I have said it before, and I’ll say it again … we love listening to live music! We enjoy many genres, but gravitate towards jazz, blues and classic rock. As we have gotten older though, we prefer to find venues that offer some great music with an earlier than 9 p.m. start time. In our continuous search around the Seattle area for explorations, we discovered that the Latona Pub features live jazz music during their Friday evening happy hours (5 – 7 p.m.). It was time to check it out. Located at the corner of N 65th St and Latona Avenue NE in Greenlake, the Latona Pub has been around for 30+ years. It is definitely what you would consider a neighborhood pub with a cozy feel. We showed up about 15 minutes before the jazz trio started to be sure we got a table. The place definitely started to fill up, but there was seating upstairs also so I think we would have been fine. You could tell by many of the people coming in that the Latona Pub was a local’s hangout. We knew right away that this was our kind of place. As we settled in and checked out the menu, the band started to play. The Happy Hour Jazz is touted as one of the oldest happy hours in the city. It started in 1992 with Boots, Barrie, and Murray who played weekly. In 2009, bassist and bandleader Phil Sparks took over. He is considered one of the best jazz players in the city. Two or three other extraordinary musicians join Sparks each week. It was a real treat listening to these talented musicians and an added bonus was that there was not a cover charge. Even with the crowd, the staff was attentive and made sure we were taken care throughout the evening. We started with the house specialty of Latona Steamers (we chose mussels) and roasted jalapeño and cheddar topped with crispy bacon and served with grilled pita. Later on for our entrees, we enjoyed the Steak & Mushroom Salad and a Latona Burger. Everything was fresh and delicious (and we later learned locally sourced). It was also affordable which isn’t always easy in the city! Overall the night was a hit and the music was really awesome. We’ll be back!
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Since it’s the holiday season, we explored very close to home enjoying a favorite pastime of ours…wine tasting in Woodinville Wine Country (WWC). There really couldn’t be a better place than Woodinville to try so many amazing wines within a small area geographically. At last count, there are 118 Wineries & Tasting Rooms in Woodinville in four districts (Hollywood, West Valley, Warehouse, and Downtown). For this exploration, we stuck to the Warehouse District that has over 50 wineries alone. Even within this area, there are three separate areas highlighted (Warehouse, The Junction, and Artisan Hill). We ventured to the original Warehouse district that admittedly looks like a strip mall on the exterior marked by dozens of sandwiches boards at the entrance off 144th Avenue NE. Inside the wineries and tasting rooms, however, it is quite a different story. The places we visited offered very warm welcomes with beautiful décor. We visited a few, but we really enjoyed our visit to Elevation Cellars where we had the chance to meet the owner (and winemaker) Steven Stuart. As I mentioned previously, we enjoy wine tasting but are definitely novices when it comes to varietals, aroma, age, taste, etc. Thankfully, Steven was able to spend a little time with us and walked us through each of the samples we tasted. Steven’s story is interesting although my guess is there are many of the winemakers in WWC that have stories that are just as interesting. According to the Elevation Cellars website, Steven wanted to make wine as long as he could remember. He was living and working as an engineer in Colorado, and as fate would have it he was offered an engineering job in Woodinville in 1997. He started making wine on his own and then eventually with a group of “garagistes” while at the same time building relationships with some of the best vineyards in the Columbia Valley. Through the years, he continued to hone his craft and now Elevation Cellars wines are distributed around the region. All we know is that the wine was delicious, and we really enjoyed ourselves. As I mentioned, there are about 50 wineries and tasting rooms in the Warehouse District alone so you have may to choose from including….Ambassador Wines, Ancestry Cellars, Armstrong Family Winery, Auclair Winery, Baer Winery, Barrage Cellars, Beaumont Cellars, Bunnell Family Cellar, Callan Cellars, Chatter Creek Winery, Covington Cellars, Cuillin Hills Winery, Damsel Cellars, Davenport Cellars, Des Voigne Cellars, Descendant Cellars, DiStefano Winery, Efeste, Elevation Cellars, Eye of the Needle Winery, Five Stars Cellars, Flying Dreams, Gard Vintners, Genoa Cellars, Gorman Winery, Kaella Winery, Keira Cellars, Kevin White Winery, Long Cellars, Love That Red Winery, Michael Florentino Cellars/Gecko Cellars, Newhouse Family Vineyards, Newsprint Wines, Ovelisco Estate Winery, Page Cellars, Patterson Cellars, Pomum Cellars, Pondera Winery, Refuge & Prospect Winery, Robert Ramsay Cellars, Savage Grace Wines, Smasne Cellars, Sol Stone Winery, Sparkman Cellars, Stevens Winery, Tenor Wines, Three of Cups Winery, Two Vintners, Upland Estates Winery, Warr-King Wines, William Church Winery, and W.T. Vintners. (I apologize if I inadvertently omitted any wineries in the warehouse district.) We’ll be back for sure and definitely plan to try the other districts as well. Please “Don’t drink and drive” when you head out for your own tasting exploration. Elevation Cellars · 19495 144th Ave NE Suite A-115, Woodinville; 425-483-2800; elevationcellars.com Woodinville Wine Country; woodinvillewinecountry.com How do two newcomers to the Seattle area get in the Christmas spirit? They go out and do things – lots of Christmassy things! As we discovered, there are a plethora of activities in Woodinville and around Seattle to get you in the spirit. Our quest to find the spirit of Christmas had begun! To kick things off, we started with the Woodinville Tree Lighting Ceremony and Winterfest Celebration. After reading about the Community Tree and all of the people that helped get the new tree to its’ temporary home in DeYoung Park in time for the tree lighting, we knew we had to be there. It was a nice night, and great to see friends and family members enjoying the evening together. Then we were told about the poinsettias at Molbak’s and knew we had to check it out. Wow – we had definitely come to the right place to see gorgeous poinsettias plants in so many beautiful color variations. Molbak’s knows how to celebrate the holidays! www.molbaks.com Our next stop was to take in some great theater in the form of Irving Berlin’s “Holiday Inn” at the 5th Avenue Theatre. Our holiday tradition is to watch the original movie with Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, and we pretty much know every scene and song by heart. Although the play understandably was a little different than the movie, the actors were great and the singing and dancing was Broadway caliber. Needless to say, we loved it! It’s playing until December 31st if you’d like to check it out. www.5thavenue.org We visited Green Lake for two separate events. The first was the Green Lake Pathway of Lights. Luminaries lined the 2.8-mile path around the lake and boats were decorated with lights in the water. Thousands of people turned out on the beautiful December evening and strolled. On one side of the lake, hot air balloons glowed in the night sky. On the other side, carolers entertained the crowds. We will do this again next year for sure, but we will plan our evening out a little better and prepare for the crowds and the tough parking availability. www.facebook.com/GreenLake PathwayofLights/ Our second trip to Green Lake was to see the Seattle Public Theater’s original play “The Flight Before Xmas.” In short, it was awesome, and this play’s message absolutely captured the true meaning and spirit of the holiday season. The Bathhouse is the theater’s home, and the intimate seating surrounding the stage on three sides makes you feel as though you are part of the scene. The show was touching at times and laugh out loud funny at others. Every one in the cast was very talented including the seven actors that were under the age of 18. We loved it because the show was a matinee (at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.) so you can enjoy a stroll around the lake before settling into your seat. There are just a couple more shows before it wraps up on Christmas Eve, but if you have a chance, go! www.seattlepublictheater.org/the-flight-before-xmas Our search for the Christmas spirit concluded with a trip to WildLights at the Woodland Park Zoo. Every night until January 1st from 5:30-8:30 p.m. (closed December 24 & 25), you can enjoy terrific light displays at the zoo’s exhibits that showcase a variety of animals. A few of the indoor exhibits with nocturnal animals are open, but this is a chance to see the zoo in a different light so to speak. The kiddos can meet Santa, ride on the carousel, or have an indoor snowball fight in Snowmazium. Our advice – go on a weekday! We went on Saturday night, and it was packed! For more information visit www.zoo.org/wildlights. My family and I took to the ice for this exploration…the ice at Xfinity Arena to see the Everett Silvertips Hockey Club that is. We saw the Silvertips in action against the Spokane Chiefs on November 24 to extend the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Although we scored a box suite for the occasion, there did not seem to be a bad seat in the house. The complex holds about 8,300 people, which is a really great size space to see all the action easily. There are many food and beverage options throughout the arena, and there were many families enjoying the game. Attending a hockey game in person far exceeds the experience of watching a game on television. The speed, grace and agility of these great athletes is much more obvious seeing them in person. The Silvertips play an exciting brand of hockey, and the organization works hard to get the crowd fired up! We arrived early to see the teams warm up on the ice and get a feel for the game. The Silvertips are members of the U.S. Division in the Western Conference of the Western Hockey League (WHL). There are five teams in that conference and a total of 20 teams in the WHL. All of the other conference teams hail from Canada. Both teams played great with a lot of action (and penalties) with the Tips coming away as victors at the end 4-1. Per usual a sporting event wouldn’t be complete without a great mascot and theirs is a silvertip bear named Lincoln who did a great job of entertaining the crowd. Oh and the music on the PA system between plays always makes games that much more entertaining. Before the game we had dinner at the Scuttlebutt Brewing Company and enjoyed a casual meal that was reasonably priced. The place was packed so I was glad we had reservations for our group of eight. If you are not very familiar with Everett (like us), I would recommend using Google Maps as the restaurant is on the waterfront and can be a little difficult to find as it was on this dark and rainy night. I definitely recommend heading to a game this winter. It is a great night out. I noticed on their website that the Everett Silvertips are offering a great Stocking Stuffer Pack with four tickets to any game and a hat at the team store for only $50. What a great value in this day and age! Visit http://everettsilvertips.com/ for tickets and more information. If you have the opportunity to see a musical legend…by all means GO! We had just that chance when the Taj Mahal Quartet recently performed at Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley in downtown Seattle. Taj Mahal is arguably one of the most prominent and influential blues and roots musicians of the last 50 years. He has had a tremendous career and in 2014 he was the recipient of the Americana Music Association Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a self-taught musician and he plays over 20 instruments. His career began with American blues, but over the years he has broadened that scope to include music representing virtually every corner of the world. The band was led out to the stage through the packed cheering crowd, and they jumped right in and started playing. The band featured Taj Mahal (vocals, guitar, piano, banjo and more), Bill Rich (bass), Roger Glenn (vibes and winds) and Kester Smith (drums). Although the band members can’t be described as spring chickens, that didn’t stop them from really grooving to the music. They were all terrific, professional, and seasoned musicians and were really in sync with one another. What a show! We had been to Jazz Alley over 10 years ago to see Wynton Marsalis on a getaway from Montana to Seattle. Frankly, we hadn’t remembered the specific venue until we were seated for dinner. The small club atmosphere is perfect for listening to jazz music in an intimate setting. We opted to have dinner at Jazz Alley prior to the show for two reasons: 1) we had to eat and 2) it gave us seating priority for the show. It was worth it for this show as we did indeed have great seats. Although from where we sat, it looked like just about every table and seat has a good view of the stage. Dinner was good, but a little pricey. We understood considering the venue, but we had already paid for our tickets so over all it was an expensive night on the town. A good bonus was that free parking is offered one block from the club with a validated parking stub. For the music, we will certainly return and will probably try the non-dinner option next time for comparison. Jazz Alley is definitely a great date night venue! Some of the musicians performing in the coming months include: Sweet Honey in the Rock®: Celebrating the Holydays, Average White Band, Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band, Pearl Django, and WAR. Needless to say there is always great music on tap at Jazz Alley. For more information on Taj Mahal visit www.tajblues.com. Visit www.jazzalley.com for upcoming schedules and venue information. The FAQ tab is particularly helpful. Are you ready for some football? We were able to experience our first University of Washington Huskies football game on November 18 versus the University of Utah. Wow – what a game! The funny thing is we received our tickets from friends in Montana that are UW alums and still had kept their season tickets over the years. We definitely wanted to experience a game at Husky stadium so we were happy with the gift. My husband and I joined our neighbor’s tailgate about three hours prior to the 7:30 p.m. kick off. I have been to some great tailgates over the years, and the Husky fans are right up there with throwing a great tailgate party. The “party” parking lot is north of the stadium, and by the time we arrived there were tents and barbecues covering just about every available spot. We feasted on burgers, salads, shrimp cocktail, chips, and cookies as well as enjoying a few adult beverages so were happy that we carpooled with a designated driver. It was a great start to the evening, and we met a whole group of new friends during the tailgate from our immediate group and surrounding cars. We headed to the stadium about 30 minutes before kick off to find our seats and watch some of the pre-game festivities. The stadium is awesome. If you haven’t been to a game there, you can get an idea of the inside from the massive structure easily seen from Lake Washington or even I-5 with the two sides resembling claw like hooks that flank over the field. The capacity is listed as just over 70,000 and at this game there seemed to be very few empty seats. Our seats were terrific on the 45 yard line in the 10th row behind the Huskies’ bench. The Huskies have a good football team with a record of 9-2 and are ranked 15th in the country as of press time. The game we saw was a nail biter (and we’re new fans!). UW was favored to win but UU gave them a run for their money, and the score went back and forth until the very last seconds. Not a soul left the stadium as Huskies prevailed with a field goal as time expired. It was great to witness such a terrific game for our first outing to Husky Stadium. Unfortunately by the time this hits the stands, the season at the stadium will be over with perhaps a bowl game out of the area for the team. One way or another, we will definitely plan on a couple games next fall. As you know from past Editor’s Explorations, we love live theater and live music so we were happy to hear that “In My Life: A Musical Theatre Tribute to the Beatles” was playing at the Edmonds Center for the Arts (ECA). Since we also love the Beatles, we knew we had to go. The show coupled live music and theater, and it was really terrific. Brian Epstein, the Beatles late manager, is the narrator and walks your through their start and first five years of stardom while the band plays over 30 Beatles hits. The performers were top notch, and the crowd was encouraged to dance and sing along throughout the show. We had a great time and loved the ECA facility. The building is the original auditorium for Edmonds High School built in 1936. It was renovated and opened as the ECA in 2006. It is a showcase theater with 704 seats in the auditorium and a beautiful lobby area welcoming over 75,000 patrons annually. The ECA is open year round presenting theater and concerts as well as hosting meetings and social events. The ECA is a nonprofit organization hired by the City of Edmonds Public Facilities District to manage the facility. They produce their own shows, and make the facility available to rent. Over the next month, there are a number of wonderful holiday concerts and events planned. And on January 11, 2018 the ECA is presenting the world premiere of “Love Heals All Wounds.” It is collaboration between internationally renowned choreographers and dancers Lil Buck and Jon Boogz. The show addresses the social issues we are facing as a nation, while also seeking to promote diversity, inclusion and empathy as a uniting force. Lil Buck was named one of Dance Magazine’s 25 to Watch in 2011 and has collaborated with a broad spectrum of artists including JR Damian Woetzel, the New York City Ballet, Madonna, and Spike Lee. Jon Boogz is a movement artist, choreographer, and director who seeks to push the evolution of what dance can be. He has choreographed for notable icons including Mikhail Baryshnikov, Naomi Campbell, Gloria Estefan, and Pharrell. This is a “don’t miss” show! We also really like the community of Edmonds. The downtown area is somewhat chic and has many great stores and restaurants. As much as we’ve enjoyed our few visits, we still have a lot of exploring left to do here! Check our www.edmondscenterfortheare.org for more information and tickets for upcoming shows. During a recently aired episode of the popular Food Network show Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, longtime host Guy Fieri visited Seattle and presented an interesting segment on the Bizzarro Italian Café. Our neighbors, big fans of the show, suggested that we give the establishment a try. In the show, Fieri regularly features “funky joints” and in this episode highlights the eclectic and whimsical atmosphere that is Bizzarro---housed in a former auto workshop. Fieri samples a few specialties including the Elk Bolognese and described it as being “monster tender” and not gamy at all. Since it’s only a short drive to the Wallingford neighborhood, we thought it was time to check it out with our friends Brad and Pam. Long before the Food Network feature, Bizzarro has been a Seattle favorite since 1986. There is always a crowd clamoring to get in to enjoy delicious scratch made pasta, check out the funky décor, and become fast friends with entertaining and very capable wait staff. In checking out their website post visit, I realized that Jaedra James, who was our server, happened also to be a co-owner! When we arrived we were told the wait would be 45 minutes (they only take reservations for groups of six or more) so we gave our number and went next door to the Blue Star Café and Bar for a drink. Bizzarro does have beer and wine but there is no bar or other seating area inside. The gal at Blue Star was great, and we discovered immediately that many people followed this routine. Turns out we only had to wait about 25 minutes, and the phone rang. As we paid our bill at Blue Star our waitress encouraged us to come back for a nightcap or dessert (she said they were stellar). Back at Bizzarro, we were seated and immediately loved the place. The décor was awesome and included unique and varied forms of lighting as well as tons of interesting photos, art and Americana. It is a lively (and loud) but fun setting. We shared the Arancini (risotto balls stuffed with cheese then breaded and fried) appetizer, and the sauce was so delicious we mopped the plate clean with our focaccia bread. For the main courses we all tried a different entrée and everyone was pleased with their choices. My husband Bob ordered the Elk Bolognese and loved it while I selected the Sugar Snap Pea Carbonara. It was so flavorful, light and delicious! We want to come back and try a couple of the more uniquely named dishes including “I Gnocchi What You Did Last Summer,” “The Forest Floor Frenzy,” and of course, the Sunday specialty known as “Sunday Night Meatball.” Based on what we’ve sampled so far, I am sure they will be tasty! It certainly is easy to see and taste why the Food Network crew featured Bizzarro. And yes, we did walk around the corner to the Blue Star Café for a nightcap and a delectable bit of dessert, which made for a perfect ending to a great meal and evening. http://www.bizzarroitaliancafe.com 11/5/2017 0 Comments Fort Casey Inn - November 6, 2017My Husband and I have been meaning to get out to another island since our “exploration” to Anacortes in June. We were thrilled when we received an invite for my sister’s birthday weekend celebration on Whidbey Island. Perfect – we’d get a chance for more exploring, check out a place we had been itching to see, and help my sister celebrate a milestone birthday to boot. We took the ferry out of Mukilteo to Clinton on the east side of Whidbey Island. Mukilteo is only about 35-40 minutes from Woodinville depending on traffic of course. The schedule has a ferry departing about every 30 minutes so once we arrived it was a pretty quick turn around and a short trip to the island. We were warned during the summer season the ferry could be very busy with long waits so a reservation is recommended. Our accommodations were arranged at Fort Casey Inn on the west side of the island and only about a 30-minute drive from the Clinton ferry terminal. The total length of Whidbey Island is about 55 miles. The Fort Casey Inn is the former Non-Commissioned Officers’ Quarters that have been fully restored to their original glory. It was built for the active defensive installation of Fort Casey, which neighbors the Inn. Built over 100 years ago, most of the Georgian Revival-style homes for rent at the Inn are two bedrooms with one bath and are decorated with patriotic memorabilia and antiques. You feel as though you’ve stepped back in time. The inn is owned and operated by Seattle Pacific University. I discovered that a few of our fellow guests had stayed at Fort Casey (the installation side in the barracks) in the past as a chaperones with Washington school’s annual 5th grade trip to the island. One guest reflected that it was many of the students’ most memorable field trip throughout their school years and admittedly brought back fond memories for her as well. In addition to using seven of the houses, we also used Garrison Hall for our gatherings and meals. It was the ideal size for our group, which totaled about 30 for the birthday party. All in all, it was a terrific place for a group to get together. With Fort Casey right next door, it’s an easy walk around the grounds with fantastic views from the beach. We discovered many trails that looped around the area and offered a variety of sunset views over the water. Fort Casey sits on Admiralty Bay in the Puget Sound that is part of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The strait is 154 kilometers long and is the Salish Sea’s outlet to the Pacific Ocean. It separates Washington state from British Columbia (province) and from the beach at the fort looking across you can see Victoria, British Columbia and Olympic National Park in the distance. We spent an afternoon exploring the historic town of Coupeville just a few minutes drive down the road. There is a plethora of shops to browse and restaurants for every taste bud. When we left the island, we drove north to Deception Pass and followed our way around back to I-5. On the day of our visit, the bridge going over the pass was pretty socked in by fog and had an eerie vibe as if we were heading into an abyss. With moments of clearing, however, you could see the magnificence of the bridge. We will definitely plan for a future Editor’s Exploration around Deception Pass! 10/24/2017 0 Comments Seattle Art Museum ~ October 30, 2017After having lived in a rural area for so long, I have now found that I love the allure of the city. The people, the noise, the buildings, and the culture are all things I had missed for so long. With that in mind, my daughter and I went downtown on her recent visit to the Seattle Art Museum (also known as one of the entities of "SAM"). There is something for everyone here. In numerous light-filled galleries, there are collections from around the world including Asian, African, American, Ancient Mediterranean, Islamic, European, Oceanic, Australian Aboriginal, modern and contemporary art, and decorative arts. The collections now on view at SAM: John Grade: Middle Fork, ongoing Big Picture: Art After 1945, ongoing Denzil Hurley, May 20–November 5, 2017 Sam Gilliam, May 6–November 26, 2017 Pure Amusements: Chinese Scholar Culture and Emulators, ongoing Views From Venice, ongoing **This was one of my favorites as my daughter studied in Venice last spring. Close Ups, ongoing Emblems of Encounter: Europe and Africa Over 500 Years, ongoing Art and Life Along The Northwest Coast, ongoing Paintings and Drawings of the European Avant-Garde: The Rubinstein Bequest, ongoing France: Inside and Out, ongoing *I especially like this as I have a visit planned to France in April. Pacific Currents & Billabong Dreams, ongoing Porcelain Room, ongoing *Simply amazing display. Andrew Wyeth: In Retrospect, October 19, 2017–January 15, 2018 **This new exhibit is absolutely wonderful! Admission varies depending on special exhibits and for students, seniors, etc. Check out the website for details. In putting together this week’s column, I ran across a really cool event at the Seattle Art Museum upcoming on November 2. The member musicians of the Ladies Musical Club of Seattle (LMC) will be performing a FREE concert “Art of the Piano: Darkness and Light” at 12 noon. This sixth annual piano showcase at SAM complements the art museum’s gallery exhibit “Darks and Lights.” Four pianists, Geisa Dutra, Karin McCullough, Valentina Rodov and Lucy Wenger will demonstrate their amazing talent with music by Tchaikovsky, Debussy, Dohnányi, Granados and more. The Seattle Art Museum is located at 1300 First Ave, Seattle, WA 98101. For more information on the Seattle Art Museum visit http://www.seattleartmuseum.org/. For more information on LMC and activities, visit www.lmcseattle.org. Post tour, we went to my daughter’s favorite Seattle lunch spot, Sweetgrass Food Company. She continually tries to get me to eat healthier, and I am all for it as long as the food tastes good! Sweetgrass makes everything in house, and they strive to work with local producers and suppliers to serve local, sustainable and mostly organic foods. I can’t remember what my daughter ordered, but I got the White Balsamic Hearty Barley salad with an egg added. It was delicious. Check out the full scoop at www.sweetgrassfoodco.com and be sure to stop in the next time you are downtown. They are located at 1923 7th Ave (corner of 7th Ave. and Virginia St.). If there is a line – I’d wait – it’s worth it! |