Redhook Brewery – Woodinville, Wa

I just got back from a trip to Washington State.  A must for me on any visit to Western Washington is the Redhook Brewery in Washington.  We stopped by the brewery on July 4th weekend and I was a little disappointed that the souvenir store was sold out of pint size glasses. :<  We also just missed the start of the tour as well.

We decided to grab a bite to eat at the Forecasters Pub and immediately after we were seated, I ask the waiter for a  beer sampler before our meal. I know, instead of getting the sampler, I should have taken the brewery tour.  (For a buck, you get a tour of the brewery, learn a little about brewing, a little history about Redhook, and sample a few beers.) While I was looking over the menu, I noticed that the bar had on tap their signature Nitro beer, Nighthook.  I was in for a treat.  Nighthook is one of the smoothest dark beers I have ever had.  I highly recommend this beer to anyone.  For desert, I ask the waiter for a Nighthook Beer Ice Cream Float.  It was very interesting combo.  For my meal I had a BBQ Pulled Pork sandwich.  It was rather good. 

If you are ever in the Seattle area, I would highly suggest to take a little side trip to Woodinville and visit the Redhook Brewery.

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Redhook Brewery, Woodinville, Washington

  Many people may over look the Redhook Brewery when the goto Seattle, Washington for two reasons. 

First, Pyramid Brewery is located in Seattle next to Quest Field and Safeco Field.  It is actually across the street from where the Seahawks and Mariners play.  I have yet to visit this brewery.  I noticed on my last visit that there was a small  pregame party in the parking lot for Seahawk fans prior to the football game.

The other reason people may overlook the Redhook Brewery is because Woodinville has over 35 wineries.  I have only visited one, Chateau St. Michelle.  It was a fun experience.  I still like the charm of the Redhook Brewery.

Redhook offers a tour of their brewery for a fee of $5.  It is not bad considering you get a 3 oz souvenir glass and get to try a few samples of beer during the tour.  The brewery also has a restaurant and a gift shop.  The gift shop sell everything you can imagine from glasses to shirts and even beer.  Every beer they make is avaliable to purchase.  On my last visit I learned that on Mondays, if you buy a case of beer the second one is half off.  It was too bad I was in Seattle area for only a week and I had visited the brewery on Wednesday.  The regular price for a case of beer is only $24.  That comes out to a $1 a beer and for Redhook that is a great price. 

One of my favorite beers, which they only sell in Washington state, is the Blackhook beer.  It is a dark beer but has very smooth taste to it.  I also enjoy there Redhook’s ESB beer.  I have been able to get this beer down here in California.  I have seen the grocery stores begin to carry Redhook’s Long Hammer beer.  It is an Indian Pale Ale.  To be honest, I am not really a fan of it but I like the logo and the name.  The other beer that my wife enjoyed was Redhook’s Blonde Ale.  She liked it so much that we brought a case of that Blonde ale and a case of the Blackhook.

So if you ever in the Seattle area, I would highly recommend stopping by the Redhook Brewery in Woodinville.

Bellevue, Washington

Here are a few photos we took while driving to the mall in Bellevue, Washington.  I was actually a little excited to see a Lego store in the mall.  My wife was more excited to see that the mall had a Sketchers, Gymbore, Children’s Place, and a Pottery Barn Kids.  Of course, my kids were excited that they had a playground they could play on and a McDonalds to eat at.  I think we ate too much McDonalds on our trip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Squirrel Bridge – Longview, WA

On our trip home, we decided to stop by Longview in Washington to see the only known Squirrel Bridge in the world.  It was a good distraction for the kids and a good stop for us to stretch.  They knew our first stop on our trip would be the Nutty Narrows Bridge and the boy was looking forward to it.

 

Squirrels seem to be a running joke in my family. At my mom’s old house, my mom had a birdhouse full of seeds for the birds.  The bird house was more like a bird mansion.  Many times the local squirrels would hang out, eat up the seeds, and leave a huge mess.  Anytime my mom saw a squirrel eating the bird seeds, she would scream, run outside, and then choose her weapon of choice: a broom or the water hose.  Today, my mom no longer has squirrels in her backyard but we, her loving family, love to give her anything that has to do with squirrels.

Longview is about two hours south of Seattle and 1 hour north of Portland.  My mom and brother told us about the squirrel bridge and we knew we had to go.  My brother was planning to drive down there with us but he got sick.  Of course, as we drove it began to rain but when we arrived in Longview the rain had passed.  It took us awhile to find the street where the squirrel bridge is located at.  Eventually we drove back to the library and looked up.  We saw the bridge.  It is quite small but it is for squirrels.  The park next to the library does have a statue of a giant squirrel.

XXX Rootbeer Drive-In — Issaquah, Wa — Must do in Seattle

One of the must do places to stop by in Western Washington is XXX Rootbeer Drive-In in Issaquah, Wa.   It is about 20 minutes east of Seattle and they have the best hamburgers and rootbeer on the West Coast.  Ever since my brother found this place, I have always stopped by when I am in the Seattle area.

Me with my XXX Burger and XXX Super Rootbeer Float

On my recent visit, I decided to go with the XXX Burger and a XXX Super Float.  When I order this, I was planning to split it with my wife and kids.  On a side note, my daughter slept through the whole experience in the car and my princess really need her beauty sleep that day (long day).  Yes, you must use both hands when eating the burger.  Alright I will include a couple of close-up.

 

 

The staff at XXX is very friendly and helping.  They even told me how to properly eat the burger so it would not slide off the bun.  If it is not raining you can eat outside at one of the many tables.  They also have tables inside as well.  The place is also very well decorated.  You feel  like you are at a diner.  This is definitely a place you don’t want to miss.  The root beer is made from a unique recipe from 1930 and it taste great and not too sweet.  The food and the people are great at XXX Root beer and next time you are in the Seattle area, do what you must to stop by.  On the weekends during the summer they will have car shows and it gets packed.

My son