Geeking out at the Museum of Flight (in between meals of course!)

The morning of Day 2 started off very slowly, as I hydrated in an effort to offset the indulgences at the previous evening's dinner at Canlis. The plan for Day 2 in Seattle consists of spending the morning at the Museum of Flight, followed by lunch at Lola, and an afternoon at the Seattle Art Museum. The evening's dinner venue - Italian restaurant Spinasse - will be featured in an upcoming post.




Before making the trek south from downtown Seattle to Tukwila where the Museum of Flight is located, I decided to grab a bite at nearby Bang Bang Cafe. The Belltown neighborhood cafe opened in 2009 by sisters Yuki and Miki Sodos as a way to celebrate the New Mexico food that they grew up with and come to love. Bang Bang Cafe even gets its Hatch chilies shipped directly from New Mexico!

The Bang Bang burrito with sausage
2017 Bang Bang Cafe. Seattle, WA

I ordered the Bang Bang Burrito: a breakfast burrito featuring eggs, pinto beans, home fries and cheddar cheese, and topped with some green and red sauce. Sausage was extra, and for my vegetarian readers, Bang Bang Cafe offers meat-less options like spicy tofu chorizo. I also ordered a cup of coffee to start the day off right.

The burrito was just what I needed to begin the day. Full of sausage, egg and potato, the filling had nice balance and was properly distributed so no bite was dominated by a single ingredient. The Hatch chilies made for a nice spicy undertone that was fresh and inviting. Finally, the use of both red and green sauces made for practically two burritos in one, with nice diversity of flavor. Combine that with an excellent coffee, and I knew the day had a lot in store.

SR-71 Blackbird, in all of its glory!
T.A. Wilson Great Gallery
2017 Museum of Flight. Seattle, WA

Jumping into a Lyft, it took roughly twenty minutes to make the eight miles south to the Museum of Flight because of some cruise ship traffic in Belltown. The Museum of Flight is actually located at King County International Airport, which was Seattle's principal airport until Sea-Tac was built in 1944. Tickets are twenty one dollars for the day, with the option of adding a movie for an additional two dollars. I booked my ticket ahead, and opted for the add-on aircraft carrier movie, so when I arrived right when the museum opened at 10:00 AM, I was ready to go.

Pratt & Whitney J58 Turboramjet. Paired with the SR-71 Blackbird, two of
these bad boys provided up to 68,000 pounds of thrust, roughly the same
power as an ocean liner. They required a Buick Wildcat V8 each to spool up,
can fly across the U.S. in 67 minutes 54 seconds, and still holds the speed
record for an air breathing manned aircraft at 2,193.13 miles per hour.
T.A. Wilson Great Gallery
2017 Museum of Flight. Seattle, WA

Two and a half hours later, and I was blown away with all that the museum had to offer. My visit started with the Aircraft Carrier film - a 3D film providing insights into life on an aircraft carrier during a major multi-national training exercise. From there, I perused the Great Gallery with its SR-71 Blackbird centerpiece. Adjoining the Great Gallery is an exhibit on early spaceflight, focusing on Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions.

"Yee-haw, Jester's Dead!" - TOP GUN
Here's an A4 Skyhawk, which was the plane Viper and Jester flew in TOP GUN
Aviation Pavilion
2017 Museum of Flight. Seattle, WA

Following that was the William E. Boeing gallery focusing on the history of early aviation, and J. Elroy McCaw Personal Courage wing focusing on World War I and II aviation. The World War I/II galleries were interesting, featuring the P-51 Mustang, P-38 Lightening, Fokker DR.1 and Mitsubishi Zero aircraft to name a few. Also on display was a collection of artwork from the period, as well as other historical items rounding out the motif. Excellent for anyone interested in military history.

But what most fascinated me was the Boeing gallery. Full disclosure: I am a bit of an aviation geek... especially military aviation history (as you can tell from my caption of the P&W J58 engine above). What was lacking was my knowledge on the early periods of aviation, especially on the manufacturing side. Not only did the collection provide some nice insights into the Wright Brothers' achievements, but on the follow-through from William Boeing, Glenn L. Martin, Jack Northrop, and other pioneers of aviation. While the collection is heavily influenced by Boeing - which makes sense, given the location - it's scope is broad enough to give one a great perspective of the era. Just excellent.

"Come on Goose; it's time to buzz the tower!" - TOP GUN
F-14 Tomcat
Aviation Pavilion
2017 Museum of Flight. Seattle, WA

The final gallery is actually located across E. Marginal Way, which is accessed by a pedestrian bridge which connects both parts of the museum. The West Campus contains the Charles Simonyl Space gallery, featuring replica Space Shuttle Orbiter trainer, and the aviation pavilion featuring actual Boeing 747 & 787, BAC Concorde, and other aircraft. One can actually walk through the commercial airplanes, so I made a straight line for the Concorde, which was a lot smaller that I had thought.

Finishing up at the Museum of Flight, I called up a car and made my way to lunch at Lola, in downtown Seattle. Lola is part of Tom Douglas' Seattle-based culinary empire, and notable for its fusion of Pacific Northwest and Greek cuisine, along with Mediterranean and North African touches. Lola is also known for its brunch offering, which sounded great to kick off this Sunday afternoon.

Seated at a two-top table along the interior wall, I was treated to a long and slightly narrow space lit up wonderfully by large windows along the long exterior wall of the establishment. Aesthetically, the color palette features shades of browns of both the walls, paired nicely with a slate colored ceiling. Combine that with the natural light, and the space evokes a cozy wooded Pacific Northwest vibe.

Eggs Benedict, side of breakfast sausage and
half order of homemade donuts
2017 Lola. Seattle, WA

Before arriving at Lola, I did a little research on the menu. One of the takeaways was ordering the donuts, featuring a mascarpone and blueberry compote. Thankfully they do half orders, so I wouldn't appear to be a total pig. I paired that with eggs Benedict, and a side of sausage.

Starting with the eggs Benedict; they offered a nice combination of flavorful ham, rich poached egg, and creamy hollandaise. The kicker, however, was the accompanying potatoes. These were pressed to the point of looking like sausage patties, fried, and then seasoned. Outstanding.

The sausage was akin to breakfast sausage, but with a slight sweet undertone. And finally, the donuts. Fried fresh, these donuts were not overly sweet or covered with a ton of sugar. Instead, they embraced the warm blueberry compote and mascarpone wonderfully. Nice acid and fruit notes from the blueberry offer all the sugar one needs. And the mascarpone... awesome. A delightful sweet and creamy substitute for frosting that again, is not overly sweet. The whole pairing is excellent, and definitely lives up to the hype.

And with that, I sipped my latte and mulled over the day. Excellent breakfast, a few captivating hours at the Museum of Flight, and then an excellent brunch to cap off a delightful morning. From there, I took a stroll a few blocks through downtown to the Seattle Art Museum. Sadly the line for whatever main exhibit that was going on was too long to warrant burning most of my afternoon on, so I went back to Seattle Coffee Works to do a little writing. Missing out on the SAM just gives me something else to check out for my next trip!