Kristina's friend, Mary, came into town to visit and help celebrate Kristina's birthday early. Believe it or not, Kristina and Mary have been friends since they were 16 years old. Both of them marvel at how they have stayed good friends for so long and in such good contact over the years. They miss the days of both of them living in the Phoenix Metro area, but even with them geographically apart, they are still "close". Wow!
Mary arrived on Friday around 10:30am, so Kristina took the day off. After picking Mary up from the airport we headed to one of Kristina's favorite spots in Seattle -- Serious Pie! Yum-O! The kale salad is awesome and the pizza crust is out of this world. Of course, we had to stop at the Dahlia Bakery for some sweets to eat as well. We each had a coconut cream pie bite, and Mary had a fig bar that must have had 2 or 3 figs in it alone! Next up we headed down to Pioneer Square to go on the Seattle Underground Tour.
The Seattle Underground Tour is a very touristy thing to do, but it came highly recommended to Mary by someone she knew and Kristina had read that is was a good thing to go check out in Seattle Met Magazine. The tour is approximately an hour and takes you through some of Seattle's first history as a city, and you find out that if it wasn't for Bill Spiedel and his efforts that Seattle would have lost all of this history. Definitely something to check out when you are in Seattle. Just know that you should probably buy tickets in advance because the day we went, the tour was very full and Kristina was very glad she bought tickets in advance.
After the tour, we headed back to where we parked the Juke, and that's when a bit of trouble began. For anyone who has experienced Seattle, parking in Seattle is an entirely new adventure. Kristina had found an open parking area to park in and paid to park the entire day. When we started out the day, that seemed like a good deal, but when we got back to the car, we began to wonder. It was ALMOST impossible to get out of the parking spot. The car that was in front of the car too far forward and taking up a bit of the spot, but there was no one parked on the right side of the car at the time and we figured we would be ok. But, the numskull that parked on the right side of us was WAY too close and hadn't pulled up far enough in the spot so we were pretty wedged in the parking spot. Mary thought we might have to get a tow truck, and Kristina wasn't sure how she was going to pull this one off. That being said, Kristina successfully pulled out after a few minor readjustments. Let's just say, thank goodness the Juke is small and has a back-up camera. Whew! After we got out of the parking spot, we headed out to Golden Gardens Park in Ballard.
Golden Gardens Park is a beautiful park right on Puget Sound. It was a beautiful day, and we had some time to spare before dinner, so we found a bench and caught up for a bit longer. Kristina had a great time talking with Mary and catching up. Mary enjoyed the view and all of the surrounding water. She was amazed though at how many kids were in that COLD water. For Seattle-ites, it was a warm day and a perfect day to be in the water. hahaha!
After hanging out there a while, we headed to Ray's Boathouse for an excellent dinner and an even better view. Ray's never fails to impress in either department. After a nice dinner we headed back to the eastside and to Woodinville. However, when we came out of Ray's we had another slight parking problem...Ray's was so busy that the valet had blocked our car in its spot. Another family was blocked in as well. So we had to flag down one of the valets, he moved the cars and we were able to narrowly escape again. Once again, Kristina was glad she was driving the Juke!
We finished off the evening with a fire in the fire pit and more chit chat of course!
What a great day!
Mary arrived on Friday around 10:30am, so Kristina took the day off. After picking Mary up from the airport we headed to one of Kristina's favorite spots in Seattle -- Serious Pie! Yum-O! The kale salad is awesome and the pizza crust is out of this world. Of course, we had to stop at the Dahlia Bakery for some sweets to eat as well. We each had a coconut cream pie bite, and Mary had a fig bar that must have had 2 or 3 figs in it alone! Next up we headed down to Pioneer Square to go on the Seattle Underground Tour.
The Seattle Underground Tour is a very touristy thing to do, but it came highly recommended to Mary by someone she knew and Kristina had read that is was a good thing to go check out in Seattle Met Magazine. The tour is approximately an hour and takes you through some of Seattle's first history as a city, and you find out that if it wasn't for Bill Spiedel and his efforts that Seattle would have lost all of this history. Definitely something to check out when you are in Seattle. Just know that you should probably buy tickets in advance because the day we went, the tour was very full and Kristina was very glad she bought tickets in advance.
After the tour, we headed back to where we parked the Juke, and that's when a bit of trouble began. For anyone who has experienced Seattle, parking in Seattle is an entirely new adventure. Kristina had found an open parking area to park in and paid to park the entire day. When we started out the day, that seemed like a good deal, but when we got back to the car, we began to wonder. It was ALMOST impossible to get out of the parking spot. The car that was in front of the car too far forward and taking up a bit of the spot, but there was no one parked on the right side of the car at the time and we figured we would be ok. But, the numskull that parked on the right side of us was WAY too close and hadn't pulled up far enough in the spot so we were pretty wedged in the parking spot. Mary thought we might have to get a tow truck, and Kristina wasn't sure how she was going to pull this one off. That being said, Kristina successfully pulled out after a few minor readjustments. Let's just say, thank goodness the Juke is small and has a back-up camera. Whew! After we got out of the parking spot, we headed out to Golden Gardens Park in Ballard.
Golden Gardens Park is a beautiful park right on Puget Sound. It was a beautiful day, and we had some time to spare before dinner, so we found a bench and caught up for a bit longer. Kristina had a great time talking with Mary and catching up. Mary enjoyed the view and all of the surrounding water. She was amazed though at how many kids were in that COLD water. For Seattle-ites, it was a warm day and a perfect day to be in the water. hahaha!
After hanging out there a while, we headed to Ray's Boathouse for an excellent dinner and an even better view. Ray's never fails to impress in either department. After a nice dinner we headed back to the eastside and to Woodinville. However, when we came out of Ray's we had another slight parking problem...Ray's was so busy that the valet had blocked our car in its spot. Another family was blocked in as well. So we had to flag down one of the valets, he moved the cars and we were able to narrowly escape again. Once again, Kristina was glad she was driving the Juke!
We finished off the evening with a fire in the fire pit and more chit chat of course!
What a great day!
