Seattle Pics, Take 1

These are from our harbor tour of Seattle and from the Seattle Museum of Art. Like my new Easter dress?

And one of our hotel lobby. I LOVED that hotel.

And pics from our flight into Vancouver and our drive across the border to Seattle . . . .

Ah, Sunny Seattle

What fun we’ve had on our “happy anniversary/happy birthday/happy medical conference” trip. Everything started off with a four-hour flight to Vancouver, on which my hubby surprised me with an early birthday gift: two seats in first class. Ah, comfort and edible food. I chuckle about the food because Bryan and I purchased an apple/cheese to-go box before we boarded since the airline said we’d only receive a “snack” on the flight. American Airlines’ idea of a snack is far from mine: unlimited comp beverages, mixed nuts, chicken parmesan, green beans, a salad, hummus and chips, and a warm cookie. Snack? Lord, what do they eat for lunch?

Once arriving in O Canada, we collected our rental car and traveled south via I-5 to Seattle. The trip down was very neat—the topography is so different from our Texas home. I never knew popular trees were so t-a-l-l.

While staying in Seattle, we fit in as much as we could in our four-day stint. The first night, we ate Japanese and just walked around the downtown area. Sunday found us strolling the Seattle Art Museum (SAM), which presented a fabulous Picasso special exhibit with more than 100 pieces. Did I say fabulous? It was! We also strolled the waterfront on Sunday and hopped on board a harbor cruise. I was elated when we saw two real sea lions resting on top a large buoy. And the shipyard . . . . I have NEVER seen water vessels that ginormous in my life. Oh. My. Word. That evening we traveled into Ballard to have dinner at the famous Ray’s Café. I give it one thumb’s up. Wasn’t the worse, but wasn’t the best.

Monday we dived into the Seattle Aquarium, which featured many exhibits on the inhabitants of the local waters. The sea and river otters were my favorite, but Bryan’s favorite was the out-of-this world huge octopus. The Puget Sound is home to these larger-than-life creatures. STAY OUT OF THE WATER! The man-made salmon run was also impressive. After our time “under the sea,” we embarked on perhaps the yummiest two hours of my life to date. The Pike’s Place Market was . . . um, I have no words. If you are EVER in Seattle SIGN UP for the Savor Seattle food tour. We tasted spring rolls, smokes salmon (Fish market, take me away), “stupid” good clam and chicken chowders, vegan cookies, cheese three ways (curds, take me away), crab and cornbread cakes, cinnamon doughnuts, ravioli-type Russian potato and chicken thingys, pumpkin-spice lattes. All of this made fresh from fresh ingredients from the local farmers. Fort Worth, we need this. We also learned that the Market is home to the first Starbucks, Seattle’s Best Coffee, and Sur La Table. (It is a fact: There is a coffee house or two on every corner. Bryan assured me it tasted no different from non-Washington coffee.) For my flower lovers out there (give me a shout), the Market has several flower stands where you can purchase gorgeous bouquets for as little as $5. If heaven were on earth . . . .

We visited the Space Needle twice, once at night and once during daylight. We also checked out the Experience Music Project—very cool. Thank you, Mr. Hendrix.

And to top it all off, it was sunny every day. Seattle, you’re such a trickster.

Pictures to come . . . . Stay tuned.

Visitors!

Just a few weeks ago, we had some special guests at the Youree household: Andrea and Colton! We enjoyed munching on some food at Red, Hot, & Blue, and then REALLY loved seeing all the animals at the zoo. But what was Colton's favorite? The TRAIN!

Come back and visit us again!!!!!

Rewind: Baylee

Where has the summer gone? I was supposed to be blogging about our summer happenings in reverse order before the summer ended--ooops.

The Texas heat arrived with the annual "Baylee visit," which Uncle Bryan and I oh-so-look forward to. This year, we signed her up for cooking school during the mornings at Central Market. And wow--did they prepare some yummo food. On the last day of the cooking camp, Baylee invited Uncle Bryan and me to the cooking show put on by her class. We were so impressed! And they even served us a three-course meal that tasted so great!

Other fun treats included water-park fun, shopping (of course!), and Concerts in the Garden. What a special week with a special girl. Can't wait for next summer!