And now we come to the end.  It happens with every vacation, tragically, and it happened to Steve’s and my great adventure in the Pacific Northwest – time to come home and start thinking about the school year, the holidays, and – eventually – where to go next.  But not just yet.  We had two days in Seattle, and we were determined to fill every moment and to take in as many of the highlights as we could.  Get ready for a monster recap post.

Alaskan Way and the Seattle Aquarium

Starting with – the aquarium!  After a morning navigating the jam-packed Chihuly Garden and Glasshouse and the rest of Seattle Center, Steve suggested we check out the aquarium.  It felt a little weird to visit an aquarium without the kiddos in tow, but I think we were both missing the intertidal zone.  So we headed over to the aquarium, had some delicious veggie chowder in a sourdough bread bowl, and checked out the sea life.

These colors!

Of course, I had to snap a picture of the octopus to send to my sister-in-law Danielle, who loves cephalopods as much as I love cetaceans.  I think she may have been the kraken in a past life.

The highlight of the Seattle Aquarium had to be the sea otters.  They were loafing around, playing, acting generally adorable, and I could have watched them all day.

Outside of the aquarium, Alaskan Way was a sight to see.

We watched people loading onto this gigantic cruise ship for awhile, prompting a spirited debate about whether we would ever go on an Alaskan cruise.  I said, emphatically, YES (although I have reservations about cruises in general, an Alaskan cruise is one of the few I’d make an exception for) and Steve said he didn’t see the point of spending five days at sea looking at nothing when you could fly.  (I have since discovered that Disney Cruise Lines have an Alaskan cruise option that does not include multiple days at sea – it leaves from Vancouver and sails up the coast, so there is always scenery – and while I’m not a Disney fan, the kids are, and one of my sorority sisters just did the Disney Cruise to Alaska with her kids and gave it a rave review, so – stay tuned.  I will continue to press this issue.)

BRING US ALL YOUR MARINE LIFE STREET ART.

ALL YOUR ORCA MURALS.

Pike Place Market

Of course, no visit to Seattle is complete without a stop by the iconic Pike Place Market, right?

Steve and I were kind of still in our “civilization immersion therapy” mode and the crowds were pretty overwhelming.  Steve also was feeling a little iffy, and all the competing aromas of the market were a bit much for him.  But we gamely trotted through the market, snapping pictures.

I wanted to eat all of these berries.

The flower stalls were my favorite.  Look at all these gorgeous peonies!

And everlasting statice, which is one of my favorites.  It’s the kind of flower that Anne Shirley would find friendly – don’t you think?

Naturally, we picked up a few bags of Chukar Cherries to take home with us.  These are long gone – I want more.

And stopped by the gum wall on the way out.  This was kind of gross, but in a really impressive way?  I was impressed by people’s commitment to add their chewed up gum to the wall, even if I couldn’t really breathe near it.

Much more appetizing: we ended Saturday at this romantic table, overlooking Puget Sound, at Place Pigalle.  Fish were flying on the other side of the wall, as we sipped cocktails and wine and ate delicious bouillabaisse and cheese.

Ballard Locks and the Farmers’ Market

On Sunday, we were looking for a good walkable spot to explore, and the internet suggested the Ballard Locks, so we headed over to check them out.

Saw several very impressive yachts cruising through the locks, but far more interesting were the fish ladders.  Go, little fishies, go!

After the locks, we wanted to keep walking, and it was farmers’ market day.  I am always into checking out the farmers’ markets when I travel, and Steve was up for it, so we walked over.  I missed my BFF, Rebecca, who is an avid farmers’ market tourist.

I would have liked to take ALL of these cherries with me.

Steve was still feeling a bit off, so we grabbed some kombucha to settle his stomach (and because I am always up for kombucha), walked around a bit more and then looked for someplace quieter.

Lake Union and the Center for Wooden Boats

Having not had enough boats all week (who am I kidding, I never have enough boats) I suggested that we explore the shoreline of Lake Union for a little while and check out the Center for Wooden Boats.

This motorboat is the dream, right?  Can’t you just see yourself packing a vintage picnic basket full of wine, apples, bread and cheese and gingersnaps, and cruising the lake on a sunny summer’s day?

Indoors, we watched boats being expertly restored and checked out nautical art, like a series of stunning photographs of wooden boats in action, and:

This incredible handmade wooden paddleboard with an orca totem detail and a great backstory.

Gardens and Art

Apparently the weekend was a theme: hitting all of our favorite things, Seattle-style.  Aquarium?  Check.  French food?  Check.  Farmers’ market?  Check.  Industrial architecture?  Check.  Boats?  Check.  Botanic gardens?

Check.

We spent a peaceful hour wandering between the rows at the Volunteer Park Conservatory, then headed back to Puget Sound (yes, if you’re wondering, we did zigzag all over Seattle in our Uber) to check out a sculpture garden.

Oh, Seattle.

We finished Sunday evening at Café Flora, eating a fabulous vegetarian dinner.  Steve had the Italian burger with a side salad, and I had the mushroom wellington – yum.

Whenever I travel to a different city, I wonder what it would be like to live there.  Don’t get me wrong – I love living in Washington, D.C., and I never want to move, not really.  But it was hard not to picture myself wandering all the verdant gardens, hiking the lakeshores, and spotting dorsals in Puget Sound – not to mention nipping up to the San Juans for a weekend getaway.

Thank you for a beautiful trip, PNW.  You’re truly a wonderland and I can see why people love you.  And now – back to reality, on the blog as in life.  And back to planning and scheming the next adventure.  As I hinted, something is already in the works for next summer, but it’s not a done deal yet.  It’s my parents’ 45th wedding anniversary, and they want a family trip.  My mom has floated a destination idea and I was very much on board with it, but others need to sign on.  So – stay tuned.  In the meantime, there will be weekend trips, and maybe some longer getaways sprinkled in.

That concludes the PNW adventure recaps!  I already want to go back.  Right now.