Seattle area - cooling off vacation

This is a retroactive entry for our vacation. We left Fort Worth on Thursday, August 11. I haven't been able to keep up on a daily basis for a couple of reasons. One...not having the time. Two...the Edgewater Hotel, where we stayed in Seattle at the beginning of the trip was charging by the hour for Wifi access. Ridiculous! Needless to say, I did not want to pay.

As blogs go you need to read from the bottom up for the dates to be sequential...so scroll down to read/view entries chronologically.


8/15/11 (Monday) -Breakfast at the Inn. The main dish was a smoked salmon scramble...interesting. The accompaniments of fresh fruit and banana muffin were tasty.

The main event today was hiking up Mt. Constitution, the highest peak on the island at 2400 feet. The hike to the top is about 4.5 miles. It was one of the more challenging hikes we've tackled. It is also one of the best. We were rewarded with great views at the top and a sunlit forest on the way up. Also, spotted our first bald eagle flying and rousting near the top of the mountain. Coming down was in some respects more difficult than going up...some pretty steep switch backs.
Vicki took a tumble near the bottom and came away with only a few bruises and scrapes. The top of my hand brushed the underside of a stinging nettle leaf which caused some welts on my hand that itched. Fortunately they went away within a few hours.

Dinner was at Chilada's in East Sound. I had Dungeness Crab enchiladas.

8/14/11 (Sunday) - Left Seattle and headed for Orcas Island where we will be for the next four nights. Breakfast at the Edgewater Hotel. Packed our stuff and headed out to pick up the rent car. We thought the car reservation was at a downtown location, but no, it was in the University section of the city. So, we took a cab to the Budget car rental location. The cab driver did not know where he was going, but claimed our scenic route was a result of road construction. You know when you travel and take a cab...you are at their mercy.

On our way north to Anacortes to catch the ferry to the island, we stopped in a little village called La Conner. There were some interesting shops. One had several meditation bells that were cool. Nothing I could pack in a suitcase and bring home though.

Our ferry was scheduled to leave at 4 PM and we got there around 1:30. Early is good because the ferries were filling up about an hour to an hour and a half ahead of time. The ferry ride to Orcas took a little over an hour.

Kingfish Inn and West Sound Cafe

Checked in to the Kingfish Inn which adjoins the West Sound Cafe. Had dinner at the Cafe...I had grilled salmon on roasted sweet potatoes. Vicki had fish and chips, her fall back food whenever she can't find anything else on the menu she likes. Both dishes were very good.

8/13/11 (Saturday) - Breakfast again at Piroshky, then on to Pioneer Square, the historic center of the city. There we took an underground tour.

The city was rebuilt on top of the burned remains with a series of retaining walls. The ground was leveled by moving earth from higher ground filling in the retaining wall gaps.

The tour was somewhat interesting. We had a rookie tour guide who had a number of nervous ticks that he used to remember his script. It makes a difference when you have a good story teller.

In the evening we had dinner at il Bistro in the Market. The food and service was excellent. The waiter was engaging and provided some more tips on where to visit.

After dinner we went to the Gum Wall to meet our guide for the Ghost and Lust Tour.

The Gum Wall is outside a theater where the manager got disgusted with patrons sticking gum on the seats. So, he put a sign outside telling patrons to leave their gum outside. And, they did. First on the sign, then all over the wall. And, just this year, the gum is on the opposite wall as well. Eventually the Gum Wall will become Gum Alley.

Now, the Ghost and Lust Tour guide, Penny, was excellent. She had theater training and it showed. She is a storyteller. I took video of most of the tour and will post them somewhere.

We got "lust" thrown into the tour because of the late hour. Plus, the early history of Seattle includes many women who supposedly "sewed" for a living. Being on the coast there were many men to be serviced...like sailors. Prostitution was a big business and the sex business near the Market at one point threatened the existence of the buildings. They were slated to be torn down, but were preserved as historic structures which evolved into the Market it is today. All that remains of the sex trade is a burlesque show and sex shop.

8/12/11 (Friday) - Breakfast...got coffee at the original Starbucks and took it over to Piroshky Bakery across the street from Pike Place Market, a Russian pastry shop that we noticed yesterday had lines out the door. The pastries are amazing! We shared a spinach and cheese, and apple piroshky. Basically, a piroshky is a folded dough pastry with a variety of different fillings. Check out their website for details.

It was early, since we were still on Central Time, so we made it back to Pike Place Market before a lot of the vendors/artists were setup. We noticed some activity near one end of the market and discovered that the vendors were finding out where they could setup for the day. Rob, one of the artists, whose specialty is popsicle puppets, heard us talking and proceeded to explain what was going on. Stall assignments are based on seniority and are difficult to obtain. Stalls are only given to artists who are evaluated by a jury of peers and when accepted are placed on a list for a stall. Those with seniority, in some cases more than 30 years at the Market, are guaranteed a spot. Others take their chances.

One amazing thing at the Market is the flowers. The stalls facing the street all along the Market are flower vendors. There is color everywhere! They vendors are primarily Asian women busily putting flower arrangements together. They range in price from $5 -$15, and would cost three to four times that much in Fort Worth.

Of course we saw the fish vendor guys throwing fish around. Lots of fruit and vegetable vendors around as well. We tried some peaches that were so delicious that we had some shipped home to Papaw and Justin. Included were some nectarines and dates.

We bought a number of things...some Christmas presents. Vicki got clothes and jewelry. She got a necklace and ring from Jim, an Asian artist who has been at the Market for about 30 years. He found/collected most of the stones used in his pieces himself. Some of the most interesting looking pieces used stones that resembled landscapes.

We walked around to get oriented. Considered going up the Space Needle, but their was a one hour wait to get up. Noticed in our walking that the city is remarkably clean. Lots of public art. Also, noticed a fair number of homeless people...sad.

Dinner and entertainment was at Teatro ZinZanni. It is like Cirque de Soleil dinner theatre. It was a lot of fun and very entertaining.

On our walk back to the hotel we went up the Space Needle - no lines at 10 PM. The view is impressive and much better at night in my opinion than during the day.

8/11/11 (Thursday) – Susan W. drove us to the airport and talked nonstop. Entertaining stuff.

Flight was mostly uneventful, with the exception of a young teen who got motion sickness one row up and across the aisle from us on a smooth flight. Not an odor you want on an enclosed airplane. Felt sorry for the kid, but sorrier for the non-related passengers sitting on either side of him.

Had several options to get from the airport to the hotel. Chose a taxi over light-rail because we have two big suitcases and four carry-ons. Cost $45 including tip to get us to the Edgewater Hotel.

Checked-in, got to the room and Vicki thought we had reserved a room facing the bay. Went back down to the front desk…we were in the correct room…facing the hotel parking lot, mostly hidden by trees. The room is actually quite comfortable. The bathroom has a walk-in shower.

Vicki got over being pissy about the room…and started to chill and enjoy the MUCH cooler temperature, 72 degrees as opposed to 108 back in Fort Worth.

We did find out that we were in good company at the Edgewater. In earlier times The Beatles and Led Zeppelin stayed there supposedly because you can fish or piss from your room, since the hotel is on the edge of the water (built on pilings) and Elliott Bay is outside the window...if you reserve THAT kind of room.

After settling in at the hotel we walked up the piers and visited a Russian sailing ship that was passing through. It is a training ship for sailors. Got some photos that I'll post.

Walked up to Pike Place Market and toured the top floor section of stalls. The Market has several levels since it's built into the side of a cliff. On our way back to the hotel stopped at Anthony's for dinner. With the two hour time difference that made it a day for us.