Keith's Mother's Birthday in Seattle - September 2013

Seattle (view from seaplane)

For Keith's mother's 70th birthday, we decided to do another family trip like we did to Napa for his dad's birthday - this time to Seattle.

Accommodation:
Grand Hyatt - we stayed here for a single night before heading to the cabin.  It is a great location downtown, close to Pike Place Market

Shawna and Keith

VRBO Cabin - Margaret found this cabin on Vacation Rentals by Owner.  Wesley, the owner (who oddly lives in Fort Worth), was very easy to work with and quite accommodating.  The cabin is a half-mile off I-90 at exit 32.  The cabin has a nice large great room, a kitchen table that seats 6, and 4 bedrooms.  Jean and Dick had the master room on the ground floor, Keith/Shawna and Margaret slept in the two rooms downstairs, and Graham was in the loft bedroom above the living room.

Graham, Keith and Margaret

Activities:
In order not to miss any work time, we flew to Seattle on Tuesday night after work.  The flight was delayed so we did not get to the hotel until midnight - which was tough since Shawna had a 5am call as she was living east coast time while on the west coast.  Keith went downstairs to the Starbucks in the hotel to work all morning.  Kristin, a former colleague, met Keith for coffee for a couple of hours as well.  We left the hotel for lunch at Pike Place Market, just a few blocks down the road.  After that, Keith went to see an apartment community that his company owns that is currently being redeveloped while Shawna worked in the hotel.  On the way to the cabin that we rented for the weekend, we stopped by another of Keith's apartments - though Shawna slept in the minivan while Keith toured the community.  We left the community and headed up 405 to 90 and actually had Graham and Margaret pass us on I-90 - Graham had picked Margaret up from the airport and had stopped by Whole Foods to stock up the house.  Keith's parents were already at the house as they had been in Washington for the week.  After getting settled in, Graham cooked us an awesome diner and then it was an early bedtime as we were really tired from the night before.

Pike Place Market

Margaret had planned the activities for the weekend, and the first event of the trip was a hike to Rattlesnake Ledge.  The start of the hike was only 4 miles from the house and was 4 miles round trip with an elevation gain of about 1,000 feet.  There was a beautiful lake at the start and it was a nice hike to start off the weekend.  We then set off to Seattle, about a 30 minute drive from the cabin.  We walked around Pike Place, had a coffee at the first Starbucks (Keith's dad's version of mecca), and then went on a really cool seaplane flight.  We were late for the flight because of traffic but the company was able to get us all up anyway.  We went in the plane with Graham and Margaret while Keith's parents went on a separate flight.  The planes took off from Lake Union and then flew over the Space Needle, the bay, downtown, then back to Lake Washington where we flew over Bill Gates' house, then back for landing in Lake Union.  It was only 20 minutes but was really fun.  After the flight, we went to dinner and then back to the cabin.

Rattlesnake Ledge Hike

Seaplane Flight

Friday was another full day arranged by Margaret.  We started the day at Snoqualmie Falls, a waterfall with an old hydro plant from the 1800s.  Unfortunately it was foggy and drizzly so we did not see too much of the falls.  We were also a day early - the trails there had been closed for years and were re-opening the following day.  We then stopped by Boehm's Candies and Chocolates for a tour and taste, but the not-so-happy person in the office was less than accommodating.  So, we did a fast power-tour of the factory windows by ourselves and then headed off.  From there, we went to Woodinville to the Chateau St Michelle winery.  The grapes are actually grown in eastern Washington but this was the actual winery.  The tour of the production facility was quite good - and capped off with the obligatory wine tasting.  Following the winery, we headed back to Pike Place to have lunch before going to the Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibit in Seattle Center, the 1964 World's Fair grounds.  The exhibit was quite well done, particularly in the exhibition hall.  We then walked to Lake Union to join a harbor cruise for an hour and a half before heading to dinner.

Wine Tasting at Chateau St Michelle

Chihuly Glass Exhibit

Jean, The Bday Girl!

Since Sat night was the big dinner, we decided to do a harder hike to work up our appetite.  Margaret found the Mount Si hike, which was 8 miles round trip and a 3500 foot elevation gain.  We got to the parking lot and discovered that a permit was required - so Keith and Margaret went to pick up the permit while the rest started the hike.  It was only 20 minutes total to get back and forth to the permit so Keith and Margaret met everyone about 1.5 miles in to the hike.  The trail was really well done and not too steep.  We started in fog but ended up with beautiful blue skies at the top, with the cloud layer well below us in the valley.  We skipped lunch and just had a couple of bites of apple on the trail - with the food the last few days we did not really need much!  After a quick shower and a glass of wine at the cabin, a white stretch limo picked us up to take us to the Herb Farm for the main event of the weekend.

On Top of Mount Si

Dressed for Dinner at the Herb Farm

Sunday saw most of us heading out - first Graham and Margaret to the airport and then we left at about 10:45am - with Jean and Dick staying at the cabin for one more night.  We went to Kelly and Reed's house where Kim and Keith also came over for a lunch with everyone and the kids.  It was fun to catch up with everyone as it had been three or more years since we last saw them.  We then drove to the airport to go back home to reality!

Herb Farm

Restaurants:
Chef Graham - Graham made dinner at the cabin the first night - starting with guacamole and chips then a delicious dinner of grilled red snapper, tomatoes, and mushrooms that he had picked earlier that day on the Olympic Peninsula.  Keith's parents had picked up the wine in eastern Washington earlier that week. 

Keith and Shawna at the Herb Farm

Tilth - A play on "till the earth", this is an organic restaurant where the chef (who is also the owner) is a James Beard Award winner for Best Chef of the Northwest.  We shared a very tasty and fresh fish dish with a watermelon carpaccio for an appetizer.

Keith and Graham Cutting Up at the Herb Farm

Pike Place Chowder Company - We had a great lunch here.  There was quite a big line which actually moved fast - and we ate standing up around a high-top table.  The salmon chowder was delicious.

McCormick and Schmick's - We had a couple of reservations later in the evening but did not want to stay downtown too late so made a game-day call to eat here, overlooking Lake Union and downtown. 

Jean and Dick at the Herb Farm

Herb Farm - We had been here in 2006 with Kim and Keith and at the time had thought it would be a great place to return with Keith's parents.  The dinner started at 6:30pm with a tour of the actual herb garden which is just across the road from the restaurant.  The dinner is 9 courses with 6 wine pairings.  The place holds about 70 people and everyone is served banquet-style.  The chef and sommelier were introduced and they explained the entire dinner and wines.  We were served a triptych of salmon, tomatoes with scallops, corn and chanterelles, duck three ways, bison, apple skillet with cheese and pretzel bread, peaches with pie crust ice cream, and a chocolate tart.  It was a delicious meal and we capped it off with the "oldest wine served in the world" - one ounce of 1795 Terrantez Madera

Keith and Margaret on Boat Cruise