Flight Report: Seattle to Milwaukee

Two weekends ago, I found myself in Milwaukee for the weekend. I was there to visit my girlfriend's family, with a bonus side trip to Chicago for the night. If you've never been to Milwaukee (and unless you have family or business there, the odds are pretty low), the city itself is actually a lot better than the stereotypes you might imagine. It's not all about Miller time, the Brewers, and Fonzie.

Actually, I take that back. It is all about the Brewers, there is a bronze Fonzie statue that is one of the top rated tourist attractions, and one of the highlights of Milwaukee, for better or worse, is the bar scene. Life there is different compared with the West Coast and my native Seattle. If the dream of the '90s is alive in Portland (thank you Portlandia), then the dreams of Americana is alive in Milwaukee.

My first flight was fairly uneventful. It was a night flight, so no pictures to share, but we were upgraded to first on Delta to Minneapolis. Once on the ground there, we were welcomes by not one, but two mechanical delays involving our MD-90. The first one actually went out of service and we were given a new plane, but that one had issues as well. Personally, I don't like the McDonald-Douglas planes, at least not since I was a kid flying on the MD-80s. In those early years, I would look forward to boarding the plane via the rear stairs.

Once on board, we were finally ready to go. The first time, they actually boarded us and then had us deplane once they figured out that the plane wasn't going anywhere. Sitting there gave me plenty of time to consider the skymall catalog and wonder about the people who buy this stuff.

Carlashes?! This is a real thing that people make money on?! It's completely ridiculous, as is the Mall of America, pictured below. That's one of the largest malls in the United States, complete with indoor amusement park.

Finally on the ground in Milwaukee, a full three hours after we were supposed to be there. Because we were so late, we needed to grab a bite to eat which made Gillies our first stop for some frozen custard. Finally the trip is starting to turn around!

Next time, we'll take a look around Milwaukee's "finest" dining, some fantastic places in Chicago, and then head on back to Seattle.

Whoops... "We know about this"

Passengers on one Alaska Air flight found "We Know About This" scrawled on their wing and thanks to the internet, now we all know about this. While it might be a little unnerving to see a minor flaw pointed out so explicitly, "this" is actually an FAA-approved field repair according the folks over at FlyerTalk. No passengers were at risk, but a full and final repair must have been scheduled for later on.

It's crazy to think about, but airplanes stay in service for decades and are constantly being repaired. These are huge complex machines that enable the impossible, but sometimes you just need a little superglue or heat tape to get the job done.

[via FlightGlobal]

SAS Expands on West Coast to SFO

Starting April 8th, 2013, SAS will offer direct flights from San Francisco to Copenhagen, creating a new option for Scandinavian travel from the West Coast. SAS is expecting more than 125,000 passengers on the new route and will fly their largest plane, the Airbus A340 (pictured here), six days a week. The flight will depart at 5:35pm and get into CPH at 1:15pm everyday except Tuesday.

Sadly, SAS pulled out of their SEA-CPH route awhile ago, but this will provide some additional attractive options for getting to Scandinavia next year.

You can read the full news release here

Courtesy of SAS

Food Fridays: Lemon Meringue Tart from Bakery Nouveau

I've gone on about how great Bakery Nouveau is before, but this treat really caught my eye today. It's a lemon meringue tart from the bakery, crowned with a vanilla/sugar shortbread cookie. Fantastic stuff!

Traditional Ways for Saving Money in Seattle

The last time I wrote about using your smart phone to save money while visiting Seattle, but there are more ways than that to save some cash.

Eating Out

There are a lot of great restaurants in Seattle, but trying all of them can be very expensive. As a rule, eating out for lunch at a restaurant instead of dinner will get you the same quality and flavors at a lower price. Lunch menus tend to be slightly smaller and some specials may not be available, but going out to lunch instead of dinner is an easy way to save some cash.

If you miss lunch, you'll be thankful that Seattle is also a very happy hour friendly city. Many restaurants have a happy hour menu between 4pm and 6pm that offer sizable discounts on food and drink. Some restaurants may start these as early as 2pm and go as late as 7pm. Check the website of the restaurant you are interested for details, or browse through an incompletely (but sizable) list of happy hours provided by the Seattle Weekly for 2012. Some places may offer only drink or food specials, or may offer both. 

If you are traveling with kids, a very few restaurants offer a kids dine free or cheap option but these places are rare, generic, and usually found in the suburbs. Kid menus can be found, especially in the more casual restaurants, and these are decent deals for the people in your party with smaller apetites. 

Coupons, Discounts, and Deals

Entertainment Book

Visit their website
The coupon book that started it all is still kicking around does offer some good values. The idea is simple: You buy a book full of coupons, and hope that you'll be able to use enough coupons to break even and start saving money. If you are living in Seattle and like to eat out, you can easily get your money's worth. If you are a visitor, it can work in your favor if you plan on visiting places where they offer two for one coupons for expensive admission and you buy the book in the Goldilocks period between when they heavily discount this year's book to sell more of them and the end of the entertainment book year. Some of the coupons are also offered through the free mobile apps listed above, while a couple are unique. The sheer number of coupons is somewhat overwhelming and while there are a bunch of good to great coupons, there are also many businesses that are not worth visiting. Time and research is required to use this book as a visitor.


There's also a rather clunky app for your smart phone. 

Seattle CityPass

Visit their website 
A combination ticket for six of the most popular tourist attractions. It is the ultimate tourist ticket and with it you gain access to the Space Needle, the Seattle Aquarium, the Argosy Harbor Cruise, the Pacific Science Center, the EMP Museum, and your choice of either the Museum of Flight or Woodland Park Zoo. If you do all of those sights, you end up saving about $50 per adult and $35 per child.

Groupon/LivingSocial

Visit Groupon's Website
Visit LivingSocial's Website 
Both Groupon and Living Social share the core business model that you make your purchase ahead of time and then get a discount. Businesses are betting on you not using your coupons ("Breakage") in order to make this profitiable for them. The deals and coupons change frequently, but it is worth checking out and doing research into what is being offered. Some of the coupons are a good deal overall.

Restaurants.com

Visit their website
Restaurants.com also offers up similar buy-first discounts, but comes with greater restrictions when compared with Groupon or LivingSocial. Each restaurant has either a minimum amount you must spend to use the coupon or a mandatory 18% tip on the pre-discount bill. Other places apply the discount to food only or exclude happy hour and their busiest times. To use these coupons successfully, you have to read all the fine print and research the restaurants before hand. Some, like Moshi Moshi Sushi and That's Amore Italian Cafe are decent places to eat, but there are other restaurants like China First that are downright bad. In general, these coupons tend to benefit locals looking for a decent meal out, as opposed to a visitor looking for a fantastic dining experience (Although, sometimes one of those fantastic dining experiences do pop up).

25,000 Hits!

It seems like just a month or two ago that I was talking about my little blog passing the 15,000 hit mark and just now we jumped over 25,000 hits! Thank you to everyone who is visiting!

If you are a first time visitor, here are a couple of my favorite features from the past year and a half I've been blogging about travel:

• Traveling across Russia on the Transsiberian Railroad
• First post
• All posts
• How to buy tickets on RZD
• Visiting and exploring Berlin
• 72 hours in Amsterdam
• Cherry Blossoms in Seattle and Japan
• Christmas in Vegas
• Visiting the cities of the UAE
• ...and the khors of Oman
• Visiting Los Angeles by Train, Plane, and Foot

Next month, I'm headed to Chicago and over the summer I'll be sharing more about Seattle and local travel in Washington state. That might sound pretty tame so far, but in September I'll be doing a three country trip to South America! In fact, I just bought the tickets a couple hours before this was posted!

[Suriname Guilder note images from Banknote World]

Four Free Apps that Save You Money in Seattle

Let me start off by saying that absolutely nothing here is going to cost you a dime to get and absolutely nothing here involves any sort of questionable tricks. I'm about to share with you four free apps for your smart phone that you can download right now and use immediately that will save you money on your trip here in Seattle.

Pirq
What it is: Pirq is an application that cuts 20-50% off your bill at absolutely zero cost to you at select restaurants and times. The idea is that businesses offer larger coupons at their low hours and smaller coupons at the busy times, which helps keep their business steady throughout the day. For you, it means free coupons that can be redeemed instantly for 20%+ off your bill. Visit their website for the full story

How it works: I have no idea how their business model is viable, but so long as it is here it is dead simple: You click on the business you're about to visit and see what coupons are available. You select one and then when you get there, click redeem. You need to scan a code that is at the business (usually by the register), and then poof: 20-50% of your bill simply vanishes.

Pros/Cons: Good discount with almost no effort, but few participating businesses (especially Downtown)

A sampling of the best participating businesses: Taste Restaurant (at the Seattle Art Museum, 20-50% off), 8oz Burger Bar (20-50% off), Ten Mercer (20-50% off), Eva Restaurant (30%, late night), Pegasus Pizza and Pasta (Alki, 20-50%), Taco del Mar (Super cheap fast food Mexican, now an extra 20-50% off. Great for budget travel)

 


LevelUp
What it is: LevelUp is a form of payment accepted by some businesses in the area, but why you should be interested in it is that it offers both a bonus for signing up ($5 with promo code 91389 or by signing up using this link*) and most businesses have a first time credit that discounts your bill. For example, Pike Place Chowder uses it and offers a $2 credit. Add in the $5 from the promo code and that gets you a cup of the world famous, line-out-the-door clam chowder for a whopping $1.20 plus tip (including tax). Visit their website for the full story

How it works: Another dubious business model, but enjoy it while it is here! After you've set up the application, just open it up and let the person at the register scan the code on the screen. Your card is charged the amount of the bill minus your credit. As an added bonus, since LevelUp is a payment you can also team up any businesses like this with any coupons or special offers you have because it is not another "discount or offer" that would prohibit their use

Pros/Cons: Free money for you, no string. The only con is most initial credit offers are only $2 per business and you can only use it once.

A sampling of the best participating businesses: Pike Place Chowder ($2 free), Mr. D's Greek Deli ($2 free), Coastal Kitchen ($4 free), Paragon Restaurant ($4 free), Mioposto ($2 free), Cafe Allegro ($2 free).

Chinook Book
What it is: Chinook Book is a coupon book that operates on the Entertainment Book model, but their smart phone app comes loaded with a couple of very handy coupons that both local and visitor can enjoy. You have the option to buy access to all of the coupons for $10, but that is not necessary to enjoy some pretty nice savings. For example, coffee at Cafe Ladro (which while not on my top 15 is still decent) is buy one get one free. What makes them different is that the Chinook Book only offers coupons for local, sustainable businesses. Visit their Website

How it works: Download the application, then click "near me", then "filter", then "availability" and select "available" and then apply. This will show you all of the coupons you can use right now that are close to your position. To use them, click on a coupon and hit redeem and show the next screen to the cashier. They'll take off that amount.

Pros/Cons: There is a lot of good stuff in there that is free, but the majority of coupons require a $10 "coupon pack" purchase.

A sampling of the best participating businesses: Free coupons, no purchase required (Download and go): Duke's Chowder House ($10 off $30), Pacific Science Center (2 for 1 admission), Blue Moon Burgers ($2 off), Cupcake Royale (6 Cupcakes for the price of 3), Cafe Ladro (Buy 1, Get 1), Wooden Boat Center (One free hour of rowing in their historic boats), Bartell Drugs ($5 off $25).

Requires purchase of $10 "Coupon Pack": Museum of Flight (2 or 1 admission, worth $17), Argosy Cruises (20% off Tillicum Village), Seattle Aquarium ($2 off regular admission, up to four people), IMAX ($2 off up to two tickets), Cafe Vita (2 for 1), Fuel Coffee (2 for 1), Molly Moon's Ice Cream (2 for 1), Alki Kayak Tours (50% off second tour, when first purchased at full price).

ScoutMob
What it is: A free app with coupons for 50% off your bill, or better, up to a certain amount. Sometimes they even have coupons for free things on there.

How it works: Download and start the application, select a business, click redeem, show the screen and save. Visit their website for full details

Pros/Cons: 50% off, but limited selection of businesses in Seattle. They are from New York and there are more coupons there. Works in several cities.

A sampling of the best participating businesses (as of 6/14/12): Bluebird Ice Cream (50% off up to $5), Wallingford Pizza House (50% off up to $13), Pel'Meni Dumpling Tzar (50% off up to $7)

Three quick pictures from Momiji in Seattle

The King Crab Tower from Momiji in Seattle's Capitol Hill

Momiji in Seattle's Capitol Hill

The 007 Roll from Momiji in Seattle's Captiol Hill

Top 15 Seattle Coffee Shops (1 through 5)

Seattle is known best known for four things: Coffee, Airplanes, the Space Needle, and Software. While Starbucks is the biggest coffee name in Seattle, it's certainly not the only game in town and it is certainly not the best. Anyone visiting Seattle deserves a proper cup of coffee and to help you find your way to the best coffee in Seattle, here are the top 5 coffee shops on my top 15 list. You cannot get better coffee than you can at these places and almost all of these places are distinctly Seattle.

1. Espresso Vivace

Vivace is a quintessential Seattle coffee shop. Started in 1988, this is the shop that I remember introducing me to espresso, latte art, and the Seattle coffee house atmosphere. In fact, the hearts and leafs that are ubiquitous on top of all good espresso drinks started at the original Espresso Vivace location (which, sadly, was forced to close when the building was demolished). I remember that location as being this wonderful place, hidden behind a Godfather's Pizza, where high ceilings and exposed brick met the best coffee I have ever had.

Fortunately for you, there are now three locations. The most authentic and original is the sidewalk bar on Broadway, but the location a few blocks north provides a better experience and the location in South Lake Union in the Alley 24 building is also a great cafe (pictured above). These last two locations are new, fresh, and even provide separate spaces for either quiet study or meeting to talk with friends. Espresso Vivace buys and roasts there own beans to ensure quality and any espresso drink here will be perfect. One drink stands out and is unique to Vivace: The Caffe Nico. It's a rich combination of two shots of espresso, steamed half-and-half (not exactly diet friendly), orange, and cinnamon. It's simply fantastic.

[Link]

2. Trabant


Trabant is another favorite of mine. There are two locations: one located next to the Smith Tower and another in the University district with the former being the one most easily accessible to visitors. The coffee here is top notch and in addition to their standard espresso blend, they also offer up premium single origin micro-plantation coffees that are brewed on a per cup basis.

"Single source micro-whatha?", you ask? It's a Seattle thing, or at least it really started taking off here. Single source coffees are coffee beans that come from just one farmer or small area and are often purchased directly from the farmer at higher than market prices on the basis that quality should be properly compensated. Most beans that you buy in the store are purchased through middle men who mix all the beans together (the good and the bad) and then sell that at bulk prices, which results in coffee tasting like.. well.. bland airplane coffee. Direct trade single origin coffee, in contrast, tastes shockingly different. The last machiatto I had there tasted like a mix of lemon, chocolate, and coffee, with all the flavors coming from the beans. At Trabant, they have a selection of these specialty coffees which promise a cup of coffee, as below, with flavors like "blueberry, grape, and lemon drops" which are brewed to order in their clover machine.

"Clover machine?"Again, it's a Seattle thing, or at least it started here. A clover machine brews cups of coffee with fresh grounds on a per cup basis. It was created by a Seattle company, which was then bought up by another little known Seattle company, Starbucks, but Trabant was an early adopter of the technology.

Besides the single origin coffee selection, they serve up a mean espresso drink, including another one of my favorites: The Mexican Chocolate Mocha. The chocolate used here is imported from Mexico and gives the drink an extra kick of cinnamon. It's well worth a visit, and both locations have great atmosphere (although I prefer the University location for the traffic and mix of customers).

[Link]

3. Bauhaus

...Keep reading the next three top coffee shops after the break!

Top 15 Seattle Coffee Shops (6 through 10)

Seattle is known best known for four things: Coffee, Airplanes, the Space Needle, and Software. While Starbucks is the biggest coffee name in Seattle, it's certainly not the only game in town and it is certainly not the best. Anyone visiting Seattle deserves a proper cup of coffee and to help you find your way to the best coffee in Seattle, here is my top 15 list of coffee shops in Seattle, number 6 to 10. You cannot get better coffee than you can at these places and almost all of these places are distinctly Seattle.


6. Milstead & Co.

Milstead & Co. is brand new and really made an impression when I discovered them a month or two after they opened. They're located in Fremont, which is (was?) known for being a little bit eccentric and the coffee shop itself is easy to miss. There are no big banners or advertisements. People come here for the coffee by word of mouth. It's an easy place to like and it really does give Fremont a new type of coffeehouse. There is an outdoor patio to sit on and the space itself is large and uncluttered.

7. Top Pot Doughnut

Top Pot Doughnut earns high marks for their coffee, their treats, and the fantastic design of their shops. My absolute favorite shop is the downtown location, but here we have the Capitol Hill branch. The story behind the name is that they found a vintage neon sign from a Chinese restaurant called the "TopSpot". The "S" fell off in transit, leaving them with "Top Pot".

All of the shops share wall-to-wall bookcases as a common element and a design DNA that reaches back to the 1940s. The book on the shelves are older, forgotten books that have been given a second life as decoration, but they cover a wide range of topics and curiosity has driven me to take one of them down to read through on more than one occasion. The other shared element, of course, is doughnuts. These are some of the highest regarded doughnuts in Seattle and come in a variety of flavors. You can read about all of them here on their website, but pictured below is an old fashioned "sandcastle", which is cinnamon and sugar. All of the flavors are fairly conventional (this is not a "Voodoo Doughtnut" clone), but you can effectively mix and match what type of doughnut you want with what kid of topping you want. If I still wanted cinnamon/sugar on my doughtnut, but preferred chocolate cake or a raised doughnut both of those are hiding in the second picture below. For coffee, one of their unique flavors is the Ovaltine mocha, which adds a malted, smoother sweetness to the standard mocha.

The doughnuts are high-quality traditional doughnuts with virtually all of the classics. They phased out my favorite, chocolate peanut, awhile ago due to allergy concerns, but a chocolate-cake maple doughnut is just as good. Coffee is served up in standard Seattle style, with the addition of a malt mocha on the menu.

8. All City Coffee

...Keep reading the next three top coffee shops after the break!

Top 15 Seattle Coffee Shops (11 through 15)

Seattle is known best known for four things: Coffee, Airplanes, the Space Needle, and Software. While Starbucks is the biggest coffee name in Seattle, it's certainly not the only game in town and it is certainly not the best. Anyone visiting Seattle deserves a proper cup of coffee and to help you find your way to the best coffee in Seattle, here is my top 15 list of coffee shops in Seattle from 11 to 15. You cannot get better coffee than you can at these places and almost all of these places are distinctly Seattle.

In all honesty, all of these coffee shops are great and it was impossible to rank them from 11 to 15 so here they are in no particular order. Each one is great and could very well have been in the top 10.

Pegasus Coffee

Pegasus coffee is another great small shop. There are two stores downtown which are good, but they are geared towards the office lunch/rush crowd which means that while the coffee is still good the cafes don't have the charm, so, to really get the best experience you need to take "the boat" to Bainbridge Island and visit the original shop. Here the shop is tucked in an old ivy covered brick building and has been serving coffee since 1980, making it one of the longest running shops on this list.

There are also two Pegasus Coffee shops in downtown Seattle, one in the  in the Dexter Horton Building at 3rd and Cherry and another in the Seattle Tower, which is a fantastic art deco tower that was built in 1929.

Zoka Coffee

Zoka's has come a long way. They used to have a completely different brand identity that I just couldn't get behind, along with coffee that was never quite right. I'm happy to report that since then they've ditched the silly font they were using and stepped up their game in both coffee and image. The University location is always packed with students studying for everything and I sincerely appreciate that they offer a splash of mineral water with their machiattos when you are drinking it there. The staff is friendly and there are plenty of places to sit and meet with people at their locations. My main complaint is that their pastry case doesn't have too much selection, although the last time I was there it seemed like that was improving as well.

Caffe Fiore

...Keep reading the next three top coffee shops after the break!

Top 15 Seattle Coffee Shops

Seattle is known best known for four things: Coffee, Airplanes, the Space Needle, and Software. While Starbucks is the biggest coffee name in Seattle, it's certainly not the only game in town and it is certainly not the best. Anyone visiting Seattle deserves a proper cup of coffee and to help you find your way to the best coffee in Seattle, here is my top 15 list of coffee shops in Seattle. You cannot get better coffee than you can at these places and almost all of these places are distinctly Seattle.

See the coffee houses from number 1 to 5
See the coffee houses from number 6 to 10
See the coffee houses from number 11 to 15