Day two started bright and early... This is shocking on a couple levels... One that it was in fact bright once again in Seattle... The forecast called for rain all week so we were thrilled to see the sun streaming in... The other shocker is the early part. I am a night owl... It is 2:00 AM as I type this but it turns out I am a west cost "early bird"! If I get up normally at 9 AM here I woke up by 6 AM there! Crazy!!

I should also mention today was our 23rd anniversary so we just planned to spend a whole day together exploring...

First task was breakfast... I voted we eat at the hotel and then go explore but Paul wanted a more unique "Seattle" experience so I consulted my phone and jokingly suggested the most "Seattle" sounding place within walking distance... It is called "Biscuit B*tch"! Yes, you read that right... and it turns out he called my bluff so we were off!

It is a literal hole in the wall a few blocks from our hotel and it turns out it has AMAZING food! 

There are like four tables but we got there early so we lucked out and had our choice... As we ate it filled up fast with a non-stop take out business... We were at a table for four so we offered up the other two seats to  couple women who came in... They were clearly tourists too but the mistook us for locals... Crazy! We had a lovely conversation as we ate then said goodbye and we were off! 

To PIKE PLACE MARKET!!! 

Look how empty the street is... That's how early it was!! 

Of course there are the famous fish vendors who I am ashamed to admit we didn't wait around long enough to see them throw any fish... 

But I did take a sample from this stand then bought two bags of their chocolate covered cherries! 

But by far the most tempting part were the flowers...

Oh my, the flowers... 

Huge bouquets for $10 - $15 dollars!!! Insane!! Alas, the don't pack well...

But Paul spotted this stand and we couldn't resist picking something up for our sweet grand baby!

Paul picked the watermelon hat with the knit ladybug! So cute!!

We also spied what some people would consider the "holy grail" of coffee shops...

Yes, the VERY FIRST STARBUCKS!!!! 

Alas I had just had coffee so we didn't stop but did drink plenty of Starbucks during our visit!

We decided to "stroll" down the waterfront from the market to the sculpture garden...

(NOT a little stroll... I am a house to car to location to car to house kind of gal and before this day was over Paul would have dragged me over seven miles of walking!!! At times up hills so steep we were just shy of needing climbing gear! In fact by the time our vacation was over we had walked almost 18 miles!!! I refer to this part of my vacation as my "forced death march"!) 

We walked past Pier 66 where all the cruise ships dock...

To the Sculpture Garden...

It was a beautiful spot on a beautiful day but when I left the hotel I didn't know we'd be walking so far so I didn't bring any water and most of the shops were not open yet since it was still early so I don't think I enjoyed it as much as I could have! 

But it was pretty...

And pretty cool! 

And you couldn't beat the weather...

Paul talked me into walking the four or so blocks UP to the space needle so we could take the mono-rail back so we hiked UP a crazy steep hill very slowly...

There is a ton of cool sculpture all over Seattle these are near the base of the Space Needle...

After this LONG walk we rode back to the hotel and rested... It was 10:30 AM!!!! 

It was then I got my revenge...

I talked Paul into going on one of these!! 

The tour wasn't until 1:00 so we rested, (bandaged my blistered feet) and had a snack for lunch (since we were saving room for dinner)! 

Doesn't he look thrilled??

Giant Popcycle! I love this city!!

It was an interesting tour and we did the whole thing sitting! 

Seattle from Lake Union

Gasworks park...

Houseboats! (So fun!!) 

Passing another duck!

Paul survived the agony of the overly perky tour guide and since it picked us up and dropped us off right next to our hotel it wasn't out of the way at all...

Paul was ready to rest but I was ready to explore the hotel's neighbors...

The Nordstrom Flagship store is on one side 

(google.com photo since I forgot to take one)

And an enormous Macy's on the other... So we stopped into that Starbucks you see there on the right then he headed up to our room and I went to see how much trouble I could get into in Nordstrom! 

Rebecca Fact: I LOVE PURSES!!! It is and has been my "thing" for years and if you noticed the pink bag on my arm in the earlier picture it is the Kate Spade bag I got as a Pre-Anniversary gift...

I thought it was time for an "actual" anniversary gift (Or early mother's day... I can justify this purchase all day!)

Navy blue and white with a snazzy lemon wallet! Too cute!!! 

I also got a birthday gift for Allison and ran into one of her favorite youtube personalities but that is a story for a different day!

As I was leaving Nordstrom a couple ladies stopped me to ask me directions! Yes, mistaken for a local TWICE in one day... I must look like I fit in there! (Or I just look non-intimidating to approach, but don't burst my bubble!)

After my little shopping spree we walked to dinner...

This is where Paul was the most excited to eat...

"The Grill From Ipanema"

They come to your table with meat on the spit and carve it right there! 

This night there were 19 different meats and cuts of meat rotating around the room... There was also an AWESOME buffet/salad bar... We ate and ate and ate, then ate some more!! 

Paul had promised a taxi ride back to the hotel but alas he tricked me into walking back too! That aside it was a wonderful day from start to finish!! 

Come back tomorrow to hear about my adventures in meeting my first bloggy friend! 

Thanks for listening,

Seattle... Day One...

Sorry it took me so long to post... I was crazy busy getting ready for the trip then after our trip it took me several days to get my feet under me... One of my mother's friend summed it up when she said the hardest part of vacation is "re-entry" into daily life! I know some of you travel all the time so this is probably something you are used to but for us it threw us off...

I also know some of you may not be interested in all the minutiae of our trip but since I am not as good as scrapbooking as I used to be these posts will be part of how we remember it! Yes, I did say posts...  seems like too much happened to put it all in one post! (Bear with me!)

The closest (real) airport is two hours from us in Portland (our Portland as I would be saying for the next week!) and since our flight was at 6 AM we decided to spend the night in Portland so we could get a good night sleep. 

HA! 

At 11:50 PM we were awoken by the fire alarm! 

It took us a few minutes to come to and realize what was going on and to follow the instructions on the back of the door (like I thought I'd ever need those!!) and head down to the parking lot... 

The fire department arrived and seemed particularly un-rushed but we all waited out there for over 45 minutes before it became clear that there was no fire and slowly made our way inside...

(Side note: See the guys in the black warm-ups going through the door? At the last minute I thought to snap a picture since they are the members of the Anaheim Ducks Hockey Team! We were out there with the whole team in the parking lot and I didn't take a single photo until this moment... I am such a quick thinker in the middle of the night in a crisis! Anyhow, this just goes to show, you never know who is in your hotel!) 

Anyhow the hotel is under renovation and the alarm was a "false" one that continued to go off for the next TWO HOURS! At least we were warm, but it was so loud and there was no chance at all of sleep. Finally at 3:00 AM it turned off but by the time I finally fell back to sleep it was 3:30 and our alarm went off at 4:00 AM! We had to be at the airport by 5 AM so I stumbled through the motions and we made it. (Just barely since we were the last ones on the plane.) 

Flying is rarely pleasant and this day was particularly bad so I will skip ahead nine hours to our arrival in Seattle...

I truly dislike that feeling you get when you get off a long flight and then have to line up for a cab... The cab line at the airport feels like a game of chance I am too tired to deal with so we booked a driver and private car. Always money well spent! They meet you at the luggage claim, grab your bags, whisk you away to a private, clean car and take you directly to your hotel. 

I had booked us into the Mayflower Park Hotel because of three reasons, location, location, location! 

It is connected by a sky walk to the Westlake Shopping Center which is also the downtown stop for the Seattle Monorail. This takes you directly to the base of the Space Needle... Also it is right downtown and only a few blocks from the Pikes Place Market... Right in the heart of the action! 

The rooms were old school and a wee bit dated but clean and well maintained...

Since we hadn't eaten anything all day we made a pit stop in the bar for lunch and then settled into our room... The day was amazing and sunny so we wanted to get out and see the city (in case the weather forecast of rain for the rest of the week held true) but first we needed a quick nap... By 3:30 we were feeling a bit better and headed over to that monorail for a quick visit to the Space Needle.  

We know it's a cheesy tourist thing but tourists are what we were and so we paid our $19 each to get on an elevator and head to the top... 

As we got in line for the elevator we were forced past a photographer and this was the picture he got! 

Don't we look thrilled??  Ah well, it was free  for a digital download so I figured I'd share!  

Here is the view of Mt. Rainier on this amazing sunny afternoon...

And here is Lake Union which will become important later in trip!

I snapped this picture of Paul but when I asked him to take one of me it was so bad I will spare us both... He got better as the week went on! 

Here is the bird's eye view of the EMP Museum...

Here is the front... We intended to visit it but ran out of time.

After we came down from the Space Needle we made our way back to the Hotel to clean up for the dinner reservation the concierge made us at the nearby Dahlia Lounge...

We lucked into the best week to visit Seattle... Restaurant Week!!! 

Over 160 restaurants were offering a three course menu for a mere $28 per person! 

To put that in perspective, the entree I selected is normally $27 on it own!

(Let's just say we ate GOOD that week!) 

I started with a warm spring salad which had house made ricotta cheese and the most amazing sweet onion jelly hiding under those greens... It was AMAZING!! So much more then a salad!!

Then I had the Lamb Chops... Delish! 

And finished with this chocolate mousse in a homemade espresso caramel... YUMMO...

Seriously though, the food was even better then it looks! (And that is saying something!) 

After dinner we strolled back the block and half to our hotel and called it an early night as we had been up since 1 AM west coast time and had very little sleep! 

Thanks for listening,