Saturday, January 19, 2008

Cheers and tears



Twelve hours separates these photos, both with strong ties to Seattle's historic Rainier beer. On Friday night, three cans of Rainier were raised by Paul, John and Mike for a toast at Greenwood's Baranoff tavern. The old dive bar is hardly as divey as it used to be, what with the smoking ban and fewer and fewer salty old patrons. But it was fun to drink with good friends. Cheers!

Saturday morning marked the beginning of the end for part of Rainier's historic brewery operations in Georgetown. The Rainier Cold Storage building, a huge, beautiful, brick "freezer" started to fall to make way for who knows what exactly. I heard a bystander say the bricks were made from the earth pulled down off the Denny Regrade. Hmm. That's old. Georgetowners didn't look too pleased as a huge part of their neighborhood began to crumble onto Airport Way. Another Seattle landmark bites the dust. Tears!