Saturday in Seattle

10 Tuesday Jul 2018

I think we squeezed in just about everything we could in under 48 hours. Saturday dawned partly sunny, and in the upper 70’s. The girls got underway about 10:30AM for the Space Needle. We stopped at The Yellow Leaf Cupcake shop in Belltown for coffee and breakfast on our way. 2 cups of pour over coffee, a bagel sandwich, and an incredibly light and delicious bacon cheddar biscuit, and we were on our way. I was impressed with the number of restaurants everywhere we walked. Some larger than others, most what I would call “intimate dining.” Every type of food imaginable, and all seemed to have no lack of business.

We reached the Space Needle in time for our noon tickets, and got in line. The walk up to the elevator took about 30 minutes, but the history of the 1962 World’s Fair and the construction of the Space Needle was very interesting. Beautiful views, but we were bummed the restaurant was closed for renovations. They did have a snack bar at the top observation deck, but with all the construction going on even at that level, the ambiance was a bit lacking. We did walk around and get some great photos.

Not sure if they’re mosquitos or spiders, but it was a funny sight to see!

We found Mom and started off to the Chihuly Gardens. (She passed on the elevator ride to the top. Heights aren’t her favorite.) My husband joined us after his visit with friends we don’t see nearly often enough. There are never words to describe Chihuly’s work, and there doesn’t need to be.

A bite of lunch at Bambino’s on our way back to the hotel. The 2 salads would have individually fed 4 of us, the meatball appetizer was entree sized, and half the 10″ pizza left the restaurant with us. Another small place, but they had a steady stream of customers. We were back to the hotel in plenty of time to get ready for the wedding, and the reason this entire road trip became reality!

A 20 minute or so Uber ride to the Seattle Tennis Club on Lake Washington. Across the lake were very large homes where apparently the Gates and Bezos residences are. The Virginia Steamship came through just as the cocktail reception ended, and Mt. Ranier came out from behind the clouds during dinner.

We were back in our room about 12:30AM, and did think about going out with some of the wedding party. Sanity kicked in, fortunately for me, as we had to begin our return trip the next day.

Posted by andreapw | Filed under 1962 World's Fair, Chihuly Garden, Lake Washington, Seattle, Seattle Tennis Club, Space Needle, Washington

≈ Leave a comment

Image

Seattle in two days

10 Tuesday Jul 2018

When you earn a “Lifetime Achievement” badge from your fitness band, you know you walked a lot over a 2 day period. Friday we walked to Pike’s Market and met family from across The Sound. They had ferried over to spend the day and be our tour guides. We stopped at the coffee and pastry joint across from Pike’s Market that had the shortest line, then fought the crowds through the market to the Pig statue. What an amazing place! The sights, sounds, smells….rather crowded early in the morning, but when we walked through later in the day the crowd had thinned significantly. The crowds this day were fun, though, as the Special Olympics National Games were that weekend. We saw teams from Indiana, Kentucky, and Southern California.

The famous fish monger was just inside, so we waited to see the fish throwing before making our way down to the waterfront. The nice thing about local tour guides is they know where secret elevators are. It made our trek down (and back) that much easier.

Our next stop was Wings Over Washington. A virtual reality tour over Washington State. The floor drops, the seats slide forward to a 180 degree screen with 5K cameras, and you are off an flying along with a “spirit eagle” through Olympic National Forest, Mt. Ranier, Snoqualmie Falls, the San Juan Islands, and back to the Seattle Great Wheel. It lasts about 10 minutes, but is worth every penny, at least once.

Lunch was the next order of business at Elliot’s. Fresh seafood, good beer, and great conversation catching up with everyone.

A quick stop at the Copperworks Distillery where they make vodka, 2 kinds of gin and a whiskey, all from beer. We shared two tastings between 6 of us, and probably could have done with just one. Intimate place, and very friendly staff. A cruise through the antique store across the street, farewell to our tour guides, then back to the hotel to get ready for the welcome reception.

Husband, daughter and I were just a tad hungry from the days activities, and ready early for the reception. We opted to stop for a nosh at the Purple Cafe on our way. Great wine selection, and the lobster mac & cheese was out of this world. BIG chunks of Maine lobster throughout.

Over 5,000 bottles of wine and spirts on the spiral staircase, then more on shelves behind it.

We walked a few blocks further to Pike Brewing Company where the reception was in full swing. A fun evening reconnecting with family and making new friends. A nightcap in the hotel bar, then off to bed so we could squeeze in more before the wedding!

Posted by andreapw | Filed under Copperworks Distillery, Elliot's, flowers, Pike Brewing Co, Pike's Market, Purple Cafe, Seattle, Seattle Waterfront, Wings Over Washington

≈ Leave a comment

Image

Eastern Washington to Seattle

06 Friday Jul 2018

Our adventure hasn’t ended yet – we’ve just been enjoying time with family in Seattle, and then recovering a bit from all the fun. There should be daily updates from now until we return home a week from today. (I am so blessed to work for the company I do. 3 weeks of vacation is an absolute joy, and it should keep me going until at least September!)

We had an absolutely wonderful view of roughly 27 fireworks shows from our hotel window on Wednesday night – everything from neighborhood displays to the 3 professional displays over Red Mountain. I realized all that was missing was the patriotic music. Phone to the rescue – patriotic songs pulled up on a music app. A few card games after the fireworks ended, and we called it a night. We had a relatively short drive to Seattle, but we were both anxious to get there and see family.

We enjoyed fireworks displays in every direction!

No time machine, just using up the stash of left over napkins Mom had. At least they had fireworks on them! 🙂

We opted for the state highway 243 over the interstate for the beginning of the drive. Right on past the Hanford Nuclear Waste site. Fortunately the road didn’t go directly by it. As we wended our way through the Columbia River Valley, we passed miles of apple orchards, sprinkled with the occasional vineyard. We stopped briefly at Wanapum Dam for a pit stop.

Model of the wind turbine that powers the dam

As we started on I-90, we passed another “Little Brown Sign” for the Petrified Ginko Forest. I didn’t have to ask twice if we should check it out. The forest itself would have required a bit of a climb up a steep hill, and it was rather warm. We opted to pass on that for this trip, and headed back toward the museum and gift shop instead. Interesting information sprinkled throughout what is mostly a gift shop for rock and gem collectors.

We made a second pit-stop at Thorp Market for fresh off the tree Ranier and Washington cherries and a few gift items. By this point, we were both anxious to get to Seattle and out of the car. The drive over the Cascades was beautiful, and relatively easy compared to the Rockies. Traffic into Seattle was light (at least in comparison with Atlanta area traffic!) We found the hotel easily, unloaded the car (well, technically the bellhop unloaded the car), and had parked it for the next three days.

We met my brother briefly for a beverage and snack before he had to head to a pre-wedding function. We were joined shortly thereafter by my daughter, and eventually my husband. We found a great Italian restaurant around the corner from the hotel which was open late. A bottle of wine, some amazing pasta, and a cannoli for dessert. A perfect end to the first half of the roadtrip! And the view for the next 3 days was pretty amazing.