“Honey... I'm sure it’s Larry’s Tavern”
“Yeah, Ok, So Maam... Larry’s Tavern... any idea where it is”
----- “Sorry folks, No Idea” -----
“Lets ask this guy...Excuse me Sir, do you know where we can find Larry’s Tavern near Pioneer Square?”
----- “Haven’t a Clue, and I've lived here for over 13 years.” -----
“Ok... Lets Google it on your IPhone...Hmmmm no results”
"Hey... Let's ask this lady...”
Wait... let us set the day first.
A late night NOWAT and “shiplag” [sorta like jetlag] notwithstanding... we slept in Monday morning and by the time Earl called to find out where we should meet, we had just finished preparing to head out to find Pioneer Square as planned. It was 11am and DL was having hunger pangs.
Plan “A” was for Earl to pick us up somewhere around 5PM for dinner and then drop us at the airport. Then CK thought it would be nice to have lunch together then see the sights, but after checking their schedule it was back to plan “A”. Soooo.... we asked Earl where a good spot in Pioneer Square was for lunch. [By now DL was beginning to gnaw on my shoulder so I needed to feed her pretty soon]. Earl suggested Larry’s Cavern [or Tavern] as having a great lunch and we set off across Alaskan Way [seriously... Route 99 is named that] to catch the free Route 99 Shuttle to Pioneer Square at Bell Street Pier. The Shuttle took just long enough for me to duck into a convenience shop for a Granola bar to hold her till we got downtown so she would stop eyeing my arm for a snack.
Once in Pioneer Square, we set out in search of Larry’s Cavern/Tavern... whatever. With a bad phone connection I had neglected to ask Earl what street it was on.... or where exactly in Pioneer Square it was.
Alighting from the bus, “Lets, just walk this way... we’re bound to run across it and we can see
the sights as well,” says the Dragon Chic with an air of confidence that most navigationally challenged people seem to have an abundance of.Pioneer Square is defined, as best we could discern by little banners hung from the lamp posts... or so it seemed. [How, for the first time in our travels we wound up without a city map... I have no idea] So after running out of visible banners, we determined we had exceeded the boundaries of Pioneer Square and began to go this way... then that.
Then she gets the bright idea to use her new IPhone to try mapping Larry’s Cavern/Tavern...whatever... to no avail, hence the opening dialogue with several passers-by who appeared to be locals. Having no success we stopped at a “Seattle Best Coffee” store to confirm the general 
boundaries of Pioneer Square, and after again getting a dumbfounded look at the question, “Do you happen to know where we can find Larry’s Tavern?” we set out again in search of “SOMEWHERE for lunch”... not that we had just passed a couple-a-dozen quaint little spots including the oldest cafe in Seattle.
We walked from one end of Pioneer Square to the other... or so we thought, past some pretty interesting scenery, landmarks, sandwich shops, woodworking emporiums, coffee vendors, did I mention sandwich shops... and still no Larry’s Cavern/Tavern... whatever. Soooo 
after stopping a local denizen exiting from F.X. McRory's Steak Chop & Oyster House and getting the same dumb stare [but sketchy directions to a great Italian place run by Marion Batali’s father] we continued on until we stumbled into McCoy’s Firehouse Bar and Grill for a couple of Burgers, a cold beer and another dumb stare from the waitress regarding the whereabouts of Larry’s elusive Tavern.
After lunch, [and not a moment too soon... she was really starting to eye my hand as an appetizer] we set off to finish exploring. Noticing her phone battery was low, we debated on stopping by the hotel and leaving it behind the front desk to charge, but 
she didn't want to have separation anxiety from her new plaything so we kept sight seeing. Then she comes up with the bright idea that we just had to find the Mayflower Park Hotel. Two table mates on the cruise just happened to be the owners that had saved the rundown hostile and turned it into one of the nicest Boutique hotels in the city. They had politely invited us to stop by if we stayed on in Seattle after the cruise to 
sample one of their “Award Winning” Martini’s never expecting to see us again. WROONNNGGG. So off we went... now in search of the Mayflower Park Hotel [Larry’s was just a sore memory by now] this time Iphone Google search worked and we had an address... now to find Olive Street [found out later it was Olive Way] and not wanting to run out of battery, we didn't use the Iphone MAP Ap to lead us there... 
NOOOOO, we decided to “wing” it. A bus stop route map indicated that Olive was north east of us so we headed up Western Ave, past Pike Place and into... No-Mans-land. Now what?... We found a Meter Collector snagging coins 
from the parking meters and he indicated that we wouldn’t cross Olive here because it ran into Stewart... and Stewart... was waayyyy back there near Pike Place. Sooooo.... back to Stewart hanging a left then UUPPPPP a very steep hill [boy did my hip hate this one] and Upppppp another steep hill.... till we finally stood across 
from...MACY’s... [No dear... you cannot go shopping even if you brought your MACY s card]. Still no Olive Street/Way... whatever. Spotting another bus stop sign we saw that Olive WAY [and in small print – the Mayflower Park Hotel] was just east of MACY’s.We stumbled into the lovely lobby and found at the front desk that they had no idea if the Dempsey’s were about so we left a note to join us if they could be located and wobbly legged it into Oliver’s Bar for that Award Winning Martini... [Not that we drink the damned things] We did have a mighty fine Hemingway Daiquiri and a perfectly executed “Bone Dry, Dewar’s Rob Roy, Straight Up, Sirred-not Shaken, with a twist. Like Larry's, the Dempsey’s where no where to be found.
Having gotten our wind back and feeling vigorous after our libations, we head back to wait for the Sedliks at the hotel , which was just a short walk -DOWN hill- to an elevator right next to the bar entrance of the Marriott.Earl and CK arrived a little after 5 and we headed off for a final “’Round
Seattle Tour” including their old neighborhood on Lake Washington, the great park surrounding it, some spectacular views of Mt. Rainier across the lake and a look at the “floating bridge” where Interstate 90, the longest Interstate 
highway in the country from Boston to its western terminus Seattle, crosses Lake Washington via the Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge between Mercer Island and Seattle. This is a floating bridge, made of concrete yet supported by pontoons. The original floating bridge (eastbound lanes) opened in 1940, sank in 1990, and was replaced thereafter. A parallel floating bridge (westbound lanes) was opened to traffic in June 1989.Then it was time for dinner at Earl and CK’s favorite Italian restaurant “That’s Amore”, literally
within steps of their former home in the area. Coincidentally, this was the 2nd “That’s Amore” where we ended a trip after a cruise, the first being that little celebrity favored beauty in Rome after MedCruise2008.
Another great meal and some fine wine, with two wonderful friends, at sunset, at the end of a fabulous adventure. It TRULY doesn’t get any better than this... you can be sure.Ever so reluctantly, we concluded our visit of Seattle with the most gracious of hosts, Earl and Charyl Kay Sedlik with a final trip across town on the way to SeaTac Airport, where Earl made one last stab at delivering us to Larry’s, but to his dismay... Larry’s was not longer there. The fact that Larry’s had ceased to exist in 2003 after a brawl put a Seattle Seahawk player in the hospital, or that the name was actually Larry’s Greenfront [maybe why none of the locals could remember its location] may have had something to do with our inability to locate it. However, in his defense, Earl later, via e-mail advised us that it was NOT that Larry’s was elusive, it was that we had just arrived 6 years too late! He went on to validate his recommendation once existed with the following link to a review of Larry’s Greenfront prior to its closing. http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19910709&slug=1293527.
More great views of Mt Rainier reigning pink in the sunset on the way to the airport set a perfect closing mood as we gave hearty hugs and kisses to our newest/oldest 
B.F.F.’s the Sedliks who bade us to return often [and we just might take them up on that]At 10pmPST we finally boarded US AIR Flight 1548 To Philadelphia with connections the next morning at 7:50am EST to Hollywood/Ft Lauderdale International and a much desired, warm and cozy-non-rocking bed... which we never saw till much later 'cause... WE GOT GRAND-BABIES... and Grandma Dragon Chic... was long overdue for her hugs and giggles and all that stuff, that away too long from home Grandma’s do.
This has been a longer than expected episode and the obligatory wrap up still looms on the horizon so we’ll end here and await your return for the conclusion of NOWAT ALASKA 2009.
Ciao 4 Now,
Chuck and the making all sorts of Grandma Noises, and loving it, Dragon Lady
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