Seattle Antics

I was whisked away for a weekend in Seattle via Amtrak. This mode of transportation works well because the train station is literally two blocks from our place. We jumped on the Amtrak Express at 6:15 on Friday and headed North - little did we know Amtrak in the Northwest is not known for being on time. After a few hours, a bottle of wine, and some great snacks (tuna/apple/spicy spread wrap) we arrived in our hotel happy to see a bed. We awoke early and headed out for coffee. Our goal was no chain = no starbucks; since Seattle is the coffee capital of the US. We found a place called Cafe Ladro and I had the best cup of coffee I have ever tasted. I want to add I really like the european cappucinos with all of the lovely froth and swirls but I can't even explain how great the coffee pictured tasted. Some of you will say that coffee should not be bastardized with any condiments but this was out of this world. We walked over to Pikes market and the flowers were the big draw for me. A huge bouquet was only $5.00. I wanted to buy them because they smelled so great and were so vivid. Apparently for every other tourist it was the flying fish because I did not see one fish fly due to all of the heads in my way. We then cruised into a cheese shop which I did not want to leave. CHEESE is the food of gods. After leaving Pikes we walked over to Belltown and had a great breakfast/lunch at Macrina. The sun was warm on our arms as we headed to the Needle. I always thought of the needle kind of like the Eiffel tower, but it does not loom over the city like the Tower in Paris and I don't think it is as loved as the tower. We decided we wanted to see a waterfront but on our map we could not see a waterfront promenade (this was weird to us based on the water all around). After we made our way around water for about an hour we gave up looking for the ellusive promenade and headed back to the Needle because we heard there was a HUGE event going on there called the "Bite of Seattle." Food/Wine/Music we had to go. Unfortunately it was a rock concert with Carnival Food. We did find the Washington Wine Tasting room and spent some time there before we headed to "The Apartment" and "Bada." Walking was kind of like San Francisco but not as pedestrian friendly. My love (the cow) had made birthday reservations for us at "94 Stewart" which turned out to be lovely. Mother and daughter decided to open a restaurant and offer locally grown and locally caught seafood. It was very fabulous - marion berry crisp and peanut butter craziness pictured.