Gallivanting Grandma

Saturday, June 23, 2012

A gray cloudy morning –  62 degrees. We walked to the Hertz office early and were on the road by 10:00 AM. It had stopped raining during the night but was still cloudy and cool. There was very little traffic because many streets were closed due to the Seattle Marathon which was going on nearby. We easily followed the signs to Route 5 Northbound and we were driving out of Seattle.

Espresso Bar Along Route 525

There were coffee bars and mini drive-in coffee shops everywhere along the road. After a while, we stopped at the Budapest Bistro in Lynnwood for coffee and Hungarian pastries. The proprietors knew the owners of the little Hungarian restaurant we go to in Manhattan on Second Ave. She said they were invited to go to New York to cook, but she was afraid of big cities.

Light House Near the Ferry

Our destination was the town of Mukilteo, where we planned to take one of the Washington State Ferries across Puget Sound to Whidby Island. We arrived at the Mukilteo ferry at 11:15 and parked in line and waited for the next ferry which was scheduled to depart at noon.

Entering the Ferry

View of the Light House From the Ferry

Approaching Land

The car thermometer read 58 degrees. It was a short 15 minute ferry ride to the town of Clinton on Whidby Island. As we drove off the ferry, it was gray and dreary and drizzling.

Whidbey Island

A Farm On Whidbey Island

We continued along Rt. 525 north. The road was named Bush Point Road but somewhere along the way changed its name to Smuggler’s Cove. Without a history guide, one could only wonder about the historical references to the names.

Pine Trees Along Route 525

Coupeville, Washington

Eventually, it stopped raining and we stopped in Coupeville, Washington at about 2:00 o’clock for a late lunch. We found the Knead & Feed Restaurant on Front Street. We had a fabulous home-cooked healthy lunch right by the waterside. The chef/owner told us she was from Buffalo, New York and didn’t miss cold winters. She said that a movie named Practical Magic had been filmed in Coupeville and they used the interior of her restaurant as an apothecary shop in the film.

Low Tide

Flowers

Shop Window in Coupville

Changing Tide in the Rain

It was raining hard when we finished eating so we had a soggy walk back to the car. The temperature cooled to 53 degrees outside.

We were back on the road and continued toward Anacortes. The road became Route 20 and as we approached the end of Whidby Island we saw two huge paper mills spewing smoke into the gray sky. We also passed a sign for a  Native American Reservation and their casino alongside the road.

View of the Anacortes Ferry

We took tripadvisor.com’s recommendation and were able to get a lovely, large, clean room at the Anacortes Ship Harbor Inn near the ferry dock. The Inn had been renovated recently and was a delightful place to stay. Our room was warm and cozy and had a great view of Puget Sound and the islands beyond.

Friday – June 22, 2012

This morning was overcast and raining lightly. My body-clock is slowly readjusting to Pacific time, but I woke up early anyway. Jeff had read about a wonderful patisserie two blocks from our hotel so we walked over there for morning coffee. The Belle Epicurean is located on the ground floor of the Fairmont Olympian Hotel. As we walked into the elegant lobby of the hotel, the friendly doorman engaged us in conversation about Seattle weather.

La Belle Epicurean

It was cool and wet outside but warm and cozy in the Olympian lobby. Soft classical music played as we looked for the patisserie. We found it downstairs on the Fourth Avenue side of the building. Diplomas from the Cordon Bleu in Paris hung on the wall which were earned by the chef/owner of this famous eatery. We ordered wonderful croissants and good cappuccinos and enjoyed them in a European atmosphere.

Exterior of the Best Patisserie in Seattle

Our next goal was the main branch of the Seattle Public Library. We had read about the building when it was built in 2004 and have wanted to see it ever since. The unusually designed building looks like randomly stacked diamond-shaped pieces of glass and steel which defy gravity. This building replaced the 1960s “modern” rectangular-box-style library which had replaced the original 1906 Carnegie library.

Seattle Public Library

Fifth Avenue Entrance

The architect was the innovative designer Rem Koolhaas from Holland. The library has 10 floors of public spaces which include seven floors of stacks of nonfiction books and about 400 computers for public use. There is a large children’s area on the ground floor and a “teen” area upstairs on the third level.

Interior

“The Living Room”

Follow the Chartreuse Escalators

The best way to tour the library is to obtain one of the large preprinted guides at one of the entrances and then take the chartreuse escalators and work your way up to the 10^th floor. The Seattle Public Library is an amazing building which should set a high benchmark for libraries across the country.

Searching for Books in the Stacks

The Tenth Floor

Computers & Maps

After we toured the library and wished we had a library like this one near our home, we left to walk to the famous Pike Place Market. It was still raining. On our way, we stopped off at Gelatiamo on the corner of 3^rd & Union Streets to sit and take a break. This is another of Jeff’s finds. We had a little snack of tasty gelato and then continued walking in the rain.

Gelatiamo

The Pike Place Market is probably the most famous tourist destination in Seattle and is a lot of fun. On a rainy Friday afternoon, it was packed with tourists. Since our last visit to Seattle, it seems that the market has grown larger with more stalls and sellers.

The Pike Place Market

Typical Vendor

Doughnuts For Sale

To their credit, the market has kept out the national chains. By law, only single owner-operators are allowed to rent space in the market. Starbuck’s is the only exception because the one here is the original shop.

Tourists Waiting to See the Flying Fish

Flower Seller

Beautiful Bouquet

We stopped at Mee Sum Pastry to sample their chicken “hom bow”. We shared one and although it received rave reviews on some food blog, we were a little disappointed. After walking around for a while, we stopped at The Crumpet Shop on First Avenue for some crumpets and tea.

Hum Bows For Sale

Tea and Crumpets

Our next destination was SAM – the Seattle Art Museum, but we were getting tired and we needed a break. We stopped off at the Four Seasons Hotel across the street and sat in the comfortable lobby near the fireplace to rest for a little while.

Still Raining

Rain Rolling in from the West

It was still raining when we went outside so we decided to skip the museum and return to our hotel. It’s supposed to rain for the next five days. At least it’s not cold. We walked up the steep hill to 6^th Avenue and called it a day.

Tee-Shirt Shop