Attention Foodies: Three trips you can do in a day from Seattle

                                                 Pan D'Amore, Port Townsend, WA

Are you a foodie? Then you're going to love some of the day trips we've designed for Seattle people (or those who happen to be visiting Seattle) looking for things to do on the Olympic Peninsula. I've done three recently for The Seattle Times - all within a scenic half-hour ferry ride from Seattle to Bainbridge Island, then a hour's drive across the even more scenic Agate Pass and Hood Canal bridges. 


Historic Port Townsend is a good place to start. Go on a Saturday and hit one of the best farmers markets around in what the locals call "Uptown.''  It's a short drive or walk up from the tourist shops and restaurants on the waterfront. Above is a bakery to die for. Pan D'Amore sells killer breads. A friend makes the trip just to pick up one of their loaves of rye. The long sticks in the jar? Cheese sticks. Hang around here long enough and you'll several people walking down the street munching on one. Tom and I drove over this weekend and had breakfast at Sweet Laurette's around the corner before spending an hour or so strolling through the market. Click here for a plan.  

                                     Railroad Bridge Park, Sequim, WA
                                           
Next up: Sequim, a few miles from Port Townsend, popular this time of year for its lavender fields in bloom. Sequim too has a farmers market, but the crafts here are more interesting than the food.  Sequim is in the "rain shadow'' of the Olympic Mountains and gets more sun than Seattle, so it's a popular retirement community. Some of the retirees have come up with some creative ways to turn former hobbies into businesses.  


If you're a biker, Railroad Bridge Park is nearby. And if you're a hiker, you'll want to get to the Dungeness Spit. Whatever you do, don't miss breakfast at the Oak Table Cafe. If you decide to spend the night, the lodging of choice is the Red Caboose Getaway, near the Purple Haze lavender farm. Guests sleep in private, refurbished railroad cabooses parked roundhouse style on "tracks" surrounding a lake. Sequim interests a lot of people. Our "Do it in a Day'' story was the Seattle Times' No. 1 most e-mailed story last week. Here are all the details. 


Finally there's Chimacum. It's actually the closest if you're coming from Seattle. Chimacum is an amazing little rural community of entrepreneurial, organic farmers growing everything and making artisanal cider, cheese and bread, all of which you can buy directly from the farms, or at the Port Townsend farmers' market and the Chimacum Sunday farmers' market. 


Take a drive here, and go from farm stand to farm stand, filling up a cooler, or drop into one of the cideries for a tasting. We went on Saturday to help Finn River Cidery celebrate the grand opening of its tasting room. Finn River is owned by an energetic young couple who took over a long-time blueberry farm. They've got some interesting plans designed to bring people out and experience farm life first-hand.  Click here for all the details. 


Whatever you do, leave time on your way back to stop at Mora Iced Creamery on Bainbridge in Winslow near the ferry dock. The Argentinian owners make unique flavors with local and seasonal ingredients. There are 70 in all including goat cheese with fig, lemon bar, rose petal and eight different kind of chocolate. Bainbridge Island is home the the wild blackberry (in season in August). Mora means blackberry in Spanish. 


Believe me, this place is worth the ferry ride all by itself.

Airlines: Fees, fees and more fees... and a deal!

Airline fees were back in the news this week, with Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air raising their first-checked-bag charge from $15 to $20, and American Airlines announcing it will sell new  "Boarding and Flexibility" packages to domestic coach passengers who want to board planes ahead of others, fly standby or change a flight itinerary.


 What's this all about?


Business is picking up, and with the busy summer travel season here, airlines see it as a good time to begin adding to a menu of charges for services they once provided free.


 Alaska/Horizon's move came with some good news. It reduced its fee for checking a second and third checked bag. Checking one, two or three bags will cost a flat $20 each. Most major airlines now charge $23-$25 to check a first bag and $32-$35 for the second. Exempt from the fees are first and business class passengers and premium members of the airlines' frequent flier programs.


 At least Alaska offers a guarantee that you'll get what you pay for. If your bags don't arrive in baggage claim within 20 minutes after your flight reaches the gate, you get your choice of 2,000 frequent flier miles or $25 off a future flight. Click here to read more.


Meanwhile, Southwest Airlines still allows all passengers to check bags for free, and it seems like the policy is winning it business as well as heaps of goodwill.


Seattle Times readers posted nearly 40 comments on our website this week about baggage fees. I loved this one from someone who signed on as "Anonamoose'' from Maltby:


    Flying Public to Airlines: 

We understand that it's a difficult business in which to make money. However, constantly changing policies regarding luggage, most of which prompt passengers to abuse the carry-on bag allowances (which are seldom enforced properly) only make an uncomfortable airplane passenger experience worse.

Please establish a simple luggage policy that applies for all items that passengers bring (checked or not): a standard market price per (pound x mile). A bag that weighs 100 pounds costs as much to travel 10 miles as a 10-pound bag costs to travel 100 miles, whether the bag is crammed in an overstuffed cabin bin or whether it's thrown in the cargo bay. Charge the same standard rate!!!

To the inevitable naysayers who don't want their luggage weighed: it already is weighed and scanned. Advocating a simple, transparent, predictable, non-predatory pricing policy won't cost more money. It will, however, bring logic back to the game of who can stuff more junk in the overhead bin.

  Read all the comments here (and feel free to add your own).



Onto American Airline's new "Your Choice'' packages. For $9-$19 each way, depending on the route, the airline will offer a package that includes:

• A place in Group 1 of general boarding, which American says "allows you to be one of the first groups to board the plane ... immediately following Priority AAccess customers."

The main advantage presumably is first crack at overhead bin space, which has grown tighter as more people carry on bags to avoid checked bag fees.

• A $75 discount on flight-change fees. American typically charges $150 for this service on most types of tickets. Some airlines, such as Southwest, which also has no bag fees, charge no change fees.

• The option to go on standby for an earlier flight on your day of departure. American earlier eliminated standby for all except its premium customers. It sells a "Confirmed Flight Change" option for $50 that entitles a passenger to get a confirmed seat and boarding pass for another flight on the same day of travel.

In addition, American said that later this summer it will offer a stand-alone option for passengers to join the Group 1 priority boarding line for an extra $10 each way. The option will be available for purchase up to one hour before a flight's scheduled departure.

As you might guess, this too generated some interested comments from Times readers. Click here to read more. 

Here's your chance to weigh in

The Department of Transportation is proposing a raft of new consumer protections for air travelers, including a requirement that airlines refund baggage fees if luggage is delayed or lost. 

Airlines are expected to file lengthy rebuttals during a 60-day public comment period ending August 6. Here's how you can weigh in:

1) Click here and type in and type in DOT-OST-2010-0140 where it says “Enter Keyword or ID.” Hit “Search,” then scroll down to “Enhacing Airine Passengers Protections.” Click there to read the new proposals, or go to “Submit a Comment” to comment and read what others have to say.
2) Click here, for the website set up by Cornell University. This site includes a place for public comments, a moderated discussion on key points, and clear explanations of what the problems have been and how the new rules would solve them.


How to find a deal 


Is it possible anymore? Finding an airline deal can be like rolling the dice. Sometimes you just get lucky. More on this in my latest Travel Wise column for the Seattle Times. Click here. 

Europe's on Sale

                                                Europe's on sale

         The euro fell to a four-year low this week, and all signs are that it will keep falling. At $1.19, it means that a hotel priced at 100 euros per night now costs $119 compared to $140 last year. The rise in airfares, unfortunately, will likely more than offset any savings for most travelers, but here's a tip: If you booked a tour for this year, and haven't already paid, ask for a discount. Chances are it was priced last year to anticipate expenses based on an exchange rate at least $1.50, likely more to hedge against any increases that might have come about if the dollar fell in value against the euro. Most tour operators will likely keep prices high to make up for losses last year when business was so bad, but I notice Rick Steves has discounted some of his fall tours.  
                
Taking RyanAir? Pack light


   We've all grown used to finding good deals on the discount airlines for getting around Europe, but watch those extra fees. 
   Anyone considering summer travel on Europe's Ryanair might want to consider packing light, or be prepared to pay a hefty surcharge for checking bags.
     Ryanair will charge 20 euros ($24.40) each way for the first checked bag in July and August, up from 15 euros ($18.30) during other times of the year. A second bag will cost 40 euros ($49) compared to 35 euros ($43) other times. The weight limit is 33 pounds per bag (less than U.S. airlines allow on international flights to and from Europe), and you can take just one carry-on, no heavier than 22 pounds. 

Chip and Pin: Problems with U.S. credit cards in Europe


   A Seattle Times reader asks: "We have heard that U.S. credit cards with the magnetic stripe on the back are being rejected by retailers in Europe, who are using a new microchip-based reader. Our bank doesn't issue such a card. What can we do when the little cafe in Venice says we can't use our Visa?  Click here for the answer in today's Seattle Times travel section. 

Refunds on checked bag fees?

   What happens if you pay $25-$30 to check a bag and it doesn't show up at your destination when you do? When it comes to refunding the checked-bag fees airlines began charging last year, policies are surprisingly vague. Bottom line: Refunds for bag fees are rare, even when the "service" provided turns out to be less than you'd expect.

  That could change as early as this fall under a new set of consumer regulations proposed by the Department of Transportation. DOT is considering requiring carriers to reimburse passengers for baggage fees if bags are lost or not delivered within two hours of arrival. It does seem like a written rule is needed, given the airlines' failure to come up with concrete policies on their own. Let's hope the DOT prevails. Click here to read more.

Seattle on $55 a day

                                       Crumpet Shop-Pike Place Market

      Tom and I are frugal travelers by nature. We're always finding ways to have fun while spending less, even when we're home in Seattle.
       This past Friday was a good example. We took a "staycation'' day, and spent most of it in downtown Seattle. It started with breakfast at the Crumpet Shop, our favorite spot in the Pike Place Market. We go most every Sunday, and order groats for two with steamed milk - the effect is something like an oatmeal latte - and bottomless cups of tea while we chat with Rob, the owners' son. Rob is usually literally up to his elbows mixing crumpet batter in a gigantic plastic tub. I love his smoked salmon and egg crumpets, but we usually go for the healthier groats - whole oats, minimally processed, that need to soak a long time before cooking. I have them with currants. Tom orders his with almond butter. Bill for two: around $12.
       Next it was over to the Meridian theater to take advantage of discount prices on movies before noon. We saw City Island for $6 each. Post-theater, we ripped out a two-for-one coupon from our Entertainment Book for the Seattle Art Museum, and spent a pleasant hour and a half taking in the Andy Warhol (free tours) and the Kurt Cobain exhibits. Cost: $15 for two with the coupon.
       The day ended with an early dinner at Il Fornaio at Pacific Place where happy hour starts at 4:30 p.m. with free appetizers in the upstairs lounge. Beer and wine is $3-$4 and full-size pizzas are $5. We each had a beer and shared a pizza for $15 including tax and tip.
       Total spent for the day: $55 - Not bad for breakfast, movie, museum and dinner!