Downtown Seattle is within close proximity to everything we could possibly need during our stay.

As we approached the final weeks of our PNW cruising adventure, I asked Lisa if there was one place she wanted to visit before our trip came to a close. Unsurprisingly she said, “Downtown Seattle of course.” That’s why we positioned ourselves at the Bainbridge Island anchorage. We stayed for two nights there waiting for an available slip at Bell Harbor Marina, before we made the short 8-mile trip across Puget Sound into Elliott Bay and finally to the Port of Seattle’s Bell Harbor Marina. The reason we like docking in downtown Seattle is that everything we could possibly need is within 10 blocks or so of the marina. This proximity provides us with an endless amount of activities. Our favorite is the Pike Place Market.. of course.

While waiting for our slip to open up at the marina, we cruised around the harbor and happened upon two-year-old Serene, one of the world’s largest private super-yachts.

Jim was amazed at the variety of beer selections at the World Market during our first walk into town.

On top of our list, when visiting Seattle, is the famous Pike Place Market. With everything from fresh vegetables, fruits, and herbs, brightly colored bouquets of flowers, homemade pastries, pasta, and mountains of freshly caught seafood, Pike Place Market is the “bomb.” Opened in 1907 and holding the distinction as the oldest continuously operated public farmers market in the country, this attraction is a must-see when visiting Seattle. Our love for the market formed years ago – first when Lisa lived on Queen Anne Hill, (just north of the downtown area during the 1970s), and again when we, together, spent a winter, in 2007/2008, renting a room in a B&B on Capitol Hill. We were waiting for our Fathom 40 to be built. During that time we’d visit the market once a week to procure produce, fresh fish, and assorted accouterments. We’d return to the B&B to put together a feast from our finds – we like to revive that ritual whenever we visit downtown Seattle.

This was our first taste of Jack’s smoked salmon candy. Wow, delicious!

The Bubble Gum Wall, a local landmark in downtown Seattle, is located in Post Alley under the Pike Place Market by the box office for the Market Theater. The old brick wall, 15 feet high and 50 feet long, is covered several inches thick with used bubble gum. The tradition continues after theatre workers twice scraped the gum away only to have it reappear. The growing gum wall was finally left to grow on its own and was declared a tourist attraction around 1999.

Pastries for breakfast and freshly baked bread is always procured at our favorite, Three Girls Bakery (above).

We bought halibut for our dinner that night. It was fun deciding where and what to buy.

The next day we walked down to Pioneer Square, close to where the Seattle Seahawks CenturyLink Field and Seattle Mariner’s Safeco Stadium are located. That afternoon, unbeknownst to us, the Seahawks had a home game. This was not to be any home game as sometime during the game they were going to try to set a record for the “Loudest Outdoor Sports Stadium.” As we sat in the cockpit of our boat later in the day the roar of the crowd was loud and we were a good mile away. They did end up getting a 136.6 decibel sound record at that game and Seattle went on to win the game and become SuperBowl Champions.

Years ago, during our stay at the B&B, we discovered Uwajimaya, the 35,000 sq. ft. Asian market located in Seattle’s Chinatown-International District. Similar to our experience at the Pike Place Market, visiting Uwajimaya is a visual treat. With an abundance of interesting produce, unusual seafood, and all things Asian, this Asian market is more like visiting a living cultural museum.

Another walk to Pioneer Square brought us to an old-time favorite, the Glasshouse Studio. Founded by good friends back in the 70s, under new ownership it survives the ups and downs of today’s economy. We thought the window display looked like a richly blooming garden with bright and colorful, organically crafted glass.

Lots of driftwood piling up at the marina… daily. If you don’t want it banging on the hull of your boat you just drag it out of the water and set it on the dock.

When we spent the winter in Seattle several years ago, our favorite happy hour spot was Ray’s Boathouse, a waterfront restaurant we are totally hooked on.

Earlier in the week, we made arrangements to visit Ranger Tug owners Bruce and Vickie at their downtown Seattle condo. Upon entering their lovely home, the stunning views from their picture windows captured our attention. Elliot Bay, downtown Seattle and off in the distance, the majestic Olympic Mountains presented themselves for our viewing pleasure. After meeting their two beautiful Bengal cats, our conversation quickly turned to boating. We discussed our cruises up to British Columbia (we both traveled with the 2013 Ranger Tugs Desolation Sound Cruise), and future boating plans. After romancing one of Bruce’s artfully prepared martinis, we all walked back down toward Pike Place Market to one of Bruce and Vickie’s favorite restaurants for dinner. After dinner, we said our goodbyes  – the next day we waved goodbye to Seattle as we left Bell Harbor for the trip to Anacortes where we would prepare Kismet to come out of the water.

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Friday Harbor, the Hub of the San Juan Islands!

Friday Harbor is a picturesque town and the largest small town in the San Juan Islands; you could say it’s the hub of commerce for the islands. This was our third time staying in the harbor. It has been said that the boating community is a small world, our slip just happened to be right next to Herb and Willy from Willy’s Tug, Tim and June, on Circle T, from California were also docked nearby. Both are Ranger Tug owners we know from our cruising time in the PNW – most recently when we all joined the Ranger Tugs 2013 Desolation Sound Cruise. Because of meeting up with these boaters, we got to experience a couple of things while in Friday Harbor we wouldn’t have, had it not been for Tim’s “Local Knowledge.” Perched on the bluff above the marina sits a Lions Club – with Tim’s membership all six of us were able to take advantage of a scenic, and a very happy, hour from the club’s porch with the added bonus of touring their very informative military museum before we left.

Friday Harbor’s famous mascot, Popeye, the one-eyed seal, has a statue in the park, overlooking the harbor, dedicated to her (above). She hangs out in the water surrounding the little fish market on the dock and will beg for food from people buying fish from the market.

Willy and Herb (below), on our way up to the Lions Club.

That night, after drinks at the Lions Club, before we parted to return to our boats, Tim suggested we meet on the dock the next morning and he would take us on an expedition of sorts to a favorite breakfast spot of his. He knew of a local restaurant we’d never heard of before and said it would include a walk, so we’d be sure to get our day’s exercise in as well. We had no idea where we were going, but at the appointed time we met on the dock and off we went, walking up through town toward the airport. Tim, being a pilot, has flown in and out of the airport in Friday Harbor and has more local knowledge than the rest of us. As it turned out our long walk was rewarded with a fantastic breakfast at the little-known, to outsiders, Ernie’s  Cafe, abreast of the airport runway. We never would have found this restaurant on our own.

It was drizzling all morning, so our walk, up, around the building, and through little out-of-the-way paths, to the restaurant was a little wet, but we got to see some beautiful critters slink their way out of hiding to soak and take advantage of the damp ground (below).

Finally, we arrived, the guys were way ahead of us and as you can tell from their gait, eager for a big breakfast. Looks like I should have had Chili #4 (below).

One thing that was plentiful during our trip this summer was yellow jackets. They were everywhere it seemed, always flying into our boat or hovering outside. Ernie’s had bee catchers hanging over their outside deck.

Apparently, the restaurant is named after aviator and author Ernest K Gann.

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