retirement activity

Seattle’s Space Needle

/ Roadtirementvintage / 11 Comments

From the official website of the 605 feet tall Seattle Space Needle comes a to the point introduction to this world famous attraction: The Space Needle is one of the most recognizable landmarks in the world and is a treasured Seattle icon. Built for the 1962 World’s Fair … whose theme was “The Age of Space”. 

See views of downtown Seattle, Mount Rainier, Puget Sound, and the Cascades and Olympic mountain ranges from the tower

On our first trip to Seattle we went up in the Space Needle. At that time there was a restaurant that rotated a full 360 degrees in an hour. In 2017 a large reconstruction project revamped the entire top of the tower. Now the restaurant is gone, but a lounge, cafe and a wine bar with glass floors lets you look straight down to the ground over 500 feet below you! The rotation still gives you a chance to sit and view the total 360 view of Seattle.

An 1890 hardware store turned restaurant

/ Roadtirementvintage / 10 Comments

The three story brick building was built in 1890 and housed a hardware store for decades. The locally owned J.G. DePrez Co. was a prominent feature in downtown Shelbyville, Indiana. The building now houses a unique restaurant on the first floor .

Pudder’s storefront

Looking out on the town square

 

 

 

 

 

Pudder’s opened in 2019 and was able to survive the pandemic. It has maintained its local patron base, and is beginning to gain a reputation in surrounding areas. The restaurant is spacious, has two bars and interesting interior decor.

Full service bar

Interesting rustic decor

 

 

 

 

 

Sher and I went to Pudder’s for a late lunch. We were seated immediately,  there were a couple of other tables occupied. The service staff is very attentive and meets your needs without delay. Sher started with one of the signature cocktails and really enjoyed it.

“Fancy” cocktail menu

Sher’s Pink Drink

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Their menu offers an assortment of burgers, wraps, salads, wings and tons of appetizers. Sher ordered the veggie wrap, which was absolutely filled to overflowing with good stuff. I wanted to go with the Fish and Chips. The two pieces of cod were served piping hot, and each piece was very thick and filling!

We had a great lunch

Pudder’s has live music each weekend and a regular schedule of trivia nights. The drinks, food and service is good. Hard to beat that combination, plus for us Pudder’s is close by.

Helicopters, whirligigs, twisters and samaras

/ Roadtirementvintage / 7 Comments

These are all names for those wonderfully spinning things that come off of some maple trees each spring or early summer. (The name samaras is the technical nomenclature for this.) Yes, they become the seeds of the trees. The aerodynamic design allows the seeds to spin as they fall, and they will travel over long distances from the tree.

“Whirligigs” on the tree getting ready to fly

Seed positioned ready to germinate

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hundreds of these spinners will come from each tree, and they will be responsible for many seedling trees as well as clogging gutters and downspouts. In addition, many like to consume the seeds. Try them, they are tasty!

Legends of the lowly dandelion

/ Roadtirementvintage / 19 Comments

You have seen them. People love them or hate them. People eat them. Yes, that is the dandelion. There is quite a bit of folklore connected to the dandelion.

Dandelions are related to sunflowers

Each “puffer” has between 150 -200 seeds

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No one knows when the first person believed this: If you blow all of the white flying seeds off of a dandelion in one breath your wish will come true. There is also a belief that sending the seeds in the wind will carry your thoughts and dreams to those you love. In addition, some think blowing all the seeds in one breath means your love is true and is returned. Other stories include using the flowers as weather predicters, and the daily opening and closing of flowers indicating time of day.

A visit to a new Mexican eatery

/ Roadtirementvintage / 15 Comments

The location used to house a craft beer brewery/restaurant, but that business fell victim to the pandemic. After sitting empty for a few years we noticed a new name on the storefront, and shortly after an “OPEN” sign and cars in the lot. That was our cue to go try it out.

The tables have two distinct areas, one for families and one just for 21 plus patrons. There is a large bar with two very big TV’s for sports broadcasts. We went at about 2:30 in the afternoon, and there were only about seven to ten other tables occupied.

Menu book

The bar

 

 

 

 

 

Sher and I both ordered strawberry margaritas to start. We decided to go for the medium size. The medium size was what most places have for large! What delicious margaritas they were.

Table full of great food and drink

A great margarita

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The menu was quite extensive, and was presented in a spiral bound book. I ordered the steak fajitas, and Sher ordered two bean burritos with fixings. The food was very good, derived quickly and served hot. Just about any kind of Mexican cuisine is available, and if our orders are any indication, you’ll probably be pleased with anything at the Blue Agave.

A nice view of a river and an old bridge

This is a very nice facility, and as it is relatively close to our home, we will be patronizing this bar and grill again. There is a very nice outdoor deck that the previous bar used for outside seating. Maybe Blue Agave will offer outside seating soon as well.

 

Arizona’s Sonoran desert at sunset

/ Roadtirementvintage / 9 Comments

Back in February, 2016, we were traveling the desert southwest. Tucson was of course a required stop! One evening we took a drive to the Tucson Mountain District of the Saguaro National Park. It was a visual delight to watch the desert turn from the bright sunlight of the day into the subdued lighting of dusk followed by yet another night.

The shadows lengthen

One by one the cacti lose the sun’s warmth

The golden hues of the day’s last light

There is something magical about the Sonoran Desert

Proof they hatched

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We’ve been watching a pair of robins constructing and setting on a nest in the crook of the old maple tree outside our back door. We had yet not seen any blue egg shells on the ground. Discarded shells often indicate that the clutch has hatched.

At least two hungry mouths visible demanding food

Today while taking a break on the swing after some weeding I saw one of the robins returning to the “empty” looking nest. Immediately little wide open beaks appeared wanting to be filled with some tasty morsels. No more wondering: we have a clutch of baby robins. We’ll try to get some more photos soon.