I woke on Friday morning to a text from Cynthia that she and Scott had landed at Sea-Tac at 10:30. Jas and I went down to Bacco for breakfast and then explored in the Market until time to meet Scott and Cynthia to walk to the Underground meeting place. Now let’s be clear about one painful fact: during this trip, my knees, both of them, were arthritis-ridden and were functioning as if they were 75 years old. So I was walking slowly and gingerly, and trying not to be a whiner.
The excursion through the underground that Cynthia had arranged for us was very interesting. There were numerous different aspects to the historical situation that drove the creation of the underground. Reading even one paragraph of this page will have you shaking your head or holding your nose. As I recall, this excursion lasted between two and three hours and I was very glad we had gone along for the education.
Now I was ready for lunch. In my pre-vacation reading, I had determined I wanted to eat at last one meal at Lowell’s. It’s a three-story establishment with fabulous views of Puget Sound and great food! We were fortunate to get a table on the second level, one row away from the water view windows. My lunch was a cheddar burger on a delicious ciabatta bun. During lunch, my phone pinged and it was Tyler tell me they had arrived. After lunch, we walked around the market some more, both inside and outside. In the large area where the artisans display their creations, I bought a hand-dyed dishtowel and a hand-sculpted heart out of purple wood. We walked up Pike Street, got ice cream at Shum’s again, and then went back to our room to rest.
We had enjoyed two meals at Bacco by that time, so thought we’d change it up for dinner. We went to Café Campagne, another Inn at the Market restaurant with everyone except Cynthia. The conversation, filled with laughter and family stories, flowed. However, the room was freezing cold. I had to go back to the room to get a jacket—and the temperature outside was not cold! To add insult to ice cubes, the prices were, IMO, very high. Leslie and Tyler got a sort of charcuterie board with just cheese and meat, I got Salad Verde with Chèvres, Caroline got French fries, we ordered a couple of creme brûlées for desert. With a couple of adult beverages and a couple of sodas, the bill came to well over $200. We won’t be going there again. But we were all happy to be with each other, and looking forward to the next day’s embarkation.
Afterwards, we met on the 5th floor terrace of the hotel and watched the sunset over Puget Sound. Heavenly! Fading from the jet lag, Jas and I headed back to our room, closed up and locked our bags, and said good night. Tomorrow was the day I’d been waiting nineteen months to see.
