Seattle is our first destination that we haven’t had family or friends to stay with… We stayed on Queen Anne in a small hotel for two nights and had the harsh realization that we weren’t traveling like vacationers anymore but realistically we were locals.  When I say this I mean that we can’t go out to the best restaurants and have drinks each night.  In Seattle we ate out one meal per day and cooked the rest of the meals at the hotel.  While it was a realization it really wasn’t that bad at all.

OK, besides being home bodies in Seattle we actually got out and experienced all of the free destinations there are to see.  We arrived by train from Portland in the afternoon and walked around our hood then went down to the pier to get some great views of the city and walk along the water.  The next day we woke up and visited the city center, home of the space needle, walked to Pikes Peak Market and then over the international district for some dim sum.  We were fortunate to have sunny and warm weather while in Seattle.  Our favorite neighborhood was capital hill with its variety of locally owned retail and restaurants tucked in the middle of a historic neighborhood surrounded by beautiful homes and Volunteer Park.  We also visited the largest REI in the country which was very underwhelming…

We are heading up to San Juan Island for the next few days