Sleepless in Seattle: 2010 Vacation

This is going to be one of those posts — long, full of pictures, and maybe only interesting to me. But that’s the beauty of blogging … it helps capture a moment (or a week of moments) in time, making it easy to look back and reminisce.

Lucas and I have just returned from a week in Seattle, highlighted by:

• COPIOUS amounts of craft beer and coffee
• Amazing vegetarian and vegan meals
• Beautiful (cool!) weather
• A family reunion and wedding
• Time across the border, eh?
• Lots and lots and lots of working out — on purpose and not

And it would be a mistake to share my adventures without shouting out to our friends Jeff and Maureen for hosting us, feeding us and being our tour guides, as well as my Aunt Patti and Uncle Steve who not only planned and executed a gorgeous wedding under difficult circumstances, but had dozens of my family members stay at their house for a week!

I’m breaking it down by day and forcing myself to only include a few pictures from each adventure. I have nearly 500 from the trip!

**One note: We did a lot of drinking, and a lot of driving…but NEVER EVER EVER together. We arranged for rotating designated drivers. It’s really important to me that that’s clear. So you judge only on my drunk-induced tomfoolery, and nothing more serious.

Friday: Travel, Epic Ales Brewery, International Beer Festival, Thai Food

We traveled very early in the day — stopping in Salt Lake City before arriving in Seattle. We grabbed our rental car and headed to Epic Ales, a really amazing little place, run by a guy who took his homebrewing hobby to a real business. Cody — thanks for all your patience! After Epic, we headed to downtown Seattle, right under the Space Needle, for a beer festival featuring hundreds of craft beers. We ended the night with some spicy and fabulous thai food!

Coffee (local to Salt Lake City) on the layover

His choice of refreshment: Epic Ales

Cody from Epic Ales — patient brewer!

Parks like this are everywhere in Seattle!

More beer — this time at the festival

Spicy goodness at Thai Tom near the U of WA

Saturday: Bavarian Village, Wine Tasting, Beach

We got up early on what turned out to be a very long, very fun day (and culminated with me passed out on the floor).We started with a drive about two hours north, to a town called Leavenworth — a Bavarian-style village that’s a huge tourist attraction. We found vegan bratwursts, cats on leashes and more. After lunch and lots of walking around, we headed back through the mountains and to Woodinville, home to several wineries and a brewery. That’s where things get hazy…although I did have enough energy once we were back in Seattle to head to the beach and watch the sunset.

Beautiful Leavenworth

Surprisingly delicious vegan bratwurst: before

Vegan brat smothered in mustard and toppings: after

Cat on a leash

We felt wilkommen

Back on the road

Americanos for all! I thought this was pretty unique until I discovered that there are drive-in espresso huts every mile

Winery #1

Lots of tastings=happy Katy

Red Hook Brewery

Winery #2

Finally home, time to crack open a few of those Epic Ales!

It turns out, we were closer to the beach in Seattle than we are in Florida

Appropriate end to a wonderful day

Sunday: Family reunion/Wedding

On Sunday, Lucas and I jumped in the car and headed an hour away to Snoqualmie, where my aunt and uncle have a gorgeous farm. My cousin Grace was to wed her fabulous fiance Kristofer, so we arrived early to help with setup and see my aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and more. The day was cloudy but dry — until 30 minutes before the ceremony was set to begin. That’s when Mother Nature threw the wedding party a wet curveball, sending rain and chilly winds! Unfortunately, that meant moving the ceremony under a tent, but it turned out to be a very special, very emotional night filled with food, friends and dancing (“when I say barn, you say house!”).

Flowers bought at Pike Place Market

Crafty bride

They composted most of the scraps!

Cousins getting ready

Cake!

Homemade favors

Wet and cold but happy

“I do — I really, really do!”

The mid-summer pole goes up

Monday: Vegan doughnuts, Vancouver

Any day that starts with vegan, organic doughnuts from Mighty-O Donuts is a good one. Any day that includes a trip across the border is a good one. This was a good one.

So delicious

All the buildings in Vancouver look the same!

Mountains and water — can’t beat the view!

So cool

A tasting round

Fun at the market

We made it back across the border!

Tuesday: Pike Place Market (Piroshky Piroshky!)

What’s a trip to Seattle without a visit to the Market? Specifically, a stop at Piroshky Piroshky.

Quite a view from the piers

The anticipation builds…

Made with coffee grounds and cinnamon

Finally — time to eat!

Wednesday: Bike Ride, Gasworks Park, Veggie Burgers, House Hunting

Our last day! So sad…we decided to embrace the gorgeous Seattle weather and go on a bike ride. First, we headed to Gasworks Park for a brilliant view of the city. Then, we went to Fremont for a tour of Theo’s Chocolate — fair trade, organic and DELICIOUS! We followed that with the second-best veggie burgers I’ve ever had at Lunchbox Laboratory. Finally, we headed home and walked around our friends’ neighborhood for a little house hunting. No, we’re not moving, but it never hurts to look, right? Gorgeous gardens galore.

Ready for our tour and tastings!

So many options…

Can you tell we liked our lunches?

And there you have it — a week in Seattle, summed up in pictures. The only thing you didn’t see was the crazy amount of working out I did — from runs to yoga to bootcamp and bike rides. I also ate and ate and ate.

If you’ve made it this far, you’ll see why Seattle is on the (very) short list of cities I’d love to call home. It’s homey and friendly, committed to health and wellness and still a big city, with all that means. We had an amazing vacation, and I think we’ll be recovering for quite a while!