Seattle Send-Off, Part 1

Let's go back to March.  To the amazing six nights that we stayed at The Alexis Hotel in downtown Seattle while we waited for our flight to Yokota Air Force Base...  

Our last set of movers (remember, we had an express move, a household goods move AND a shipment for storage), came on Friday, March 10th.  On top of sending everything left in the house to storage, we had all our loose ends to tie up.  No matter how well you plan, there always seem to be a million things to do and get rid of that last day.  But we got everything done and made it to Seattle.  Our friends, the K13's had already checked in, the S.'s were there as well and we were waiting for Bag-O and Mrs. B. to arrive later that evening.  

Our first indication that this was going to be a great last week in Seattle?  Upon checking in, we received a complimentary upgrade to an Executive Suite!  If you ever have the chance to stay at a Kimpton Hotel, definitely take it!  The staff was so polite and remembered who we were, the hotels are pet-friendly and they put dog bowls and a dog bed in your room prior to arrival, there are dog bones in the lobby and they have a hosted wine hour every evening.  Not to mention the bar in The Alexis (Bookstore Bar) has an awesome happy hour.  I really can't say enough good things about The Alexis (and no, I am not getting paid to say it!)

Welcoming Lucy, Dually and Whidbey to The Alexis!

We didn't do much Friday night.  We all went up to the K13's room to have a few drinks and us girls went across the street to Boka Kitchen + Bar for a little late night happy hour.  I loved the atmosphere!  We tried the White Peach Cosmo, the mac and cheese and the truffle fries.  I want to say we tried a few other things, but can't find them on the current happy hour menu!  

Saturday, J. and I met up with the S.'s for brunch at Fonte (recommended by the front desk staff).  Yum.  I had the pancakes with blueberry compote and a mimosa (we were on vacation!).  I can't remember what J. had to eat, but he had the most amazing Sage Latte.  I was slightly disgusted when he ordered it ... a latte with sage, really?  But it was so good.  I wished I had my own.  

From there, we wandered through Pike Place Market where I picked up one last bouquet of flowers to brighten up our room and headed back to the hotel.  Once again, the Alexis staff went above and beyond and found me a vase for my flowers :)  We decided to wait for Bag-O and Mrs. B. in the Bookstore Bar and headed off to Smith Tower when they arrived.  Going to the top of Smith Tower has been on my Seattle Bucket List for ages so I was so excited to finally go up there!  And the view did not disappoint.  

The shipping yards

CenturyLink Field all decked out for the Sounders

I turned the corner and was surprised to see the Space Needle peeking between two buildings!

Close-up

Looking out towards Bainbridge Island

Looking over to downtown, Queen Anne and Magnolia

Mrs. S. sitting on her throne :)

Afterwards, we headed back to the Bookstore Bar for happy hour and pretty much sampled everything on the menu :)  G.S., his roommate and G-rant also met up with us for the evening!  It was so much fun to have everyone down in Seattle for the night!  

It was Mrs. S.'s birthday so we celebrated with a big dinner at Local 360.  I'd heard a lot about the restaurant, but I have to say that I was not impressed.  We did have a big party (18 people), but we had one server and our meal took over 3 hours.  I also made a last minute switch to my dinner order after hearing our waitress describe their fried chicken and was extremely disappointed to receive a dish that looked and tasted nothing like what she had described.  The slow pace of dinner made us all extremely tired but we ventured down the street to Belltown Pub for an after dinner drink.

And then, on our way home, we ran into Seattle's own superhero - Phoenix Jones himself!

J. and Phoenix Jones

(and his sidekick)

Tommy, Mr. K13, Phoenix, the sidekick and G-rant

And now I'm homesick for Seattle!  Check back tomorrow to hear about the rest of our weekend!