Tour of the Rainier Brewery Cold Storage Building

Sabey Corporation has been offering tours of the old Rainier Brewery's Cold Storage Building in Georgetown. It's over 100 years old, and before Prohibition, it was the 6th largest brewery in the world. I signed up for a 9 a.m. tour and took a bazillion snapshots.

I don't have time to write about the tour, but I'm sure the Paper Noose will provide some sharp commentary later on. (I saw his name on the list for the afternoon tour.) But anyway, here are some of the photos.













Sign, sign, everywhere a sign.



They made us all wear hardhats because of falling bricks.











As my friend Heather, a civil engineer, would say: "Engineering sadness."

















Even though we were supposed to spend the evening at home, cleaning the house, we went out for dinner here last night. Bison burger, salad, and Georgetown Brewing's Chopper Red Ale. I half-drunkenly text-messaged friends all over the country, asking them to join us. (No one did.) Then we went home and walked around the neighborhood, and a neighbor invited us for a beer on their lawn. Nice!



















I often find myself wishing that I had a sweet SLR instead of just a little point-and-shoot. That feeling is particularly acute at this moment.















The swanky new Via Tribunali pizza place is going in here.



Our house is right behind some of those trees at the top of the hill.



Another woman on the tour asked me to take this photo, as she works in the red-roofed school there on the hill. (If you are that woman, and you are reading this right now, you can click on the photo and download a larger size if you like.)





















It's tempting.





The end!

Another Art Show at Retrofit Home

It's beautifully record-hot in Seattle this week. Today the temperature at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport hit 98 degrees at 5:30 p.m., surpassing the record of 95 degrees set in 1951, according to the National Weather Service.

Many are wilting, but I love it. Last night I walked up First Hill and Capitol Hill at 5:30 p.m.







I asked my husband if to meet me at Tango, where we first met seven years and nine days ago. We've been meaning to celebrate that anniversary there.

Unlike the night we met -- when our party of five ended up having to find another place that had a free table -- we were able to get seats. Cheers!



Then we headed up to Retrofit Home, where my friend Stephanie had an art opening. Her work looks amazing!



Great texture.



I'm really impressed.











Several pieces were red-dotted by the time we left last night, which made our subsequent trip to La Spiga feel especially celebratory.



Plus, it was just a gorgeous hot Seattle summer night.

Inside Georgetown Castle

Today at the Georgetown Art & Garden Walk, I was thrilled to find that the wonderful owner of Georgetown Castle opened up her lovely haunted house to the public again this year.



I've written incoherently about this place before. Old house, weird history. Murder, prostitution, suicide, infanticide -- you name it.

While waiting for the tour to begin, I poked around outside a little.

Here's the back porch, where a woman named Sarah's murdered baby is said to have been buried.



OK, at this point, I have to acknowledge that it's weird that this photo happens to contain an "orb" in exactly the place where the murdered baby is supposed to have been buried. From what I've read, this is one of the spookiest, most disturbing parts of the house. And apart from the photos I take through my dirty windshield, my photos do not usually contain anything orblike. I'm not saying it's means anything, I'm just saying...



I find out that the Seattle FOG (Friends of Ghosts) Paranormal group is leading some of the tours. One of them and the houses's owner will be on the Montel Williams show this Wednesday, July 11, with paranomal expert Sylvia Browne, discussing some of the ghostly evidence they've collected at the house.



OK, ready to go in?



This is the stairway where Sarah's ghost has been seen "countless times," according to the FOG tour leader. On the Montel show on Wednesday, they'll show video footage of a really spectacular orb coming up to the camera, shooting off rainbow colors, and then backing off. They said this footage is also on their site, but I couldn't get it to work.





The pocket doors still work.







Apparently the kitchen is one of the creepier areas of the house. Maybe because it's right next to the back porch, where the baby was supposedly buried.





This is the bedroom where Peter Gessner died. Some say he drank acid to kill himself; some say he was murdered. In any case, the Seattle Ghost Hunters say that "When his body was found, his lips, gums and tongue were found to be shriveled and blackened, his body twisted in a grotesque display of the agony of his death throes."















We're told a man's ghost often appears here between 11:00 and 11:30 at night. He walks from right where I am standing, to the end of this hall.



Hearing this gives me goosebumps.



I forgot the story about this amazing room. Some sort of performances were held here.





There's the ticket booth on the right.



There's a third floor, but it's not ready for the public yet. The ghost investigators have heard children's voices up there. I wonder if that's where the children of the prostitutes were kept when this was a brothel.



Read more about this house at the Friends of Georgetown History site, the Seattle Ghost Hunters site, and the FOG Paranormal site.