Food, Fun & Fast Stepping around Puget Sound

We journeyed over 2,000 miles to arrive in West Seattle and savor THE best fresh strawberry rhubarb pie either of us have ever tasted!  Made by Whidbey, a bakery located on an island here in Washington, it was worth the cross country drive! :)  The pure fruit fillings reminded reminded us of childhood pastries and homemade crusts.

In our opinion, no visit to Seattle is complete without a trip to Pike's Place which boasts the lure and entertainment of flying fish (in the fish market that is), fab shops and is the home to the first Starbuck's café!  As we are staying in West Seattle we decided to take the "Water Taxi" across the bay - what a way to commute!  After walking our way to The Public Market, we had a cozy meal in the 'secret bar' called Lowell's overlooking the market. As you would expect, great seafood!

While we're Settled in Seattle (great movie title?) we've been exploring the world of FRESH seafood, ranging from haddock at Salty's (our anniversary dinner), to right-off-the-boat wild-caught salmon on the backyard grill.

And... like many who visit West Seattle... one of the highlights of our stay was time spent on Alki Beach (the birthplace of Seattle -1851). It perfectly represents the vibe of the area with it's beachside restaurants, bars and coffee houses, and dozens of uplifting signs and history briefs which were a joy to read. Something we noted is that the area is always clean - even the morning after the July 4th festivities, there was very little trash - there seems to be lots of respect for the land and the environment.

We've also noted that almost everybody is into some type of exercise and movement on this peninsula of land.  Whether its swimming, walking, skateboarding, roller-skating, or biking up and down the beach - everybody gets their steps in for the day - including us.  

Its a benefit of our nomadic lifestyle that we didn't realize until we were on the road - we wear a lot more rubber off our walking shoes than we ever did in Chicago.  Maybe it's because nearly everyday there are new sites and neighborhoods to visit, and a variety of people from all walks of life that we encounter - whatever the case, we usually exceed our goal of 10,000 steps!   

While there certainly is plenty of news regarding issues and concerns in Seattle (past and present), we are happy to report that our stay in West Seattle reflected none of that negativity and has been one of the major highlights of our  journey across America so far!

 And with that we'll leave you with one of our favorite times of day on Alki...