David and Becky

Another great thing about this city is its central location to lots of other fun places to go.  Last weekend David and I realized last minute that we had a shared day off…this hasn’t happened for a couple of weeks.  We got on priceline and booked a great deal on a hotel in downtown Portland for $50.  Made the 3 hour trip down on Friday morning and went to the Oregon Zoo.  The hotel was extremely nice, very recently remodeled.  At night we went for dinner and a movie (simultaneously) at the Kennedy School.   The McMenamin brothers of Oregon have purchased an old elementary school and turned it into a small hotel.  They converted the gymnasium into a movie theater with real couches to sit on. You can order your dinner to be delivered during the show.  Also in the building is their own brewery and several different bars and game areas.  We’re thinking on our next road trip we’ll have to stay there.  We were able to catch the last half hour of some live music at another establishment in the Pearl District, and then walked through a little bit of sketch in order to get to Voodoo donuts.  We had to try their bacon and maple donut and get some of their other oddities, including a donut shaped like something that rhymes with “dock and halls.”  Saturday morning enjoyed a nice lunch downtown and drove back in time for me to get to work at night.

Possibilities for an overnight or weekend getaway are pretty much endless.  Vancouver, Whistler or Victoria in British Columbia are a short distance away

The San Juan Islands are accessible by a drive+ washington state ferry.  Great spot for whale watching and relaxing.  By the way, if you have a few hours of nothing to do, taking a ferry ride is fun in and of itself.  Hard to beat the views.  One lucky day when I first moved here, my friends the Crowders were in town and we saw a whole pod of Orca whales swimming right up next to the ferry. 

The only rainforest in North America is located on the Olympic Peninsula as well as hot springs, waterfalls, the Olympic Mountains and other fabulous sites. 

This weekend I’m going to Lake Chelan with my girlfriends for a pre-wedding celebration.  I’ve had the opportunity to go here pretty much every summer since I’ve lived in Seattle and its always a great time.  The lake is beautiful and clear and situated in mountains.  Also spent Christmas in Chelan this past year with David’s family and got to enjoy the mountain snow.

Today we were debating about where to go for brunch,  and almost conceded to driving through Jack in the Box, when I blurted out “Smartypants!”  The party in my mouth that followed reminded me that I really needed to write about all our favorite joints to eat.  This place is a great bar/eatery in a surly little neighborhood called Georgetown.  Its allegedly a biker bar, but I have yet to get that vibe from it.  Delicious sandwiches and brunch, cheap beer.  Highly recommended.

In West Seattle, we are known to frequent West 5.  Nice retro ambience, comfort food.  Sadly we tried to go there last week for an extremely late dinner (11:30 PM) and the kitchen was closed.  Tried out Shadowland across the street which had delicious cocktails and a nice late night happy hour menu.  Looks a little pricey for a standard meal, but we would definitely do happy  hour again.

A deep rift has occured between us regarding which is our favorite local pizza chain.  David would give his right arm for the Chicken Pesto pizza at Amante, which I agree is good, but my new favorite just opened up down the block from our home.  Zeeks has amazing crust.  I might end things with David so I can marry it.

We have no troubles agreeing however on delicious sushi.  In our minds there are three different types of sushi occasion, and we have a favorite spot for each of them.  On any given day, Blue C is sure to be exciting.  Conveyor belts run small plates of sushi through the restaurant.  Eat to your hearts content, and save the plates, and they charge you accordingly.  Need your server?  There’s a little button at your table to press and get their attention.  If you’ve not eaten a lot of sushi, this is a great place to experiment.  To make ourselves feel really hip, we like Umi.  David took me here for our third date.  Located in the Belltown area downtown, parking can suck, but proximity to other places for cocktail hopping is more than ideal.  The ambience and food are totally worth it.  If you like sake (which I don’t), this is also the place to be.  I hear their happy hour is the shiz.  Finally, when we are starving and ready to go for the gold, there is Todai.  It’s definitely expensive, but its a BUFFET.  Eat all the sushi you want, and then for some connection that I truly don’t understand, there is also a chocolate fountain and made-to-order crepes.  Bring some sweatpants to promptly change into after your meal.

Another special place is called Kingfish cafe.  I guess its supposed to be soul food.  I don’t care.  It’s awesome.  Brunch, dinner, dessert, whatever.  Once upon a time, David and I had a sort of “make it or break it” turning point in our relationship (don’t we all?)  We decided to make it over a dinner of red beans and rice, and splitting a piece of red velvet cake.

Here is where David would say in response, “I’ll show you a stimulus package!”  Now that we have a newer car that is capable of being driven outside of the greater Seattle area, I hit up the factory outlet mall north of Everett.  I only really need 3 stops there: Gap, Banana Republic and LeSportSac outlets, and then I have the whole drive back to prepare a speech for David of how I actually SAVED us money by shopping today.  Stopped and met a friend at Bonefish Grill in Bothell for happy hour, enjoying a delicious pomegranate martini and some calamari.  Then, ended my day of shopping at my all-time favorite bookstore Third Place Books.  I had to buy this month’s choice for book club, and since I found a used copy for $7, I felt justified in buying another book, brand new at $15.  This store is great.  I used to frequent the Ravenna location all the time when I lived in that neighborhood, but stopped at the larger Lake Forest Park one yesterday.  The book store has a food court people!  Lots of titles, new and used, and a nice gifty section.  Just doing my part for the economy.  You’re welcome.

Yesterday, what could have been an ordinary night of watching House episodes (David’s latest obsession) ended up being a very fun cookout and campfire at Alki Beach.  Some of David’s friends were there for a sand volleyball tournament and we met them down there.  Uniquely located in West Seattle, it’s ocean water from the Puget Sound, but has amazing views of downtown Seattle and mountains.  There’s a long path along the shore for riding bikes, skateboarding or rollerblading, all of which can be rented near Salty’s restaurant (great food, if you want to spend the big $$).  It’s also near David’s other new, and very girlie obsession entitled Bubble Tea.  My favorite beverage from the Alki establishments is a Mexican mocha from Pioneer Coffee Roasters.  Mmmmm…coffee+chocolate+cinnamon.  I also have Alki beach (and myself) to thank for the massive sunburn on my back, due to last week’s ill-advised 4 hours enjoying the surf and sun with 0.0 sunscreen.  Now, we’ve never tried this, but keep talking about it.  You can actually take a water taxi from downtown Seattle across the sound to the beach.  That’s a goal of ours for the summer.

We’ve been enjoying some very warm (for us anyway) weather in the high 70s and 80s with clear blue skies and fabulous mountain views.  Tuesday afternoon I took the bus to the “beach” near David’s office.  Coulon Park is on the south end of Lake Washington and I love it because it offers both grassy areas and sand, has volleyball and tennis all set up and a swimming area that is completely marked off by a pier so its not so choppy from boat traffic.  Lake Washington is certainly not as huge as the Great Lakes, but its big compared to most.  I didn’t feel bad at all about laying out to get some sun and reading a magazine while David worked all afternoon.

One gem that I personally enjoy a lot in Seattle is the Gary Manuel Aveda Institute. It’s a beauty school so haircuts and facials and all that good stuff is really inexpensive, but they work hard to still give it a salon/spa feel. I took the bus over there yesterday and got pampered for a few hours. $60 for a cut and color. Not a bad deal in these parts and I’ve never had a bad experience. I’ve had a facial there too as well. It’s located in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, a place known for lots of bars, gay and straight alike, but also a few great concert venues including Neumo’s and Chop Suey. It also hosts Linda’s, the site of my 30th birthday party last summer.

We decided last night over dinner to use our blog to talk about fun things to do in Seattle for family and friends who are thinking about coming out here for the big day.
Last night we were talking about how amazing the fish tacos are at Aqua Verde. Fresh, local ingredients, great views of the lake and you can actually rent kayaks from them to take out onto the lake and over the the Arboretum.
http://www.aguaverde.com

We have a blog!  Now we need to make our lives exciting enough for people to read about.  So far today I’ve done nothing but sleep.  Time to get back to a day schedule.