Family + Seattle = a FUN time!!!

What a great time we have had in Seattle with Heather, Michael and Beth!  Only problem, the time has gone WAY too fast!!!

Gerry and I arrived last Friday in anticipation of picking Heather up Saturday a.m. at the airport.  We then quickly set out for the wine country in Woodinville.  We started out at one of the better known wineries, Chateau St. Michelle, then the other big one Columbia Winery.  We enjoyed these but our favorites were the smaller boutique wineries.  Our favorite was Novelty Hill.  We didn't taste one wine we didn't like.  We also enjoyed JW Cellars.  We were lucky enough to get the winemaker as our guide through the wine tasting.  To sum it up, we had a GREAT time in the wine country!!!  What's NOT to like!

Our first stop - Chateau Ste. Michelle

One of our favorites... beautiful grounds and a the
tour conducted by the winemaker

Enjoying our time in the Wine Country!

Our favorite winery.  Michael Januik is
the winemaker.. great wines

We headed into Seattle Sunday to meet up with Michael and Beth.  We met up with them at Pike Market  just to get the flavor of one of the most popular tourist attractions in Seattle.  That nite it was dinner at Chandler's Seafood on Union Lake.  Beautiful view and wonderful way to start our time together!

Chivalry is NOT dead at Chandler's Seafood!

Lots of crab eating on this trip!

Great table thanks to the concierge

Eating crab can get a tad messy - thus the bibs!

Seattle's Waterfront area

Beth & Mike as we head for Bainbridge Island by Ferry

Downtown Seattle

Great father/son picture! 

Fun trip back and forth on the ferry

At a winery on Bainbridge Island

Mike enjoying one of the reds

Aaaah, great picture of Michael and Beth

Loving our time with our family! 

We spent a LOT of time at this winery because it
was sooo much fun with Sharon - and the
wines were awesome!

Sharon not only knew everything about their
wines (even though she's a bourbon drinker)
but she was a hoot and kept us laughing the whole
time we were there.  It was hard to leave!  :-)
We practically had to run to catch the ferry!

The fam!  What a fun time together!

Heather ALWAYS has her camera in the ready position!

Jan and Beth taking a moment on the way up the next HUGE hill!

Dinner @ Waterfront Restaurant on Pier 70... one of our
favorite restaurants while we were in Seattle

Gerry and Michael posing - and oh,
there's Heather running in for another
Kodak moment!  She's everywhere!

How cool is this pic with Space Needle right behind them!

Getting ready for our Locks tour on Lake Washington and Puget Sound
It was a little chilly, as you can see by the jackets!

Heather posing on board The Argosy

Oops, this wasn't the houseboat on Sleepless
in Seattle, but it was our favorite!

Hi Heather!

The part of the tour where we were wishing the
tour guide (who THOUGHT she was very funny)
would just BE QUIET!!!  Her mike all of a sudden had
no batteries.  We thought Beth had taken them!  :-)

Heather & Gerry at one of our favorite places--Purple
Cafe and Wine Bar on 4th & University

Jan at the Purple

Heather & Gerry pose in front of our hotel, The Fairmont

Wasn't aware of this but "The Dub" was at
one time located in downtown Seattle where The
Fairmont is now located

Great b'fast at Lola's.  You MUST try their donuts!

Looks like more crab at Etta's!  After the crab came the salmon..
Yummmm!!!

Relaxing after a great lunch at Emma's

A brief stop at Elliott's for their Happy Hour...

Monday included a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island.  We had a sunny, beautiful day in Bainbridge and spent a fun time at a small winery, Fletcher Bay Winery.  Sharon was awesome and we had such a fun time sampling their wines.  Awesome wines!  They even have one named Volvano and $1.00 of each bottle sold goes to the Jimmy V foundation.  The winemaker went to Univ. of South Carolina.  He sure makes great wine!!!  We met him and we also met one of the other winemakers from there.  It was a perfect afternoon!  From there we headed back to Seattle to get ready for dinner at the Waterfront Seafood Grill.  A beautiful restaurant with a gorgeous view and yummy food - and best of all, GREAT company!  Fun time with the family!

Tuesday we were off on a boat tour of the locks and a tour of the houseboats on Lake Washington.  We saw the houseboat that was in Sleepless in Seattle, we saw two of the boats from "Deadliest Catch".  I think we would all recommend a trip to the locks.  It is so interesting and amazing to see how they get the boats from the lake into Puget Sound.

Wedn. we had such a great time at Etta's Restaurant.  You must try the salmon specialty!  And we had a great waiter who made it so much fun.  A great time was had by ALL!!!

Some of our recommendations in Seattle would be:

Waterfront Seafood Grill (at Pier 70)
Etta's
Lola's for breakfast
Bocca for breakfast
Chandler's Seafood
Purple Wine Cafe

Michael and Beth left bright and early this a.m.  Sad to see them go!!!  Just thankful we had 3 1/2 days together!

We'll be doing some more touring tomorrow and then meeting up with my sister, brother-in-law and niece for lunch before we head out to the airport for the night.  Then Heather leaves in the a.m. and we head for the pier where our ship will be docked and ready to whisk us off to Alaska for 7 days.

What a wonderful time we've had in Seattle with our family!  Lots of memories were made and we are so thankful to have had this time with them out here in Seattle!

Good Night, Seattle!