Our Last Day in Seattle

On Saturday morning, we headed to the flagship REI and I was able to get some awesome shoes and a harness for rock climbing.  That harness is awesome and is so much more comfortable than the ones you can rent.  After that we headed down to Pike Place Market.  I was so excited and looking everywhere that we only got one picture!  The flying fish store was right at the entrance to the market, and I was lucky enough to get to see a fish get thrown over the heads of those watching.  Brett missed it, and we didn't see them do it again.  We did get a picture of Brett with the ugly monkfish they had on display.

This thing had a string attached to it's tail that the employees would pull when people walked by or tried to get a picture of it.  It was hilarious.  There were tons of awesome vendors with fun and beautiful produce.  There were tons of flowers for sale, and I went nuts trying to take everything in.  We bought some roasted garlic and herb flavored pasta, cheesecake truffles, marinated cheese curds, and some roasted lemon pepitas and caramel cashews.  We tasted pepper jellies, beef jerky, chocolate pasta, and a wonderful orange.  We had a fantastic lunch there too!  I was also pleased to find out that Chez Shea, which is mentioned on Frasier all the time, is a real place!  I thought they just made it up. :)  The market was spectacular, but we couldn't stay all day.  We headed to the Seattle Aquarium.

I love aquariums, and this one had tons of seals and otters, and some glowing fish!  It was fun to walk through and see all the kids.  Brett got this picture of the Space Needle as we were driving by it.

We decided to head about an hour north of Seattle to see a tulip festival that Noelle's dad recommended.  We stopped at Trophy Cupcakes on the way there.  Although they were good, they don't come close to Sprinkles.  The tulips and daffodils were gorgeous, and there were so many of them!  The first field we came to was just a sea of red.

Other fields had sections with many different colors.  Here were some of my favorites.

There were tons of yellow and white daffodils too, and tons of people!  We had a hard time getting pictures because so many people were there.

The next morning we headed out early so we could come home to get Kennedy.  It was a fabulous and beautiful trip, and I'm so glad we got to go.  I was sad to leave, but hopefully we will be there someday!

Pike Place Market: My Mecca

Yes, it's true. The other day Brett mentioned that he may want to live in Seattle when we are done with school, so I started doing some research. First of all, I found out that the University of Washington has the number 4 program in the nation for what Brett wants to do, which is awesome. After I found that out I started looking for some more information about the city itself. I started with weather, and it turns out that the average temperature in June and July is 75 degrees. 75! That is so amazing. But the best was yet to come. I found Pike Place Market. Brace yourself.

I love food and I love to cook, so naturally Farmer's Markets and exotic and fresh ingredients are some of my favorite things. I could not believe how amazing this market is! They have all kinds of produce, meats, and anything else you could possibly imagine needing. They have a whole store dedicated to spices, and another completely for products made from blueberries.
They also have a ton of pastry shops (including French and Russian), more than 50 restaurants, and a ton of other kinds of shops of random stuff (not food). I am so excited to take a trip out there so that I can go to this market.
I am sure that Brett will be horrified when we go, because he hates shopping for long periods of time, and I have an inkling that this place could take a whole day for me. I don't think I have ever heard of a place as cool as this before as far as food goes. I can't wait to delve in and see what I find! It may be a while yet, but I'm sold on the idea of Seattle.

My friend Noelle is currently having fun in Costa Rica, but since she grew up in Seattle, maybe she'll be able to tell me a little bit more about it (as well as the city itself)!