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We decided to make this a guilt free day.  Knowing what we had planned for lunch we went to the fitness center to work off some calories early in the morning.  We then headed to the Empress Hotel for High Tea which we had been told was a must do for Victoria.  The Empress Hotel first opened for business in January 1908.  In 1939 it was visited by King George VI (that would be Colin Firth from The King’s Speech and not George III from the Broadway play Hamilton for any Millennials reading the blog).  According to Wikipedia for many years the hotel did not have a sign above the front entrance.  When a sign was finally put up they received some strong criticism as exemplified in the statement made by an irate gentleman, as workers raised the sign above the front entrance: “Anyone who doesn’t know this is The Empress shouldn’t be staying here.”

Our hotel supplies a shuttle service to any place you want to go to in downtown so we decided to hop on and take a ride.  When the driver dropped us off at the Empress we caught the end of the water taxi ballet that is performed on Sunday mornings in the Inner Harbor.  Then it was inside for tea.  The hotel looks just as one would expect. Beautiful lobby with magnificent chandelier, wide spiral staircase and ornate accessories decorating the facility.  We were too hungry to dawdle in the foyer and headed straight to the tea room.  The ground rules were explained and then we got to enjoy a lovely meal and were given a wide variety of teas from which to choose.

While eating we got to relax and watch boats in the inner harbor and listen to a piano soloist playing some of our favorite songs.

After the Empress we decided to walk back to the hotel and explore the neighborhood.  My friend, Virgil, recommended we check out Roger’s Chocolates on Government Street.  This was not a kind recommendation.  After High Tea the last thing we needed was chocolate but I couldn’t resist.  The chocolate was fantastic but as I tell my patients do what I say, not what I do.

We then returned to the hotel to rest for a bit because we had tickets to see Ziggy Marley tonight.  He is here as part of a Jazz Festival in the city.  Ziggy who’s real name is David  is the son of reggae icon, Bob Marley.   The theater was packed and everyone seemed to love the show (including Patrice).  Practically everyone stood up and danced to the music.  I have to admit this is not my type of music.  But at least I have more appreciation for what Patrice has to go through during baseball games that go to extra innings.

Tomorrow we are going to look for whales and explore the famous Butchart Gardens.

Today we are in Canada.  I hear you asking, “What about baseball”.  Well last night we did see the Astros play the Mariners at Safeco Field.  Patrice is even becoming a bit of a baseball fan.  I didn’t even have to remind her that we were going to see the Astros play Seattle.  (Patrice here, don’t tell Robert but I always can tell who is playing because I can see it on his shirt).

We had great seats.

And the place was magical.  The Mariner pitcher, Felix Hernandez, was making his first start after a lengthy recovery from an injury.  Apparently he is very much the phenomenon here in Seattle.  His nickname is “The King” and a group of fans sit in a group down the left field line, wearing yellow t-shirts.  For $30 the fan gets a ticket to the game (in “The King’s Court” section), a t-shirt and a “K” card.  The “K” card is a yellow card with a big letter K on it.  K being the baseball scoring term for a strike out.  Anytime Hernandez gets 2 strikes on a batter the fans start waving their K cards at a frenetic pace. If he completes the trick, and strikes the batter out, they go crazy.

Unfortunately the Court had a good night.  Hernandez got 6 strike outs in 6 innings and the Mariners won 13-3 (Ugh).

So as I was saying we are now in Canada.  We left Seattle early and drove north to the border.  There was a long line of cars waiting to enter but it did not take an extremely long time.  When we got to the entrance the agent asked for our identification and queried us about our itinerary, if we were carrying any firearms or if we had more than $10,000 in cash.  Apparently a large amount of cash is a sign of criminal activity.  I am sure criminals break down quickly with this intense questioning and fess up the cash they are carrying.

We then made it to the BC Ferry which would take us to Victoria, British Columbia.  The ferry is incredibly impressive.  The vessel carries about 300 vehicles (the count will be less if they have tour buses and trucks which take up more room).  The ship is quickly loaded and then you are off on the 1 1/2 hour trip from Tsawwassen (that isn’t important but I wanted to show off that I could spell Tsawwassen correctly) to Swartz Bay.  The onboard experience is remarkable.  The sights are beautiful, of course, but what is more impressive is that you do not feel like you are at sea.  There is virtually no sway while you are cruising along.  Also all your needs are cared for.  They have a cafeteria, gift shop, business center (with computer terminals), ATM, play area for the kids, bar (I know that is a shock) and an elevator if you are physically challenged.

We are just getting settled at our hotel.  Soon we are going to go for a walk and check out the area.  I very much want to have a low profile.  No ugly American here.  We are going to try to blend in and be one of the locals.  I might even throw in an occasional “Eh” to sound very Canadian.  Bye for now.

Patrice here again.  Let me show you Robert’s version of blending in,  Here he is checking out where we should go next.

Last night we had dinner at Barolo which was not great.  Why do I mention it?  Because on the menu they had “100% Natural, Hormone-Free, Humanely Raised Veal Scaloppine”. So they are very quick to point out how well these animals were treated but what they fail say is that these critters were JUST BABIES! and THEY MURDERED THEM!

I was really excited about today because we were due to go to see the Astros play the Mariners.  On these baseball trips I have to placate Patrice  by agreeing to participate in activities that appeal to her.  After all she has been such a great sport agreeing to go to baseball games with me.  Patrice wanted to go to Chihuly Garden and Glass.  Our daughter, Erica, while in college attended a Dale Chihuly workshop where she learned how to work with glass.  The exhibit was spectacular.

In addition to the indoor exhibits Chuhuly had beautiful gardens with a variety of glass sculptures to accent the natural beauty.  I took some pictures but they don’t do the exhibit justice so I won’t even bother to post.  But let me say this, the garden looks like someone is caring for it 24 hours a day 7 days a week.  I have never seen a garden that has demonstrated such meticulous care.

Next to the gardens is the Pacific Science Center which had a special exhibit of Terracotta Warriors from China.  Followers of this blog might recall that I went along reluctantly to visit the Judaic and Asian Museum in Memphis but was pleasantly surprised and greatly enjoyed what I thought was a hidden treasure. Today I was much less reluctant and again I was rewarded.  This collection of Chinese Terracotta Warriors will only be displayed here in Seattle and in Philadelphia prior to their return to China.  I could speak volumes about the art work but I won’t (is that applause I am hearing?).

Also in close proximity was the Seattle icon, the Space Needle, so we took a trip to the top. Since we bought a package to view all three attractions we received a “Blast Pass” which is the Space Needle equivalent to Disney’s Fast Pass.  While others waited an an extremely long line to get to the top, we essentially walked straight to the elevator and were escorted to the top.

 

From the Space Needle we took a ride on the monorail to Pike Place market.  This is similar to the Farmer’s Market in Los Angeles and I am sure many other cities.  We did see one very interesting store that showed they offer the 3 main food groups.

A bit further down the street we found a market that offered a wide variety of very tasty looking fruits and vegetables.

There is one very interesting city landmark at Pike Place Market and that is the original Starbucks store.  The chain has grown to a coffee monster but this little store seems to be doing just fine.  Check out this tour of the store that I filmed today.  https://youtu.be/eTK4UGaRmT4

Enough for now.  It is time for baseball.

We are off again for a much needed vacation.  Its been 27 days since we returned from our BBQ and Baseball Tour so we needed a getaway.  That doesn’t count our weekend visit to David, Robyn and the boys for Father’s Day.  I rarely post when we visit the boys (I don’t want to bore you with the words of a very proud grandpa) but this visit did provide some great moments.  Before we arrived Owen called Patrice to find out when we would be arriving.  He left the following message on her voice mail, “Hello, Grandma…. this is Owen…….. your grandson”.  This boy likes to be precise.  Charlie was not to be outdone.  He was talking to Auntie Lindsay and observed, “Auntie Lindsay, you’re pretty small for a grown up.”   Charlie also included me in his brutal honesty, “Grandpa, I know you are old because your hair is white.”

Today we left for Seattle to add one more MLB park to our count.  Our flight here was very smooth and the Sea-Tac airport was like a dream.  We had a relatively short walk from our plane to baggage claim and our luggage was already there and ready for pick up when we arrived.  We then caught the shuttle bus for a short ride to the rental car place.  Thanks to our friends Bill and Niki in Nashville we decided to use Sixt which is a German company with a small presence in the USA.  They quoted me a rate that was significantly less than Hertz so I decided to give them a try.  Hertz was going to give me a Toyota but Sixt was renting me a MERCEDES!   I knew that had to be too good to be true and sure enough they didn’t have a Mercedes for me so I had to settle for a CADILLAC!  See below.

The car is fantastic.  It comes equipped with safety features such as lights that warn you of cars in your blind spot when you are changing lanes.  It has a rear view camera and will start beeping if you are in danger of hitting another car, wall or person.  It also has a navigation system.  But most important there are two USB ports to charge both our phones.

We are staying at the Silver Cloud Hotel.  This is a chain of 10 hotels all in Washington except for one in Portland which would be in Washington except for the fact it is Oregon. I picked this hotel because it is literally across the street from Safeco Field and rumor has it we will be going to a baseball game there tomorrow.  The hotel is a bit pricey but it has something that is hard to beat, amazing location.  If you are interested in going to the ballpark you can’t get any better than this.

Upon arrival to the hotel we were told that we had been upgraded to a suite.  Upgraded to a suite?  On our trips we are very loyal to the Marriott brand and I don’t ever remember them being upgraded to a suite.  This is our first time at a Silver Cloud Hotel and already I am trying to find another excuse to travel to Washington.   I am convinced they have us mistaken for someone else.

There is also a great bathroom with two showers (one stall and one shower-tub combo). We have complimentary bathrobes, free wifi, a safe and all sorts of little knick knacks to make our stay comfortable.

After relaxing a bit in the hotel Patrice asked “Are you interested in Lox?”.  I love lox so I jumped out of bed.  The place we were going was called Hiram Chittenden Lox.   I have certain rules about eating.  For example I never eat a curry dish unless it is at an Indian restaurant.  I will not order grits north of the Mason Dixon Line (made that mistake last year).  But most important I won’t get bagels and lox unless I see at least one (and preferably two) hunched over Jewish guys behind the counter or the cash register.  So I must admit I had some trepidation because Seattle, Washington is not my idea of a haven for Jews and Hiram Chittenden does not sound like a guy who ever studied for his bar mitzvah.  Upon arrival to the place I realized I had been tricked.  These lox are spelled locks.  And they are not the type you eat or use to secure your valuables but rather the type that help boats transfer from one body of water that is either higher or lower than a second body of water (like you find at the Panama Canal).  Although my stomach was disappointed I found the experience very interesting.  In regards to sea traffic these are some of the busiest locks in the  world.  They are small so you don’t find ocean liners here but you do see a large number of pleasure boats and smaller commercial craft.  It was very interesting to see them in operation and has increased my interest in a trip to Panama.

Tomorrow begins the real reason for this trip.  More about that later.

We are staying in the magnificent Atlanta Marriott Marquis hotel.  They have a huge atrium with elevators that give you a spectacular view as you go up to your room.  For a guy who is not crazy about heights (like me) this is not always so wonderful.

Then it was off to SunTrust Park to see the Pirates play the Atlanta Braves.  This is the inaugural season for the stadium.  It is lovely as you would expect.  Most appealing to me was that I didn’t see one beach ball the entire game.  We had great seats and the Pirates won easily.  That makes us 3-0 this trip which is a welcome change from some of our previous adventures.

Since the game started early we had time to do some sight-seeing after it ended.  I wanted to see the College Football Hall of Fame, sort of a continuation of our Hall of Fame Tour of 2013.  Patrice wanted go to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library (we had already seen the libraries for JFK, LBJ and Ronald Reagan).  I told her, I am the man and I make the decisions of what is best to do.

Jimmy Carter was our 39th President.  The construction of the library began in October 1984 and was completed in 2 years.  The landscape encompasses 35 acres (as you know there are 43,560 square feet per acre).  The library is approximately 69,750 square feet and includes 15,269 square feet of exhibit space and an additional 19,818 square feet of collection storage space.  We first viewed a 15 minute film about Mr. Carter and then toured the museum with what little time we had left.  An announcement was made that the museum was now closed and we needed to exit the building.  As we started to walk out one of the guards said, “That’s the Nobel Prize”.  We stopped and looked at it and were very impressed that he got that in 2002 twenty-one years after leaving office.  Not a bad encore.

Tomorrow we leave for home.  It has been a great trip but now it is time to get back to reality.  That means, PLANNING OUR NEXT VACATION!

Today was another travel day but we couldn’t leave Nashville without trying one more restaurant that came very highly recommended.  We went to Husk (37 Rutledge Street) and were not disappointed.   And what did we have to eat?

We then headed southeast toward Atlanta.  We stopped about halfway to visit the city of Chattanooga.  I heard wonderful things about the city from cousins John and Margaret and my friend and Chattanooga’s favorite son Mr. Belding himself, Dennis Haskins.   We enjoyed the Bluff View Art District sculpture garden near the Hunter Gallery.  We saw a variety of beautiful works of art.  See below.

We also saw this sculpture so very appropriate of for our BBQ and Baseball Tour.

The sculpture motivated me to practice calling balls and strikes. See below.

Then it was off to Atlanta.   Patrice was kind enough to drive but that can be very dangerous.  Oh no, not because Patrice is a bad driver.  I would never say that (at least not in a place that she could read or hear).  But rather, dangerous because it gives my mind time to wander.  While relaxing in the passenger seat I started to think about guns in the South.  I recalled seeing these signs during the trip.

In LA things are much different.  Patrice and I recently went to a movie theater where they searched her purse.  I joked with the employee and said, “She left her gun at home”. The employee responded, “I am not looking for guns, I am looking for food”.  So apparently it is okay to bring your gun to the movies just don’t try to bring any food.

On the news tonight we heard a story that guns are not prohibited at college football tailgate parties in Georgia.  Hmmmmm, let me think back about being at tailgate parties at USC football games. Did I ever see anyone drunk before kick off?  Did I ever see any of these drunkards do something incredibly stupid?  Now, just imagine a gun in one of those idiot’s hands.  Watching the game in my living room is sounding real good.

 

Heck with football!  This is a baseball tour and tomorrow is time for more baseball.

 

 

With the BBQ Championships behind us it was time to move forward.  I did another weigh-in prior to leaving the hotel.  For those of you who didn’t see my first weigh-in I have included both the before and after pictures.

We packed up and headed for Nashville.  But first we had to stop by the Pink Palace.  This is a collection of museums and originally was a home owned and occupied by the man who started the Piggly Wiggly chain of stores.  We didn’t have a lot of time to peruse the collection but I did see this cartoon that caught my eye.  Apparently it was drawn in about the 1880s when Memphis was decimated by an outbreak of yellow fever.

After the Pink Palace it was off to Nashville but I couldn’t leave Memphis without passing along one more tidbit.  Apparently  people around here like their guns and sometimes need to be reminded that they are not appropriate everywhere.  You already saw the billboard at the entrance to the BBQ Festival.   Here are a couple more examples.

The drive to Nashville took about 3 hours.  We did see some interesting signs but I didn’t get any pictures so you will have to take my word when I tell you we saw two (yes, two not one), “Adult Super Stores” advertising “DVDs, Magazines and Much More” along the highway.

We are not staying in downtown Nashville where much of the action is located but instead by the Grand Ole Opry.  We have tickets to a show on Tuesday night so more about that in a couple of days.

Today was the big day at the World Championship of Barbecue Cooking.  It was time to bring out the pork. There are 3 categories that are judged: 1.) Ribs, 2.) Shoulder and 3.) Whole Hog.  This morning we were assigned to do “Blind” judging (you receive a box of meat and have no idea who cooked it) of shoulder.  Both Patrice and I were disappointed because “On Site” judging (when you visit the competitors at their booths) is where the real fun and excitement are located.  I talked to the head of the festival to see if somehow they could find two more spots for On Site judging and my negotiations (aka whining but called “swhining” here) paid off.  Patrice and I were both assigned to do On Site judging of ribs.

The Festival park is laid out with all the competitors arranged into groups. They are separated by competition categories (Ribs, Shoulder, Whole Hog) to make it easier for judges to get to the three sites they need to judge within the limited amount of time allotted for the process.  The sites are numbered with Rib booths starting with an R, Shoulder booths starting with an S and Whole hog with an H (I guess for Hog instead of Whole).

The competitors have very interesting team names such as “The Pit and the Pigulum”; “Kill-em and Grill-em”; “Pork Illustrated”; “Swine and Dine”; “The Hogfather”; “Natural Born Grillers”; and “Pork and Bean Counters” (my friend Steve assumed these guys must be accountants).

When judges approach a team site they are greeted by a team member who then introduces you to the Head Cook and the other team members.  All of these people greet you as if you are visiting royalty.  Then you are brought to the cooker and the chef explains their method of preparation.  After 2 years of doing this we are learning things like what type of smokers are used (3 of the 6 we judged use Backwoods), what type of marinade they use, how long they cook the meat and little tricks they might have (who would have thought Mott’s Apple Juice would make pork taste so good?).

I arrived at one team’s booth while the judge before me was still reviewing their work. So while I waited I was entertained by team member, Jimbo Billy Bob.  I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP!   Before I even got into their booth Jimbo Billy Bob explained to me how he got his name.  Sorry I don’t remember about James but William was after William Jennings Bryan and Robert was after Robert E. Lee.  Need I say more?  When it was my turn to judge I was given the tour and the rundown on how they cook their pork. Then I got to taste possibly the best ribs I have ever had the pleasure to eat.  All the teams I judged were excellent and it was hard to choose one over the other.  After leaving the booth it is not uncommon to get a round of applause (but it is a bit embarrassing). Unfortunately none of my teams made it to the finals.  After turning in my scoring cards I went back to my competitors to introduce them to Patrice.  I had to have her meet Jimbo Billy Bob who was very happy to see us come back.  He also shared with us some of his homemade moonshine.  Jimbo Billy Bob is my new BFF.

Our friends Steve and Becky joined us after the judging and we fixed them up with some great pork and just hung out talking to other judges and hoping that our stomachs did not explode.  Steve promised that he would join us as a judge if we come back next year.  If?  Is he kidding?  As I have told many of you I will not eat BBQ in Los Angeles after experiencing Memphis in May.

After getting back to the hotel we met Patrice’s cousin, Margaret and her husband John. This was not preplanned.  On Friday (today is Saturday isn’t it?) we received an email from Margaret asking for recommendations of places to eat and things to do in Memphis knowing that we love this city.  Neither of us were aware that the other was going to be in Memphis at this time.  So we met them for dinner.  I AM NOT KIDDING! Unfortunately my brain was still under the influence of Jimbo Billy Bob’s moonshine and I forgot to get a picture of our happy group.

Tomorrow we leave for Nashville.

 

Today was supposed to be day 2 of the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest. But before we get to that let me tell you about this amazing hotel at which we have been staying.  At the recommendation of our friends Steve and Becky we decided to forego the Peabody Hotel and their ducks and stay at the River Inn of Harbor Town (50 Harbor Town Square).  The place is lovely.  Our room is very large with the usual comforts that you would expect in a classy hotel.  In addition there are some very nice bonuses.  For example we get a first rate breakfast every morning at the hotel’s fine dining restaurant, Paulette’s.  This is not a Residence Inn type breakfast but rather a first rate meal including croissants, muffins, freshly squeezed orange juice, choice of eggs (we had omelettes this morning), pancakes or french toast.  Each morning we have fresh bottles of water at our bedside and at night we get a turndown service which brings a carafe of port and chocolates.  I might not be much of a drinker but I sure like chocolate.

After enjoying our breakfast we headed off to Day 2 of the Festival.  We arrived early, as instructed, for Judge check-in and completed the first round of judging.  We were then informed that there was a storm warning and the entire festival was going to be closed and all visitors were to evacuate immediately.  Patrice and I have tremendous respect for locals and their knowledge of their own natural hazards.  In California we know how to deal with earthquakes but this isn’t our home turf so when told to evacuate Patrice and I were at the head of the pack leaving the park.  When we started walking toward cover it began to rain. Actually this was a savior.  It has been so hot and having the water from above to cool us off was a tremendous relief.

When the storm warning had passed it was very late and we had dinner plans with our friends so we were unable to do any further judging.  It was disappointing that we couldn’t judge more but a bit of a relief that we weren’t stuffed and unable to enjoy dinner.  We had  a great evening at dinner (yes more eating), talking with Steve and Becky about old times and meeting their friends Careen and Tom.

Tomorrow is the main event.  In the morning we will have blind judging (we just receive boxes of pork to taste) and in the afternoon we will have on-site judging (where we go to the contestants booths to meet them, learn their techniques and of course taste their pork)