I'm talking about Seattle. :)

About a week ago we drove almost 400 miles, stayed in a private apartment, a bed and breakfast, and two hotels around the northwest.  The first leg of our trip was Seattle.  Navigating by car in Seattle was hectic, expensive, and highly not recommended. 



When we weren't hampered by parking time limits and (sometimes) lack of parking, Seattle was a really nice place to walk around.  The weather was lovely.





Here are a few Seattle highlights:

*  Pike's place market



We've been here before, but I love the festive bustle of markets.  The "original" Starbucks is located here.  We went to Starbucks and ordered... tea.  I appreciate the smell of coffee as much as the next person, but when it comes to drinking it, I douse mine with so much cream and sugar that I might as well be drinking, well, milk and sugar.  Enough admitted.





We tried the cheese, onion, and garlic roll at Piroshky Piroshky, a very tasty Russian Bakery at Pike's Place.



*  Crab pot with Sean



From this picture it looks like Tony is planning on tackling the mess on our table with his bare hands, while Sean takes a slightly more civilized route with his mallet. :)  I'm ashamed to say that we couldn't finish it, I blame the baked rolls we had right before this.

*  We explored our Queen Anne neighborhood and found Kerry Park, which offers a lovely view of downtown Seattle.  Along the way we ran into a brightly lit house surrounded by several trucks.  A neighbor whispered to me that it was a new Toby Maguire film.  We were a little too tired to linger too long though.



*  Tea at the historic Panama Hotel
It was built by a Japanese American architect and is perfectly preserved in its original state from the 1950s.  Supposedly it also contains some unclaimed furniture that previously belonged to some Japanese families that went into internment camps during WWII.



*  Underground tour

This quirky, humorous tour takes you through the dark subterranean passages of what was once the storefronts and streets of old Seattle.









I totally should've thought of a headlamp!  Now if only my husband would be willing to walk around with me wearing it...

*  Tasty sandwiches at Salumi's roughly breaks even with the painfully long line it takes to get to that cramped counter to gasp out your order.  It certainly does make you appreciate it more though.  This is a picture of the Porchetta, we also ordered a platter of assorted meats and cheeses.  Don't get me wrong, it was really, really good.. but it was also a really, really long line.  Catch it at an off hour or order ahead and pick it up.



*  The duck tour was definitely a highlight, albeit I was originally very resistant to it.  But how often do you get to ride an amphibious vehicle that drives you along the freeway one minute then dives headlong into the Lake Union in another minute...?



Our driver, self-named "Cueball," donned many hats... and my favorite is the very last one, which he wore right before he drove us off the ramp straight into the water.



I kid you not when I said that we went into Lake Union, for at least 20 minutes.  We could see the house that Tom Hanks paced around in in the film Sleepless in Seattle.





Some locals thought to entertain the camera-laden tourists (the other folks, certainly not me) by waving at us then jumping straight into water.

*  Free museum Thursdays at the Frank Gehry designed museum, the Experience Music Project, is a concert and a sci-fi-fest all in one.  A local band was blasting music and I got to ogle my favorite section, the Science Fiction Museum.





Bathroom, anyone?



*  Visiting the Chens was a definite highlight.  Their kids are adorable, especially Noelle.  In this picture she is demonstrating her multi-tasking skills, how to drink water and wash your hands.  Impressive.  Her parents understandably did not think so.



Peek-a-boo with my camera.



And when she was instructed to bid me good night said, "G'nite camera."  Sigh.  I'm more than just a pretty black box, people!

All in all a good (packed) few days in Seattle.  Just a teeny, tiny drop of all the things that this beautiful city has to offer.