Stories from the Road
July 21, 2016
Seattle, WA.
Inn at the Market


If you want a construction job, Seattle is the place to come. Today we walked around the city, and it seemed that a new building was going up on

every block. The place is booming!

After breakfast in a small café in our hotel, we began walking towards REI’s flagship store. On the way, we hit Mountain Hardware. Columbia, Arcteryx, and Feathered Friends gear shops.  I didn’t buy anything since golf is my game now, but it was fun to look at all the great products. Finally, we reached REI, which is a remarkable store, whether or not you are an outdoor person. It features three floors of clothing and gear along with an outdoor mountain bike path and an indoor climbing wall.

On the way to the Space Needle to see the Chihuly Glass exhibit, we found a boutique lunch spot, which was excellent. Vicki and I split a chicken salad, which had warm potatoes, olives, hard-boiled eggs, and fresh pieces of chicken. The dressing of mayonnaise with mustard seed and garlic was excellent as was the salad. For dessert, we split a scoop of peach praline ice cream accompanied by a homemade cookie.

The glass exhibit was more interesting than I thought it would be. The pieces were colorful and spectacular. Many were twenty feet high. I remember seeing some of the artist’s work in Venice last year. Some of the smaller pieces were selling for 5-10 thousand dollars in the gift shop, so I can only imagine what the twenty footers went for.

Dinner tonight was at Etta’s Seafood restaurant along the waterfront. Our waitress was exuberant and reminded me of the servers in Scotland. Every time you ordered they said “lovely”.  The reinforcement never stopped coming! Vicki had halibut, and I had salmon. After dinner, we watched the Republican convention before turning the light off.