Seattle.. the vacation part

This will mostly be a picture post. My trip to Seattle was short... a three day stint filled with the marathon and the expo mainly. I was able to do a tiny bit of exploring though and I was even able to meet up with an old family friend that I hadn't seen since I was probably about 8 years old. It was fun and it was nice actually to have some time by myself to walk through downtown and through Pike's Place. It had been quite some time since I picked up my camera and I was eager to go use the new polarizing filter I had bought recently.

What I love most about Seattle (besides the weather!) is the color of the city. A portion of taxes go towards public art and it just seems like Seattle is such an eclectic place... a cleaner and slightly milder version of San Francisco.

I loved walking through downtown and snapping shots of the statues and art that lined the trees.

The weather was perfect too. It only rained once and not for long and not too much either. It was sunny yet cool with the day of the marathon being slightly overcast, in the low 60's.
The other thing I love about Seattle is the fact that they have great public transportation. I have a tendency to get lost easily and despite my love for traveling I get anxious trying to navigate in places I am not familiar with. Seattle is wonderful though and
I couldn't have asked for a better place to spend the weekend.

The first day I got there, after the race expo I walked down to Pike's Place to stock up on my favorite honey and jams... take some quick photos and of course make a trip to the homeland of Starbucks. :)
Moon Valley Organics has the BEST honey in the world. They also sell hand lotions and beauty products. I couldn't wait to stock up on a ton of that stuff. I had been savoring the last bit of honey I had bought from them last summer.
Highly recommended if you ever go to Pike's Place or you can check out their stuff here.

I could seriously take photos of the flowers in the market for days. All of them are so gorgeous and cheap too! I was sad that I had no where to put them or I totally would have bought a bunch.

SO pretty!

My friend Andrew is obsessed with mushrooms and last year when I went to Colorado he and I went foraging through the Rockies for all different types of them. Ever since I can't help but get excited when I see anything other than shitakes or buttons and I just had to take a picture for him. Can we say yum?

Another thing I was sad that I couldn't buy... the seafood! They had oysters and crabs and lobsters and basically every type of seafood imaginable.

The day after the marathon when I met up with my friend Esther, we headed down to Fremont to hit the weekly flea market. It was so much fun.... full of lots of local art and booths with vintage toys and clothes and accessories. It's a good thing I had no room in my luggage because I would have bought a ton of stuff.

Although I did consider buying one of these vintage suitcases for a hot second.

All in all it was a fun trip and I had a ton of fun taking pictures and catching up with old friends.

I heart Seattle :)