Whidbey Island has been blasted by wind & rain storms in recent days. The Keystone ferry route has been shut down due to high winds off & on.

We’ll take a winter short cut on the BBQ. We are headed towards soft pork tacos.

We’ll start start the Weber using the chimney method. Make a not too big pile of coals and place them all the way over to one side. Add a pork roast as far away from the coals as possible. We place a good handful or two of apple wood chips over the coals and cover with vents open for a good 45 mins. Maybe longer.

We don’t want to be tending the BBQ in bad weather, or running late with cooking on Sunday. After the roast has had time to take on the smoke flavor, we are done with the BBQ. We are not working outside to cook the pork roast, only to give it a smoke flavor.

After 45 mins to an hour, we bring the roast in and place it in a crock pot.

Add onions, jalapeños & spices to your taste. Set the crock pot to low and let it go overnight. The apple wood smoke flavor will fill the house & we don’t care anymore about winter storms outside.

Enjoy a beer and some cozy time inside.

I prefer the atmosphere of a good Northwest pub. Over the past 10 years or so- I have been to several of these mom & pops locations where there has been an odd vibe.

It feels like- if you didn’t go to high school with the people who run the bar, or come in five or six days a week at 1530- that you may be seen as some sort of second class citizen and the service will reflect that.

I’ve experienced this at a couple of places in Port Townsend, one in Port Hadlock, one in Coupeville and maybe one in Edison.

Are these folks just scattered, busy or burnt out?

Maybe they were just having an off day when I was there.

I’m always on good behavior and tip well. I appreciate good service.

I’ve always had good luck with the bar at any Applebee’s I’ve been to. We recently visited the Oak Harbor location. We will be back. It’s clear that the people who work at the bar place a priority on customer service. Much appreciated.

I used to enjoy the bar service at 7 Cedars Casino. We moved away from the area, so it’s been a long time, but they always ran a good bar in there. The casino at Ocean Shores is probably one of the most lacking casino bars I have been to. That was a few years back- maybe they have improved.

We recently visited a nice spot where we went in for the very first time and really enjoyed it. We will continue to show up at the NW pubs.

Photo- Hill Road