Gotta love a heat wave weekend in Seattle! Not. Give me my 70 degree weather back, sun!
We decided to go up to Deception Pass on Saturday during the heatwave because some astute Redditor mentioned that it would only be in the 70's on Whidbey/Fidalgo. But what to do on Sunday? I'm not hiking in 90 degree weather. I've done 105F at Pinnacles National Park, that was enough trauma.
We decided to stay in the city, have breakfast close by, and take it easy.
Skalka Cafe
Skalka is only a few blocks away from us, so when we want a big filling breakfast that fills you up, Skalka is it man. It's right downtown a few blocks down from Pike Place. If you're visiting Seattle from the ferries @ Colman Dock, it's like a block off of the ferry! If you live in West Seattle, take the damn water taxi over and try this already. I suppose it depends on what you prefer for breakfast, but this is consummate to me. They say they're the best breakfast in Seattle. Do I believe it? Maybe.
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| This was the chicken Khachapuri. I'm ready to rip into this thing all over again. |
Skalka is a Georgian bakery specializing in Khachapuri, a type of Georgian bread boat with cheese, and usually egg, and other things. You can get a plain one that is simply their dough, cheese mixture (which is buttery heaven), butter and egg, or you can get a few of their other choices like veggie, chicken, stroganoff, etc. The veggie and chicken come with a tomato sauce on half of the khachapuri. It's a heavenly addition. It almost reminds me of a shakshuka in a cheesy bread bowl. Apparently they used to have a wider availability of options, but since COVID they have focused specifically on Khachapuri. Fine with me!
The only word of warning..do not come here if you're in a rush. You order by tablet, and there's only one. So if there's several parties in front of you, you'll need to wait for them to order before you can place yours. Additionally, there is a large sign stating the food is made to order and can take 15-30 minutes before it is ready. If you don't have a problem with that, and you shouldn't, check this banger of a place out.
They have a few bottled drink options, as well as coffee ground to order.
After Skalka we wobbled back home with full stomachs and did a few things before heading out again. It's been a hot minute since we were at the Ballard Locks so we figured that would be a leisurely activity for this scorching Sunday, but first...ice cream
Salt and Straw
We took the 40 (bus) up to Ballard and headed towards the Locks but made an unexpected stop for ice cream. We're adults, we do what we want.
I got Huckleberry Cornbread Pudding, my GF got Wild Foraged Berry Slab Pie. It's berry month, dontchaknow. Both were quite good...and I'm not trying to start a flame war here or anything but...I liked it more than pretty much anything I've had at Molly Moons. Get your pitchforks.
Ballard (Hiram M Chittenden) Locks
Who doesn't love going to the locks, man? The people at the locks are always a varietal mix of locals and tourists. I've been here as a tourist, and still show up as a local.
There was a jazz band playing near the Botanical Gardens on the way in, which provided a nice background peace.
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| First boat in! |
I will probably NEVER own a boat in my lifetime, especially in Seattle, but it is cool to watch from an engineering perspective. The Ballard Locks separate the salty waters of Puget Sound, and the freshwaters of Lake Union and ultimately Lake Washington and provide a way for boating vessels to travel between the two.
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| Is this supposed to leak?? |
A lot of the time, especially on a nice day, it's mostly rich dudes with their boats (who can afford a boat in Seattle?!), but you'll occasionally see other commercial traffic as well. Argosy Cruises does a Locks Cruise so you might even see one of those come through with a few hundred eager guests. I'm sure they'll be waving. You can even bring your kayak through the Locks if you so desire. Before we left we saw a big group come in with their Kayaks.
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| Spillways Spill |
Fish Ladder and Seal Crackers
In more recent years there have been intermittent explosions at the locks. They literally have workers stand near the salmon fish ladder and throw explosives in the water near the fish ladder. There are warning signs around the fish ladder area that you WILL hear booms. WTF is that all about?
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| There's one of those sneaky seal dudes, now! |
Turns out, the fish ladder gives harbor seals an unequal advantage at dinner. The harbor seals love coming up and eating all of the salmon from the fish ladders. The federal government (who oversees the locks) has tried other measures, mostly met with failures. Their current methodology is using Seal Crackers. Explosives with waterproof wicks that can explode underwater and scare away the seals from the fish ladder. They claim this is "training" them to stay away.
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| They gotta get those windows cleaned. From the Fish Ladder Viewing Room. Poor dude has a chunk taken out of him. |
I'm fairly ignorant on the subject, but I have to imagine this can't be good for the overall well-being of the seals OR the fish in the immediate area? I suppose it's better than having all the salmon eaten? I see this as a man-made problem though. Humans constructed the locks, which now creates a bottleneck for the salmon allowing them to become more vulnerable to predators. Hopefully we can figure out a better solution soon.
Check the video above. After a time lapse of the locks, you'll see a video of the crackers used. There's a very faint flash and a very faint boom heard.
Bizarre Brewing
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| There wasn't much to see on the walk to Bizarre. It's in an industrial area, mostly. Check these guys out though! Not sure what it is. Kind of looks like Butterfly Bush, which is unfortunately invasive in WA. |
Once you cross the locks from the Ballard side to the Interbay side (Almost positive it's Interbay, not Magnolia, look at a map. It's right on the border) you can walk down W Commodore Way until 26th Ave W where Bizarre Brewing lives.
We figured it wouldn't be a terrible walk, but in 94 degree heat we were sadly mistaken, and in more desperate need of a beer than we thought. There's no AC in the brewery which was lamented, but we did find a table in front of a floor fan. Thank god for that. I slurped down my Kellerbier (which was a collab with up-and-soon-to-be-coming Seattle brewery Human People!) and a delicious fir tip pale ale.
I usually gravitate towards higher ABV beers like DIPAs, stouts, barleywines, but Bizarre focuses, and succeeds in making lower ABV beers. I believe they said they make a point to create beers 6% and under. The owners are ex-Fremont and ex-Holy Mountain alum, so they do a heck of job. Definitely worth a try if you're in the area. Or even if you aren't in the area! Do some hiking at Discovery Park and treat yourself afterwards.
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| They have a cool outdoor area (not in the pic) and an upstairs deck too (...in the pic) |
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| Transit in the area wasn't super great, so we had to walk a bit to get ourselves a bus. Near the BNSF tracks lies NOEARS. |
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