Saturday morning when I set off to meet friends for a road trip to Seattle it was raining and it continued to rain most of the way down. But hey, you are on a road trip and who cares about the weather? With stops for breakfast and an hour and a half at the outlet mall, we arrived in wet Seattle!
We did a quick little jaunt to Target and then returned to our favourite hotel, The Monaco!
Here is the beautiful foyer
where we met our friend, Elizabeth, and enjoyed wine hour-the Sumo oranges were a gift from Elizabeth!
We went for dinner in the hotel restaurant-delicious - and had a pleasant evening with Elizabeth!
The next morning there was a bit of a mix up with Elizabeth and I waiting to meet Chris and Olivia in the lobby and they thought we had left already for breakfast but we did catch up eventually!
After breakfast at Le Panier right across from the Pike Street Market we wandered down to Pioneer Square
enjoying all the sights along the way.
And yes, that is blue sky!!!
We never quite got it together to have loaner bikes in Vancouver but here they are in Seattle!
I am one of those people who love shop windows!
And I can see shopkeepers are reading for Valentine Day!
I love these socks!
Nice view of the water...
Great old buildings!
and no lack of coffee bars in Seattle!
We love the Seattle Mystery Bookshop!
More valentine displays!
A favourite store-Watson Kennedy
I think I snapped this in Fran's Chocolates-love those salted chocolate caramels!
A rose...
Looking towards West Seattle...
I always have to check out Sur La Table...
Nice little courtyard here!
Peaking into the Four Seasons where it seemed to be tea time!
Our big afternoon event was going on a tasting tour in Capital Hill-Hip on the Hill, with Savour Seattle. All I can say is it was a good thing walking was involved in the tour.
Now one disclaimer-make sure your taxi driver listens to you when you tell him where you are going-he missed the part about East Pike rather than regular Pike and we ended up having to jog quite a few blocks. Since he spent the whole ride on the phone I don't think he was too concerned.
Our meeting spot to begin the tour was Cupcake Royale and my cupcake was very tasty.
I also enjoyed learning about the history of the company, how a former Microsoft executive brought the ideas of cupcakes from New York. Also all ingredients are locally sourced-always nice to know!
We learned how Capital Hill used to be the place to buy a car and here we are at the Packard Building.
And it was bagel time with yummy spreads at Eltona!
Note the giant crossword. They give out smaller copies, different each week, and we ended up solving ours waiting at the border!
Having lived for six years in Montreal I think I am quite a bagel expert and these were delicious! I also like the theme even in the name of Middle East peace!
Our knowledgeable guide (who just happened to be going to theatre school) kept us entertained with stories of the neighbourhood and our next stop was The Manhattan.
Note the signature cocktail!
Wandering through the hood...
Our next stop was the Marination Station for tacos. And I forgot to take a picture! But so yummy! This started as a food truck by two recycled IT types who liked to cook!
And then we were on to Capital Cider.
I am not a big cider fan but I really enjoyed this and the chicken sausages! This looked like a very fun place to hang out!
Street art-apparently there are several places where you can practice dance steps-here the Chachacha!
Our final stop was for frozen custard at Old School Frozen Custard.
I like how they have a flavour of the day...
What a fun way to spend an afternoon though I was rather full! We decided to walk back to our hotel as it was all downhill now (have I mentioned Seattle is a bit hilly).
We stopped for a look at the Starbucks Roastery and Tasting Room! Kind of impressive!
Back on Fifth Avenue it looked a bit like Broadway as we headed back to our hotel for a little Downtown Abbey quality time!!! Stay tuned for Monday's adventure! And did I mention it didn't rain all day!!!
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