On The Road in Washington

Seattle is my favorite US city. I have been there many times and I love it every single time! I taught my workshops on Thursday and Friday and my friend Carmen flew in and met me for the weekend. The city did not disappoint, he and I had a great time.

Seattle is a health conscious, eco-friendly, enterprising business hub (Amazon, Nordstrom, REI, Costco, Microsoft, Starbucks) are a few of the many companies founded there. I love the easy access to the water, the endless recreation, and the culture that the city has to offer.

Friday night we dined on Northwest Mussels, Salmon, Halibut and Rockfish. My friend from college joined us at Ray’s Boathouse in the charming, eclectic neighborhood of Ballard. We sat outside and watched the sunset over the water.

Saturday morning Carmen and I took off on foot from our Capital Hill B&B and we didn’t stop until we slid into the airport Sunday night. I think we walked 10+ miles the whole weekend.

As we rounded the corner from our B&B Saturday morning I saw this tea shop.

We stopped and chatted with Anthony, one of the owners. He was very nice and his tea selection is awesome. You can order the teas here. I had a Goji Bloom White Tea. The organic tea leaves steeped for three minutes before the tea was poured into my cup – so cool!

Two miles later through Seattle’s fantastic downtown shopping district we ended up here.
Even though I’ve been through Pike Place Market numerous times, and there are always millions of people, I still like to walk through when I visit. The market has fresh fish, vegetables, fruits, flowers, paintings, jewelry, the original Starbucks store, and street performers, they are all sights to be seen!

Still on foot we walked to Pier 52 and bought ourselves a ferry ticket to Bainbridge Island. Taking a ferry across the Puget Sound is one of my favorite things in the world to do. My first ferry ride was almost twenty years ago and this land-locked Colorado girl still loves those Washington State Ferries!

When we got to Bainbridge Island we walked down main street in Winslow and found a place to have lunch.

Back in Seattle we walked to Pioneer Square to patronize my favorite independent bookstore and add even more books to my long list of must reads.

That evening we met friends of friends in West Seattle- another one of my favorite neighborhoods. We had a Latin dinner and talked about their recent travels to Egypt, India and Asia.

Sunday morning began with a serendipitous Healthy Discovery. Anthony, from the Remedy Tea shop told me about the Flying Apron Gluten Free Bakery. Wow! Wow! Wow! I mean, seriously! I was gobsmacked. This was the best gluten-free bakery I have ever seen. I was paralyzed with indecision. Carmen finally gave up and patiently waited outside while I stood at the counter and stammered in awe for 15 minutes.

This is Jennifer, the owner and creator of all these delicious, organic, gluten-free, dairy-free, non-hydrogenated, healthy sweetened sweets. She is helping her long line of Sunday morning customers. I still couldn’t decide what I wanted.

I mean what would you pick? Maple Pecan Muffins, Dark Chocolate Muffins, Berry Tea Biscuits, Cinnamon Rolls, Carrot Muffins, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, Macaroon Mountains, Espresso Brownies, Ginger Wheels, Apricot Thumbprints, Pumpkin Cookies, Berry Scones, Sweet Tahinis, Raspberry Flying Aprons to name a few.

I finally settled on a Pecan Cinnamon Roll (OMG! so good!), Chocolate Stevia Wonder, Maple Spice Cake (both Carmen, who doesn’t care about gluten-free, and I really liked this one!), Berry Tea Cake, and a Carrot Muffin. I carefully guarded and carried my box of gluten-free delights all the way back to Denver. They are now in my freezer and I will divvy them up among my gluten-free peeps in Colorado. WOW! What an unexpected, yet fantastic Healthy Discovery.

From there we skipped (not literally) on over to Green Lake – another favorite Seattle neighborhood of mine. Honestly, there just isn’t a Seattle neighborhood I don’t like; Ballard, West Seattle, Fremont, Capitol Hill, Green Lake, Queen Anne, they all have such unique charm and character. Anyhow, we took a blissful Sunday morning walk around the big peaceful lake in Green Lake Park with all the other walkers, runners, and bikers.

We had time for one more excursion and Snoqualmie Falls was our final choice. A 30-minute drive out of the city, through Issaquah, and into the Washington Evergreen Forests, we arrived here for an impressive finish to an already great weekend.

We then dashed to the airport to fly back to that city that is one mile above sea level, the sun is always shining, it is 30 degrees warmer, and gas is 30 cents cheaper.