Bauhaus Book & Coffee - Seattle, WA

Obviously, Seattle is known for it's coffee-being the home of Starbucks and all, but Bauhaus makes Starbucks coffee seem like swill dredged up from the bay.  Located in the Capital Hill area of Seattle, Bauhaus takes up residence in a beautiful historic building.  But alas, all good things must come to an end...building is getting torn down to make room for high-end condos.  I bought a limited edition T-shirt to commemorate the place that has a wrecking ball on it.

417 Union - Nashville, TN

417 Union

I was surprised to find this little gem in downtown Nashville.  Usually when there are restaurants in a city's downtown they're more often a chain or too commercial for my tastes.  This is not the case with 417 Union.  I walked about a mile from my hotel, through a cool little alley-way saw it wedged into a historic old building.  Stepping inside was like stepping back in time to a diner in the 40's or early 50's and not one of those fake 50's diners that hang framed posters of Marilyn Monroe or Elvis on the walls and dangle spinning 45rpm records from the ceiling.  This was an actual diner from that era or earlier and it doesn't look like it's changed much since then.  Great service staff!  I recommend the Omelette 417.

Stepping back in time at 417 Union.

Drip Coffee - Columbia, SC

Drip Coffee in Columbia, SC

Cool little hideaway.  Tattoos, beards and hipsters.  Dark wood and single cup, pour-over coffee.  This was there Saluda Ave. location.

The Anchor Grill - Covington, KY

The Anchor Grill - Covington, KY

Just over the river from Cincinnati, OH:

It stays open all night.  Bring CASH b/c they don't accept plastic.  Try any dish w/ Goetta in it.  It'll change your life.

Here's a little YouTube vid I found:

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Ahh, the Pacific Northwest...Part 3 Old Milwaukee Cafe

I love breakfast places.  Greasy spoon diners.  Mom & Pop's.  Hole-in-Walls.  This is a carry-over from my touring days, so naturally our day started off with a hunt for a great place for some bacon and eggs.  On a tip from one of the Fleet Feet staff members we drove to Dirty Oscar's Annex only to find out that they don't serve breakfast during the week.  So, on a second tip we headed down the street to Old Milwaukee Cafe in Tacoma.  Be warned about the OMC.  If you're in a hurry for breakfast find another place to eat.  If you want to take your time, sit down, converse with other patrons, have the cook make your plate individually so it's completely delicious than by all means stop by.  You won't be disappointed.

Old Milwaukee Cafe
3102 6th Ave
Tacoma, WA 98406

Mural on the side of Old Milwaukee Cafe.

Hanging near the entrance of the cafe.

Egg, potato, smoked apple sausage scramble and coffee.  I didn't eat again until 8pm.

Thom Abrams (national account manager for Superfeet) in the foreground.  Blue shirt.

Ahh, the Pacific Northwest...Part 2 FIT workshop

The day at the Fleet Feet FIT workshop is 8 or 9 hours of running shoe fitting process, biomechanics, superfeet information, sock information and, while taking a quick break, seeing how many Fleet Feet attendees you can cram into Victor Ornelas' rental Fiat.

Victor Ornelas getting started by welcoming the group.

They seem so happy to be smashed in there with one another.

The sunroof came in handy.

Our rides.

We hitched a ride back to the hotel after dinner in this thing.  Actually, this belonged to Trevor, the regional Superfeet rep.  4X4 Volkswagen Westfalia.

Ahh, the Pacific Northwest...Part 1

This trip for Balega took me to the Seattle and Tacoma areas of Washington state for the Fleet Feet FIT workshop.  I used to tour playing music through the area once in awhile, so was looking forward to seeing the old haunts again.  What I got this time was completely new.  New people, new sights, beautiful trail runs, and GREAT diner breakfasts.

I started out with a new rental chariot.  The formidable Kia Soul.

During my first trail run at Pt. Defiance Park in Tacoma, WA.  Amazing place.

Victor Ornelas from Fleet Feet INC. managing a steep section of the trail at Pt. Defiance.

Along the waterfront at Pt. Defiance Park.  Not a bad way to start off the trip.

Hidden Contour = Support

There are 3 elasticated zones in the new Hidden Contour.  We wanted to give you the perfect amount of support through the mid-foot, heel and collar without making the sock tight around the toes.

The Hidden Contour

The blue arrow points to a nice, supportive mid-foot wrap that stretches across the top of the foot and hugs the arch underneath.  The white arrow highlights another band that starts just below the collar at the top of the foot and holds right in front of the heel at the back of the arch.  The black arrows show the final band that comfortably wraps the ankle below the "honey-comb" pattern comfort rib top.

But again, we want to leave the toes alone, giving them a space to move and wiggle freely just like the fit of a shoe.  This sock is made for that runner looking for a snugger, more dynamic fit.

Deep Heel

Balega takes pride in all the little details that make our socks #1.  One of these is a section of the sock that's often overlooked, but plays an integral role in the function of the sock:  The deep heel cup and heel gore.  I know it sounds pretty geeked-out, but this is one of my favorite parts of a Balega sock!

The new Hidden Contour.

 In the above photo notice the red arrow pointing at the seam.  This is the heel gore.  Our manufacturing process slows down so that the machines can create a longer seam in the heel to create a deeper heel cup.  In the same way that your foot "locks" into the heel counter of the shoe, this deeper well ensures that the foot fits securely in the heel so the sock doesn't slip into the shoe. 

If you look closely you'll see the black arrow pointing to the Y-heel construction part of the heel gore.  The seam forks.  This allows the tension of the elasticated fabric to be distributed better around the heel to avoid too much pull on the long heel gore (maintaining durability) and also cups the foot in that spot allowing for a better fit, no shifting on the heel and no slipping down.

California Trip Pt. 3 Northern CA (Stockton & Sacramento)

After the 4th of July, I started heading north to visit FF stores in the Sacramento and Bay areas.  As a contrast to the wet and humid weather in North Carolina, California was extremely hot and dry with average temps being just over 100 degrees.  I definitely miss my home state and this trip, visiting these places, just made my homesickness worse.  But I was able to see some old friends and meet some really great folks along the way.

First stop:  

Great little staff here in Stockton.  That's Omar helping a lady with some new kicks!  I, of course, found the perfect pair of socks for her.

Owner Tony Vice rolling up his sleeves to hit the sales floor.

Next stop:

This place was CRAZY!!! So busy.  This is my high school buddy and FF Sacramento manager, Justin Weisenburger.  You may also remember him from the old Somnio catalog.  He obviously loves having his picture taken.

Had a great trail run the next morning with Justin along the river in Sacramento.

California Trip Pt. 2 Central CA (hometown)

So, I spent the next part of the trip working from my hometown to prepare for the last part of the trip.  I did some trail running in my favorite National Park, ran a 10k race, and got a chance to re-explore my little town of Exeter, CA.

When folks out in NC hear that I'm from CA they always ask, "Northern or Southern?" And when I say, "Central", they looked confused.  As if a whole giant section of farmland and valley didn't exist.

 

 

Main St. (actually Pine St.) Exeter, CA

on the way to some amazing trail running.

This little guy was not happy waking up to the sounds of us coming down the trail.  --Black Bear. Sequoia Nat'l Park

Indian grinding mortars.  Sequoia Nat'l Park

They don't make trees like this in NC.

post trail run.  Not happy with the altitude.  This is at about 7000 ft.

Sierra Subs.  One of the greatest sandwich shops known to man.  If you're ever up there I suggest the Mufaletta.  Three Rivers, CA

The crew at Sierra Subs.

My highschool auditorium.  I think this bldg is from 1910.  Exeter, CA

Again, not what people are thinking when I tell them I'm from CA.  This is on the way to my brother's furniture workshop.

Great little coffee house in Exeter.  It was my office during my time being home.

little alleyway.  Exeter, CA

In the 90's, to try to put our little town on the map, Exeter started commissioning murals throughout the downtown area.  There are dozens now.  You can see a complete album of them on my Facebook page.

This one represents an old car race through downtown back in the old days.  And the guy on the right, in the white coat is our neighbor!  He has one of those cars in his garage.

Highschool buddy, my sister and me.  4th of July 10k.  Exeter, CA