Something Fishy

BIRTHDAY BASK: Tuesday, one day short of spring, the temperature was nearly 80 degrees and it was Ivar's birthday. Both causes to celebrate. :)

If you live in or around Seattle, you know of Ivar's, a chain of seafood-focused fine dining and take out cafe restaurants. March 19th is the birthday of Ivar Haglund. This excerpt from the Ivar's website sums up the genesis of the Ivar's legend. ... 

The story of Ivar's Seafood Restaurants began in 1938 when 33-year old Seattle native Ivar Haglund opened his city's first aquarium on Seattle's Pier 54. Droves of people lined up and paid a nickel to view the sea life that Ivar had collected from the surrounding Puget Sound. Noticing that his patrons often came with an appetite, Haglund began to sell red clam chowder and fish n' chips from the site—an instant success that began his career as a restaurateur.

Smart guy, that Ivar. :)  All of the restaurants in the chain offered buy one (full price), get one entree for $1.14. Great deal! Count us in.

So, the kids (and the dogs!) and I went down to the Renton waterfront Ivars for lunch on Tuesday.  Seems like we were not the only ones with that idea. ;) All totaled, that venture was 45 minutes between waiting in line to order, and waiting for the food. While the kids did the line/food stuff, I managed the dogs, who were pretty unmanageable.

However, the food was good and the sun was delightful and we felt bad that Christian missed it so we went for Round Two when he got home. I stood in line and ordered and waited while the kids and Christian took a lakeside walk.

There is a big deck repair project going on outside of Ivar's.

The work included a patriotic crane. ;)

We checked out the Boeing plant, of course. 

And we thought this 'island' looked like a perfect spot for a future picnic.

EJECTION: Interesting news from asteroid Bennu. Would you believe it's spewing particles from its surface?  Check out this photo, taken on Jan 19, 2019, by NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft:

(Image: © NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona/Lockheed Martin)

NASA reports the 1,650-foot-wide Bennu "is one of just a dozen or so known 'active asteroids' — and the only one to be observed up close." 

During a March 19 news conference, OSIRIS-REx principal investigator Dante Lauretta, of the University of Arizona, said the discovery "is probably the biggest surprise of the early stages of the OSIRIS-REx mission and, I would say, one of the biggest surprises of my scientific career," 

The OSIRIS-REx mission launched in September 2016 and arrived in orbit around Bennu on New years Eve, 2018. In mid-2020, the probe will descend to the asteroid and collect a sample, which is supposed to be returned to Earth in 2023.