Travelling is the Spice of Life

SEATTLE and BEYOND
Travelling always puts me in a good mood.  I get to plan for it weeks or months in advance and I get to go somewhere new or visit someone I love.  This time I met a friend from Junior High while we each took art classes up in Port Townsend, WA called ArtFest.  It was something that she had planned with two other friends from Denver and we had signed up for last year.   The classes I took were bookmaking and journaling and I learned some new techniques.  I was most impressed with all the women we met and how interesting and devoted they were to their families and their artwork and crafts.  They do interesting things, like one woman who is an intelligence officer for the navy and others who own businesses, or were newly retired and trying something entirely new for the first time.  I met Kim from Denver who owns a business making eco-friendly lavender soap.  I promised to send her some of my lavender and she recommended a book for me to try to make my own lavender soap.   I noticed that we all have similar goals; to raise aware and educated children.  Children that give back to their community.    I met women who were from Vancouver, Washington, Oregon, Denver (a huge contingent, including my friends), Kansas, Missouri, Boston, San Jose, and other California cities.  It felt like we were instant friends and at home with eachother even though we were from very different backgrounds and cities.  I thought how great it was that we could all meet, take different kinds of art classes, yet come together on so many important topics.  I love that about travelling, you just don't know who you will meet and what you will get from the experience.  I think Port Townsend is such a sweet spot now that I would like to take my husband back to see it.   It helps that its natural beauty is breathtaking!

Into Seattle
From the airport, we drove right to Seattle and made our way to Wild Ginger, an Asian inspired restaurant on 3rd and Union, near Pike's Place Market.  It is a large restaurant smack in the middle of downtown, so it is ideal for business people to meet or just travelling diners like ourselves.  The food is always good and our lunch was no exception. A curry soup with sweet potato was very good, but I was expecting to see some of the vegies that we saw in the market make their way to our dining table and that didn't seem to be the case.

Next to Seattle's Pike's Place Market is Ettas' restaurant.  It has a beautiful view of the port.  While we were there we tasted their Hood Canal oysters and found them very briny and perfectly fresh.  Their crab cakes were tasty too and we nibbled up every bit of it.  Also, the service was great, they even let us plug in my friend's dying phone!

Pomegranate is a restaurant in Redmond, WA that I have visited twice while spending time up there.  They have an ecelectic menu and different takes on classics.  Steak Firebread at Pomegranate in (left) is a twist on Italian Flatbread/Pizza.  The sauce on top is a sweet and hot Vietnamese sauce called siracha, swirled over the top.    The Shrimp Tacos at Pomegranate, with a small pile of crispy chips, were ok, but I would have prefered two tacos, instead of three and then a little guacamole and salsa on the side.

All in all, I love the Northwest.  The scene is different from our towns here and I appreciate the differences.  After about 30 years or so of visiting the Seattle area, I know where to go and what is good.  Try it out for yourself.  It's a great town!