Seatac Disc Golf Course – Seatac, WA

I had to drop Coach off for an earlier flight, so I had some time to kill while waiting for my own flight that afternoon. I had asked WCL for a recommendation where to play some disc golf near the airport. She’s got some friends who play and I knew they’d know where to send me.

They got me directions to Seatac Disc Golf Course – extremely close to the airport. In fact, it’s directly under the flight path for the main runway at the SeaTac Airport. So every 30-60 seconds, you have a huge eclipse and roar of engines a hundred feet over your head. Very amusing, and probably distracting to people who care about such things. I’m used to it, having played a few rounds at Fort Snelling Disc Golf Course in Minneapolis.

I took a photo of the course map at hole 1, just in case. I had heard it can be tricky to follow the flow of the course. It actually wasn't that bad once you're out there. there are well defined walking paths and some of the tee signs tell you where to walk for the next hole.

The course is fairly wooded with a lot of tunnel/finesse shots. It doesn’t play to my strengths, but I really enjoyed playing here. Well maintained fairways with defined flight paths and, if you know where your shots are likely to go, a very manageable course. The difficulty is increased by some longer holes, which I really enjoyed, and the rough isn’t so rough you’ll lose a disc – you just don’t want to be in it because there are some holly plants and sticker bushes that will shred your legs.

It seemed pretty right-hander friendly, but still pretty balanced overall. Not a lot of elevation changes, but they did make use of what they were provided with a couple of well-placed baskets and some fun tee areas. In fact, there is a wall (maybe hole 14-ish?) that has a graffiti-style mural on it along side the tee. I saw a few people playing, but not a ton. It probably helped that it was a Tuesday morning and normal people are at work.

Be forewarned, the parking lot has six parking places – literally. So you’ll have to park up the road at the community center and walk down to the tee. It’s worth the walk though. It's a solid course without a lot of frills. I’m glad I got to play here and I’ll make sure I bring my discs again to Seattle so I can hit it up again and get good and sweaty before hopping on a four hour flight back home. Hahahaha. Sorry, old man next to me on the plane!

www.pdga.com/course_directory/course/seatac-dgc

Luna Park Café – Seattle, WA

It was our last day in Seattle and ChickenLittle and WCL wanted to take Coach and I someplace fun. They know of this greasy spoon diner filled with all kinds of fun memorabilia on the walls and ceilings. It’s a pretty fun place to hang out and look at both the clientele and the collection of awesome toys and gadgets from my youth. I’m talking about Popples, Knight Rider, and The Dark Crystal lunch boxes, Batman kiddie rides for a quarter, and other awesome things. Loved it. For those of you from Illinois, it’s like the Maid-Rite for the 70’s/80’s generation. Super fun.

The menu has a bunch of things to choose between, and ChickenLittle explained you can get a pile, a hobo, or an omelet. A Pile is your toppings on top of a pile of hasbrowns. A Hobo is like a hash, combined with your eggs and hasbrowns. And an omelet is pretty self explanatory. I went with the Carnivore Hobo.

The food comes out pretty quickly, so you don’t get to look at the memorabilia as much as you’d like, but that’s alright because the food is quite distracting. It’s a serious portion of food and I knew I wasn’t going to be in for a tough fight to finish the whole thing. It’s basically a huge hashed up mixture of delicious sausage, ham, and bacon covered in cheddar cheese and mixed with scrambled eggs and hashbrowns. Super good! Despite the fact that it’s filled with meat, it wasn’t like an overdose of meat. There was an appropriate amount of meat in each bite and I got good and full trying to finish it. Worth every penny.

I loved it and think I’ll find a way to get back to the Luna Park Café the next trip I make to Seattle… which hopefully will be soon!

Not enough to do a top 5 on this one. I will be back here, though!

www.lunaparkcafe.com

Family Fun Center – Seattle, WA

 

Since Coach and I are travelling celebrities, people like to hang out with us. We do fun stuff and are fully prepared to leave our dignity at the door. We had gone to a party the previous night and someone mentioned we were the coolest people he had ever met and we should all go do some laser tag the following day (that’s how I remember it). That same person ditched out on us, cough cough Pete Greenberg cough cough. We aren’t scared to go by ourselves, though. We were fully prepared to act like twelve-year-olds at the Family Fun Center. It’s an indoor and outdoor playland with video games, go karts, bumper boats, trampolines, mini golf, and batting cages. How could this not be a blast?

I forgot I was wearing my t-shirt with John Wayne Gacy (dressed as a clown) in a children’s game land. Whoops! The cop I ran into in the bathroom simply raised an eyebrow and walked past.

 

We bought some big expensive multi pass where we could do lots of stuff.

We did the go karts first. I would highly recommend go karting with Coach. He loves the brake like an old man, so you’re sure to get around him. I bet his father (who’s addicted to NASCAR) is ashamed. Coach got stuck behind this old Asian man and his son traveling at ridiculously low speeds. When Coach realized the man’s wife was taking photos of him each lap, Coach decided to do hilarious photo bombs every time. This is why Coach is awesome – he turns rotten Asian Plums into spiteful wine.

Then we did some mini golf. I did win the first round, but ChickenLittle absolutely destroyed the back nine and ended up winning the second round (he’s a lefty, so I’m sure he’s got some sort of Nintendo mini-golf cheat code). I still ended up the overall champion, but Coach was right behind me.
 

Then, bumper boat time. I love bumper boats, even when I’m worried about my phone/camera getting soaked. But hey, I DESPISE my phone right now, so the worst that could happen is I get a new one. These boats, as they should, contain water guns on the front so you can hose people down as they get close to you. They also let you spray civilians walking unknowingly past the bumper boat area. They also let you spray Coach in the ween as he’s trying to exit the ride after the whistle blows. Hahahaha. I’m a jerk.

Finally, it was laser tag time. They put us in a room full of small children and moms – NON-hot moms, for the record, even in the dark. One of the moms looked at us and said, “I’m guessing you’ve done this before”. Hahahaha. Yes, and we’re going to stomp your children. Well, we ended up NOT beating their children, since we had a severely incompetent group of really young children on OUR team. I will note that I scored the most points on both teams, with Coach a close second. He’s also a laser tag champion, but I don’t think he has a trophy from it, like I do. Again, I’m a jerk.

I love doing stupid stuff like this with the guys. I wish PulChevy were there to beat us all at everything and to say wildly inappropriate things to everyone 15 years younger than us with a chip on their shoulder. Next time, brother. Can’t wait!!!

Top 5 things about Family Fun Center
1. Bumper boats
2. Go karts
3. Mini golf
4. Laser tag
5. Inappropriate t-shirts in a child zone is always fun

Bottom 5 things
1. This place is NOT cheap
2. Laser tag was not explained well by the 15-year-old worker
3. Incompetent juvenile teammates in laser tag
4. Many video games weren’t functioning
5. The outside stuff isn’t open in the winter months – just a heads up

www.fun-center.com

Hudson – Seattle, WA

WCL and ChickenLittle decided we should head over to Hudson for breakfast. That’s a restaurant name, not a city. It’s an interesting little diner/bar with some attention paid to the menu offerings. I was happy with just about everything I saw in the menu, but had to narrow it down to one thing. Not easy.

 

The nice thing was this place served drinks. That’s what I’m talking about. Screwdrivers always start the morning right.

Also, watching an army guy peeing on a fence while facing traffic and in plains sight is also a hilarious way to start the morning.

Since I had a minute or two to decide on breakfast, I went with the Francesca Scramble. I really wanted the chicken fried steak, but WCL was getting it and offered to let me have a bite or two. She’s nice like that.

The food was really quick, since we were one of three tables occupied at Hudson. Bonus for us. The Francesca is three eggs, sausage, roasted red peppers, jalapenos, and parmesan cheese, all scrambled together. Served with a side of hashbrowns and toast. This combination of flavors was great. I don’t’ think I’ve ever had these kinds of peppers together with parmesan. But I’m going to in the future. It was a better than average breakfast. Waaay better than greasy spoon diner and flavor-wise, superior to many breakfasts I’ve had. I am a fan.

 

Also, the chicken fried steak was one of the best I’ve had. Very thick breading on it, and no greasy taste. Just delicious breading and quality steak inside. Loved the two bites I was honored with. Hudson is worth a trip if you’re in the area and need a drink or two with breakfast.

And I didn’t realize the French toast is actually deep fried French toast. AAAGGHHH!!!!I would have gotten that! (and chicken fried steak)(and a scramble)(and more drinks).

Top 5 things about Hudson

1. Chicken Fried Steak

2. Francesca Scramble

3. A.M. Drinking

4. Robust menu with talented chefs
5. Really nice atmosphere, including a horseshoe bar and nice outdoor patio

Bottom 5 things
1. I didn’t see the deep fried French toast or the shredded beef brisket omelet!!!
2. Very industrial location – not much else around it except warehouses and parking lots
3. Coach and ChickenLittle’s eggs weren’t cooked to their liking
4. Army guy peeing, I didn’t need to see
5. I almost think this place would be more awesome if there were less windows. It’s got a dark bar feel, but sunny windows. Weird conflicting emotions!

www.hudsonseattle.com

Beth’s Café – Seattle, WA

Coach and I had planned an awesome breakfast with our friend Slutnik out in Seattle. She’s the one who actually got me hooked on roller derby, so I owe her a great debt of gratitude. I won’t tell HER that because she’ll lord it over me until I’m dead and gone – she’s like that. hahahaha

We met at Beth’s Café, and I won’t even mention the fact that she locked her keys in her apartment and had to walk to the place and we had to drive her all over town after breakfast – I’m nice and wouldn’t do that. Beth’s is a greasy spoon diner in Seattle. I almost wrote small greasy spoon diner, but it has lots of room. All of which are covered up by coloring pages from various patrons, children and grown ups alike. It sets the stage for a pretty relaxed and fun breakfast/lunch.

The menus all have different covers on them and they’re all hilarious. Some are colored crayon drawings, some are love notes, and some are various celebrity photos with comments on them.

The menu options are comprehensive with breakfast items and they’re known for their omelets. They have two sizes: 6-egg and 12-eggs. I hope you’re hungry if you order one of those – Beth’s was featured on Man vs Food with the 12-egg omelet and I don’t think Adam finished it. In fact most things on the menu are gargantuan. They have a few smaller items and breakfast combos, but I was really craving French toast (and bacon). So I went with the French toast combo. I still feel it was the right move. Slutnik also demanded we get blueberry muffins, which none of us complained about at all.

 

The muffins were actually really awesome. Lots of blueberries and the muffins were pretty substantial. You didn’t even need the butter they brought out. They were plenty sweet and tasty. Good call, Slutnik.

The food came out quickly, thankfully, since we were in a hurry to get to the roller derby bout between the Minnesota RollerGirls and the Rat City Rollergirls. Everything looked tasty. The over medium eggs were cooked perfectly. The 6 half-pieces of French toast were big and fluffy. And the four giant thick-cut bacon pieces were cooked almost crispy. The whole thing was good. Overall the food was above average. Nothing stellar, but honestly, it is hard to make breakfast life-changing. I liked it and would eat there again anytime.

Not enough stuff to do a top 5, but it was worth the trip! Thanks for the suggestion, Slutnik!

www.bethscafe.com
7311 Aurora Ave. N.
Seattle, WA 98103

5 Spot - Seattle, WA

On my return flight to Minneapolis, I intentionally booked a long layover in Seattle so I could hang with ChickenLittle and his fiancé WNMFCL (Will Never Make Food Coach Likes). Shortly before leaving for China, I got a message saying my afternoon arrival was now going to be in the ass-early zone about 5:30am. I was SURE ChickenLittle would LOVE to meet me for breakfast on his day off of work. Thankfully, he DID!!!

I got to hang with ChickenLittle and WNMFCL for part of the morning and even shower at their place and hang with their awesome dogs. Then, when we had waited enough time for the rest of the world to wake up and get moving, we went to a place both of my gracious hosts knew I would love – 5 Spot (also known as Five Spot).

The thing about this restaurant is they have a "roaming menu" where they change the theme of the restaurant based on their mood. This apparently happens every couple of months. This time around was a tornado-themed menu and a portion of their sales go to help support tornado victims in Alabama. Good food with a good social awareness. With the tornado theme, they had a giant tornado statue that looked like it might rotate if it wanted to. I’m guessing these folks go all out when they change themes.

The menu looked amazing. They have a very thorough breakfast and lunch menu and I wanted to order one of everything. Lots of fun thing and fun combinations of non-normal breakfast food. That’s the kind of thing I like – and of course ChickenLittle and WNMFCL knew this. This place also has an awesome late night happy hour menu with crazy deals and what I assume is equally amazing food. I can’t wait to get all drunked up and go to 5 Spot after I run my mouth to a bunch of flannel-wearing dirty hippies and get my ass handed to me by dirtbags who haven’t bathed in 10 years and smell like patchouli.

I eventually decided on the Porkopolis Scramble - house-cured pork belly lardons and thyme and red peppers with scrambled eggs and cheddar, served with Twister-spiced red potatoes and a biscuit. And a glass of milk.

I can’t rave enough about this food. The pork belly was absolutely brilliant and I could have ordered a second helping of this. The thyme was there, but not overwhelming and the potatoes were quite good. I think I had an entire potato that had been fried and seasoned in some spicy magic dust on my plate when they brought it out. This was perfect. The biscuit was light and fluffy and the real butter I slathered it in made the whole thing melt in my mouth.

After breakfast, we went and hung out by the water. Literally sitting on the dock of the bay –which is appropriate because ChickenLittle absolutely knocks Otis Redding out of the park at karaoke. (Which slays people because ChickenLittle is one of the most painfully white people they’ve ever seen – but the kid’s got soul under that comic-book-nerd exterior). It was a perfect day in Seattle. Word on the street is that it’s NEVER this perfect in Seattle. Hahahahaha.

Do yourself a favor and go to 5 Spot.

Top 5-Spot things about 5 Spot
1. Porkopolis Scramble
2. Regularly-changing fun themes (When Pul-Chevy went there, there was a Simpsons theme)
3. Very awesome breakfast menu
4. Equally awesome late night menu
5. Watching ChickenLittle meltdown under pressure while trying to reverse-angle park the car

Bottom 5 things
1. This place makes me miss the Uptown Diner in Minneapolis
2. WNMFCL refused to let me pay, even though I made them get up super early to meet me
3. I wanted to order soooooo many things on the menu (again, not a bad thing, but it still bummed me out)
4. ChickenLittle complains that no place in Seattle gives free pancakes with every meal like they do in the Quad Cities – 5 Spot is no different – no pancakes unless you order them
5. Apparently, the Rattlesnake All Beef Chili contains no rattlesnake (or it wouldn’t be all-beef, would it?)

www.chowfoods.com/five/index.aspx

Mioposto Caffe e Pizzeria – Seattle, WA

Since I was a bit under the weather with a bit of food poisoning, Pul-Chevy came through with a quick review of the pizza place we went to after roller derby. So if you have complaints, be sure to direct them at him. Hahaha

On the last night of our stint in the Pacific Northwest, we met up with ChickenLittle's GF and went to Mioposto, a pizzeria in the Mount Baker neighborhood of Seattle.

When we pulled up, I noticed that there was a large park right across the street, as well as a lot of homes, so the neighborhood vibe was a more "chill" one than our previous treks for food in Ballard or other busier neighborhoods. Kind of nice for our last night. Upon walking in we saw approximately 12 to 15 areas that sat a variety of numbers. We grabbed a place for the six of us, and the host and waiter both stopped by immediately. Very cordial folks, and once they walked back to their staff area where other cooks and servers were, you could tell by the camaraderie that everyone enjoyed their job.

3Bagger and I decided we should order some bruschetta for everyone to start on. A couple people ordered pop, and it came in little 10 ounce glass bottles (mini-me versions of what Coach and Chao would normally want, but no matter; it worked). No one ordered beer or girlie drinks. Most of us decided to order our own pizza, with the exception of ChickenLittle and his ladyfriend, who decided they would split a vegetarian calzone. Both Coach and 3Bagger decided on the straight-up pepperoni pizza, and I decided on a specialty pizza.

Here's the rundown on that item, as well as the other food we ordered, taken from their online menu descriptions:

Matt's "Pizza Raccolto In Autunno"
With olive oil, butternut squash, pancetta, garlic, rosemary, mozzarella, goat cheese, caramelized onions, balsamic reduction and red pepper flakes.

Bruschetta
Mix and match three slices. Choose from agro dolce and goat cheese, roasted tomato and basil with fresh mozzarella and mixed olives with arugula.

Vendura Calzone
Roasted mushrooms, artichoke hearts, caramelized onions, sweet peppers, mozzarella and vinaigrette in a caputo crust envelope. Served with a side house salad.

Pepperoni Pizza
With salsa di pomodori and mozzarella.


The bruschetta was a mix of three different styles. I didn't know that when I ordered, nor did I know we were getting three slightly smaller pieces than I was used to, but throw all that out the window because the dish was damn good. (See... I'm accustomed to ordering Bruschetta at a variety of Italian places in Chicago, and every time I ordered it there – cheap-ass or fancy – it would be chopped tomatoes, onion, garlic, basil, and olive oil atop crusted bread).

My pizza was phenomenal. The size was noted as being 10" diameter, but our pizzas were clearly larger than that, maybe even bigger than 12" (I love mentally placing punk rock records over circular things to get a sense of size - haha). The crust that Mioposto makes was clearly what made things for me. It's thin and had a distinct flavor that was unlike other crusts I have had. Not overly salty, but… it's hard to explain… just really flavorful, yet simple. I don't know what else to say about why I loved it so much - I was in my element, really, for I love butternut squash in Italian food, and I could eat goat cheese every day for the rest of my life. The balsamic reduction was either laid down under the crust or it had seeped through the crust, so with each piece of pizza you picked up you could dip it a little bit. Hell yeah. The only thing that I may have changed about this is that I like my crust just a little more crispy, so it didn't droop a little bit when you picked up a piece.

All in all, good eats and good friends. A nice wrap up before heading home the next day.

top 5
1. The Pizza Raccolto In Autunno
2. Bruschetta
3. Coach playing with his little 10 ounce bottle (TWSS)
4. Having someone who knew the waitstaff + having a genuinely jovial server and host
5. 3Bagger continuing to talk like Super Mario even during our last night

bottom 5
1. Chao still ill from the night before, not being able to eat one bite.
2. The kitchen's first attempt at ChickenLittle's calzone was a failure, so he got his food later than everyone else's. However, the price of his dish was taken off the bill due to the error.
3. Knowing this was the last night together for a while
4. Slightly floppy crust
5. Chicken Little and his ladyfriend and their overly abundant PDA's - hahaha, burn!

www.seattle-eats.com/mioposto

Pailin Thai – Seattle, WA

Gerd had never been to the fish market in Seattle, so we did a quick tour of that area. She liked it, but liked the French confectionary places much better. While there, we saw the most hilarious thing I’ve seen on the street in a while. This really large African American homeless guy was walking across a crosswalk in front of a nice BMW. He stops and then totally starts dancing right in front of it at the stoplight. Seriously bustin out some hilarious moves for like a minute. He stops and walks the rest of the way across the street. Then, he offered these two conservative white people on the corner some of the weed he was smoking. They politely declined and he continued to take long pulls on the joint, not offended at all. Hilarious.

We attempted to find a Thai place called Buddha Ruska (I think). When we found it, it was closed, but Slutnik had a backup plan. She’s so prepared. We went to Pailin Thai (which is NOT a republican Thai restaurant). It’s a really nice place to get some really awesome Thai food.

We got to sit in what appeared to be some sort of glass enclosure like a greenhouse, which ended up being cold, but whatever. Gerd totally stole my idea for ordering, so I had to go with a second choice. She got the Pailin Special Noodle which is thin noodles, vegetables and your choice of meat covered with a peanut sauce. I got the Chef Special Noodle which was large noodles, vegetables, and eggs with choice of meat. Gerd’s meal beat mine hands down, although mine was REALLY good. I also make a habit of ordering my food too spicy for her to eat and she gets her revenge by not sharing. Just rude.

We would go here again, although the service was a tad slow. If you get a chance, sit near the fish tank. Chicken Little thought he saw a giant scary fish and it was an old lady sitting on the other side of the tank – THAT was funny.

Top 5 things about Pailin Thai
1. Pailin Special Noodle
2. Peanut sauce
3. Watching old people attempting to parallel park out front
4. The spicy-ness levels were perfect
5. Bath and body works soap in the bathrooms (Gerd’s comment, not mine)

Bottom 5 things
1. Kind of slow service
2. Soda in cans – the bane of Gerd’s existence
3. Cold greenhouse
4. The fish tank has scary anemones in it
5. Gerd totally ordered the thing I wanted

http://www.pailinthai.com

Senor Moose - Seattle, WA

I ate here the last time I was out in Seattle visiting Chicken Little. Gerd needed to try it, for sure. Awesome Mexican food breakfasts and they tell you where each dish is from, which is kind of cool. Good idea.

Gerd got the Entomatadas (from Oaxaca) - tortillas in tomato sauce covered with eggs and cheese. When she ordered this dish, the waitress corrected her gringo pronunciation. Really delicious and flavorful (I even got a few bites of this one). I got the Huevos Mutoleños (from Yucatan) - tortillas, black beans, peas, and ham topped with plantains. Gerd claimed this dish looked like a plate of vomit, but honestly, it was amazing. Tons of different flavors but didn't seem like everything ran together like some dishes cooked all together. I would get this anytime I come across this in the future, rest assured.

Top 5 things
1. Huevos Mutoleños
2. Entomatadas
3. The refried beans
4. They have Mimosas
5. It wasn't nearly as busy as last time I was there.

Bottom 5 things
1. Vomit plate
2. Cans of soda
3. There was food left on our table from previous eaters
4. Couldn't finish my food
5. American-sounding name is deceiving

http://senormoose.com

Byzantion - Seattle, WA

Gerd and I took advantage of the three-day weekend and flew to Seattle to see some friends. After we landed, Chicken Little and Slutnik gave us a quick night-tour of Seattle, including the Seattle corn chute (his words, not ours).

We headed to a Greek restaurant, although it was not the first choice. The first choice of Greek restaurants had belly dancers, but not at the time we got in, so we went to another one called Byzantion.

The menu was quite extensive and had tons of different items on it. We started with a double of order of Saganaki (flaming cheese) - apparently Gerd and Slutnik weren't going to share. the cheese was really good, although the mother-daughter team had an issue lighting the second one. The splash of liquor caught the daughter's sweater on fire (just the sleeve). She apologized and said we'd have a good story - and yes we did. ha ha. She was really cool with it, but I'm sure it sucked.

Gerd got the Mousaka which kind of seemed kind of like a noodle-less lasagna. It's got eggplant and meat sauce covered with cheese and cheese. The cheese was really creamy and flavorful and the meat sauce was awesome as well. Really a good dish.

I got the Athens combination plate which had portions of a couple of things I couldn't decide between. It had lamb souvlaki - lamb on a skewer marinated in wine and olive oil; Keftethes - meatballs with tomato sauce and feta cheese; Tiropita - cheese and egg baked inside a phyllo pastry; and Dolmathes - grape leaves stuffed with rice, beef, tomato, and cinnamon. It was really delicious, especially the lamb. And last but not least, the vegetables that came with the meal were awesome. The zucchini and potatoes were great. I would order just potatoes if I went back there - superb.

We would eat here again, but I know there are many other Seattle places for us to try so we wont rush back or anything right away.

Top 5 things about Byzantion
1. Lamb
2. Nagasaki
3. Gerd's Greek lasagna (Mousaka)
4. Taters
5. Pastry thing (Tiropita)

Bottom 5 things
1. Slow on drink refills
2. Sweater on fire
3. Coach wasn't there to make comments about Greek girls
4. We sat close to the door and every time it opened, we froze
5. The grape leaves were really cinnamon-y