Seattle

Last week Lance had a work trip to Seattle scheduled. We decided that would be a fun place for me to come to as well so we made it a little date getaway. I met him out there on Thursday evening so I had two full days of site seeing to do. Before I got to Seattle Lance was able to go to a Mariners game but other than that he waited to do the tourist stuff with me. I have a sweet friend, Amy, who lived in Seattle for a little while so she was so helpful with advice on what to do and see.

Friday morning we woke up early and headed out to breakfast. As a last minute thought we asked the valet where we should eat on our way out the door. He suggested a place named Bocca just up the street. We were there just early enough not to have to wait. The line was out the door by the time we got our food. We met a couple sitting next to us that was celebrating their 50th birthdays by going on an Alaskan cruise. They received some food vouchers that they were not going to need and gave us a $30 voucher towards our meal. They were also not able to use their City Pass fully and gave that to us as well. Over our time in Seattle they saved us over $100! It was so kind of them.

After breakfast we headed to the City Center to see the Space Needle. We heard mixed reviews on whether or not to go to the top but we decided it would be silly not to. We were glad we did it. The views were so pretty and you could see so many different areas. We could not see Mt. Rainier due to the clouds but apparently that is pretty common.

On the beach side of the Needle it was super windy.

After checking out a few other things we headed back towards the water for lunch. As we were walking it started pouring down rain. We were so happy to have packed our rain coats. I had my rain boots on that morning too because I knew it was going to rain. Apparently that is super uncool in Seattle. People don’t wear rain boots there! Crazy! But you know what? I did not care AT ALL! I was happy to have them and I am pretty sure there were some jealous people with wet feet. As soon as the rain was done it was gorgeous outside. We ran back to the hotel so I could change in to my flip flops for the rest of the day. Amy had suggested we eat at Ivar’s fish bar so we did. 

We had the best seat in the house too. Just below the gate, in the picture below, were tons of seagulls (very reminiscent of Nemo…”mine! mine! mine!”). The sky was beautiful and the temperature was great. If the wind wasn’t blowing, we could even take our jackets off for a bit.

At 3:30, we did a two and a half hour Locks boat tour.  We had to take a bus to where the cruise would launch from but unfortunately we got stuck in a lot of traffic. Lance was ok with it though because he took a 30 minute nap. The cruise started in fresh water (Lake Union) and made its way through the Locks to the salt water and back around to the Waterfront area (Puget Sound).

Sleepless in Seattle house…

Entering the Locks was pretty neat.

Once you enter between the two walls, they gradually drop the water down so that you can enter in to the salt water.

These guys were waiting on the other side to go through the other way.

A view of Seattle from the cruise.

After our cruise we went back to the room for a bit and then went out to find some dinner. We found this local, family-owned pizzeria. The people were loud, the waiter was boisterous, and the pizza was good. Exactly what a pizzeria should be. After dinner it was bed time. We were tired from our busy day. And even though it was only 9:30 local time, it was 12:30 our time, and we were fast asleep.

Saturday morning we had a few more things we wanted to see and do. We were up bright and early again and took the first water taxi of the day over to West Seattle at 8:30.

Before leaving we stopped at Caffe Ladro because Amy had suggested coffee there. I can’t speak for the coffee because I don’t drink it but I can speak for something we saw. A homeless man walked in as we were paying. He asked the barista if he could have a spare cup of coffee and she gave him a free cup. Seeing that just made my heart happy.

I am sure Lance would like for me to point out that he does not normally wear his hat this way…it just happened to be super windy and he didn’t want to lose it.

Our plan for the day was to ride bikes out to Alki Beach. The boat captain was so friendly and asked us if we knew where we were headed. When we confessed we didn’t, he told us exactly what to do. I have to say every one was so friendly! Below is where we were headed. We rode our bikes all around the water front and around the bend.

Because we were over so early, we had a wait a bit for the bike rental shop to open. It was fine because there was a bench by the water with a great view of Seattle. There were also a group of people learning to scuba dive so we sat and enjoyed the view.

Finally we were off. It was a great ride around.

While we were getting ready that morning we had the news on and they said that Seattle’s Seafair was kicking off that day with pirates landing on Alki Beach. We weren’t sure what to think. It ended up just being a little festival along the beach. We wanted so bad to see the pirates land but we missed them by about an hour. On our water taxi ride back to Seattle we saw their boat headed over and it was shooting off cannons.

We went back to the hotel for some reason I can’t remember once we were back on our side of the Sound. We had decided to leave our coats in our room because the weather seemed nice enough. Well as we walked out of the hotel the wind picked up and Lance decided to run back up and get them. I waited outside and it started raining. We decided to wait it out in the hotel bar for a little while and eat a small lunch. One of the workers in the hotel joked that if you just waited a few minutes the weather would change. And change it did!

We headed out to Pike’s Place. Us and a million other people. It was really crowded there but it was neat to see.

We got to see the fish market guys throw fish twice. The first time we were on the far side of the counter and all the guys shout something and then the guy on the outside tosses the fish to the guy on the inside and he wraps it up for the buyer. After seeing that we explored the rest of the market and then came back around to the fish market again. As we walked back up they were about to throw another fish so we stopped right near the guy tossing them and I recorded it in action. This is what happened…

HAHA!! It was so funny!

After Pike’s Place we went back to our hotel and sat out by the pool. It was super windy but so gorgeous. We just enjoyed the quiet and read for a little while. This was our view…

Finally it was time to get ready for dinner. We ate at a restaurant called Etta’s. Lance had been told by several people to get some Copper River salmon because it was only in season for a little while. Etta’s had it on their menu so that is where we went. Dinner was really good and we really enjoyed our time there. After dinner we ran by the original Starbucks so Lance could buy a travel coffee mug.

The first night I arrived I saw this ferris wheel sitting over the water and knew I wanted to ride in it. After dinner, the sun was setting and it was the perfect time to take a spin.

It was such a pretty night.

This picture makes it look like it is earlier in the day but it was around 8:30ish.

The views were amazing.

After the ferris wheel, we got some ice cream, walked up a ton of stairs to get back to our hotel, and sat out by the water fountain while we ate. The ferris wheel looked so pretty all lit up.

Our flight was bright and early Sunday morning at 7:45. It worked out well though because there was a parade scheduled at 11:00 and all of the roads would have been closed. As we took off and banked towards the east I looked out my window and saw this picture. It took my breath away it was so pretty. We finally got to see Mt. Rainier.

I am pretty sure our pilot took the scenic route home because there were so many things to see out the window. It made it hard to read my book. Here is the Great Salt Lake. Flying over this made me so excited to take our kids out to see the world. I can’t wait to let them see so many pretty places.

Aspen

This trip was such a blessing. I am so glad I had this time to spend with Lance. I thought I was going to be anxious about being that far away from the kids for the first time. However, once I dropped them off at my parents house, I felt totally calm. The long weekend was totally stress free and relaxing. Now to plan our next trip together…haha!