Thursday, July 19, 2012

2012 Vacation Part II - Seattle

When I last left off, I had just returned from the lake and was preparing to leave for Seattle.  I arrived home the morning of the day I flew out for Seattle.  It was a bit hectic, but I wanted to soak up as much time with family as I possibly could.  I am really proud of the fact that I a) was packed within an hour of arriving home, and b) I fit everything for my week vacation in a carry on.  Score!  Ever since my luggage got lost on a trip to New York, I have avoided checking bags if at all possible!

I arrived in Seattle on Thursday evening and got into downtown around 6 pm.  I made the most of those short few hours that I had in Seattle!  Once again, I will let the photos do the talking!!

The first sight I encounter?  Blue trees.  Strange, but sort of beautiful!  I've never seen a city paint their trees!

It was the end of the day, so the market was closing down, but some of the stalls were still open so I meandered through on my way down to the water!  You can see how blue the skies were that day.  There was not a cloud in sight and it was so sunny!  I love the weather in the Pacific NW.

If I had more time, I would have checked out that giant ferris wheel!  I am afraid of heights, but I am sure the views from the top would have been amazing.  I guess I will have to tackle that on my next trip!

I continued to walk around, taking in the beautiful blue, cloudless skies and savoring THE LACK OF HUMIDITY.  I came from 95F+ temps and high humidity, so 75 and no humidity felt AMAZING.

I worked up an appetite walking around, so my next mission was finding a restaurant with a good gluten free menu.  Luckily, I have found that the Pacific NW is VERY good about having gluten free options.  The hotel had suggested a Thai place and when I saw that it had a good gluten free menu, I was sold!

I started off with some chicken satay.  The sauce was SO good, and I loved the pickled vegetables and rice ball (err, square).

Next up was my main course:  mussels in a coconut curry sauce.  The waiter recommended it to me and described the sauce as liquid crack.  He was spot on!!  The mussels were so fresh as they were caught locally.  Besides the mussels, there were bits of pineapple, and it was garnished with bean sprouts and cilantro.  Yum!!

That is all I fit into those few short hours!  I headed back to the hotel early as I knew I had some big days ahead of me.  I went to bed so excited as I knew I'd be seeing Kelly and her husband Eric the next morning!

Have you ever been to Seattle?  Do you like mussels?  Mussels are probably one of my most favorite foods!!

23 comments:

  1. I totally agree with you about the weather in Seattle, amazing! Of course it has been a massive heat wave here since I got home so I've missed it even more than I would've otherwise!
    I can't wait for you to meet me in this story haha

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  2. So pretty! Ben and I are tentatively planning a trip to Vancouver for the spring, and we'll do definitely spend a night in Seattle on the way out or back!

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  3. Beautiful! I've always been fascinated by Seattle, I'm not sure why. Maybe cause I don't know much about it

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  4. I have never been to Seattle, but I have always wanted to do a tour of Washington State because it's my birth state! Unfortunately, I was too young to remember it.

    I have never had mussels!

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  5. Cool! Thanks for sharing! I am excited for the next installment.

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  6. That's so funny about the painted trees. Chicago has some painted trees that are blue and orange (go Bears!).

    I actually spent a summer in Seattle in high school. It was a teen camping trip - we did all sorts of hiking, mountain climbing, beach backpacking, sea kayaking and white water rafting while we were there. Had a BLAST!

    Also, I've actually gone musseling (weird, but true) ... in California when I was a kid. Best memory of that experience was my parents' friend telling me (I was a kid) not to put my back to the ocean, because a wave could surprise me and knock me off my feet. Do what he says, not what he does, because he then proceeded to turn his back to the ocean and get knocked down by a huge wave. hahaha.

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  7. I always try to get away with just a carryon bag, especially now that most airlines charge you to check a bag. We went all the way to Nicaragua for 9 days with just carryon bags! It's the way to go!

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  8. That mussel dish looks so good! They are your Dad's fav, too!
    Beautiful pictures! No humidity? Perfect!

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  9. I've been to Seattle once and loved it! Such a nice city. I have never tried mussels...I am pretty picky though, so I doubt I would like them!

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  10. I had some really good mussels in DC on sunday. And the crabs. oh my those maryland crabs. I've never been to Seatle before.

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  11. I love mussels, definitely because of the liquid crack.

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  12. I've been to the Seattle airport on the way to Alaska, but I don't think that counts. It's one of the few places left in the states that I'm dying to visit!

    Loooove mussels!

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  13. I haven't been to Seattle, but I really want to go one day. Also, I have only had mussels once or twice. My 5 year old nephew LOVES them and ordered them years ago at Red Lobster. I tried one or two of those and they were okay. I then made mussels at home and thought they were disgusting! They were HUGE and I shouldn't have looked at them because I was repulsed. I have to try them again one day, because I think I must be missing something.

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  14. Sounds like a fun time in Seattle. Exploring cities on your own is fun because you can do and eat whatever you want - perfect in my book. :)

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  15. I love mussels! Liquid crack sounds delicious! I love traveling on my own because I can eat what I want when I want etc... I love Seattle and am glad you enjoyed it as well! Last time I went there I did a kayaking trip on Lake Union and it was so peaceful!

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  16. I have never been to Seattle OR tried mussels. I don't really like seafood so I don't think I'd like it. But I haven't tried it either... so who knows! I'm a really picky eater, ha.

    The weather sounds gorgeous! It's SO humid in Florida, like, all the time that to experience a place that's warm WITHOUT humidity? Would be divine!

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  17. I love Seattle! I'm glad that a) you had some time to explore and b) the weather was SO great when you guys were here. Seriously you guys came west at the PERFECT time as it rained all of May and June!!!

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  18. This is a spot I've never been, but it's on the wish-list. Mussels? You bet! One of the best! Looks like a great time!

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  19. Oh Seattle, I miss it! It looks like you had a great time in your short trip. I love walking through the market as everyone is closing up shop. Where did you get the mussels? They sound awesome, I will definitely have to give it a try when I make a trip back!

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  20. Seattle looks gorgeous. I love the blue trees! I love different colored tree trunks. Tucson has Palo Verde trees where the trunks are naturally green. However, we are crazy allergic. They are the reason our household has turned GF again.

    That Thai food looks amazing. I love love love Thai food! Yum. Glad you had a great time!! Loving your vacation recaps!

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  21. That dinner looks delicious! What's funny is that it isn't what I'd expect with Thai food, yet it still seems to make complete sense.

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  22. Oh, Seattle looks so beautiful! I am glad you got to spend some time there.
    It's on my places to visit for sure!

    I love mussels, too.

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  23. I've never been to Seattle, but it looks so pretty! I really love the effect of the blue trees, I wonder if that's bad for them? Oh well. Very pretty pictures! :)

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