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#6-Seattle Part 1

This a blog about trying new things. Reaching beyond my comfort zone, exploring and making the most of life. My goal is to try 52 new things. One per week for a year.

For our 10 year anniversary we were planning a quick get-away to Las Vegas.  One day Joel casually suggested a different destination. He started lobbying for Hawaii. I started thinking Seattle. So, I started researching both. The biggest factor was time. We were leaving Wednesday and returning Saturday. Besides, we have been to Las Vegas and Hawaii before. This is the year of trying new things, right? And Joel and I have never been there. Seattle it was. I found a deal on the airplane tickets with Virgin Air. Their in-flight entertainment is top-notch! Too bad they don't fly to more places. Then I booked our hotel with Travelocity. We had luck in the past with the "secret hotels" option. I chose it again. We got the Sorrento Hotel www.hotelsorrento.com which is very old but updated. The service was excellent. When they heard that it was our anniversary, they sent champagne, fruit and cheese to our room. Our bed was super comfy. The hotel is rated 4 stars but I would give it 3.5 because our room was very small, the floor was slanted and their was a leak in the ceiling. Our first night we decided on a Spanish Restaurant called Tango Tapas www.tangorestaurant.com. We really like Spanish tapas and we can usually find one in a major city. This one wasn't great. Out of all the meals we had in Seattle this was the least favorite.
The next day we slept in. Ahhhh!!! One of my favorite parts of vacation. Then we went to Peso's Kitchen www.pesoskitchen.com for breakfast. They have a "breakfast happy hour" from 9-11 am. All entrees are $6. I had the carnitas with beans and eggs. It was delicious! One of the best breakfasts I have ever had. From breakfast we walked to the Seattle Center to see the Space Needle www.spaceneedle.com. The Seattle Center www.seattlecenter.com was a beautiful park with so many things to see and do. I had no idea. We were wandering around and saw an amazing building.  The Experience Music Project/Science Fiction Museum www.empsfm.org. We wandered around the lobby and shops and considered spending time at the museums but, we didn't have time. We decided that we would definitely come back and bring the kids here. Next we went to the Seattle Space Needle. The elevator is glass and you can see everything as you are going up. We walked all the way around the observation deck to see fantastic views of Seattle. Then on to the next tourist spot. We rode the Monorail to a major downtown shopping area. Nordstroms, Macy's, Gap, etc. Then we took a cab to Bills Speidel's Underground Tour www.undergroundtour.com located at Pioneer Square.  Very cool Seattle history lesson. We toured under 3 different buildings and saw the original Seattle. Fascinating. We caught a bus and headed back to our hotel. The public transportation in Seattle was clean www.seattle.com/transport/masstransit. Everyone was helpful and nice. That night we had dinner at Ipanema Brazilian Grill www.ipanemabraziliangrill.us Joel was in heaven! The passadores continually bring meat out on large metal skewers to your table. Rib eye, chicken, shrimp, fillet mignon, sausage even pineapple until you can't take it anymore. Then we took another bus ride to Dimitriou's JazzAlley www.jazzalley.com to see one of the creators of jazz fusion, Jeff Lorber with Eric Marienthal.  These musicians are so fluid and smooth. Their instruments are like an extension of themselves. We had a few drinks and enjoyed the music then headed back to the hotel. Since we arrived in Seattle it was over cast and drizzly but that's really the only downside I can see about this beautiful city. www.seattleweather.com. To be continued...           Check out all the cool pics below!

Comments

Anonymous said…
very cool...have you ever been to San Antonio ? I too love carnitas !
Hi Anonymous!
I too love carnitas! But the sauce on the ones I had at Peso's were phenomenal! No... I have not been to San Antontio but, it is on my short-list of places to see. I have been to Texas once. We went to Houston about 4 years ago.
Are you from San Antonio?
Thanks for reading my Blog! I hope you enjoyed it. ~Jen
Unknown said…
Ever feel like your heart belongs somewhere you've never been? That's how I feel about Seattle for some reason. Cool weather is so calming to me. I've always wanted to go - and I will soon. How awesome it is for you 2 to be able to travel and get away. P.S. for someone who doesn't like eating new foods, it seems your palet is very well exposed! :)
Keri-
Glad to see that you are getting caught up on the blog :-)
You would LOVE Seattle. I look forward to going back with the kids someday. Have you ever seen the movie Singles by Cameron Crowe circa 1993? It's all filmed in Seattle. One of my favorite movies ever.
p.s. I do enjoy eating very much! just not usually adventurous with new tastes. Joel has helped me with that a lot!

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