Hilton Head, SC & Savannah, GA

Hilton Head Island the foot-shaped island! Either Savannah, GA or Charleston, SC would be a good place to fly into.

 

Map of Hilton Head Island

We left Minneapolis during a terrible cold snap in February 2019. I was so glad to leave and be amongst greenery again! Although the temperature was chilly in North Carolina, there was no trace of snow! A win for me in my book. Hilton Head is known for it’s golf courses and yes, it is a golfers dream! I myself am not a golfer but my partner is and I accompanied him on a few of the courses and they are beautiful. Other times I spent my time shopping at the many, many thrift stores as well as the outlet mall nearby. I also was able to walk the beach and drool over all the humongous homes on the oceanfront.

Sea Pines beach

Sample of homes

I was fortunate to be staying within walking distance of Harbor Town (circled on the map) The number one reason why I like this location is that you can hop on the daily boat service to Savannah, GA!

Harbor Town Hilton Head Island

I took this day trip by myself and did a little research before I went. I had a “not to miss” list. I will review my “not to miss” list as I think I was able to see all the highlights of this wonderful city!

1. Step of the boat and up the steps to the lovely city of Savannah…

2. Savannah is known for the beautiful “squares” or green space. The first square I came across was Washington Square and the colorful flowers were such a warm welcome to me.

Colorful flowers

Washington Square

 

3. A “must stop” for me was Leopold’s Ice Cream Shop. The recipe for the Tutti Frutti ice cream was invented in 1919 and still homemade daily. It is lightly strawberry flavored, contains nuts, rum and candied fruit. It was as yummy as it sounds! 🍨🍦

Leopold’s Tutti Frutti ice cream

4. Now that you got a little sugar rush going…keep walking..so much more to see! Wright Square and Chippewa Square are up ahead. Chippewa Square is home to the bench where Forrest Gump himself sat!

5. The architecture of the homes is stunning. The homes surround the squares and it makes you feel like you are in another time and place.

6. Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. 1873. Visually stunning church both inside and outside

7. Lafayette Square and the surrounding homes.

8. Forsyth Park. Large green space lined with one beautiful home after the other. I suggest walking the park, then walking the street on the way back to the boat just to gawk at the homes!

9. I was hungry after all the walking and gawking. Lol. On the way back to the boat I planned it right to make a stop at Miss Paula Deen’s southern restaurant called “Lady & Sons” They feature a buffet with all her favorite southern foods all in one place. Yes, I ate alone and without shame…fried chicken, veggies, macaroni & cheese, mashed potatoes, and okey gooey buttercake among many other offerings. It was very reasonable considering the quality and number of choices. ($18) It is very popular place and although a large space, reservations are recommended.

10. A farewell drink? Sure! Go to the top of the Bohemia hotel that sits overlooking the Savannah River. Here you will find a lovely rooftop bar that features a signature drink called “Rocks on the Roof’s Savannah Tea”

11. Sorry.. I tried to make it a Top 10 but have a couple more thing on the “must see” list. It is another food option, but this one you can take it to go and savor it for later. Actually it is 2 stops. Stop 1: Byrds Cookies…so many choices, pick wisely! Stop 2: Candy Kitchen for pralines of course! Both are located along the quaint riverfront walk, perfect stops before hopping back on the boat back to Hilton Head Island.

Gotta go…my boat is here! Visit again when I will visit Charleston, SC..until then..

Cabo Mexico October 2018

It was my pleasure to spend a week with my high school girlfriends in a Airbnb home that we rented for the week. We all will turn 50 years old in the upcoming year so we decided to start celebrating each other and our friendship. 🎂❤️ The flight over went smoothly and I did manage a couple shots from the air.

 

Cabo, Mexico

MSP>CABO

My friends T & J had arrived the previous night but my other friend J would be arriving shortly after I got there. I had a nice, leisurely lunch outside while waiting for her.

Cabo airport – loving the view already!

J & I arrived to find our other 2 friends enjoying the pool and the GORGEOUS view we would be enjoying all week! Let me just say this house was so much more than I had expected. It was located in a neighborhood called PEDREGAL. It was a gated community and the house name is “Toro Rojo” (Red Bull)

…..and my room…..WOW….just WOW…amazing views every day I woke up…

 

As much as we wanted to stay and enjoy the house and view we wanted to check out the neighborhood community called PEDGREGAL. The neighborhood is located high above Cabo, views to make you gasp, and one lovely home after the other.

 

 

Another benefit of the Pedregal neighborhood was it had a private beach which we walked to on 2 separate occasions. The waves were really harsh and I would not recommend swimming there but you can definitely walk the beach and the nearby rocks.

 

 

 

What I noticed was that most homes had a name or a distinguishing feature that related to the house name. Here are a few examples:

Although it was hard to leave our beautiful house we wanted to explore Cabo. We went down the hill to town and boarded a boat for a sunset cruise. This sunset cruise was a party on the water serving up load music and endless liquor. We had a blast and the view was not too bad either. 🌄

 

 

We hit the streets of Cabo another day to explore the town better. We did some shopping and tried garra ruffa. Never heard of garra ruffa? Well..it is the unusual procedure where you soak your feet in water while small fish exfoliate them for you! 🐟

All the shops have such bright and fun things to purchase and loved the open air stalls as well.

 

Cabo has a few nightclubs that we stopped by at. We had lots of laughs and lots of beer. 🍻🍻 Most of the main places to visit are on the main drag with the exception of Cabo Wabo.

 

 

We wanted to get back to the comforts of our home away from home and enjoy the view! Can you blame us?

Rise & shine! Time for our snorkeling adventure! We took a leisurely cruise out to where we snorkeled. I really enjoyed it. The water was warm and I saw lots of fish and coral reefs.

For our last day in Cabo we headed to the marina area where we had a nice dinner and relaxed some more.

 

We hated to part ways but don’t worry we have more fun planned….
Stay tuned!

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Munising, Michigan – August 2018

 

What a beautiful day for a PICTURED ROCKS CRUISE.  We arrived in the morning for the extended cruise that would be viewing SPRAY FALLS. Even though this cruise covers more shoreline it is actually a shorter cruise because they use the high speed catamaran. The cruises run from mid-May thru mid-October. They offer several cruises per day but I do recommend reserving in advance as they are very popular and often sell out. The prices range from $38 – $45 dollars depending on the cruise you choose.

The starting point is MUNISING, MICHIGAN which is located on the southern shore of Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan or as the locals call it “THE U.P.”

Before we take a tour of the Pictured Rocks, let me explain exactly why this National Lakeshore is so special. This area has large cliffs and formations made from sandstone. Depending on the sunlight these formations take on different colors. The day we went, it was a bright sunny day so we got to experience the beautiful hues of the sandstone. The cliffs are best viewed from the shore either on the cruise we took, from a private boat or perhaps a kayak. If you prefer to stay on the ground.. no worries. The park service offers 100 miles of trails plus awesome sandy beaches for you to explore. If you prefer to drive take advantage of the lookout areas to get a glimpse of the sandstone cliffs and formations along the way.

**Now back to the cruise**

We traveled nearly 40 miles round trip taking about 2.25 hours to complete. You can view the sights from inside the vessel or stand outside for the best and unobstructed views.

Enjoy the photos below. I hope you get the opportunity to experience this yourself! It is truly a beautiful way to spend a morning the north woods of Michigan.

Follow me next as I head over to Minnesota while I mingle with the buffalo! 😁

 

New York, NY – July 2018

 

 

We drove from Cape Cod over to Newark, NJ airport area and parked our car so we did not have to drive in the craziness of NYC. From the airport we took a shuttle bus that dropped us at GRAND CENTRAL STATION. Even if you do not have a train to catch it is worth the visit to Grand Central Station. From the architectural detail outside of the building to the grand details inside I was really impressed. The train depot was opened in 1913 by Cornelius Vanderbilt. It is the busiest train station in the world with an average of 200,000 commuters a day. 🚉 Here are three fun facts about Grand Central Station. 1. On the front of the entrance you will find the worlds largest Tiffany clock, reaching to 48 feet in height. 2. While in the main councourse don’t forget to look 🆙 On the ceiling is the entire zodiac..although it is painted backwards, it was not a mistake. 3. The large clock above the information desk has an estimated value between $20 – $30 million! 

The clock located above the information desk valued at $20-30 million dollars

The entrance to Grand Central Station featuring the worlds largest Tiffany clock.

 

We walked from Midtown – where Grand Central is located – to TIMES SQUARE where our hotel, CITIZEN M (218 W. 50th St.) is located . It was a good 15 minute walk and very busy! I will say that we loved, loved, loved the location of Citizen M. When you walk out the lobby door you are just around the corner from the subway station and Times Square!

Night view of Times Square

Day view of Times Square

 

Day view of Times Square

Night view of Times Square

We did make it up to the rooftop bar and enjoyed a few drinks while taking in the skyline views. Also, the mezzanine level is great to sit and enjoy being inside, but getting the outside air at the same time….a really unique idea. The only drawback was the room. Although it had a huge comfortable bed, the room is small. We really didn’t spend much time in the room, so for us it was not a big deal. I just want to point it out because the space is more like a dorm room than a hotel room.

The view from the rooftop bar at Citizen M – Times Square

DAY 1:

We only had 3 nights in NYC so we needed to get a lay of the land quickly. We booked a ride on the double decker bus owned by CITY SIGHTS NY. 

We arrived in the morning at stop #1 so we were the first group on the bus and scored seats at the top of the open air bus. It was thrilling to ride around and view the amazing buildings on NYC. We stayed on the bus until BATTERY PARK. From Battery Park we got on the (free) ferry – STATEN ISLAND FERRY. This is a great way to view the STATUE OF LIBERTY if you have no intention of actually going to Ellis Island to see it. The Staten Island Ferry provides a clean, safe, roomy ride that passes right by the iconic statue and it is free!

The FREE Staten Island Ferry

The view of the Statue of Liberty from Staten Island Ferry

Put on your walking shoes! 👟👟 After the ferry ride we walked around A LOT! We were close enough to WALL STREET so we walked over there and saw the Charging Bull. From there we walked part of the way across the BROOKLYN BRIDGE . It is a very popular walk so expect a lot of tourists with the same idea!

It doesn’t look like a far walk along the Brooklyn Bridge, but we got the idea of it!

From the Brooklyn Bridge we found ourselves walking up & down the streets of CHINATOWN.

 

 

Chinatown

There were tons of places to eat, but we were saving our appetite for Lombardi’s Pizza over in LITTLE ITALY. Lombardi’s is the first pizza place! People visit here every day to taste the wonderful food. Just be warned that they only accept cash as a form of payment, luckily they do have an ATM onsite. We opted for the stuffed calzone and an Italian soda. Both were very good.

Lombardi’s Pizza

Calzone & Italian soda

If you are still hungry after pizza there are loads of bakeries that sell fresh made cannolis! By this point we were pretty tired so we hopped back on the double decker bus and made our way back to our huge bed back at the hotel! Get some sleep….more to come for day 2.

Before we head into DAY 2…..here is a recap of Day 1 and visual map if you are like me who likes to see things on map!

 

DAY 2: 

I had never been on a subway…..so here was the perfect chance to try it! We went from a Times Square subway station all the way to CONEY ISLAND in NJ 😀 I was worried it would be complicated and we would get lost but it was so easy and took a little over an hour to get there. We got there very early so it was not crowded at all. We got a famous NATHAN’S HOT DOG, walked up and down the BOARDWALK, went to the CONEY ISLAND BREWERY. 

The boardwalk of Coney Island

The boardwalk of Coney Island

The first Nathan’s Hot Dog stand

We hopped back on the subway and was back in the chaos of Times Square again. We walked around the city and saw lots of landmarks. Our favorite place to stop and relax was the fountain by RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL. Believe it or not it was very peaceful to sit there…

Fountain across from Radio City

Below are photos taken and not in any order..

9/11 Memorial

DAY 3: 

We were tired from all the walking so we booked ourselves a pedicab to take us around the southern part of CENTRAL PARK! It was such a wonderful experience. We saw most of what we wanted to see in Central Park, got to enjoy the scenery and saved our feet from another long day of walking. 

One of the entrances to Central Park

The statue at one of entrances of Central Park

Boston – Provincetown MA July 3 – 4th 2018

 

 

 

First….lets recap…🌎🌎

Boston-Maine-Vermont-Boston

Okay? Resuming our road trip! We would drive from Boston to the tip of the CAPE COD tip. Total time from Boston to PROVINCETOWN on a good day is about 2 hours. However, we chose to arrive on the busiest day of the year…July 4 😬 So with keeping that in mind, we started out of Boston very early in the morning and had little difficulty arriving at our Airbnb in SANDWICH.

Google search from Boston – Provincetown, Massachusetts 

We chose Sandwich because it was half-way between Boston & Provincetown. Another benefit was the great beaches along the bay surrounding the Sandwich area. We found a great beach with a wide shoreline, dunes and plenty of room to spread out for everyone to watch the fireworks from the nearby towns!🎇🎆🎇🎆 It truly was a spectacular experience and so glad we were able to witness that.

The very next morning, we drove to the tip of the Cape, up to Provincetown (PTOWN) If you like beaches, the CAPE COD NATIONAL SEASHORE PARK extends for miles and miles along the drive! It was very busy when we arrived and had to park quite far from the center of town. We didn’t mind because it was a beautiful summer day and got to see the residential area of town. We finally made it to the Main Street which is called COMMERCIAL STREET. Here is where you will find all the shops, cafes and restaurants. We did had some yummy donuts that they create in front of you at DONUT EXPERIMENT. We also had some delicious fish tacos nearby the beach. We walked the beach a bit, then headed down the wharf.

Image from Provincetown-ma.gov

I spotted a boat that takes you out to find whales. 🐳 🐳 Luckily for us the boat was departing very soon and they had room!!! Of course, we had to do this..We had success in seeing whales. We actually saw 3 different types! It was so fun and such a wonderful day to be out on the water. We explored the water with DOLPHIN FLEET WHALE WATCH.

Images from our cruise on Dolphin Fleet Whale Watch-Provincetown

It was a quick trip to the tip of the Cape and there is so much more to do…we were ready to head out and get on our way to NYC!

Boston Massachusetts – July 2018

 

 

Hello again! We last left off near Stowe, Vermont…from Vermont we headed south to sightsee in Boston. We actually stayed across the Charles River from Boston in Cambridge. I could hardly believe the hotel & Airbnb prices in Boston and because we were arriving around the Fourth of July the prices were even higher.

**If you are planning a trip to Boston it is important to note that parking is A. Very expensive & B. Hard to find! Even though we had a rental car we left it parked ($20 per day) at our hotel and took Uber everywhere!

Although our main focus was Boston, we did get to see HARVARD UNIVERSITY & meticulously manicured campus. Harvard is located just a few miles from our hotel so we had a chance to walk around that area and explore HARVARD SQUARE with loads of restaurants.  We met friends for dinner at Hourly Oyster House and right next door was the famous MIKE’S PASTRIES (11 Dunster St) The dessert choices were incredible but he is known for his many flavors of cannoli.

BOSTON was founded in 1630 and is one of the oldest cities in the U.S. Boston has many historical sights and they can be easily seen by following a 2.5 mile walking route called THE FREEDOM TRAIL.

The red line follows the path of the FREEDOM TRAIL. The circled items are what will be covered in this post

As mentioned previously Boston is a very high traffic city and very hard to find parking so for those reasons we took an Uber into Boston. I bought tickets off of Groupon for the CITY VIEW TROLLEY. This trolley stops by most of the sights you will want to see. Once you are done sightseeing, simply hop back on the trolley and continue exploring as you wish. For some, they want to walk the entire 2.5 mile Freedom Trail but for us we had limited time and the weather was very very hot when we were there in July. The trolley for us, got us to all the major sights we planned on seeing and kept us from overheating.

Boston is a very tourist friendly city in the sense that most of the buildings or museums are free or under $5 to view. We stopped at the USS CONSTITUTION that is now dry docked but open for free tours. It is the oldest Navy ship and it never lost a battle in the War of 1812 giving it the nickname “Old Ironsides”

 

 

Old Ironsides

Dry Docked in Boston

 

Following the Freedom Trail from the USS Constitution, we arrived at BUNKER HILL MONUMENT. The monument was built to commemorate the battle of Bunker Hill. It was the 1st major battle of the American Revolutionary War taking place on June 17, 1775. The day we arrived the weather was to hot so the stairs to the top of the monument was closed. Next to the monument is a free of charge museum that holds a lot of interesting things for those curious not to mention a place to cool down and refresh!

 

Bunker Hill Monument

The next stop was the PAUL REVERE HOUSE. Paul Revere was the American who made the midnight ride to alert the colonial militia to the approach of the British in 1775. The tour was very reasonable to go inside the house and get a glimpse of what life was like back then.

 

 

 

Within walking distance from Paul Revere House is the OLD NORTH CHURCH which was the church where the lanterns hung “one if by land, two if by sea”

 

 

A cool place I read about before arriving to Boston was an alley…called ACORN ALLEY. The original cobblestone is here along with great old homes for the perfect photo.

Mixed among the historical sites are historical homes and beautiful architecture. Below are some examples👇

 

We also got the chance to view the OLD STATE HOUSE (1713) as well as the NEW STATE HOUSE gilded in 23k gold. Both buildings are gorgeous.

 

The thing I will talk about before I move on to the topic of food is BOSTON COMMON. This area is a very large public park that is free to roam. It is the oldest in the U.S. dating back to 1634. Today you can take a ride on the famous Swan Boats if you wish. For us, we just walked around and enjoyed the shade.

Boston Common & the Swan boats

********************************************************************************

Moving on…..let me talk about FOOD!! 🍺🍰🥡🍽

1. SAM ADAMS BREWERY (30 Germania St.) is a great way to get a history lesson while sipping beer! We took the tour which included a sampling of beer along with a souvenir glass to take home. 🍺

2. FANEUIL HALL & QUINCY MARKET house dozens and dozens of options for dining. If you want history visit Faneuil Hall which dates back to 1742. Peter Faneuil gifted the building to the city.

3. PARKER HOUSE HOTEL. Here you will find the original recipe for the Boston Cream pie. 🍰

4. CHEERS! The set of the hit TV show is located at the Beacon Hill location. We stopped in and cooled down with a cold beer in a souvenir mug. 🍺

5. CHINATOWN. I was really excited to go here…but it was a very small area but we did have a super good springs rolls and visited a bakery with unusual dessert items.

6. MIKE’S PASTRIES. Go! Cannoli!

………One last thing we did was go on a public boat cruise at night and since it was near the Fourth of July we got to experience the fireworks from the water. I always like going on the water to view the city from a different perspective………..

———————-Until the next time—————-Next up———Provincetown Maryland.

Acadia National Park to Stowe VT

 

 

We left early in the morning From Acadia National Park and hit the road for an expected scenic drive over to Stowe, VT. The drive was a little over 300 miles. I really wanted to drive through the White Mountains on the famous 34.5 mile long KANCAMAGUS HIGHWAY  (highway 112) We did pick up highway 112 just outside of Conway. From Conway we headed northbound and drove through the Flume Gorge. We had beautiful weather and the drive was very pretty.

The red line indicates where the KANCAMAGUS HIGHWAY is located, just outside Conway

We took our time but still arrived in time to tour the BEN & JERRY FACTORY! (1281 Watyrbury-Stowe Rd. Waterbury, VT) The tour is only 30 minutes long, costs $4 and at the end you get a sampling of ice cream…what is not to like? From ice cream we headed over to get a beer from the VON TRAPP BREWERY & BIERHALL (1333 Luce Hill Rd., Stowe, VT) The brewery, along with the von Trapp Lodge is owned by the same family made famous by the musical “The Sound of Music” The lodge is located on top a mountaintop and looks like you are in the Swiss Alps. The brewery is in a separate location. It is a very cozy space, good beer, good food & good service. We ordered a brat and some beer on tap.

Von Trapp Brewery & Bierhall – located near von Trapp Lodge. Stowe, VT

Brat served with no bun

In the morning before heading off to Boston we stopped at a lovely little cafe and Cider Mill called COLD HOLLOW CIDER MILL (3600 Waterbury-Stowe Rd.) We had a breakfast sandwich which included a fresh made cheddar biscuit. We really wanted to try the hard ciders and luckily the early morning hour did not stop them from serving us a delicious flight of them! 😀 After breakfast we walked next door to where they make the cider donuts and of course, got some for the car ride.

Our time in Vermont was short but we got a flavor for the area, enjoyed our time there but had to move on to BOSTON.

Please join me in my next entry all about our 3 days in Boston and Cape Cod area.

 

Acadia National Park July 2018 Part 1: Boston to Acadia

 

We had a just over a week to complete our 8 STATE fast paced vacation! Above ☝️you can see how it is broken up.

RED:  Boston to Acadia National Park

GREEN: Acadia National Park to Stowe, VT. Then onto Boston for 3 days

BLUE: Cape Cod to Provincetown

PURPLE: Cape Cod to New York City. Touring NYC for 4 days

**In this post I will be talking about the RED line which includes Boston to Acadia National Park.

To start, we flew into Boston and got in pretty late so we got a good night sleep at our Airbnb not far from the airport. In the morning we got in our rental car and headed north with a stop for the night in Ellsworth, Maine.

Highway map of Maine showing our stops in Wiscasset, Camden and Ellsworth

It was beautiful July weather and we headed up the freeway and then cut over to Highway 1 that follows the coastline. No trip to Maine would be complete without eating a fresh lobster roll! I researched and found the #1 lobster roll in Maine just happened to be on our line of travel! Yippee!!😋 We arrived at the #1 place RED’S EATS (41 Water Street, Wiscasset) and apparently everyone else got the memo too because the line was crazy long!! I mean a line so long the restaurant workers were passing out umbrellas to shade you from the sun while you waited! We did stand in line for about 15 minutes with no movement and decided to try our luck just across the street at SPRAGUE’S. We enjoyed our lobster roll, however i made a mental note to order it warm as it is custom to serve it cold.

With full belly we kept our northward pursuit with a quick stop at CAMDEN STATE PARK. We made it to our hotel room and relaxed and were ready to visit Acadia the following morning. We just did the “car tour” of Acadia. I am sure you can spend up to a week at Acadia because it does offer 158 miles of hiking, 45 miles of carriage roads, boating, biking, fishing, climbing, horseback riding and tide pooling. We however, had a short amount of time and just stuck to the main scenic areas. To enter the State Park a $30 fee is required and for that you will get a map similar to below where I circled the main scenic areas you can reach from the comforts of your car. I am a researcher my nature, so I already knew which areas I wanted to see and we did indeed see all of them. Keep in mind that July is a very busy month so to avoid traffic backups arrive early.

Pensacola – December 2017

 

I left the frozen northern part of the country aka Minnesota and escaped to Florida for Christmas break. Unfortunately, it was unseasonably chilly in Florida as well. Oh well, I was happy to escape the white snow and replace it with white sand!! We rented a 2 bedroom, 2 bedroom condo with a spectacular ocean view! The name of the condo was SAND KEY CONDOMINIUMS (13575 Sand Key Drive, Pensacola)

The chilly weather kept us indoors more than I would have liked, but when you need to stay indoors you become familiar with the long standing bars in the area! 😂 Of course a trip to the famous FLORA-BAMA BAR (17401 Perdido Key Drive, Pensacola) was a part of the game plan. This bar has been entertaining folks since 1964. It is located right on the beaches of both Orange Beach, AL & Perdido Key, FL. It is constantly voted the best beach bar in the USA. From the outside, it really doesn’t look like much of anything! Don’t let that fool you. It is a dimly lit place with bras & ball caps nailed to the walls. For this reason, perhaps try the drink called Bra Slinger.  My favorite drink was the Flora Bama Jama! Soooo gooood!! I had to take a photo of the ingredients for future reference. Here it is below👇

Another long standing shack/bar in the area is SANDSHAKER LOUNGE (731 Pensacola Beach Blvd, Gulf Breeze, FL) They make the claim that they are the home of the original Bushwacker drink that is so popular in this area. Think of a milkshake with an added ingredient of rum! Who doesn’t like that?

We also made a return visit to WORLD OF BEER (200 S. Palafox St, Pensacola) This place has over 500 beers readily available. I would recommend trying the ginormous, bigger than your head sized pretzel!

Really close the World of Beer is a building that houses 7 themed restaurants, including a pool hall. After 8 pm you can expect to pay an admission fee from $3 – $5 at SEVILLE QUARTER (130 E. Government St, Pensacola) We went during the day and played many games of pool for fun and had a really good burger at FAST EDDIE’S.

We also dined at the PERDIDO KEY OYSTER BAR & MARINA (13700 River Rd, Pensacola) If you are craving good seafood this is a good choice. They do have lots of seating both indoor and outdoor. We tried the bleu cheese kettle chips, stuffed snapper and key lime pie! Very tasty indeed.

We spent a lot of time at the condo too. We were able to sit on the balcony and enjoy the view. I want to come back when I can enjoy the beach and the outdoor pools.

My next outing will be the Mall of America near Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Seattle-November 2017

View of the Cascades

Took the opportunity of a long holiday weekend to visit the city of Seattle. The flight path went over the CASCADES and the sun was just rising! I had a window seat and really enjoyed the view. 🗻🗻

View of Seattle

The day I arrived it was rainy and fairly cold…🌨🌨 This put a damper on it for me. I don’t like being cold so I wasn’t to enthused to get out and explore the city. We mainly stayed over near ALKI BEACH. It is directly across the water from Seattle and we had great views of the city. We did walk along part of the 2.5 mile walkway and enjoyed the views of the Puget Sound.

Our view from Alki Beach 

We did venture out to visit the famous PIKE PLACE MARKET (1st Avenue & Pike St) The market is a public market which opened in 1907. It has grown considerably since then and is home to many restaurants, fresh fish, produce, flowers and pastries. It took considerable effort to find a parking spot! Keep this in mind as street parking is very hard to come by. We had to walk quite a distance to reach the market. I am glad i got the chance to visit because it is quite a remarkable space is size and offerings.

Like I stated before, we stayed over by Alki Beach area and ate over there most of the time. We went into GREAT AMERICAN DINER & BAR  (4752 California Ave)  Another place we tried was PIZZA CREDO (4520 California Ave) Both places had a really good atmosphere and food! Seattle is an expensive city to dine out in. We did find several Groupons too.

It was a quick weekend and I wish the weather would have been warmer….

Next up…Pensacola/New Orleans for Christmas & New Years!