Seattle....Finally!

Ever since I missed going to Seattle with Justin in January, I've been looking forward to my second chance to visit the Emerald City this month. Just like in January, my in-laws drove up to take care of the kids, and just like in January, my kids got sick right before we were supposed to leave. I was beginning to think that I had somehow become the victim of a "you shall never travel without kids" curse. Fortunately, however, the kids were able to get through the worst of the mono before our trip was scheduled, and Justin and I made our getaway late Tuesday night. We stayed the night in St. Louis and boarded an early flight to Seattle Wednesday morning. We took a shuttle to our hotel overlooking Lake Union, and enjoyed a quiet, rainy afternoon by eating lunch at Duke's Chowder House and riding the trolley to Pike's Place Market. That night, we met up with one of Justin's old roommates/dental school classmates, Craig, for dinner at a delicious Italian restaurant.




On Thursday, Justin was attending his dental CE course all day, so I decided to get a little more familiar with the Seattle public transportation system and travel by bus across Lake Washington, Mercer Island, and finally to the Seattle Temple in Bellevue. I knew I would be doing a lot of walking and waiting at bus stops in the cold. I also needed to wear a dress to the temple, but unfortunately, the only dress clothes I had with me were a knee-length dress and some strappy, open-toed, uncomfortable heels. I decided that in order to stay warm and comfortable on my journey, I would wear my sweats over my dress, with tennis shoes on my feet while I traveled to the temple. The plan worked well until I reached my destination only to find that there wasn't a visitor's center for me to change in. I ended up walking into the lobby of the temple in my sweats, and changing in the waiting room restroom. Imagine this: me carrying my strappy heels in a plastic grocery sack, bulky sweats pulled over my dress, big, heavy camera and traveling purse over my shoulder, sweat glistening on my face after hiking up the hill from the bus stop, entering the waiting room of the temple! Talk about awkward!


On Friday, I was once again on my own while Justin was in class, so I decided to take a ferry across the Puget Sound. I took the 30-minute ride to Bainbridge Island, only to get there and find that there really wasn't much to do. So, I just wandered around for a couple of hours, taking pictures of boats and seagulls, and then rode the ferry back to Seattle.




From the ferry landing, I walked along the waterfront, past the Seattle Aquarium, up the hill to the Olympic sculpture park, up another hill to the Space Needle, under Interstate 5 (scary!) and back to the hotel.




I was exhausted after my hike around Seattle, but I didn't have long to rest before it was time to meet up with Justin for a dinner cruise on Lake Union! Justin's dental instructor, Dr. Kois, took all of the course participants out on his beautiful yacht for a sunset dinner cruise. It was really fun!


Bill Gates' House:

"Captain Craig"


After the cruise, we were fortunate to meet up with Tom, another one of Justin's dental school buddies who was in town looking at dental practices. We had fun hanging out in the hotel lobby, Tom milked a pig statue, and then we all went to the Cheesecake Factory for second dessert. Yum!

On Saturday, I was thrilled to meet up with one of my old college roommates and dear friend, Jaime, who drove down from the northern tip of Washington to hang out with me for the day! We went on an Underground Tour of Seattle, where we learned some fascinating and very entertaining history about the city! After that, we wandered over to the Seattle City Center where we ate lunch and caught a glimpse of the World Rhythm Festival that was going on there. Then we walked across the street and rode the Ducks through the streets of Seattle, counting Starbucks restaurants as we went, and diving into Lake Union where we drove past Tom Hanks' floating house featured on Sleepless in Seattle. I had such a great time hanging out with Jaime, and I must say that wandering around Seattle was much more fun with a good friend by my side! Thanks again, Jaime, for taking the day to hang out! I wish we lived closer so we could do it again next weekend!

The Seattle Underground:

Sleepless in Seattle House:

Riding the Ducks:


Our final night in Seattle, Justin and I went to the Melting Pot, where we essentially paid $100 to cook our own dinner. It was delicious.

I had such a great time in Seattle, and am so grateful to my wonderful in-laws for sacrificing their time and sanity to come take care of our family while Justin and I were away. It was so nice to be able to vacation and relax without having to worry for one second how the kids were being cared for at home. Thanks again, Mom & Dad Johnson for making this trip possible!

Justin's next course is in January...