000GT


McLaren P1

Jaguar XJ220