Seattle and Whidbey Island

Seattle ❤️

Our last destination in the USA until we reach Alaska was the Seattle/Whidbey Island area to spend time with our oldest, Ethan and his wife, Stephanie and Martin's sister, Peggy and her wife, Kelly. It was mid-May and the area was putting on its finest display for us. There were greens; trees, grasses, and leaves of all shades. There were brilliant flowers; flowers in planters, flowers in pots, flowers on bushes and trees and bursting out of gardens. There were blue skies and sunshine and temps in the 70s. It was lovely. 

 We went exploring in Discovery Park, had a lovely Mother's Day outing at the Japanese Gardens and went to the Chihuly glass museum. Had lots of great food, a fun afternoon and evening trip, on the ferry, to Port Townsend and as always a great long weekend on Whidbey Island. 

Oh, and surprise ... I got a tattoo.

I've been wanting to get one for quite some time now and Seattle seemed like the perfect place to get it. Stephanie went with me. It's just a very small discreet little one above my ankle. But, I'm pretty psyched about it! 

On to pics: 

an afternoon walk in Discovery Park 

somebody's in the meadow 

it's a coyote ...

perhaps he's looking for lunch 

time to move on 

sailboats in the sound 

the old lighthouse 

Mt Rainier shining like a beacon

Then we ended the day with a meal at a Norwegian restaurant … pretzel, pickled  herring anyone???

We went to the Japanese Gardens for Mother's Day and I took pics to my heart's desire.

After the Japanese Garden, we went to the Arboretum and as we were walking the paths … an owl flew to a branch on a tree near us!  I was so excited I could barely believe it.  I heard owls, but I just never see them in their natural setting.

Unfortunately, I was so excited, that I didn't have the “best” settings on my camera … sorry you’ll just have to bear with me.  “Our” owl had caught something, (maybe a bunny, maybe a squirrel), and was eating it!               Barred Owl

“Our” owl turned around and began to rub his face against the moss on the tree. At first I thought this was some sort of contentment move, he was making a little murmuring sound and looked quite pleased. But the more I watched and thought about it, I was pretty sure he was cleaning his face. It had become bloody and messy while he was eating.

The Chihuly glass at the Chihuly Garden and Glass museum was amazing. 

ice and snow

one installation was of glass bowl and jug creations based onf indigenous basket designs

a ceiling - I know it's hard to conceptualize from this pic, but it's sort of like a series of shadow boxes going all the way across the room with this glass behind it. You can spend ages just staring at all the different pieces and colors that are in it.

The Makers Mark Distillery we toured in Laretto, Kentucky had a similar ceiling.

The technique to blow these giant scalloped bowls with two different colors of glass, one inside and one outside and with a rim of a different color! Delicate. Ephemeral. Crisp. (Can you even use those words together to describe something?)

Many of the installations were on reflective material allowing the viewer to appreciate the piece in more than one “dimension”.

This was an incredibly complex and detailed installation 

as a whole, it was almost more than my brain could comprehend…

so I took a couple of close-ups 

This space had a large glass arched roof like a conservatory feeling with a giant garland of these flowers flowing along the ceiling and down the wall

in the garden … a glass tree 

and more baubles 

Museum of Pop Culture - MOPOP designed by architect Frank Geary

Peggy and Kelly have such a beautiful spot on a bluff overlooking the Puget sound with all sorts of wildlife about: birds, deer, whales, porpoises, and more.  It is always a joy to visit them in their beautiful spot.

a bald eagle stopping to rest in one of their trees and look for the next meal

Of course, a visit to Whidbey must include a visit to Coupeville and meal of  mussels

seagulls on a roof

the pier

Heading to Port Townsend                 heron nest at the ferry dock 

really hard to see, but there are actually some chicks in that nest

keeping watch

chick-in-waiting 

Port Townsend 

The Bishop Hotel                                      we had a drink out on the patio in back

They had beautiful flowers

and a visitor wandered through 

Kelly and Peggy

the gang - Ethan, Kelly, Peggy, Stephanie and Martin 

and all of us

Port Townsend has a distinct Victorian architectural origins, a liberal dose of quirkiness and is great fun to just wander about. After the martinis we headed to dinner in “uptown”, on top of the bluff. To get there we had to climb stairs, a lot of stairs … 138 stairs!  Oofdah!

But it was worth it. We had a great meal at Finistere.

warmth 

good food, good friends, good cheer are welcome here

looking down uptown 

But, nothing matches the meals that Peg and Kelli make for us 

halibut (that Peg caught), smashed potatoes with avocado garlic aioli, fresh salad …. 

Peg and Kelli in the kitchen - 

team work makes the dreamwork

sunset on our last night

Before we leave this Seattle - Whidbey Island blog, I promised a surprise reveal…

My tattoo!  

Ethan wanted to know why I chose that tattoo. I told him the three stars represented my three sons, him and his brothers. He immediately asked which one of them was the biggest star, 🙄 I responded whichever one is nicest to me at that moment. It's an earned position. 😂

Next stop:

Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada!

We are seriously making our way northward to our ultimate destination for this year of Alaska ❤️. (But we still have a long way to go and Vancouver turned out to be one of my favorite city stops, so no shortchanging any upcoming blogs along the way.)