The mister and I mapped out our holiday - we were going to spend the 4th doing nothing...but then I saw something on TV about the Statue of Liberty reopening and I thought about how cool it would be to see Lady Liberty herself on the 4th of July...so I informed the mister there would be a change of plans and to my surprise he readily agreed...which only supports my theory that he's up to something! We saddled up and headed to see the Statue of Liberty!
The West Coast Statue of Liberty...you didn't think I meant THEEEE Statue of Liberty, did you? This miniature version resides on Alki Beach in West Seattle and it's been there since 1957...it may not be as big, or as grand, but it's purty darn cute!
We stopped at Spud Fish and Chips and bought lunch to go - walked across the street to the beach where we found an empty bench on the boardwalk where we parked ourselves to eat and watch the parade of beach people...and there was no shortage of them nor did they disappoint!
Just take a gander at this little beauty we spotted on the boardwalk...she was dressed for the day and mighty proud of herself! If Caesar Beezer the Wonder Dog had been with us no telling what might have ensued - he has a thing for patriotic pugs!
We did see some real bathing beauties...so I took this pic for the mister so he didn't have to stare. The beach was just getting going - people setting up their tents and claiming their spots for the day and night - so they could have a good view of the fireworks.
Check out this set-up! White linens on the tables! Now those people know how to par-tay! Around the front of the tent there were two huge grills...and something smelled really, really good!
We strolled up and down the boardwalk, it's 2 miles each way - and even though the skies were overcast it was great to be out there breathing all that sea-air!
But of all the things we saw at the beach - all the people/pets/craziness...my very favorite thing about Alki is the flower house...it's one of a kind!
In my next life I'm going to live in a flower house! After our outing we headed back to the our house for dinner...we dined on the best Crab Cocktail out on our credenza (read veranda, but someone never manages to say the right word) and enjoyed the quiet...there's a $1,000 fine for anyone lighting off fireworks in our city...in years past the park behind our house was lit up like an torched ammo dump...not this year, apparently the threat of a huge fine was enough to keep the pyros at home.
This is as easy to make as it looks...shredded iceberg lettuce with thinly sliced celery on top, followed by a 1/4 pound of fresh Dungeness crab and all of it sits on a base of zesty cocktail sauce. We eat our crab with a lime wedge squeezed on top...much better than a lemon!
Crab Cocktail with Lime - Pots and Pins
1/2 lb. Dungeness crab meat
3 stalks of celery, thinly sliced
1/2 cup shredded iceberg lettuce
1/4 cup red cocktail sauce (We like Heinz Zesty Cocktail Sauce)
2 lime wedges
Divide the cocktail sauce between two glass serving dishes. Place half of the shredded lettuce in each bowl on top of sauce; place half of the celery in each bowl on top of the lettuce. Mound up half of the crab in each bowl. Makes 2 crab cocktails, serve with wedge of lime.
The view from West Seattle/Alki, looking across Puget Sound at the city...do we live in a beautiful place or what!?!
Just in case you're wondering how the fireworks show was...I have no idea...the mister started making noises about 7:00 pm...I'm beat...You know traffic is going to be a bear...Why don't we go to a movie instead, then we won't have to deal with the traffic?... Let's see the Seattle fireworks show, it's always so great...the one on TV!!!
And so, just like every year, we watched the fireworks on TV...some things never change.