Yesterday my mother and I went to the Swedish Club in Seattle (of which I am a member) and attended their Viking Dinner.  I have long wanted to do this and now finally was able to.  We started with some drinks in their bar which is truly amazing.  There were some crews rowing in Lake Union which was fun to watch.  I am finally reading The Boys in the Boat so am especially interested in this.  My grandfather went to the 1936 Olympics in Germany but did not apparently see the rowing competitions there.

Then we had our dinners which were Viking-style pork, cod gröt (porridge), Viking-style greens, gravlax on barley cakes, broad beans and peas, and beets in oats. For dessert there was cherry gröt with oats and honey, topped with skyr and toasted hazelnuts. Here is my dinner:

Then there was an amazing talk by the chef, James Bushell.  He is clearly an expert of the topic, basing his recipes on the archaeologic record and his understanding of human behavior.  There is an interview with him from 2021 and some recipes here.

There was gravlax and smoked lamb on barley cakes put out later, but I didn’t have room in my stomach for them.  So I had them today as a late morning snack. I didn’t think to take a photo until I took my first (and amazing) bite.  He smoked these meats himself.

Then we headed to the Pomona Grange Park which is near us, but we have never stopped to visit.  They were having a salmon sighting event there today.  But there were no salmon there due to the low water levels of Friday Creek due to the prolonged drought.  But we enjoyed walking around the park.  It turns out there was no grange there, but the grange had helped develop the park.

Then we headed a little south to the Samish River and saw the Chinook salmon run there.

It was really impressive. It reminded me of being told that in the past you could walk across rivers on the backs of the salmon.  Many of the fish appeared to be heading into the hatchery pens.

They were impressive in there as well.

It was nice to see the run.  I am not sure how successful it will be, given the low water levels.  Apparently due to the low water levels, the predators are picking them off easily as well.

Then we headed home but via the ex-Holiday Ballroom in Belfast.  Here is a photo of the sign.  Tom’s parents used to go to this ballroom for dancing, but there doesn’t appear to be any photos of it posted from back in its heyday.  Here it is now.

Then we drove by the site of an old bar in the area.  Tom thinks it was called the Idle Awhile, but I cannot find any references to it.

We drove by the driveway to the old Belfast school on the way back home.  We have a photo of the old school with the children in front, but I cannot find it right now.  Now we are watching the mariner’s post-season game.  Go Mariners!!!!