Amazingly, after 20+ years of doing this, we have never taken pictures of our trip. We have one picture from a few years ago, but that's it. So this time, I decided to "document" our trip.
This is my mom, driving us to Seattle. As you can see, she's all smiles...
...as was I. It was early. Our feet were fresh and we were excited for the bargains to be had!
Of course, it wouldn't be a proper trip to Seattle without documenting the one iconic place in Seattle. This is taken from the car, on the bridge at 70 MPH. Not my best work, but hey, you get the idea.
We stayed at the Silver Cloud Inn. A beautiful hotel, decorated for Christmas. They have cheap rates, a free breakfast and shuttle for where you want to go.
Downtown Seattle is absolutely beautiful at Christmas. The lights everywhere will put even Scrooge in the Christmas spirit.
The Christmas tree outside of Westlake Mall.
More lights... and part of the famous star on the Macy's building.
Because it was a last-minute trip, we were unable to see any plays this year so we decided to go to dinner at The Rock Bottom. A few years ago we went and the waiter was flirting with my mom so much so that I thought I was going to have to get my own hotel room! And since then we've gone back (but alas, the flirting hasn't returned). This time we had a great dinner and we both tried their daylight ale beer. Yum. After dinner, we walked to the Purple Cafe and Wine Bar located on 3rd and University for dessert and wine. And this is what I look like through beer goggles...
This is me, relaxing waiting for our delicious dessert (there is a tower of wine behind me that goes to the ceiling).
Mom waiting for her dessert...
The wine tower...
My desserts. some cake thingy on the left with a red wine pairing, and a vanilla creme brule on the right with a white wine pairing. Yum. I tried licking the creme brule bowl, but mom said it wasn't dignified.
The decor was beautiful. A great place for a date. We happened to be sitting next to a couple, obviously on a first date. Not sure if there will be a second date. The woman was obviously still hung up on her ex because during the entire time we sat there, she talked about her ex boyfriend. I wanted to help the poor sap. Maybe the ambiance, and their wine, dulled his hearing her pine over some other guy.
After dinner we walked to Pike Place Market, only to find it closed.
The next day we got up and had breakfast at the Silver Cloud Inn. They serve breakfast in a sort of cafe area overlooking the water. It's not the best view, but still nice.
It was a successful trip, as you can see (don't look too close - you might see one of your gifts!)
After that much shopping, I was pooped and my feet were sore (can you tell?)
It's a fun trip and I'm so glad that we've kept up this tradition. I wouldn't trade these trips for anything and I hope someday to have the same sort of tradition with my own daughter.
Merry Christmas!
