Posts Tagged ‘PIke Place Market’

Date Night #11: Day Off as a Downtown Seattle Tourist

July 17th, 2012 by Shelley Goulding

New waterfront attraction:                            Seattle Great Wheel

Okay, not really a whole day off, but my friend Sally whisked me away after I served breakfast, leaving Tina and Ashley to get ready for the guests checking in later. A perfect Seattle summer day awaited: sunny-ish skies and temps in the 70s (did I mention the main reason we moved from Washington, DC ten years ago was the hot, humid summers?).

Two short blocks from the bed & breakfast, the #5 bus picked us up and made record time (10 minutes or so) down to Aurora and Mercer, where we disembarked near our first destination: the new Chihuly Garden and Glass gallery on the grounds of the Seattle Center (where the Space Needle is). Very cool inside and out, offering just enough beautiful glassworks to satisfy, but not too many to overwhelm.

It was enough to make us hungry, though, so we strolled into the Queen Anne neighborhood in search of lunch. In a festive mood, we aptly chose a place oozing New Orleans spirit: Toulouse Petit, named by CNBC as one of the ten best happy hours in the United States. Of course we needed to verify this claim by ordering a Cajun Bloody Mary and a Red Snapper (Bloody Mary with gin not vodka). Best Bloody Mary I’ve had in a long, long time. The spicy dust rimming the glass sealed the deal. The tempting menu made it difficult to narrow down our food order; the waiter had to help. We shared Dungeness crab over fried green tomatoes with a tarragon-chive sauce and a hot Cajun roast beef sandwich with Provolone, caramelized onions, and Mama Lil’s peppers. Out of this world.

We would’ve been totally content hanging at Toulouse Petit the whole afternoon, but we thought it best to burn some calories. Off we trotted to the Olympic Sculpture Park, about a mile or so south. The larger-than-life art is a treat on any day, but this day offered clear sweeping views of Elliot Bay and beyond, and more immediate views of men (oh, and probably some women too) taking a free Zumba class held Saturdays in July.

Our tasty lunch fueled us to go still further – south along the waterfront where we spotted the newest Seattle attraction: the Seattle Great Wheel. Now I’m sorry, but I’m forever going to call it the Seattle Eye, for this huge Ferris wheel with enclosed cars reminds me of the London Eye. Alas, one of us – I won’t say who – wasn’t too keen on riding it, so we enjoyed a refreshing beverage from an indoor perch below. Good timing on our part, as it had started to sprinkle.

Figuring we had had enough fun for an afternoon, we hoofed it up to 3rd Avenue to catch the #5 straight back to 9 Cranes Inn’s Phinney Ridge neighborhood. Oh wait, on the way to the bus we made a quick stop at the Pike Place Market’s Gum Wall because Sally had never seen it. Would you believe we made it home not only in time to take in the Ballard Seafood Fest but also with room to sample the wares there?

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Seattle Attractions, Seattle Date Night Ideas, Seattle Events & Festivals, Seattle Restaurants | 1 Comment »

Get Your Caffeine Fix on the Coffee Crawl

January 16th, 2012 by Shelley Goulding

French press demo and tasting at Cafe Vita

We recently took advantage of a rare morning off to check out the Coffee Crawl conducted by Seattle By Foot tours. Offered at the reasonable hour of 10 a.m. (well, Mike has a different opinion on what’s reasonable, but he was a sport), the tour starts at Seattle’s Best Coffee in Pike Place Market.

A surprising number of us were locals, which our guide Anna said was typical for January. I won’t go into detail about what we learned, for that would ruin the tour for you (but you might find a random tidbit on 9 Cranes Inn’s Facebook page). Suffice it to say that you get a little history, some insight into all things coffee, and a fair amount of the beverage in a variety of forms.

You also get a little exercise. I thought that the tour would be limited to the few blocks within Pike Place Market. But no. We even hopped a bus to Pioneer Square and got tips on hidden-gem kind of sights that we never knew existed!

Some tips about the Coffee Crawl:

  • If you drive to the meeting place (But why would you? From 9 Cranes Inn you can catch the #5 bus straight to downtown), don’t park in the street, where you can stay for only two hours. The outing takes a full two hours from start to finish, not counting time to gather then disperse. So if you do what I told you not to do, you’ll incur the wrath of your fellow coffee crawlers being delayed by you trying to connect up again.
  • The tour doesn’t end where it begins – a good thing if you want to take in additional sights around Pioneer Square and the International District, or simply take a nice stroll back to the Market. It’s less of a good thing if you’re on a tight time frame and you’ve parked all the way back at the Market (see, that driving thing can really be a pain).
  • Finally, the last coffee stop on the crawl does have a restroom, which you no doubt will need by then.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Seattle Attractions | Comments Off

»