(Saturday, October 1)
Today was all about exploring Seattle. We started the day with breakfast and lots of coffee (the coffee here is spectacular, of course) at Pike Place Bar and Grill, a wonderful restaurant overlooking Pike Place Market. Our waiter was super friendly (and even used to work in Lexington) and gave us a map and suggestions of places to visit while in Seattle. We enjoyed a delicious bounty of scrambled eggs with veggies, bacon, an omelet, biscuits, and homefries. And the best part is that all of the veggies that the restaurant uses come from the market below! How cool is that?
After fueling up with about 6 cups of coffee (the waiter kept refilling and we kept drinking), we explored the Pike Place Market, taking in the sights and smells (they sell fish). It’s amazing how much fresh produce they have around here! And it’s all beautiful and perfect. We made a pitstop at the famous fish stand, where they throw giant fish around the place. We got to see the fish flying, which was surprisingly exciting.
There was rain in the forecast today, so we tried to beat it to our outdoor activities for the day. We walked to the Olympic Sculpture Park, which is this really awesome park on the Puget Sound. It has a bunch of really cool big sculptures, a biking/running/walking path, and a tiny little beach. It started misting while we were there, but that was about all of the rain we encountered today.
After the park, we walked to the Space Needle, which we felt like we needed to see, simply because we’re in Seattle. We decided not to go up in the needle because our waiter told us about the tallest building in Seattle, which apparently has better views and costs less to visit.
We walked to that building, but apparently it’s closed on Saturdays. Bummer.
Next up, we walked to the ferry station (as you can tell, we did a lot of walking today. We are currently suffering from sore legs.) to take a ferry to Bainbridge Island. The ferry was super fun (and rather chilly), and gave us great views of Seattle as we pulled away from the city. Eric and I wandered the decks during the trip, taking in views of sailboats, mountains, islands, and the big city. We also saw a lot of giant seagulls and crows. I don’t know what they are feeding the birds around here, but they are literally the size of small children. As a bird-hater non-bird enthusiast, these things were completely terrifying and always seemed to be flying right at me. Scary stuff, my friends.
Anywho, as we got closer to the island, the sun came out and we were able to take off our rain jackets for a bit! What a wonderful weather surprise!
Once we reached the island (which can only be accessed by boat or plane), we joined hundreds of other tourists exploring the shops and restaurants on Bainbridge Island. It would be a beautiful place to live, that’s for sure. We stumbled upon some home listings outside a real estate office, and unfortunately, it appears you need at least $1.5 million to get a place overlooking the water. That’s a bit out of our price range for the time being. But we can dream, right?
The island had a bunch of super cute shops and restaurants, which was perfect for our growling stomachs. We settled upon a cute little place called Fork and Spoon for lunch (which I will admit I selected mostly because of the cute name and sign), where we ate outside in a cute little courtyard. We both ordered bacon veggie sandwiches (bacon twice in one day? What?), which were seriously amazing. I tell you, I think you could put bacon on anything and market it as spectacular.
We walked off our lunch perusing the shops a bit more, and then indulged in a snickerdoodle cookie and marionberry pie for dessert. Marionberry is one of my obsessions in life, thanks to my summer working at a camp in Washington. Marionberry jelly is one of my favorite things in the whole world, and I haven’t been able to find it anywhere in Kentucky. I did stumble upon it in Florida last year, which you can bet I scooped up for myself and my friend Becca, who shares my obsession. Anywho, the pie was a bit of a disappointment, as it was almost like a thin pie crust topped with 2 jars of jelly. It was a bit lacking in the crumble top department.
We eventually walked back to the ferry pick-up and rode back to Seattle, where we explored a few more shops and wandered back to our hotel in hopes of resting up for tomorrow’s big adventure: paddle boarding!
Hope all is well in your neck of the woods! We send our love from Seattle!
-Ally
Betsy Ringer says
LOVE hearing about your adventures! It’s the next best thing to being there myself! So glad you are having a great time and sharing your pictures and experiences!!