CHEERS...TO THE FREAKIN' WEEKEND!

Over Labor Day weekend, Sweets and I and our friends Dave and Lindsey, decided to take advantage of the long weekend and go on an adventuresome trip! None of us had ever been to Seattle, so we figured that was a good place to go. We left Friday evening and came home Monday night. It was such an incredible, beautiful and fun trip.

SATURDAY:
started off with Pike's Market Place. We absolutely loved it here. We walked all around the market admiring the gorgeous (and inexpensive) flowers, handcrafted jewelry, garden vegetables and fruit, and all the seafood you could think of. It was fun to watch the fishermen throw the fish, but boy was it stinky!




Just behind the Market was the infamous Gum Wall! I have never seen a wall so huge loaded with chewed gum. It was really colorful but kinda of gross if you think about it. Each of us chewed a piece of gum and attached it to the wall. That was our contribution to Seattle.

From there we walked down to the pier for some lunch and took in the scenery of each of the islands across Puget Sound. Then we walked back up and did a little window shopping at all the stores. There was the original Nordstrom, H&M, Nike Town and a lot of other smaller local shops. The streets were flooded with people and cars and beautiful architectural buildings. Downtown itself reminded me a lot of San Francisco with its steep hills.

We then headed over to Seattle Center where we saw the Space Needle, the Science Center and Experience Music Project. Its funny, but we were taken back at how small the space needle was. We totally were thinking it was the largest thing in Seattle and its not even close. However small or big, it was still really neat to see.

Instead of going to the top of the Space Needle we thought it would be fun if we took a sea plane tour instead. I was a little nervous at first taking off and landing in water but I was surprised at how smooth it was and how pretty the whole city is. We were able to do the 30 minute tour and it was awesome! We flew all over Seattle and had the best views of everything. It was definitely a highlight of our trip!
  

SUNDAY:
was filled with even more awesomeness. We first headed to see the Seattle Temple and enjoy some spiritual time. It was a very pretty temple with beautiful statues surrounding it and a tiered pool of water in the front. We couldn't have asked for a better morning than to walk the grounds in the beautiful weather.

From there we drove up to Snoqualmie Falls. WOWZA! The falls were so big and loud...I loved it. The view of the falls and the mountains surrounding it were incredible. We definitely were in awe. I love the mist that surrounds waterfalls. There is something so peaceful about it. 

We then made our way over to the island Bremerton for some lunch. There happened to be a festival on the pier so we just had to check it out. The boys ate delicious corn on the cob and we all sat there people watching (our fav thing) and listening to a local band sing some Country music (also our fav). We decided to take the ferry back to Seattle which was such a fun experience. I had never been on a car ferry before and was totally amazed at how fast the thing moves with all that weight! The movie Deja Vu did cross my mind a few times...ha!

Once we arrived we thought we would check out the old part of Seattle and ran into the Underground Tour Center. It looked way cool so we signed up and did it. Apparently, there is a whole other city below Seattle that was the original city before a fire in 1889 wiped it out. We were in shock at the saloons, banks, and other buildings intact (for the most part) below the Seattle streets. It was really neat to take this tour and we are so glad we did it!

MONDAY:
was bittersweet. We headed over to Kirkland for some beach action and hit up the kayaks. We went out on Lake Washington and seriously loved it. The water was surprisingly warm and calm. The homes that we passed by were so beautiful and each had their own dock. We did learn that there are boats for every 5 people in Seattle. Amazing! After kayaking we ate a great lunch at a Beach Cafe and soaked up the last few hours before we had to head to the airport.

On our way to the airport, we made a pit stop at Cow Chips. I ordered the cow-plop and it was truly D-lish! It was just the dough, my favorite part about cookies. Sweets picked up some chiplets and we all chowed down on those. Everything was centered around cows which was really neat. You could order a calf, a cow, a herd, and even a bull chip. Who would have thought?

Thanks Dave and Lindsey for joining us on this fabulous trip and making so much fun! We had an absolute blast and look forward to our next trip with you!
As for you Seattle...we will be back again soon!