They came, they saw, they ate, they explored, they learned, and then they had to leave me. My parent’s visit was great; relaxing and fun. We got quite a bit in in a reasonably short amount of time.
After a late pickup on Thursday night at the airport and a torrential downpour on the way home they made it back to my place and we all crashed. Friday, Mom and I got our hands and feet all prettied up at the nail salon before picking up the boys for an outstanding dinner at Annapurna for Nepalese food, naan, and conversation in their dungeon. We ventured out into the happening nightlife of Capitol Hill for the craft cocktail venue of Canon. We each ordered a different drink and Mom’s clearly was the winner with a presentation of smoke in a glass jar from smoked cinnamon bark.
Saturday Mom and I took part in an outdoor yoga class held on the grassy slopes of the Olympic Sculpture Park and stretched and laughed at all of the young kid’s versions of yoga. We caught up with the boys to sit down to a fantastic brunch at Boat Street Cafe and Kitchen. Dishes at the table included the cornmeal custard cake with banana and sausage, the classic benedict with ham, the chevre benedict with artichokes, and the smoked trout scrambled eggs. My chevre benedict was outstanding with two perfectly poached eggs on sliced baguette instead of English muffins, a very light hollandaise, and chunks of artichokes and a glorious smear of goat cheese. The plate also came with a light salad and some fresh fruit. It was delicious and enjoyed with a couple of cups of French press coffee. Our group then strolled down the waterfront to stop in Pioneer Square for the legendary Underground Tour. The history and tour were pretty fascinating, actually going down below the streets of Seattle to it’s grungy and interesting past.
After the tour it was game time. With Buckley’s being to capacity already we decided to go to Sport Restaurant and Bar with a quick pit-stop at Yeti Frozen Yogurt. Yogurt was fabulous, game was fabulous, company was fabulous. Post game we took a quick drive to Tom Douglas’ new establishment Home Remedy in Belltown. We picked up meals to go to enjoy at home. Little did we know that we would still be listening to live music from the neighborhood block party to dine to outside on the deck. The takeaway food was fabulous and so reasonably priced. The boys each tried their Frankies (Indian styled burritos) and the girls each tried their bowls with smoked sweet potatoes as the base to a whole meal of Asian marinated and grilled delicacies. It was so interesting and so delicious and so filling that I will most definitely be trying this again.
Sunday morning Mom and I went for a short but tiring run in the morning. We cleaned up and all walked to church. The sermon being on servitude and generosity, I really appreciated the message and hope to be able to attend a few future talks on similar topics. We drove down to the stadiums to pick up fish tacos from Camion and headed to the ferry where we dined in the Jeep, in the sun, with a Seahawks victory to tune into on the raido. The ferry to and from Bainbridge is always an enjoyable time. We had warming sun on the way over and breathtaking views of the city and Rainier at sunset on the return trip. Once on Bainbridge we set out on foot to explore the cute shops along the short Winslow Way, particularly enjoying the candy store unbeknownst to me previously, called Bon Bon. We purchased a lot of salt water taffy and sampled several pieces of fudge. We continued down to the marina for iced beverages from the historic Pegasus Coffee House and fuel for the rest of the night.
We then set forth for Poulsbo, on the mainland, through Bainbridge Island, for Spanish tapas. Pouslbo was very quaint and cute and the Paella Bar was expertly decorated and had great music for Spanish tapas. We ordered a happy hour priced jar of sangria that was spot on in flavor and then started perusing the tapas menu. We chose a variety of tapas, all of which were pretty tasty. Those tapas included: fried artichokes with aioli, flautas, lamb meatballs, roasted spicy peppers with garlic and olives, roasted mushrooms with goat cheese, skewered sea bass with salsa verde, patatas bravas, cod fritters, and coca bread. It is hard to say exactly what were my favorites. I really liked both the cod fritters and artichokes in all of their fried glory. I loved all of the sauces with the dishes, I just would have wanted some normal bread to soak them up with. I was also a bit disappointed that all of the tapas came out at once…a huge taboo at Spanish tapas restaurants. Despite that, I had a fun time trying this tapas bar. We stopped for pastries at the Sluy Bakery and returned back to Seattle and Queen Anne to settle into Planes, Tranes, and Automobiles with Polly. I’m sure she was happy to have our company, lol.
Monday was the parent’s last full day in town. They dropped me off again at work before continuing with their adventures. I worked! Hummph. BUT after work I got to go shopping with Mom and Dad downtown, Sephora, Banana, Anthopologie, etc. I did not get anything but had fun browsing. Next we headed to Etta’s Restaurant at the Market to get our salmon on. Dinner was fabulous. We all shared a bottle of Oregon Pinot Gris and I again selected the Neah Bay king salmon with those fabulous buckwheat fritters. So fresh and so good. The boys ordered the coconut cream pie and the crab apple pie for dessert with coffees before heading home to watch 42 from Redbox.
Our last morning was bittersweet. The three of us went to Glo’s in Capitol Hill for a diner breakfast before having to part ways. Mom and I tried the seasonal oat and honey pancakes with mixed fruit, granola, and honey on top, ham, eggs, and more fruit. The food and coffee were great and I will definitely be back to sample more of their pancakes because I thought they were downright delicious. I had to go to work and Mom and Dad were on their way to pack and head home to Michigan. It was such a nice visit and I already can’t wait until I see them again. I will miss them immensely!
Chelsea
*Pictures are either from previous posts or yelp photos and not my own.
Evolving in the Emerald City 