Wild Wednesday

Nothing much new here with the Misters and me and Jilly. Although, John is learning massage in his modalities class, and I am selflessly helping him get some practice time in. His teacher was a massage therapist for 14 years before becoming a PT. In fact, two of John's classmates were massage therapists. They learned some Swedish massage techniques, so last night, my sore legs got some much kneaded (yuk, yuk, get it?) help. The night before I had done some heavy weight lifting for my hamstrings and quads, so the massage helped a lot.

Wednesdays are busy for me because I leave work early to drive to Tacoma to pick up Little Man from his visit. Besides falling behind on the house, I do not have dinner planned. Thankfully, the dinner fairy (aka my mom/Mimi to Little Man) is bringing us Papa Murphy's tonight!

John has a patient evalulation today, so this is a busy/stressful day for him. It is really cool to hear him talk about what he's learning and how he interacts with the patients. I'm so proud of him.

My goal tonight (after meeting up with two friends at this great coffee place) is to get both bathrooms cleaned and lunches made. Accomplishing little goals has become a goal in itself.

The Coffee Club Diner

On Wednesdays, John takes the later ferry at 7:20 and this means a little extra sleep. Yesterday, however, we decided to have breakfast at a little diner in Bremerton called “The Coffee Club Diner” on Park Avenue. Something about diner food makes me all nostalgic for a time I never lived in and have only heard about from family or seen on tv and movies. Diners make me think of places with delicious comfort food that I normally don’t eat, locals who come in and greet each other by first name and friendly cook and wait staff who keep the coffee coming.

This place hit all the marks. Seating is u-shaped with red stools at the counter. There were booths, as well, as the friendly young waitress told us, but I love sitting at a diner bar. A few men, probably shipyard workers, were eating their breakfasts at the counter as well. John and I ordered the eggs and sausage—his over easy and mine scrambled. It came with choice of toast and choice of potatoes. Oh, potatoes. Some people love sweets, but I love potatoes and have to eat them sparingly. Yesterday morning, I got the home fries and John the hash browns.

The young waitress wasn’t over 20 years old, I don’t think, and was very friendly and provided good service. Since we had a very limited time to eat so that John could catch the ferry, we were pleased that after placing our order, the food arrived in front of us within five minutes. With oldies playing in the background, we at our delicious breakfast and drank a couple mugs of coffee. All too soon, our little breakfast time was over, and it was time to drive the two blocks to the ferry. We hope to go back again maybe for lunch.

For those with no concern about clogged arteries, the Coffee Club Diner has a “Goliath Burger Challenge.” It’s a 5lb burger served with 5 lbs of fries! You have to see the video of how tall this monstrosity is! If you finish all 10 pounds in an hour, you get your meal free, your photo on the wall, and a $25 gift certificate to Minder Meats. If your eyes are bigger than your stomach, it’s $25. I’ll skip that burger because they serve a Monte Cristo sandwich that has my name on it!

If you live in the area, stop by the diner. It’s good food, a nice atmosphere, and a fun way to have a meal.

Address: 417 Park Ave Bremerton, WA 98337

Business Hours:
Monday through Friday - 5:30am to 7:00pm
Saturday - 7:00am to 7:00pm
Sunday - 8:00am to 5:00pm

A Seattle Visit

Last Friday, John and I headed to Seattle for a night away. We dropped of Jill at my mom and dad's house, I took the day off from work, and it was John's last day of spring break. We drove around the water to UW and worked out at the IMA. Those facilities are amazing! I got to watch "What Not to Wear" while on the ellyptical, and then lifted. John and I played a game of Squash which was a lot of fun. After showers, we headed to the UVillage for some coffee and window shopping at stores that we just don't have on our side of the Sound like Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn, and Restoration Hardware.

Because we were staying at John's grandpa's house in Ballard, we decided to find a little place to eat. After driving up and down Greenlake and Fremont, we stopped at "El Chupacabra," a little but very active Mexican place with good and inexpensive food.

Grandpa Dion's house will soon be sold, so we were grateful to spend a little time there, perhaps the last time.

In the morning, we drove to Pike Place Market and arrived as many of the vendors were still setting up. That's my favorite time to go. We browsed the produce, bought some, along with fresh herbs and some spices--very good prices! A stop at Local Color for a mocha and the most delicious sausage breakfast sandwich rounded out our time together in Seattle. We loved having some time together, since John's third quarter of school was fast approaching. I love and appreciate the moments we have together, even if few words are spoken. Walking hand in hand down the cobble streets of the market is little bit of heaven for me.

Chimacum Cafe

As part of John's belated birthday gift, I took him to the Chimacum Café which is about a 45 minute drive from Bremerton. A coworker told me about the place and said how big the portions were and how good their homemade pies are. Apparently, one woman makes all the pies and one of the favorites is the blackberry pie. Mind you, this pie is not made with the blackberries we saw all over the place here which are large and seedy. Her pie is made with the small and practically seedless blackberries which are now hard to find. While we didn't taste the pie, we did enjoy a delicious breakfast (I took home half of mine), and really loved the drive out there.

The drive to the small town of Chimacum gives the eyes a real treat. Driving north on Highway 3, you cross the Hood Canal Bridge, which is a highlight of the trip for me. The Olympics get a little closer and one gets a different view of them. You slowly wind your way down to the Beaver Valley and see wide open fields, some with small farms and cows, another one with bison. Jill sat in the backseat taking in the sights and smells and stared at the cows.

The Chimacum Café is not fancy. Rather, it is a casual atmosphere with good comfort food where our waitress kept our coffee mugs filled, and the kitchen served up some delicious breakfast fare. We plan to go back there again to try the lunch or dinner and some of that pie. Here's a good article about this nice little place.

9253 Rhody Drive
Chimacum, WA 98325
(360) 732-4631