Picked up by SuperShuttle at 4:15AM for a 7AM flight to Seattle. Got to Doubletree SeaTac about 10AM and able to check in. Nice hotel. This is a very nice hotel very near the airport. It has nice grounds with lots of beautiful rhododendrons everywhere. I had a nice chat with the resident Princess rep--for today she recommended a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island
We took a city bus to downtown (pickup adjacent to the hotel, about 30 minute journey). We had a nice chowder lunch at Pike Place Chowder. Then walked to ferry terminal for the 1/2 hour ferry ride to Bainbridge. We had great weather, 70 degrees and sunny. Bainbridge is a scenic island where lots of people commute to Seattle on "the boat". There is a main street with lots of shops and some restaurants. We wandered about the island and had a nice chat with a seamstress who owns a kayak shop. She recommended that we wander down to the boat harbor and have a look about. We did this and discovered that the harbor has a tremendous tidal exchange, up to 20 feet per day. So all docks are built as floating docks. In total we spent about 3 hours on the island, then took the ferry back to downtown.
We had a great 'happy hour' dinner at il Bistro in Pike's Place Market http://www.ilbistro.net/. I discovered this place during our visit last fall. It is below Pikes Market. They offer a nice selection of small plates priced from $3 to $5. We had a Caesar salad, mushroom ravioli in a fennel cream sauce, rigatoni in a veal and lamb ragu, and clam & mussels in a saffron broth. Plus lots of great Primitivo (an Italian zinfandel, $3/glass).
Tomorrow we fly to Anchorage and then a bus to Mt. McKinley Princess Lodge.
More later . . . Bob
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What wouldn't I give for another go at Pike Place Market? Good thing I bought a cookbook with restaurant recipes, anecdotes and personalities from this place. I looked up Il Bistro and they highly recommend the Torta al Mascarpone, Italian cheesecake with a thick almond crust and lemon glaze. My book also includes the reipice Prawns Aglio or Garlic Prawns from this restaurant.
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