Kubota Garden

More photos than text today. My husband and I took an excursion to Kubota Garden - a place I've been curious about ever since I wrote an article about Washington gardens for USAToday.com a few months back.

It's simply stunning. That's really all I have to say.

You can see for yourself.

Shakespeare in the Park

Just came back from Seattle Shakespeare Company's Wooden O production of "Much Ado About Nothing" at Des Moines Beach Park. Magnificent performance! Another magnificent performance - the sun over Puget Sound. This was the scene as we were leaving:



If you want to catch a free Shakespeare performance in Seattle this summer, you still have time. Wooden O productions end tomorrow, but GreenStage is doing performances in parks around the Seattle area for a couple more weeks. I'm hoping to catch both Romeo & Juliet and As You Like It at Volunteer Park on August 14th.

A word about Des Moines Beach Park - I visited there yesterday morning to scope it out so that I would know what to expect for tonight's performance. Gorgeous setting. But what a difference a day makes. Here's my entire set of beach photos from yesterday morning and tonight.

Wild Wheat and Windmill Gardens

Back in January, Lance and I went to the Tacoma Home & Garden Show. Because we were within the first 100 people in the door, we each got a $20 gift card to Windmill Gardens in Sumner. The gift card expires on May 31st, and since it's very nearly time, I thought today would be a good day for the excursion to Sumner. Because I don't think Lance is exactly interested in this type of adventure, I asked my friend Kathy and her son Beckett to join me.

We decided to make a day of it and had lunch at Wild Wheat Bakery and Cafe here in historic downtown Kent. They were still serving breakfast, so we ordered from the breakfast menu. The food was AMAZING. Absolute food porn at its finest. Kathy and I both ordered the Dungeness crab and asparagus omelet, which was covered with hollandaise sauce. It came with two thick slices of their sourdough bread, toasted, which I slathered generously with butter and their fresh strawberry jam. There was also a side of home fries. And I washed it down with a delicious iced chai.

We will DEFINITELY be back. I don't think I could recommend this place highly enough.

Wild Wheat on citysearch.com.

After lunch, we journeyed the 17+ miles to Sumner, a trip which took between 20-30 minutes. We found Windmill Gardens easily with the help of my GPS. They had a fantastic and gorgeous selection of flowers and garden supplies - a bit spendy, though, I thought. But we enjoyed looking at their amazing arrangements. For my $40 in gift cards, I picked up a nice potted arrangement for outside. I also got a couple of other things.

But Windmill Gardens isn't just a nursery. They have a restaurant, a tea/chocolate shop, a spa, and a pond store. Surrounding all these shops is a stunning garden. There is a gazebo in the center of the garden, and it's a popular site for weddings.

But enough with the words. Here are the photos.








On the way out of Sumner, we stopped at the Main Street Dairy Freeze for ice cream. It's good to see a nice Mom & Pop ice cream stand again...we don't have any in Kent and I think that's very sad. Sumner is also a cute town with a stunning view of Mt. Rainier. Worth a detour, I think, if you're in the area. They have an antiques mall and a large furniture warehouse called The Old Cannery, so it's a nice shopping destination.

Windmill Gardens website.

A Glorious Day at Alki Beach

Today is a sunny, fantastic spring day, so I took Reece up to west Seattle, to the very popular Alki Beach area. My friend Lisa met us there.



Once we got to the Alki Beach trail, and Reece saw all the people and dogs out and about, she got ridiculously excited and started crying and jumping up and down in the back seat. But I had to look for parking, and most importantly, I had to find Alki Bakery, which was our designated meeting place. I found a primo parking spot (someone was backing out just as I was approaching the spot). Reece and I got out and started walking. As we approached the bakery, I saw a mini Statue of Liberty across the street.



Anyway, Alki Beach offers some of the best views of the Seattle skyline...





...as well as gorgeous views of the Olympic Mountains. And if you walk to the end of the beach where the lighthouse is (which is off limits to the public and there were no good vantage points to photograph it), you can even see Mount Rainier.

(I am so insanely jealous of the lucky people who get to live here, except they get to put up with the crowds and the lack of parking.)

Also, we stopped at Spud Fish & Chips, which is an Alki landmark (been around for over 70 years). Mmmmmmm...grease. It's very popular, and was crowded today. But while I was inside getting my fries and Diet Coke, Lisa was outside with Reece, and she found us a table. Then she went in to get her food and the people just kept coming.

Today made me ridiculously happy. A stellar afternoon. And now Reece is exhausted. She met a lot of people (and their dogs)...got a lot of attention. Sniffed a lot of butts. But she was so good today. I got compliments on how well behaved she was.

Clark Lake Park - Kent

I've been wanting to visit this park for awhile. I've heard really good things about it - that it's normally uncrowded, quiet, and tranquil. You get to see a lot of wildlife (well...sometimes. I didn't see much today, but I certainly heard the frogs).

I tried to find this park once without success. The parking lot is tiny and it's on a busy road, so it's easy to miss. Today though, coming down the road from a different direction, it was much easier to spot.

Reece's verdict - good spot for dogs! She met a lot of new friends today. It's interesting to me how total strangers who would not normally even speak to you suddenly stop and strike up conversations when you have a dog. I spend a lot of time when I'm taking Reece for a walk just stopping to talk to people who ask me about her...usually, they're dog owners themselves. I swear, dogs can bring about world peace. I'm not kidding.

http://www.clarklakepark.org/Home.html

A Weekend Visit

My parents just departed last night after a long weekend here. They're not really big on travel, so their main goal in coming was to just hang out with us and visit. But we made sure to take them to a few sights, including one they specifically requested, which was the Columbia Winery in Woodinville.

They arrived late Wednesday night, and lack of sleep and jetlag pretty much kept us at home on Thursday. Other than running out to a few stores and having lunch at Ivar's (a popular local seafood chain), we didn't do much. We grilled steaks for dinner, drank wine and just hung out.

Friday, we went to Mt. Rainier. I forgot my camera, but my Mom took pictures. If I ever get copies, I might post them, but we basically covered the same ground that Lance and I covered on our last visit out there in October. We came in through the Nisqually entrance and drove up to Paradise and then left the same way. We brought picnic stuff and had a nice picnic in the woods. After we got home that evening, Lance and I took them to dinner at El No Que No, a really excellent Mexican restaurant in downtown Kent.

Saturday, we went to Woodinville (detouring briefly to Kent Farmers' Market, where I bought 2 homemade garden stones for $10). There are a lot of wineries in Woodinville, but the main one they wanted to see was Columbia Winery. They discovered Columbia's wines, which are now a favorite. Turns out, the Columbia Winery is the very first one we stumbled upon as we drove into Woodinville. So we commenced to enjoying a wine tasting, and then shared a bottle of Gewurztraminer out on their lovely patio. My parents were only familiar with the Cellarmaster's Riesling (their best-seller) up until this point, and were thrilled with Columbia's other selections. I thought the Gewurztraminer was fantastic, and so did they, as these pictures clearly show.



Columbia Winery in Woodinville.


The gardens were absolutely gorgeous.


Yay! Gewurztraminer! Cheers!


I'm laughing because I just spilled some wine on myself. Oops.


Mom and I share a moment...and a laugh.

It wasn't yet lunchtime, so just the small amount of wine we had during the tastings and the glass and a half we had afterwards was enough to get me the drunkest I've ever been. And believe me, I have had more to drink than that before. This is just what happens when you drink on an empty stomach. But we still enjoyed ourselves immensely. The grounds at Columbia are beautiful, and it's a shame that they'll be moving to a different location early next year. I can't imagine a more wonderful setting than what they have now.

It was well past noon once we finished up there, so we popped in at the Red Hook Brewery, located just down the street. They have a very large public house there with a nice menu, so we ate lunch out on their patio. Mom and I both had their Turkey Blast sandwich, which consisted of turkey, cheese, tomato, avocado, and some other tasty stuff on a croissant. Came with chips and seedless grapes. Lance and Rob each enjoyed a burger. We contemplated staying for the brewery tour (even though Mom and I don't have the slightest interest in beer), but since we would've had to wait quite some time for the tour to start, Lance and Rob settled for buying a 6 pack of Red Hook and some souvenirs in their gift shop.

After lunch, we decided against visiting any of the other wineries. Enough was enough. So back to Kent we went. But it was a nice few hours spent in Woodinville. I would definitely go again, and I know they want to go back next time they're in town.

Yesterday was another day spent hanging around here. We went to breakfast at IHOP and then came back to the house. Lance and Rob watched football, so I took Mom to some of my favorite local shops, including Chair & Trellis and Bella Home & Garden. We stopped in Waxen Art as well, so I could show her where I make candles (she loved the candle I made her so much, she redecorated her bathroom using my candle as her inspiration). Mom helped me pick out some things for our garden: a large potted mum, bird feeders, etc. Then we came home with all the stuff I bought and put it out.

They left late last night, taking the red eye back to Ohio. They're home now. I miss them so much already. This was the most relaxed I've ever been having house guests. But of course, they are more than just house guests, they're my family. I would've had them stay forever, if I could. And I know they loved it here. And we couldn't have had more perfect weather - it was sunny and in the 70's everyday.

More Seattle Sights

My older brother and his family flew up from Los Angeles on Sunday and are currently vacationing here in Washington state. On Monday, we went into downtown Seattle where we visited some places that were new to me, and others that weren't. This is going to be more of a photo post than anything else. Monday's weather was absolutely gorgeous, so my photos came out very well.

We took the commuter rail - The Sounder - from Tukwila into downtown Seattle. The train station is right by Qwest Field (home of the Seahawks), and from there, we walked between 2.5 and 3 miles to get to the area around the Space Needle, stopping at Pike Place Market, which was pretty much smack in between.


There are a lot of really cool things happening around the Space Needle - interesting sculptures, beautiful gardens, an amusement park and the Pacific Science Center.






The Pacific Science Center has A LOT to do...you could easily spend an entire day here. We didn't have that kind of time. But there is plenty for both kids and adults to do here. The IMAX theatre is awesome. We watched a 3-D film about ocean life off the coast of South Africa, and the 3-D effects blew my mind.


In the courtyard of the Pacific Science Center - a preview of things to come.


Giant mantis WILL EAT YOUR SOUL!!!






They have a tropical butterfly exhibit. Really beautiful to go visit, although there were a few dead butterflies laying around, which the employees seemed to ignore.













After our visit to the Pacific Science Center, we went to the top of the Space Needle, where we had lunch at Sky City. The restaurant rotates to give you a 360 degree view of Seattle. The food is fabulous. And it may seem ridiculously overpriced, but think about it this way: you're getting free entrance to the observation deck with your meal (something that would cost you $16 otherwise), so you might as well pay the $25 minimum for lunch. I recommend the crab salad sandwich (warm dungeness crab on toasted sourdough topped with fresh tomato and Tillamook cheddar with a tomato and cucumber salad on the side). Yes, it's totally touristy, but worth doing at least once.


The view of the Pacific Science Center from the Space Needle.


Mount Rainier was a bit hazy, but you can see it in the distance.

(Click on any of these pictures to see them full size.)

One Final Ode to Germany...and Friends We Left Behind

I've been waiting some time to make this post, and since we finally have internet, I can now do it.

My final weeks in Germany were a whirlwind of sights, sounds, smells, tastes...and enjoying the company of the few good friends that I made there. Now, some final pictures...

Friends:

This is Ruth, the owner of Cafe Madrid (best! tapas! ever!), and me. I miss our lunches at this place. The food was always superb. Ruth is coming here to Seattle in a couple of weeks, and I'm ridiculously excited about it. Seattle is home and she has family here, so I know our parting isn't permanent.


International Women's Club - Canadian Night. Teri, Andrea, and me. Teri and her husband had us over for Thanksgiving this year, and I'm so very grateful to them for that...they have both proven to be warm and wonderful friends during our last year in Germany. And Andrea - my best, best friend there...what more can I say? I just miss her so much.


Me with Patty from the Bookmark. We've been close for about as long as I lived in Germany. I worked for her for a few months at the Bookmark in 2004, and we remained close friends ever since. She and her husband are just the type of people who would give you the shirts off their backs, and they both helped Lance and I on numerous occasions. They have family near here in Puyallup, so we expect to see them again.

Other Photos:
I went to the Christmas Market in Aachen with Christine and Ruth just 10 days or so before we left Germany for good. I've been to many of Germany's Christmas markets, but Aachen is probably my favorite. It's not the biggest by any means, but that is exactly why I like it. It's small, it's cozy, and it has everything that the larger markets have.








A few days before we left, I grabbed my camera and walked around Geilenkirchen, just photographing whatever caught my eye. Here are the results of that afternoon:





(that's mistletoe in the trees, in case you didn't know.)





And this concludes my picture post. Now it's time to explore Washington and the entire Pacific Northwest, and I look forward to sharing that with you. I just haven't had time yet, what with all the wallpaper stripping and painting and trying to dig our way out of boxes and mounds of packing paper. It's been chaos.

But I will tell you that I've learned a lot about Seattle residents in our short time here. A coffee cup is a standard accessory (not that that should surprise anyone)...so much so that there are coffee cup holders in the grocery carts at some of the local grocery stores. I don't believe I have yet walked into a grocery store that did not contain a Starbucks. It seems you never have to travel more than 50 feet without having access to coffee.

Lance now is partial to Java Chip Frappuccinos (like a frozen coffee shake with chocolate chips)...I am partial to either Chai Lattes (which are, of course, tea and not coffee) or Mochas. I think we'll fit in well here. ;)

And it's a surprising mixture of European and American culture here. I saw brotchen at the grocery store! I actually see a lot of the same treats that I got in Germany. I can get cheeses here that are every bit as good as European cheeses (Tillamook = AWESOME!). I found a radio station here that plays a lot of the big European dance tracks that I heard over and over again there.

People keep asking if I have culture shock. Other than being astounded and appalled at some of the crap that passes for television these days, I can honestly say that I have not. So far, I feel quite comfortable here.