Around Seattle in 8 hours — some saltwater

As you may have gathered, my family and I go HAM on vacations. This weekend trip was no different; we cram weeks worth of activities into a few days. I like it. This fast pace vacationing keeps me on my toes and excited about our location. We kicked off the day in Belltown for our morning meal at the Macrina Bakery. I ordered the Egg Brioche Sandwich which was scrumptious.

My sister and I then started our day trip by exploring Pike Place Market before hours.

I've been to Pike (and it is PIKE not Pikes, learned that one the hard way), but there was something really special about watching everyone set up and get ready for the day. Plus, there were no tourists and we walked straight into Piroshky Piroshky...

These flowers get me every single time. They're always beautifully arranged and go perfectly with the season.

I was SO tempted to buy some.

Hey there Mr. Fish!

After our perusing, we hit up the infamous Gum Wall.

I still don't really know how I feel about it. It's cool, but also kind of gross. Eh, it's a quirky Seattle landmark; I'll embrace it.

Now Gina and I had planned on going to Alki Beach, but apparently water taxis don't run on the weekends in winter. We decided to venture to the Washington Ferry Building anyway and in a spur of the moment we bought tickets to go to Bainbridge Island.

Watching the cars drive onto the ferry is always my favorite part.

A lovely gray, Seattle day.

#skylineselfie

Space Needle photobomb

And we arrived at Bainbridge Island!

We headed to the downtown area and struggled to take this picture...

After walking up and down the main street, we decided to spend some time doing homework at the Rooster Cafe.

I went for the lemon bar and Gina got a chai. I mean, how could say no to this?

After chilling for a bit, we set out to find Mora Iced Creamery. I had heard about the ice cream parlor and Gina mentioned that they had blackberry ice cream so I was sold. And as you may know, one of my signature pictures is ice cream cones with the location/landmark in the background. Well I was determined to get the picture, so we quickly ordered and paid, then ran down to Bainbridge Harbor just for the picture. It was quite the feat; the ice cream was starting to melt but we made it just in time to get this great shot.

We scarfed our ice cream down and headed back to Seattle on the ferry. A few weeks ago I ventured to Seattle Central Public Library and raved about it to my sister, so we made a pitstop there. I couldn't help but admire the Seattle skyscrapers.

But this architecture is the REAL highlight....This is one of the coolest libraries I've every seen, and this is only the outside...

I would argue that the inside is even MORE impressive.

After that little stint, we walked over to University Street Station and hopped on the Link and headed to SODO. From there we went to the Goodwill outlet, or simply "The Bins". There is a large warehouse win bins full of clothes and you have to dig around for some really good stuff. They charge by the pound so you can get excellent deals. We found a H&M jacket and bought it for only $3.

Now later in the afternoon, we rode the Link to Westlake Station and trekked up to Captiol Hill. Our goal was to make it to Volunteer Park and hit up the Conservatory before it closed at 4pm. Since we had not had a proper lunch we ordered some sandwiches to go from Baguette Box. As we waited, we looked outside to see that the rain was pouring down. Great. We only had little less than a hour to make it. The resolution: walk in the rain and eat our sandwiches.

So here we are, speed-walking our way up hill, through puddles, eating our soggy sandwiches, and racing the clock; we made it to Volunteer Park with 25 minutes to go. We thought we were in the clear, but no...completely wrong. To get to the Conservatory, we cut across one of the fields...in the rain....and all the mud. We slipped and slid across the lawn and FINALLY made it, sweaty and wet, but relieved to finally be there.

At least the Conservatory was gorgeous.

From where I stand...

Mom met us at the Conservatory and since we were in Capitol Hill, we drove to the new Starbucks Reserve Roastery & Tasting Room.

The copper aesthetic paired with the signature Starbucks coffee makes a fun, hip space.

After the marathon day, we went back and relaxed at my apartment and got ready for dinner at the Golden Beetle in Ballard. This restaurant focuses on local ingredients and puts a Mediterranean spin on the food.

We then finished off the day with some retail therapy at University Village and with some Molly Moon's ice cream.

The amount of activities we accomplished is ridiculous, but it was one of the best days ever!