Seattle: Part II

As promised, Part II of our Seattle anniversary adventure is up for your viewing pleasure :).

Thursday we headed to Pike Place Market bright and early!  If you plan on visiting Seattle anytime in the near future, I would recommend doing exactly as we did.  We were able to walk through the market without the crowds of people and got a table at Lowell's (a restaurant in the market) without any problem.

After breakfast, we walked through the market some more and then headed to the EMP museum and the Space Needle.  The EMP museum was interesting, to say the least.  We saw exhibits on Nirvana, horror movies, and the Seahawks.  

Of course I had to take a picture of the Wizard of Oz costumes on display at the EMP museum :)

Quick fact we learned after we went up the Space Needle: a local man was talking to us about our trip and suggested we go to Columbia Tower.  Evidently, it allows for an even better view than the Space Needle and is half the price!

After our bird's eye view of the city, we headed back to the market to try some of Beecher's famous mac & cheese and oh my was it delicious!

Thursday evening, we had scheduled a boat ride to Blake Island for dinner at Tillicum Village and Native American stories and dancing.  It was so much fun!

Smoked salmon for dinner=yum.

Friday morning, we walked to the market again to try Piroshky Piroshky and it was just as yummy as we had read.  We then made our way back to Pioneer Square for Bill Speidel's Underground Tour.  It was fascinating to learn all about Seattle's history and see the underground streets that were built upon after the fire in the 1800s.

That afternoon, we had a tour scheduled at the Boeing factory to see all of the planes and then we made our way to Safeco Park for a Mariners game.

Our trip was so much fun and the weather sure beat this Kansas heat!  I cannot wait for our next adventure together!

Seattle: Part I

We just returned from our anniversary adventure to Seattle on Saturday and I couldn't wait to share our trip with you all!

We arrived last Sunday around 10:30 or so, which gave us most of the day to explore.  Our hotel was conveniently located near the pier, so we ventured down towards the water for some lunch and settled on seafood of course!  After eating, we visited the Seattle Aquarium and then headed to Pike Place Market where we tried some treats from Three Girls Bakery.

Had to snap a picture of Nemo at the aquarium :)

My delicious cookie from Three Girls Bakery

Dinner that evening was at a WONDERFUL little Italian restaurant by the name of Al Boccalino.  I would highly recommend this amazing place and would encourage you to get "The Italian Table."  You pick how much you want to pay and the chef brings out an assortment of the items on their menu.  It was fabulous!

On Monday, we took the Clipper from Seattle to Victoria, British Columbia.  It was a beautiful little town, but I think we were both tired from the time change and the three hour boat ride.  Plus, my Fitbit informed me we walked over 20,000 steps that day!

The Chinese School in Victoria.  Our tour guide told us that Chinese children go to public school during the day and Chinese school in the evening. Long day!

Craigdarroch Castle

The Parliament building.  Parliament was sitting that day and we were able to go in and quietly observe.

Our view when we returned that evening.  If you look closely, you can see Mt. Rainier in the background on the right.

Tuesday took us south of Seattle to Mount St. Helen's.  It was a bit of a drive, but completely worth it to learn all about volcanoes, see the hardened lava formations, and see the volcano up close.  If you plan on going someday, I would recommend going to the Visitor's Center first and then driving up towards Spirit Lake.  That evening, we indulged in some more seafood at Elliott's Oyster House on the pier and it was delicious!

A stream that the 1980 eruption created.

The suspension bridge we walked across that was at least 150 feet off the ground.

Lava formations created by the eruption.

Mount St. Helen's

The next day, we traveled south again to Mt. Rainier National Park and drove from the southwest corner to the northeast corner.  The drive was beautiful and once the clouds dissipated, we were able to get a spectacular view of Mt. Rainier.  We then drove to Snoqualmie Falls and then on to Kerry Park for what we had heard was the best view of downtown.

Mt. Rainier

Narada Falls

A view of the glaciers from Sunrise Visitor's Center.

Snoqualmie Falls

A view of downtown Seattle from Kerry Park.

My post on the last half of our trip will be up next!