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.