Can't get as excited about Rite Aid, but I'll add a big +1 on the Brown & Haley outlet stores in Tacoma. They're one of this area's best-kept secrets, and a world-class excuse for a pigout. They actually have two locations, but I think the Fife warehouse is better-stocked.

https://www.brown-haley.com/outletstores.php

Thanks! People were telling me a lot a lot of different things, and they all sounded really sure, but you're the only one who had documentation to back it up.

That's going to be a challenge. I don't think most restaurants are going to take a group that size and let you order off the menu, and have all those orders hitting the kitchen at once. A lot of places start limiting the menu to a few choices once you get past 10-15 people in a group, and for a party as big as you're talking about, they're almost definitely going to require you to pre-order.

Those are most likely going to be sour pie cherries. But if you're going to cook with them, those really are the best choice. Bings, Rainiers and the like are great for eating, but they taste really flat after cooking, drying, or other processing. Sour cherries need to be sweetened, but they hold up and taste much better in pies, jams, pastries, etc.

True--and there are even schools whose non-resident tuition isn't that much higher than it is for residents. Texas at least used to be like that--it wasn't that much more to go to a university there as a non-resident, than to pay resident tuition in a few of the more expensive states. Of course, that's less true these days, with states cutting the budgets and universities having to make it up somewhere. One way they may be doing that some places is by being more hard-nosed about who qualifies for resident tuition.

Tastes definitely do differ. While I really enjoyed Doomsday Book, I had no use at all for Time Travelers Wife. I kept reading, thinking that with all the hype I'd heard about it, it had to get good sometime, right? It didn't, and in the end I was thoroughly let down and annoyed at the waste of my time.

Big second to Kindred--it's a classic, and another one a teenager would likely enjouy.

You just can't go wrong with Warren!

I know a lot of people think the Salvadorean Bakery is just to die for, but I was kind of underwhelmed. My favorite pupusa joint in the area is Salva Mex, a little farther south (15019 Ambaum Blvd SW) in Burien. Great food (the spicy pickled cabbage they serve with the pupusas is damned good), friendly service, and CHEAP prices.

I second this--best jerky I've ever had!