Enter the Kirkland Matrix

One nice part of having visitors is doing a lot of fun touristy stuff. Another fun part is after you've gorged on adventures and you and your guests are content to hang out a bit with their remaining time with you. I think we'd reached that point with Lydia's dad.

We ate at the Ivar's by the lake. It's nice to eat nice seafood within view of the water.

Evan was excited to show us his new toy: Meta's Quest 2 virtual reality headset. He had a bunch of extras and stuff too that went with it, such as a carrying case. It reminded me of when I was a kid and had a bunch of games and stuff for my Sega Game Gear. Anyway I have only used a VR headset on a couple rare occasions so this was fun. Plus the fact that we got it set up so easily in my own living space made it feel more accessible. One game he had that was memorable was SUPERHOT which had gunplay and bullet dodging that reminded me of the best film of all time: the Matrix.

We stopped by Snowy Village. Lydia likes this place a lot.

Keep Clam and Carry On

Ivar's is an interesting local chain, because they have different restaurant concepts happening at the same time. We visited Ivar's Acres of Clams which is a legit sit-down full service restaurant, but they also have little fish and chip shops here and there.

I liked all the fun Ivar's history they had in the waiting room.

World famous first in the early 1990s, Ivar's Dancing Clams are another expression of our abiding commitment to the "Culture of Clams". No matter how Hollywood howls, we will go on dancing with clams.

The restaurant is right on the sound and has a great view.

I was doing keto and so was ravenously hungry by the time the food came. I figured I couldn't possibly go wrong ordering the restaurant's namesake.

Acres of Clams

2-lbs local Manila clams, fennel, fingerling potatoes, carrot, celery, white wine, bread

We finished the night with a visit to the super cool Starbucks Reserve Roastery.