We were in Seattle for a total of four days and it didn't rain once! Now is that proof of a charmed trip, or what? I need to wrap up our Alaska narrative before I start the Convention 2011 narrative here in just two weeks! Can't believe I'm on the final blog post about the fantastic Stampin' Up 2011 Alaska incentive cruise… I guess it really is back to reality, now! Although we had so much fun in Seattle, I really could do several posts just on this one city.
First up off the boat that Friday, we hit the famous Pike Place Market. The pictures don't do it justice–it just stretches on and on for blocks.
The flowers were the best part! They were just incredibly gorgeous, and so cheap! I bought a bunch to put in our hotel room. The market is a melange of amazing smells and sounds–right next to all this loveliness was the fish sellers! It was so fun to watch the fish flying through the air. We got there right as a lady volunteer was learning to catch–she did really good!
There's a coffee shop on every corner of every block in Seattle, but we HAD to visit the first Starbucks and pick up a pound of Pike Place Blend, right? Of course! We also felt it our bounden duty to sample a different local coffee shop morning and afternoon throughout our stay… but the best mocha I ever had in my whole life came from a little shop called Zeitgeist, next to the Klondike Gold Rush National Parks museum.
From the sublime to the utterly ridiculous… this is the Gum Wall, in a little alley just off the end of the market. For some reason people started sticking their gum on the wall and it just took on a life of it's own. I had originally planned to stick a piece on the wall myself, but when we actually saw it I was SO grossed out by the thought of all that saliva that I could barely bring myself to stand near it while Mike snapped a quick pic!
After we checked in to the Maxwell (I lied, I am going to do one more post from our trip, all about the astounding hotel decor) we people-watched our way through a huge folk festival in Seattle Center to the iconic Space Needle and later to the monorail. It was windy at the top of the Needle, but with great views and a good way to get a feel of the city layout.
Had a lot of really excellent food in Seattle, too, including the famous Ivar's Fish Bar, and Toulouse Petit, a French Creole restaurant I found online. We made it there for beignets with chicory dipping sauce and French-press coffee one morning and now we're spoiled for regular donuts forever! And in search of the perfect beignet recipe…
Ok, I lied again–two more "last" posts from our trip, coming up! I forgot to tell you about our Seattle Underground tour! Oh and the Mariners game….Stay tuned…!
Keep these posts coming until we can “see” Convention through your eyes!