December | 2012 | DiscoverWashingtonState.com

This month my son and his wife took my out for an experience like no other. We ate dinner at the Tin Room in Burien, just outside of Seattle. It’s called the Tin Room because in the past a tin smith owned the space and crafted works of tin there. You can read about the building’s history on their website. But the website doesn’t begin to describe the experience you’ll have there today.

The food is cooked to perfection, which has drawn many hungry people from near and far to the eatery. Entrees include shrimp scampi, cod tacos, “Olde Burien” grilled meatloaf, salads and small plates. I ordered the Greek salad and it was topnotch – filled with feta, crisp crunchy lettuce and just the right amount of dressing. The Tin Room offers specialty cocktails according to the season, so right now you can order a pumpkin pie martini or a poinsettia (not sure what’s in that). Spring brings am entirely new menu of crafted cocktails.

So what was so unique about this experience apart from the yummy entrees? My son bought movie tickets for the film “It’s a Wonderful Life” from our server in the restaurant. Then he took napkins into the theater, which you access through the bar, to save our seats for the movie in the Tin Theater. We didn’t have to drive to the multiplex and wait in line in the rain to buy tickets for a movie. It was all done so slick.

The theater seats less than 50, so it’s very intimate and cozy and the perfect way to see the holiday classic, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” They show a different movie every week, not first run films mind you, but the atmosphere is so much fun I don’t think it would matter much what was playing.

After we found our seats, a woman took our order for snacks and drinks for the movie. You can order popcorn, candy, soda and also alcoholic drinks and there’s no waiting in a long concession line. That same woman delivers the orders before the film begins. This was definitely my kind of “dinner and a movie.” I’ve heard about the luxury theatres where you can eat meals during a movie, but I have trouble with spilling my food when the lights are on. Total darkness would not be good for me.

You do have to be 21 years of age to attend a movie here.

“Ted” starts its run today. Watch the Tin Theatre website for what plays next. I highly recommend this as a very entertaining night out for a very small cost. You can also attend the movie without eating in the Tin Room, but why not try both?

Outside of Spokane, in an area called Green Bluff near Mead, you can find produce, cheese, farm animals and more, at more than 40 farms. You can easily spend a day here and not see it all.

An Angeles peach - so juicy you have to tilt your head back to eat it to keep the sweet juice from dripping on your clothes.

If my experience at Walter’s Fruit Ranch in Green Bluff is typical of the other farms, you’re in for a real treat. My day started off with a yummy Greek quiche made with eggs, feta cheese, ham and green olives plus the flakiest, most buttery pastry crust I’ve ever tasted. I couldn’t get enough of the crust, so I ate a slice of apple pie for dessert. Kudos to the pie baker and co-owner Arlene Morrell. At one time or another, the café offers 32 different varieties of Arlene’s pies. Arlene or a baker she has shown the way makes them and freezes them; she says they taste better after freezing.

One of the very vocal sheep at Walter's Fruit Ranch

Fueled for the day, I hopped on the Fruit Loop Express, a tractor-train contraption, and headed for the fruit orchards where I discovered 22 varieties of apples, five varieties of peaches, three of apricots and cherries. When the fruit is in season, you can ride the Express into the orchards where the driver will deposit you in a prime spot and you pick all the fruit you want. The train continuously meanders along the same route through the orchard all day so that when you’re ready to leave, you get on and it takes you back to the farmhouse.

I visited in the fall so owner Mark Morrell who drove the Express that day let me shoot an apple out of an air gun aimed at a pumpkin. If I hit the pumpkin, I got to take another pumpkin home. No worries there – I don’t have very good aim.