2026 Bremeraton - Day #1

Sharon dropped me at the airport early and headed for an appointment. Using CLEAR, it was shocking how quickly I got through security. CLEAR scanned my boarding pass and then led me to camera and screen that looked at me and then me into the TSA PRE area. I didn't have to present anything to a TSA agent. Interestly, I was pulled for a random check of my electronics: the phone and the iPad.

I caught a 10:23 am Alaska Airlines flight to Seattle. I booked a nice exit row: 16C. Although the plane was announced as full, there was no one in the middle seat. I read my book (The Odyssey) and surfed the web.

Landing and getting to the gate by 12:20, it was a journey to catch a train from the N Terminal to the main terminal and then walk to the Link Light Rail Train. It was 1:40 pm by the time I got to the Downtown Symphony station.

Wallen was waiting for me as I walked off the train. We wandered to the Barney Stone Irish Pub. From there, we headed to the Diller Room to meet up with Becky and Andy. During Prohibition in the 1920s, the Diller Room was actually operated as an illegal speakeasy, using the front of a Chinese laundromat as a disguise to hide the bar.

We had a very nice visit. This is the first that I had met Andy. He is very different than Tal.

Wallen and I made a stop at the Owl N' Twistle before dashing to catch the 5:30 pm ferry to Bremerton. We split two games of cribbage on the ride across the sound.

After a quick stop at their Phinney Bay house, Jill, Wallen and I headed to their grandson Madison's baseball game.

The three of us had a late dinner at the 19th Hole Bar & Grill after the game was over. It is actually one of the oldest and most historic watering holes in the entire area, dating all the way back to 1939. I had fish tacos.

I crashed just before 11 pm.