Day nine was the day that I moved up the coast to Seattle. I stalled a bit so I wouldn’t be sitting around waiting for everything to open at 4. As I got in the car and typed in the directions, my Google assistant was nice enough to warn me about a 4-hour delay in Tacoma because of a fatal crash earlier that morning. That turned out OK because I was still way ahead of schedule, and by the time I got up there, the delay was a bit less. My first stop was Sovereign Brewing. I was sure I was doomed as soon as I saw the refrigeration truck out front, and as I walked up, that bartender gal was putting a closed sign on the door. I said something to the effect of “You gotta be kidding me”, and she asked if I wanted to get some to-go bottles which, of course, I did, so that worked out fine.
My next stop was a favorite of mine, Dirty Couch Brewing. Nobody anywhere, even in town, seems to know who they are, but they do some nice sours. I had a tasty flight while listening to everyone walk in the door and ask what sour beer is. The Walambic was especially good. I grabbed some bottles and headed up the road to Holy Mountain. Over the years, they have stepped out of the sour game a bit. Many of their brewers have moved on to their own setups. But I did taste and grab a nice bottle of Sacrament, aged in oak barrels with Carmenere grapes.
The final beer stop of the day was Fair Isle. This brewery seems to have spread the good word. Everywhere I have gone out here, people ask if I am going to Fair Isle. The bartender was super nice and let me try a few things. I liked the Hanami, which is brewed with Sekura Sencha tea. The Lora was also very nice but only comes in cans. I picked some bottles that sounded like they would be good and moved on to my last stop for the night.
I concluded my day at the area’s favorite spot for oysters, The Walrus and The Carpenter, and The Barnicle. I enjoyed some small plates of oysters, fried oysters, sardines, and some nice crusty bread and butter. The perfect way to end a nice day before driving around the bay to my hotel. I lugged all my boxes into my hotel room because, on day 10, I will leave the car and take the people ferry into Seattle to do some touristy things that I have skipped on previous trips. This will include a couple of my favorite record shops in the Capitol district. I’m unsure if I will end up at the breweries in Ballard. After that, the trip is pretty much done. I have two pickups in Seattle on Friday, and it’s a matter of seeing when my car will be done. I will either drive back home and wait to fly back to Denver or drive to Denver and pick up my car. At some point, I will eventually hit Fort Collins. If I drive home, I will also still hit Spokane and Bozeman.
