Why I'd Love to Go Back to Moses Lake: Fabrics and Food!

Yesterday I mentioned the quilt shop in Ephrata.  It was this sign, posted up on a corner of a building, that caught my eye as we drove on the main road through town.  

Image from The Fabric Patch Facebook page

We were supposed to be headed to WalMart or Safeway for snacks, water, and sunscreen.  But we had 'a lot' of time, so I veered off to follow the arrow.

I wasn't expecting much...just a small shop with a few interesting fabrics, perhaps.  Was I in for a surprise!  This place is GREAT.  The Fabric Patch website says, "Worth the drive from anywhere," and I agree!  They have high quality quilt fabrics and LOTS of them!!  They also carry machines, have classes and clubs, of course, and great displays of sample quilts.  I just noticed on their site that they also have a retreat house for rent, especially set up for quilting.  I'd love to stay there for about a month!

Princess Bossy and I were mesmerized... Thankfully, Prince CuddleBunny is up for almost anything, and didn't mind looking with us.  Without specific projects in mind that we came in to shop for, we hardly knew where to start.  SO many beautiful fabrics, and, as it turned out, in this situation, so little time!  

We had gone into a different world in which schedules and baseball faded into a fog.  Before we knew it, it was 12:30, so we needed to make our purchases, and run our errands, in order to, we thought, get into the bleachers for the start of Prince Go-for-It's game at 1:00.  I will go back!!



The Fabric Patch would be reason enough to make the drive to the area, but, also, I'd like a reason to revisit some restaurants in Moses Lake.  We had 3 evenings there, so 3 dinners out. Prince Go-for-It always elected to hang out with friends, grabbing fast food near the hotel.  But after so many days on the road in the previous weeks, I was worn out on such things, and wanted to discover what else the town might have to offer.

An ad for a restaurant overlooking the lake caught our eye for the first night, so we went to Michael's on the Lake.  We sat outside, and the weather was perfect.  It was warm with a warm breeze, and the view of the lake was spectacular.  The restaurant was well above the lake, but we felt like we were over the shoreline.

Seared Tuna and Mango Salad

Princess Bossy can be Princess Finicky, after working as a nanny for, and treated as a member of the family by a couple who are gourmet cooks and fine restaurant connoisseurs in the Big City, while she attended college.  She admits to having extremely high expectations of the service she receives in any restaurant, and declared the service in Michael's to be 'just exactly as it should be,' from suggestions made, to attentiveness and courtesy.  

It was a lovely meal in every way.  The food was fantastic, and the Princess was particularly happy with how her tuna was prepared.  

We were having such a fine time, we even splurged and shared a dessert, although we were all already plenty full!

Classic 1/2 pound Burger with Bacon

Warm Italian Doughnuts with 3 dipping sauces...
Oh My Goodness!

While we were at Michael's on the Lake, we overheard a member of the staff mention that there were 2 other restaurants in town under the same ownership, but with different personalities. Michael's on the Lake was about casual elegance.  The other two included a deli and a burger restaurant.  That decided where we'd spend our next 2 dinners... We were so impressed with the first, we needed to try them all!

Michael's Market and Bistro was more casual, with orders taken at a counter and delivered to the table, or packaged to-go.  We tried to sit outside here, too, but the view of the street, with car exhaust from cars parking next to the sidewalk, wasn't as pleasant.  Besides, it was too hot and bright that evening, so we moved inside.  

The prince and princess both chose Salmon Burgers

I had the Portobello Panini

We enjoyed the open air feeling, the brick walls, etc.  We also enjoyed our sandwich dinners, and the stroll through the attached shop that offered beers, wines, gourmet foods and gift items, and kitchenware.  We returned to this spot to grab lunch our last day in town.


The 3rd night, we visited Rock Top Burgers and Brew.  It seemed a hip and popular spot on a Saturday night, but we were seated almost immediately...inside this time.  The interior decor was modern, yet warm and kind of lodgey... Lots of wood and stone.  

I tried the BLTA (Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato, Avocado) Croissant.
The helping of fries with the sandwich was modest.
The big batch we were given when we requested more was NOT.
I'm sorry I didn't get a photo!

There weren't as many 'brew' choices as I'd expected.  Also, what I didn't expect was the chance to try a small sample of the beer I was interested in before committing.  --So much nicer than being stuck with a pint of something I don't like!  

Princess Bossy enjoyed her Farmhouse Veggie Burger

Prince CuddleBunny loved is Rock Top Rumbler.
It had bacon, a fried egg, and 'the works.'

Again, we were all very happy with our menu selections...and they had 'bottomless fries,' which pleased Prince CuddleBunny no end, even though his tummy had less room for his 2nd helping than he imagined.  Even the crisp and tasty sweet potato fries were endless, which I didn't expect, but took advantage of.  Yum.

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