Lisa, myself and four other girl friends went on a little adventure last weekend to wilds of Washington. That's a lie. We went into the forest once, but how we got there is quite the story! In June we found really cheap tickets to Seattle. None of us had ever been there and timing was perfect- fall break for me, and UEA for the four who are teachers. We decided to seize the day and take a much needed vacation. With a hip condo we found for a really good price in Belltown, a neighborhood in downtown Seattle, we began our urban getaway.
Our first day we went to Pikes Place Market, a beautiful farmers/craft market just a block above the piers. It was a dream- a mixture of small book stores, flower shops, local farmers, artists, fishermen, cafes. The cuisine was divine! Holding back was difficult, so we didn't. We were on vacation after all. We journeyed to Pikes Place everyday, it never got old. We bought produce one night and a huge salmon fillet and cooked dinner from home one night even.
We did almost everything that we could think of while we were there; the SAM Seattle Art Museum (loved), the Space Needle (not worth $18, but cool), the Underground City tour (amazing), shopping, the International District (rated with one star for a reason), we went sailing (worth every penny. I would do that again in a heart beat- and a warmer jacket), took the ferry to Bainebridge Island (stories to follow), we went and saw the salmon gates and the Locks (pretty interesting), the Seattle Temple (gorgeous), the Olympic Sculpture Park (super neat, a relaxing walk and experience), visited the campus of University
of Washington (to die for), the EMP Experience Music Project (didn't go inside, but the outside was cool), and even caught a few minutes at a Turkish Festival. The great thing was that we did most of this without a car. The public transportation system there was fantastic, and free within the areas that we were. There was so much to do downtown. I will admit- when we did get a car and were able to make our way to the freeway system and out of the city I was blown away by the beauty of the suburbs. There was so much green, water and harbors everywhere. The architecture was amazing as well- with the most concentrated amount of Victorian Romanesque building in the world. At any given time you could see either some body of water, some enchanted green park, or the distant mountain ranges that were dwarfed by Mt. Rainier or Mt. St. Helen's. That is my only regret of our trip- I wish we could have to the Mountains. They were positively majestic.Which reminds me- our adventure to the Grand Forest of Bainebridge! On Saturday, we decided to take a break from the city hullaballoo and jumped on the ferry to Bainebridge Island. We were much disappointed when we got there though- due partly to the fact that our first two encounters were with severely intoxicated women. It wasn't as touristy as we had imagined- one main street with small shops filled with items that were far too pricey for our budgets- not to mention for the most part hideous. We had set aside about four hours there, and there was nothing to do- until we met our Turkish friend (I can't recall his name). He owned a rug shop- full of beautiful Turkish rugs that I drooled incessantly over. He was the kindest of fellows- and he was so kind as to force his only employee (a thirty-something gentleman by the name of Johnathan) to 'take us to the forest!'. We didn't feel threatened or creeped out by them, so we piled in Johnathan's
dusty blue late nineties Volvo station wagon. There were four crammed in the back seat- two on the front, plus jolly Johnathan. He was so kind telling us about the local activities, where to buy the 'most fantastic textiles' and various things produced on the island. It was a very picturesque Island- massive trees, over grown vines and wild black berry bushes enveloping the hills. The small homes were prime post-card material. As he pulled off the road and let us out of the vehicle to go into the forest- he promised to come back in an hour. Talk about showing faith in a stranger! But I will forever be grateful for our that kind Turkish man and Johnathan. I have never seen such a beautiful place- God's creations in pure and natural glory. It was so peaceful, the air cool, clean and crisp. I-like my father- was infatuated with all of the various plants, especially the mushrooms. They were fascinating. Needless to say- Johnathan was there in an hour- picked us up and took us back to a small cafe called the Pegasus. We said our goodbyes and got some of the best hot chocolate I have ever had.All in all- Our vacation was excellent. I am definitely interested in spending more time there in my future, or even living there for a while. It wasn't a relaxing trip- but a very inspiring, busy, fun, adventure filled one. Not to mention- a delicious one. All I have to say is Bavarian cream doughnuts, gourmet burgers with french onion soup, felafel and baklava, salmon chowder in bread bowls, fresh fruit, butternut squash soup with English pesto crumpets, pastries, and gelato. I'd write more about the food- but... you'd just have to be there to understand.
