Though I miss her dearly, I got lucky that my friend Alison moved from Pasadena to Seattle last September. I had the opportunity to visit her in December 2011, so I flew up for the weekend!
I arrived Thursday evening Dec 8, and Alison picked me up after her final exam for her grad school course (the reason she moved up to Seattle). We went straight home, but stayed up late talking. Friday we took the ferry over to Bainbridge Island, as it looked like this might be the best weather we had all weekend. We brunched at Pegasus Coffee House (AMAZING baked eggs) before walking around the small community and giving ourselves a self-guided driving tour of the island. We ended the daylight hours at Fay Bainbridge State Park, with excellent views back toward the city as well as Mt. Rainier.
Saturday started out with the Seattle Space Needle (FINALLY!). It was a somewhat rainy day, so the views weren't as epic as a clear day would have been, but definitely a great experience! So glad I finally got to see it and go up! From there we took the monorail into downtown, and headed for Pike Place Market. We walked through Pike Place, window shopping, and really shopping. I, of course, had to stop into the original Starbucks and pick up a mug. We got jam from a local producer, I bought earrings from a local artist, and then wound our way through to a cool little shop called Ventures. It's a cool little artist's collective type shop with all sorts of treasures for the finding. Helping a good cause is nice, too! We then stopped at Seattle Coffee Works to refuel. Coffee shops make for excellent people watching, don't you think? :) We walked back through the fish market (opening scene from "Real World" anyone?) and down the block to a lovely chocolatier, Fran's. Alison treated me to a drinking chocolate, which I heartily appreciated! We continued our walking tour down towards the water, ducking into the Seattle Aquarium momentarily and the carousel at Waterfront Park. The city was all lit up with Christmas lights, and it was a lovely sight! We took the bus home, then stopped at a yummy Thai place for dinner before crashing.
Sunday started with church at Quest Church, briefly preceded by a detour to the troll uner the Fremont Bridge and a driving tour of the neighborhood (as we waited for the first service to end, and parking to free up!). We brunched at Blue Star Cafe, then attempted to walk around Green Lake. It was a tad bit cold and windy for that, so we drove the circumference, instead. :) Being December in Seattle, I was a little surprised, but delighted, to find so many trees with fall colors! We definitely don't have many of those in southern CA! We then continued on to Seattle University, where Alison showed me around her campus and the things she loved about it. One of the things she loves is its proximity to Stumptown, so we had an obligatory stop there. (What's there not to love about Seattle and its coffee shops?!) It really was a beautiful building, very picturesque in the late afternoon light. And the mocha and brownie I enjoyed were delicious! We chased the sunset, which was just barely peeking through under the shelf of clouds, and caught beautiful views of the snow-capped peaks of the Olympic peninsula. Finally, we made an obligatory (for me!) stop at the flagship REI store! That place is amazing, with it's own rockwall and trail for customers to test drive mountain bikes!
All in all, I had a jam-packed and excellent weekend. I got to try/see all sorts of Seattle icons, and of course visit with my friend!
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