Tom and I did a short birthday trip to knock some items off of my bucket list.  On Thursday we checked into the Panama Hotel.  This has been on my list for a while so I finally got to go.  Here are the leather lined stairs.  The hallways have leather flooring as well.

This is a dresser that was built at Camp Minidoka, an American concentration camp.

After checking into our room, we headed to Kau Kau BBQ for lunch.  This has been on my list as well, and we had a lovely  “Kau Kau for Two” meal.

Then we headed to the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park (another list item).  I knew that if it weren’t for this gold rush, Seattle would be a whole different town.  And that many of our classic stores were born from this.  The supplies listed here are interesting.

And I did know about the treacherous passes involved.  I knew that pack animals were involved but didn’t appreciate how many hundreds of them died.  And I didn’t know that if you didn’t have hired help or pack animal to carry your supplies, you had to make 33 trips up and down the pass to pack them yourself.

But what I didn’t appreciate is even after all of that you had to build your own boat and then take it to the site.  What a long arduous journey, more so than I realized.

I knew that most people profited by supplying the miners rather than mining themselves.  But these stories are fascinating.

And the origins of the original strike were fascinating too.

We met up with my dad and Mo, as they bought Mariners Opening Day tickets for me for my birthday.

We checked out some expensive items for sale in the Team Store.

We then got in the ballpark and watched the opening ceremonies.

This is an accidental photo, but it demonstrates the chaos of the crowded ballpark.  It took Tom and I 3 innings to find dinner.  They were running out of foods, and the lines were insane.

Unfortunately it was a loss.  But it was fun hanging out with dad and Mo and watching a ballgame again.  We walked back to our hotel.  It was tough to sleep for us though, because of all of the city’s noises.  We aren’t used to that.

In the morning we explored the hotel and its associated Tea Room.

On the baseball theme, here are some Japanese painted baseballs.

And the owner’s uncle played for the Seattle Rainiers.  This is a photo of him.

Here are some of the items left behind in the basement by Japanese-Americans being detained.

We enjoyed breakfast in the tea room and its cat.

There are lots of historic photos to look at.  And this is a map of the Japanese-American businesses in the area before the detention.

Here is some information and photos posted outside of the hotel.

And then we checked out Nohonmachi Alley, near the hotel, for some more history.

Before checking out, we looked around the hotel a little more.  These windows are interesting.  I am assuming this was a window until the neighboring hotel was built next to it.

This is a view out of one of the upper floors western windows.  I was imagining what the view must have been like in 1910.

The hotel has the 1910 electricity and plumbing.  The fire alarm is antique as well.

I have already been reading this illustrated book about the incarceration.

But at the Klondike Museum’s gift shop, I was able to buy this book about the Panama Hotel.

We have a little time and it was a beautiful morning, so we went to the Bellevue Botanical garden.  This flowering cherry over a waterfall was pretty.

I thought these stacked rocks with the skyscrapers in the background were interesting.

We then headed to Legion Sports Bar (another list item).

We watched the Women’s Sweet Sixteen, Oregon State versus Notre Dame.  It was a great game, and the Beavers won.

Tom told our waiter that it was my birthday so they brought me this.  It was nice.

I loved some of the art on the walls.

Then we headed east.  I do not recognize Bellevue anymore.  This was a sad image of a bulldozer in front of the Yuen Lui studio.

We stopped at Snoqualmie Falls which was dramatic.

And we met my mom and Al for a medieval dinner at Bors Hede near Carnation.  I just recently found out about this restaurant, but it quickly went on the bucket list.

It was really fun, exploring the foods and music of the 14th century.  We then headed south and east to our bed and breakfast.  On the way, it was raining, and there was a gorgeous rainbow.

We stayed at the Roaring River bed and Breakfast.  Here’s the view from our room.

It was on the Snoqualmie River.  It was absolutely beautiful.

Our room had a whirlpool tub, and we were able to watch the Mariners win from it while soaking.  It was perfect.

This morning we had to check out.  But we picked up the beagle from my mom and Al (they were beagle sitting for us) and headed home.

It was a great short birthday trip. I received some lovely presents, checked items off of my bucket list, learned some history, ate well and relaxed.  It was perfect (except for the Mariners loss on opening day).

P.S. On Monday we had our 4th burn clinic appointment.  Here is the view from our exam room.

Tom’s burns are healing well except he is developing some scar tissue in his right arm extending between his elbow and shoulder.  If this contracts, it will limit the motion of these two joints.  The occupational therapist really emphasized that he needs to be diligently stretching to try to prevent this and the need for further surgery.  This motivated him. His burns are healed enough that he can do massages as well.  He still needs to keep compression on these sites to minimize the scarring as well.

To lightening the mood from our appointment and the traffic, we stopped at Ezell’s Famous Chicken for dinner.  We got fried chicken, but I also got some fried okra.  It was fun.