We arrived in Seattle late Tuesday night. Our original flight through Chicago was delayed, so we took the long way around by flying through Houston. The one upside is the AMEX Centurion Clubs at DCA and IAH are very nice.
In Seattle, we stayed on our friends’ houseboat. David and Gabrielle have owned this floating home for years, and it is always a lovely place to visit.
We were greeted by David on Wednesday morning, this is also his office, and it was great to catch up on family news. Jane and I then headed out to do a little exploring. Our first stop was Serendipity Cafe in Magnolia. After a delicious breakfast, we drove over to the Ballard Locks, which connect the saltwater of Puget Sound with the freshwater of Lake Union and Lake Washington via the Lake Washington Ship Canal. Next to the locks, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built an underwater fish viewing gallery (unfortunately, the salmon were not running this time of year).
After a quick drive through downtown, Jane and I visited the Frye Art Museum and the Fremont Troll before heading back to the houseboat to relax before dinner.
That evening, David, Jane, and I met Gabrielle and their daughter Katie. Katie took us to The Spheres, three interconnected glass domes at Amazon’s Seattle headquarters. Since Katie works for Amazon, we were able to visit what is typically an Amazon-only workspace. The Spheres contain more than 40,000 plants from around the world and are truly impressive. After exploring, the five of us had dinner at Wilmot’s Ghost.
This morning, Jane and I had breakfast at the nearby 14 Carrot Cafe. After saying our goodbyes to David, we stopped at Pike Place Market for a short walk before heading to the airport.
We are now in the AMEX Centurion Lounge awaiting our ten-hour flight to Tokyo, followed by a connection to Osaka. Follow along as we explore Osaka, Kyoto, and Hiroshima before continuing on to Shanghai, Singapore, Bangkok, and Southern Thailand (feel free to select the subscribe button).
Traveling Walters 