Seattle Send-Off, Part 2

Sunday morning we wanted to go to Portage Bay Cafe, but arrived to find a one hour wait.  We quickly jumped on Yelp and found Row House Cafe nearby.  Bonus - they could sit our group of 11 immediately!  They put us in a back room by ourselves which was perfect.  And what a great find Row House was.  We had french press coffee, delicious meals and our waitress brought us an entire tray of baked goods for dessert.  It was amazing.

From there, we had to say a few good-byes which was hard.  I HATE saying good-byes.  We had to say good-bye to our good friends Mr. and Mrs. R. ... our first good friends in Washington.  I had to say good-bye to Mrs. S. ... one of the people I talked to almost every day in Washington (she is moving to Japan in July so that made it a tiny bit better).  We had to say good-bye to Bag-O and Mrs. B.  Bag-O joined us in Japan but Mrs. B. won't be coming until the end of July!  And then we had to say good-bye to G.S., his roommate and G-rant.  It was a hard morning.

We spent the afternoon lounging in our room and planning the rest of our week.  And then R. came over to visit!  We had another big dinner reservation at Umi Sake (another thing to check off my Seattle Bucket List) so I didn't stay sad for too long!  The K13's, their family members that were visiting, J., R. and I met up with M.C., S2 and her husband.  I LOVED Umi Sake.  We had so.much.sushi at our table.  It was awesome.

Afterwards we took Mr. K13's brother and his girlfriend to our most favorite bar in Seattle - The Bathtub Gin & Company.  Mr. K13's family owns a bar and restaurant and his brother runs the bar, so he was interested in seeing as many bars in Seattle as possible.  We were happy to help him with that task :)  I think they loved the Bathtub!  After that we went on a mini tour of bars in Belltown recommended by another couple in Bathtub.  We ventured into a dive bar ... The Rabbit Hole and let me tell you, this place was weird.  But we had a great time.  We played skee-ball for hours and sampled their late night happy hour menu.  Love sweet potato fries!  Also, the more we drank and the more quarters we put on our tab for skee-ball, the smaller our tab got.  It was bizarre, but we loved it :)  And apparently, The Rabbit Hole is owned by the same people who own The Bathtub, so how fitting!

The next morning (Monday) we met up with E. to do the Savor Seattle Tour through Pike Place Market.  I have been to the market several times, but definitely saw it through new eyes on this tour!  I would highly recommend the tour to anyone visiting Seattle - and check for discounts on Groupon!

We started the tour at the Starbucks at First and Pike.  Our group met, we met our tour guide (Brett) and tried a chai tea latte.

J. and I

E. and I

Our next stop was at Daily Dozen Doughnut Company.  I LOVE this place!  We tried the cinnamon sugar doughnuts and learned about the tiles that make up the market floor!

Listening intently to our tour guide ... that's him in the black jacket and hat.  He also had one of the most impressive mustaches I have ever seen, but unfortunately I don't think we got a picture :(

Our next stop was at MarketSpice.  We tried some tea and learned about their inventory.  I wish I would have known about MarketSpice prior to our move ... their prices were so much better than the grocery store and I am sure their product was far superior.  

Next up ... Pike Place Fish!  I stepped out of my culinary comfort zone here ... we tried smoked salmon and I liked it!  It was delicious.  They also let someone from our group go up behind the counter and catch a fish from the fish throwers!

If you look closely, you can see our group member ... he caught the fish like a pro on the first try!

A mural done to honor the Japanese Americans that used to sell at the market when it first opened.  The Japanese Americans made up a huge percentage of the first vendors when the market opened, but during World War II they were sent to interment camps and many never returned.  The murals were put up to honor the market's heritage.  I found it fitting since we were on our way to Japan.

And then we stopped taking pictures because it was rainy and we spent a good portion of the tour outside.  We stopped by Frank's Produce on our way to Pike Place Chowder to try some oranges and apples.  Pike Place Chowder was the highlight of the tour for me.  I love clam chowder and we were definitely spoiled in Washington -- it's got to be pretty darn good for me to like it.  Pike Place Chowder did not disappoint.  We tried their clam chowder and their seafood bisque.  I preferred the clam chowder ... J. preferred the bisque.  

From there we headed back inside to Chukkar Cherries.  This is another gem I had never bothered to stop by.  We tried 4 different things ... YUM.  J. and I went back afterwards to stock up for our trip to Japan!  Then we came back outside to Beecher's Cheese.  You can't go on a culinary tour of the market without stopping by Beecher's.  We tried a sample of their signature white cheddar and then, of course, a sample of their famous mac and cheese.  Between Pike Place Chowder and Beecher's, we had some great warm comfort food for our rainy morning!  

Next stop was Piroshky Piroshky where I went out of my culinary comfort zone one more time ... we tried a smoked salmon piroshky and also an apple cinnamon roll.  Both were fantastic.  Our last stop was Etta's Seafood Restaurant where we had an amazing crab cake.  They were fresh from the oven and the perfect way to end our tour.  

The tour was really not the best place to catch up with E., so we headed back to Starbucks to enjoy a coffee and some conversation.  From there, J. went back to the hotel to take care of Lucy and E. and I  trekked over to Belltown to try The Yellow Leaf Cupcake Company (we hadn't had enough food for the morning ...)

They're thing is that they do "weird" flavors ... these were definitely not the best cupcakes I have ever had in my life, but it was fun to go and try them!  We tried the Pancakes n Bacon, the Mexican Chocolate and Almond.  

They also have a map of the U.S. and you can put a little sticker on your hometown:

No one had claimed Indianapolis yet, so I left my mark on the map :)

From here, E. and I parted ways ... another good-bye :(  I had to go down to Pioneer Square to pick up my passport and then J. and I spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing.  That didn't last long ... we ordered some pizzas from Serious Pie (another Tom Douglas restaurant) and headed over to R.'s to do our laundry!  The downside to living in a hotel for a week is not being able to do laundry.  

As you can tell ... our last week in Seattle was quite the culinary adventure!  As I said yesterday, just writing these posts are making me hungry and homesick for Seattle!