Martinis, Oysters, and T-Bone Weekend

I flew home Thursday night from Dallas to meet up with my brother and Adam Bale for a nice evening at the BalMar, where John Staley treated us to some sort of lemon drop shot he invented that was delicious because it was free. That reminds me, John's working on a blog for the Ballard Tribune called Notes From the Bar Room Floor. For those of you who don't know John, he was the guy in Deadbeats with the chops.

Friday morning Andy and I changed the brake pads on the minivan! Of course, we had help from a guy named "Dan the Baker" who Andy works with. The only request Dan had for helping out was that we provided beer, and we enjoyed a number of them during the process. It was a good feeling to get my hands dirty and actually fix something myself.

Choppa taking the caliper off the rotor of my Bahama Mama

Friday night there was no squeaking from the wheels of the van as Andy and I drove to the airport to pick up my dad, also known as T-Bone, Timmer, or Papillon. It was bar time by the time we got back to Seattle, so we had a quick one before falling asleep and preparing for Saturday. And what is there to do on Saturdays in Seattle when out of towners come to visit but go to Pike's Place Market!? We wandered around town looking for a gift for my mom, and in the meantime bought some King Salmon and oysters. Also, we took some pictures:

T-Bone and I at US Bank in Pike's Place
Timmer and Andy in front of the Gum Wall!

The bus ride home for martinis and dinner

It was good to have my dad as a guest over the weekend. The salmon turned out pretty good, even though I left it on my football-shaped grill too long. The oysters were terrible and it was tramatizing to watch my dad smash them with a hammer because steaming them wouldn't do the trick: