We are now just over halfway through our trip (we leave on Saturday). We’ve seen a lot and done a lot and still have a lot to go. Here’s a brief synopsis of the trip to date:

  • Will was well-behaved on the flight over. This was mostly due to the fact that we flew on a Song aircraft, which has personal video monitors for every seat – even in coach. The monitor happened to get Cartoon Network, which was running a Scoobie Doo marathon that day.
  • When we landed, we checked into the hotel and had dinner at the public house attached to the Redhook Brewery.
  • Monday we just ate breakfast at the hotel. The rest of the day involved the first (of many) visit to the Pike Street Market for a cup of coffee from the very first Starbucks and then a trip to the Children’s Museum. Will enjoyed this thoroughly. We tried to eat dinner at a place called Brouwer’s Cafe (supposedly known for a good draft beer selection and good Belgian fare like steak frites and mussels). But it was more of a bar than a restaurant, and so Will was not even allowed in the place. Malin was pretty furious about their website being a little misleading in this respect. We ended up eating a disappointing dinner in Bellevue after much driving around.
  • Breakfast on Tuesday was another disappointment. We relied upon advice from the hotel’s concierge. We should have known better after having to turn down his first recommendation of Denny’s. At that point we took time to better plan the rest of the week and make phone calls to make sure there would be no more surprises or disappointments. The rest of the day was filled with another trip to the Pike Street Market to grab peroshkis (savory pastries stuffed with meat and vegetables), a tour and tasting at the Columbia Winery, and then dinner at a nice seafood restaurant on the water. On the way to dinner we stopped at a highly-acclaimed bottle shop to get rare brews that are unavailable in Georgia (most of them will be shipped home on Friday).
  • Wednesday we headed back down to Pike Street Market for breakfast at a French bakery (fruit-filled croissants and coffee) and then went down the road to Pier 52 – from which we took a big ferry across the Puget Sound to Bainbridge island. We walked around, looking at some of the boutique shops and cafes on the island near the water, and then headed back to Seattle. After that we had an awesome lunch at Salumi and then sampled brews at the Pyramid Alehouse and Brewery. That wrapped up the day: we went back to the hotel and just made dinner of the left-overs we had accrued so far.
  • Today we’re about to head out to eat Dim Sum breakfast in Chinatown. We have lots of other stuff to do, too.

I’ll post again with details on the rest of the trip!

The biggest hassle of the trip so far as been parking. Parking is horrible and expensive everywhere here. And the public transportation is very poor to boot (even worse than MARTA in Atlanta). Aside from that, we’ve been having a great time. The weather has been gray and overcast everyday. The highs have been between 67 and 73 degrees Fahrenheit everyday (which is a welcome change from home – we’ve seen the 100+ highs in Atlanta this week and do not miss it!). The sun is supposed to come out today, so we’re planning on doing the Space Needle today.