Are you looking for some free Wi-Fi to have with your cup of joe? There’s a new spot in town where you can enjoy espresso, lunch, dinner and yes free Wi-Fi right across the street from Evergreen Park! The Second Park Lounge & Cafe’ opened a few weeks ago conveniently located just across from Evergreen Park, at 1223 McKenzie Street. Do you know where the Bremerton Farmer’s Market is held? If you do then you know where Second park Lounge & Cafe’ is – it’s right next door.

A couple of weeks ago my friend Roberta Anderson and I met for lunch at Second Park to try the place out. I can say the service was excellent and with the awesome weather we were able to dine out doors! What a gorgeous setting they have there. The cafe’ is currently open seven days a week at seven am. You can call ahead with your order if you would like.

Second Park is operated by Robert Gray who has an amazing vision for this new “hot spot”. Currently you can enjoy awesome food, your favorite coffee or a glass of wine. There is also a classy lounge upstairs, where you can meet your friends for a relaxing evening. The possibilities are many for this new spot and with the expansion of the Bremerton Boardwalk connection to Evergreen Park in the near feature Second Park Lounge & Cafe’ will be a destination for anyone on the Boardwalk.

A few items from the menu:

• Pizzas: Four Cheese, Pepperoni, Specialty Pizza (this one is loaded!)
• Wraps: Southwest Turkey Wrap, Cajun Wrap (mmm w/Frank’s hot sauce)
• Pastas: Tortellini, Creamy Alfredo, Spaghetti, Ravioli, Lasagna and Mac & Cheese! (these come with soup or salad and bread – all $10.99 and under!)
• Salads: Caesar, House, Chef, Cobb (this was good!), Cream pasta
• Soups: French Onion, Chili, Split Pea, Calm Chowder, Italian Jambalaya (that sounds interesting)

Of course there are several cold and hot sandwiches and even an Appetizer menu. There are always some pastries and a variety of desserts!

Do you remember the “little store” in your neighborhood growing up? Finding a nickel on the sidewalk meant you could run down and buy a handful of candy. If you are my age you can remember penny candy, bottled soda and hand scooped ice cream cones. When my boys were growing up there was a “little store” in the neighborhood were we would stop after a day of work, school and daycare. The sought after items had changed from penny candy to Captain Crunch ice cream bars or Big League shredded baseball gum in the pouch ( yes I know that probably isn’t PC now days – nothing fun is) but the memories are the same.

In Bremerton there is a hidden treasure – a “little store”, located in the Evergreen Park neighborhood that is providing this generation of Bremerton kiddos those kinds of childhood memories. CJ’s Evergreen General Store is located across the street from Evergreen Rotary Park at 1417 Park Avenue.

I have had the privilege of meeting the owner CJ at the Bremerton Farmer’s Market one Thursday BBQ’ing up some burgers for the market’s crowd. I had been asked in a blog to write an article on CJ’s Evergreen General Store and so I thought since it was located by the Bremerton Farmer’s Market location I would stop by the market and then head on off to the store. To my surprise there CJ and her crew at the Farmer’s Market holding one of their many BBQ events. I had a quick chat with CJ between all those wanting those awesome smelling burgers and then headed off down the street to CJ’s Evergreen General Store to meet her manager Lisa and take a tour. Little did I know that CJ’s husband would be the one giving me the tour and that I would also get to meet her darling girls! CJ’s Evergreen General Store is truly a passion for this family. CJ is the one that has the vision and the amazing energy and her family gives her all their support!!

Walk inside and you are going to hear “Welcome to CJ’s” cheerfully called out from the counter. To the left you can see the fresh ice cream and espresso area, straight ahead you will see the coolers and to the right the true to the theme of all general stores the counter with the candy! There aren’t many isles and so it is amazing that you can shop for dinner, pick up some fishing tackle and buy your lottery tickets all in one stop! CJ is so accommodating that if you need a “special order” item you can bet she will try and find it and will usually carry it for you. This place is totally one of the neighbors.

CJ’s Evergreen General Store is more than just the local neighborhood market, it is a place for neighbors to meet and socialize. You can sit outside on the walk and enjoy Dillanos Coffee and Ootopia Espresso from the deli. On a rainy day you could sit inside at the tables right by the deli. CJ’s deli has a very unique list of weekly specials, if you wear your pajamas on Friday you can receive a free drip coffee! How fun is that! Always available to help you with your fundraiser, family gathering or neighborhood BBQ CJ’s can do the cooking for you. Give them a call for deli sandwiches, homemade chili, clam chowder and chicken noodle soup. Order your “home baked” cookies, brownies and double crust fruit pies and for the holidays you can special order holiday cookies, cheesecake and of course those awesome pies.

CJ’s Evergreen General Store is also a very welcome participant to many of the local Markets, Fairs and happenings. You will find the BBQ at the Poulsbo’s Farmer’s Market, BUGS May Fest, Bremerton’s Farmer’s Market, Simply Renewed 4^th Street Market, and of course at Concerts in the Park. CJ’s Evergreen General Store is an amazing place and a business that is very excited about the Bremerton community.

Stop in and say Hi, have a Moxie, Nesbitts or Bubble UP and if you don’t know what those are then have a Faygo instead!

All I can say is I wish I was within walking distance!! The Evergreen Park neighborhood is very lucky! Memories are going to be made!

Just one last thing….CJ’s is an amazing supporter of Local Vendors – here is a partial list

CJ’s Evergreen General Store :: Across from Evergreen Rotary Park, 1417 Park Avenue, Bremerton WA 98337 :: 360-479-2708 :: cj@cjgeneralstore.com :: Open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Weekends.

Bremerton WA :: Farmer’s Market from Jo Soss on Vimeo.

It’s Market Time!!
Bremerton Farmers Market’s is in full swing! The activity has been great even though the weather has not been the best. Every Thursday, through October 9^th, at 4pm across from Evergreen Park in the Seaside Church’s parking lot you can find farmers, unique food sellers and high quality arts.

While I was at the market there was a constant stream of shoppers having fun talking with the local vendors and ordering some BBQ from CJ’s Evergreen General Store’s stand.

Farmer’s Markets can be such a great way to meet others in your community while sharing a passion for organic gardening, beaded jewelry making, compost tweaking and several other homemade type products.

I found this too be true when I had a nice visit with “Made in Manette”, Lisa of Lisa’s Leafs and with CJ owner of CJ’s Evergreen General Store. I also received the scoop on Luigi’s bakery and will have to pay a visit to their new location. They are new to the Bremerton area only being open for about 3 months.

The Bremerton Farmers Market is on the lookout for some musicians that would fit in with the Market’s atmosphere at the park. If you know of any have them call (360) 621-5934.

See you on Thursdays!!!

USS TURNER JOY (DD-951)

Whenever we transferred to a new location we turn into “tourists”. We call it our new “Navy” vacation. How many families get to live all over the country and “vacation” without leaving home?

The first year at a new duty station we spend most of our free time searching out the local area attractions. However, that isn’t the case with the USS Turner Joy; we visited the USS Turner Joy prior to leaving Bremerton the first time. In fact I think it was a “Saturday Date”.

I had never been around the Navy and so I was very excited to be going on a “ship”. I hope you have the time to head down to the Bremerton Boardwalk some day and visit this very unique historical Navy “museum”. Self tours are always the best in my opinion and that is how they have designed the tour of the USS Turner Joy.

Online Videos by Veoh.com

May 1^st to September 30^th
Open Daily 10:00-17:00
October 1^st to April 30^th
Open Friday thru Sunday
10:00 – 16:00

Call for the current admission prices.
360-792-2457

Admission
Adults: $8.00
Seniors 62+: $7.00
Children 5-12: $6.00
Under 5: Free
Active Military w/ID Free

(Verified 05/20/2008)

The USS Turner Joy is closed on Thanksgiving and the day after, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

USS Turner Joy ==>>Visit the website ::click::

Directions:
The USS Turner Joy is located on the Bremerton Boardwalk – Downtown next to the ferry terminal.
From Tacoma: Follow Hwy 16 to SR-3. Proceed toward Bremerton. Follow SR-304 to the Seattle Ferry Terminal.
From Silverdale: From SR-3 take the SR-310 exit and follow SR-310 to the intersection with SR-304 and proceed to the Seattle Ferry Terminal.

Woo Hoo!! In less than 10 days my husband will be home on leave!!! I am counting counting, counting!!! I haven’t seen him since Thanksgiving weekend. Oh, yeah right this is a review on a great restaurant chain here in Washington State.

Anthony’s Restaurants are a special place for my husband and me. The first birthday dinner I surprised him with was at an Anthony’s. We drove down to Anthony’s Homeport in Olympia for an amazing evening. So when he is home we have planned dinner out a couple of nights and they will be at Anthony’s! All Anthony’s Restaurants are on the water and there are several, in fact there are 24 waterfront restaurants in 19 locations through out the Pacific Northwest. (18 in WA and 1 on OR)

When we moved back to Bremerton in 2006 Anthony’s was to be one of our first nights out. We were so excited. I went to Anthony’s Restaurants website to make sure we knew where we were going and found a NEW LOCATION!! BREMERTON!! On the water!!!! The new Anthony’s at Bremerton is about 5 minutes from our house!!

You will never be disappointed when you dine at any of these fine restaurants because the quality and service are very consistent. The reason the seafood is so good is because they own their own seafood company!! Their seafood company exists just for their restaurants!! How cool is that!?

We have eaten at 4 of the dinner houses and at one of the casual dining bars. Guess we should start a “collection” and do a dining tour. Use a menu and have employees at each restaurant sign it. How fun would that be!! The Anthony’s Washington Tour 2008!!

Check out all the Menus!

If you have any questions about real estate in Bremerton Washington, contact Jo Soss with Skyline Properties, Inc. at (360) 990-1433 or visit her personal website Puget Sound Real Estate Today where you will be able to search for homes and find more Bremerton Real Estate information.

Click here for my ONLINE RELOCATION PACKAGE, but make sure to click here to register for the mailed out RELOCATION PACKAGE, which includes the Washington State Visitor’s Guide (143 pages of information including maps), the 2007-2008 Seattle Visitor’s Guide (113 pages), several other brochures and maps of the area. This RELOCATION PACKAGE is jam packed with over 2lbs of outstanding material! Free to you just for the asking!

Discount Tire
5034 State Highway 303 NE, Bremerton, WA 98311

When ever you relocate to a new area you always have to find new service businesses. Where to have your oil changed, who to use for dry cleaning, where to take your car for service, the list goes on and can be time consuming. I love to share my experiences for services when I find a business that is deserving.

I found “my tire store”! After doing a ton of research on the Internet and making a couple of calls I decided to drive on over to Discount Tire at 5034 State Highway 303 NE in Bremerton. The store is clean and bright and very comfortable. The sales staff is very knowledgeable and very friendly. I did not feel pressured here. The tire I chose wasn’t available but I was offered another that really was probably better than my choice and in the same price range.

I now know during our time here in this area I have a “my tire store”. I hope that if you need to purchase tires you will give this great crew a shot – You will not be disappointed.