4-17-15

Me: April 11th recap - our last day in Seattle.

We went back to Kerry Park to see the city on a cloudy but dry morning.
That's me on the bench :-)

Then to Chittenden Locks (AKA Ballard Locks) to see the big & little boats use the lock system. There's a big boat getting ready to head out to the Pugit Sound.

And here comes two smaller boats from the Puget Sound. They'll use the small lock system.

They get into the water lock compartment & the gate closes.

Then the water rises (approx 25 feet). Once full the opposite gate opens for the boats to proceed to the marina & Union Lake.

Also located at the Chittenden Locks is the Salmon Ladder. There were no salmon in action since the ladder was under construction.

Next to the locks is a small but lovely botanical garden.

It was snowing cherry blossoms. So pretty with pink on the ground & in the trees.

These aren't cherry blossoms but they sure are pretty pink flowers.

Magnolia tree blossoms. Beautiful.

After the locks it was back to Pike Market Place for some pastries! Mmm.

The original Starbucks. 

Kinda cool to see even if we're not Starbucks fans. There really is a Starbucks on every city corner & then there are other brands of coffee shops in between. Seattle loves their coffee!!! I liked having a latte from Uptown Espresso.

We did a lot of walking on our last day in Seattle. We made our way to Pioneer Park (the oldest part of the city). I bought this wind breaker jacket from Kavu.

We also couldn't resist trying President Obama's favorite chocolate from this shop in the 4 Seasons. It was a milk chocolate Sea Salt Caramel. It was good but SEE's chocolate is better!!

Before heading to the airport we had to have Ellenos Greek Yogurt (again)! I tried this yogurt the first day I arrived. It is located at Pike Public Market & was recommended from a friend. It was sooooo good & we had one EVERY day! Once at the airport we tried IVAR's clam chowder (also recommended from a friend). Yum. Needless to say - we left the northwest full & happy!

What a wonderful time in Seattle!

4-16-15

Me: Well, it actually DOES rain in Seattle. On our drive back from the tulip fields (4/10) it started to rain. When we reached Seattle it was coming down pretty good.

It gave us a taste of what Seattle weather is like a lot of the time. Despite the rain we still made a stop by Gas Works Park (above).

And a drive up to Kerry Park.

Kerry Park sculpture on a grey, wet night.

Oh, I almost forgot about The Fremont Troll. Before we went to the parks we stopped in Fremont to eat at Rock Creek restaurant (two thumbs up on our dinner - delicious) AND we said hi to the troll. He was BIG and SCARY (like any good troll should be) but Bob thought he was nice enough to climb on. :-/ Mr. Troll lives under the Fremont Bridge (of course!). Do you remember the story of Bill Goats Gruff? "Trip Trap Trip Trap…who's that walking on my bridge?!"

4-15-15

Me: Now back to the trillion tulips - April 10th continued…

This tulip color was my favorite. An orange & peach combination.

Can I just take these home?

Bob's jacket was a fun color amongst the tulips.

Bob got a photo of me taking way too many pictures!

But wouldn't you take a lot of pictures too? The fields were amazing!

No photoshop on these colors!

Good-bye Skagit Valley. So glad we came to your Tulip Festival!

But wait…just ONE more pic before we leave!

4-14-15

Me: From stepping in gum to "Tip Toe-ing through the Tulips"!

We drove 1 hour north of Seattle on April 10th to see THIS!

Fields & fields of tulips. It's the Sagit Valley Tulip Festival!

We got lucky to see a flyer in our hotel elevator on April 9th that the Tulip Festival happens in April each year. It's about a two week window when the tulips peak & we were within that time. We couldn't pass up over a thousand acres of flowers!

I love RED!

But I also love YELLOW!

I love EVERY tulip color!

We stopped at three different tulip farms. The largest one being the Roozengaard Farm. Mr. Roozengaard, originally a tulip farmer in Holland, immigrated to Washington & starting farming tulips on 5 acres. The Roozengaard family now farms over 2,000 acres. Since his passing his children & grandchildren have carried on the family tradition.

PS: Did you see Bob in the above pic?

The Roozengaard Farm even had a windmill which reminded me of the windmill in my hometown, Elk Horn, Iowa. Though we weren't tulip farmers - haha!

The Roozengaard's had a wonderful garden area with interesting flower designs.

Lovely!

And some very unique shapes too. Gorgeous!

We were having tulip overload!!!!

And you probably are too!

Even so…I'll be sharing more tulip photos tomorrow. Lol.

4-13-15

Me: The Seattle GUM WALL!

Down Post Alley is the famous Gum Wall. Bob read about it on-line (under quirky things to see in Seattle), so I went there on Wednesday (4/8) & Bob & I went there on Thursday (4/9). On each side of the alley the walls are covered with chewed pieces of gum! :-/

It's actually artistic in a colorful and sticky sort of way. 

And it's also pretty gross!!

 We found ourselves some gum to chew (a new piece…out of the wrapper…from a store…NOT from the wall).

And we added our gum to the collection.

Next time you're in Seattle, check it out and look for our pieces. My gum was blue and I stuck it just left of the window. :-)