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Sunday, March 17, 2013

Bus To SEA

After a pleasant brunch with Riley, Blane, Jace, and their parents, John dropped us off at the Burlington Bellair Shuttle office. Our car will stay in Mt. Vernon for the next couple of weeks with no daily parking rate.

The bus arrived on time and was none too crowded. We found two empty seats near the back with lots of leg room and relaxed all the way to the airport. We found it interesting that the driver exited to 405 rather than stay on I-5 so as to go around Seattle. We'd always assumed that was a longer route but these folks should know what they're doing.

Once we arrived and retrieved our roll-aboards, we walked across to the hotel shuttle pickup spot and called the Airport Hampton Inn. We were pleasantly surprised to be picked up in less than 10 minutes.

There's a new Hampton Inn just up the street and this one is offering great rates. After the friendly check-in, we decided to walk up International Boulevard to Sharp's RoastHouse, rather than take the courtesy shuttle offered by this Hampton property. Even at 5:45 p.m. it was getting chilly but the treat was no rain and we thoroughly enjoyed the 3/4 mile stroll.

This was our second (or maybe third) try at this property, which is well regarded on Trip Advisor and mentioned positively on other forums. We wanted to like but it was ultimately as mildly frustrating an experience as our previous trip, when it turned out to be almost impossible to get a glass of red wine.

Tonight we thought we'd stick the beer (25 available on draft), and the hostess who seated us said she'd be right back with a listing of the daily specials. Somehow she never got around to it, and it was 10 minutes before a friendly waiter arrived to take our order.

It's a great looking place and they serve complimentary corn bread that's baked in an oven at the front every 30 minutes. Unfortunately for us, the genuine maple in the recipe made the crumbly concoction taste like cake, so we only nibbled around the edges.

The beer took forever, and the waiter delivered it 30 seconds before another server arrived with our dinners. We asked him to leave the covers on the plates so we could sip our beers for a few minutes.

The food is, well, okay, but nothing that exciting, despite the ranks of chickens rotating on spits in the center of the restaurant.

It wasn't a terrible meal, just meh...

The best news was that the evening was still pleasant (in these parts that refers to anytime it's not raining) and we enjoyed walking back to the hotel, knowing that we'll be sitting in aluminum tubes for nearly 15 hours starting late Monday morning.

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