+Going to Pike Place Market was on my list of things to do in Seattle. I had no idea that the flagship Starbucks was located right there at the market—but I should have known, Pike Place Roast! We did not go in the store as the line was long and I’d already had coffee at the hotel that morning. +Honestly, the market itself was a tad disappointing. It felt more like a spiced up flea market than what I was envisioning and the farmers/craft market on San Juan Island a week later was much better. We came there expecting a bit more art than was exhibited, hoping to purchase something…

+Our stomachs were still on Central Standard Time when we finished with REI and checking into our hotel. Intially we thought about heading to a Mexican restaurant a few blocks away but instead I spotted Bahn Thai caddy-corner from the hotel. We headed in and were asked if we had a reservation—no—but were seated relatively quickly due to an open table in a corner. We sat down and I noticed quickly that there was only one other person in jeans in the restaurant. Apparently people in the city get dressed up for Saturday evening dinners. Even in Texas I think that is rare except for the restaurants with a dress…

Our first stop in Seattle was to the flagship REI store. As we could not fly with our stove fuel, lighter or matches we needed to purchase those items as well as food for the week. Of course we could use some new clothes too, that’s always a good excuse to go to REI. The store is huge, with multi-level parking garage and the store itself is multiple levels as well. While they did have a broad range of items, I really thought it would be a little more diverse than their other stores (I’ve been to the two in Dallas, the two in Houston, one in Austin, one on…