Brooklyn Here We Come! April 2010

New York and Washington 2010

Thursday, April 22

Woke up at 4am to fly from Oakland International to JFK in New York City. We took a taxi from JFK to Brooklyn, guiding our ill-informed taxi driver to our Carroll Avenue Apartment in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn. The tax driver had a new GPS device he didn’t know how to use—thank goodness for Jacki’s maps! We ate dinner at Coco Rocco, an excellent Peruvian restaurant on 5th Avenue that was recommended in our landlord’s guest guidebook. We then toured the neighborhood around our comfortable brownstone apartment.

Friday, April 23

Jacki and I ate breakfast at Ozzie’s Café on 5th Avenue and Garfield Place in Brooklyn. We then walked through Prospect Park in beautiful spring weather and saw many families enjoying the sun. There were a lot of strollers, many double-wides.

After changing clothes (Manhattan is more formal, and we didn’t want to look too casual), we took the R Train to the World Trade Center area. We toured the 911 Memorial visitor’s center until the grief was too much.

It was a short walk to Goldman Sachs’ new headquarters at 200 West Street where we met Reid outside, were given security clearance, and took a tour of the Mortgage and Currency Trading Desks with over 250 traders hard at work. The three of us ate lunch in company cafeteria with views of the Hudson River and Statue of Liberty. Reid told us his perspective about recent S.E.C. suit against Goldman. The new $2+ billion building was spacious (in particular the lobby) with artwork and design features that one would never see in a government-type building.

We left Reid and took the subway to High Line Park in the Meat Packing District. Jacki and I loved the whole idea of a park constructed upon

an abandoned elevated train track threaded between old brick warehouses. We, and many others, admired the blocks of plantings, public art, and architectural features that echoed the old railway. We then toured the nearby Chelsea Piers on the Hudson; Kurt was not impressed. We walked to the West Village for pizzaat John’s on Bleecker Street. Neither of us was impressed.

We then took the subway to Rockefeller Center and saw the sunset from the Top of the Rock. It was a beautiful evening with breathtaking views of the city as the downtown building lights came on. We were finally impressed.

Afterwards, we walked to Bryant Park to enjoy the moonlight and city lights through park’s trees, then took the R Train from Times Square to our vacation home in Brooklyn.

Saturday, April 24

We started the day with a delicious breakfast at the Blue Sky Bakery – hellagood muffins and coffee on Brooklyn’s version of 5thAve. We then walked to the Grand Army Plaza to see the Park Slope Farmer’s Market. It was well attended by locals (with lots of kids in lots of strollers) and had a good selection of vegetables, bakery items, fruit, and plants for sale. We made a couple of small purchases, then continued around the Brooklyn Public Library to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. The garden was in all its spring glory with azaleas, lilacs, cherry trees, and tulips in full color. There were pretty good-sized crowds of people enjoying the beautiful sunny day.

After a quick stop back at the apartment, we took the subway up to the Bronx to see Ira. He took us on a walk past the house where he will be living in next year, then on to Enzo’s Restaurant, a wonderful Italian place on Arthur Avenue, the heart of Little Italy in the Bronx. After a delicious lunch and some good conversation, Ira took us through the Fordham campus to the New York Botanical Garden. After a tram ride around the garden, the three of us walked over to the crabapple grove that was in full bloom, followed by a jaunt through the conservatory where Colonel Mustard was pulling out his revolver… oops, wrong story.

We said goodbye to Ira, then hopped onto the Metro North train back to Manhattan. The train was jammed with high school students dressed to the nines on their way to the city for their prom night. A quick trip through the teeming crowds of Grand Central Station and Times Square brought us back to the subway, which we boarded for the ride back to relatively peaceful Brooklyn.

Sunday, April 25

We took a scouting trip in the rain to Penn Station for Monday’s trip to Washington DC. After finding our way through that difficult underground maze, we had a healthy lunch at the very crowded Whole Foods at Columbus Circle. Next for us was a tour of the Museum of Art and Design where a new show was being installed called Dead or Alive. We then visited the Apple Store on 5th Avenue and tried the newly released iPad along with hundreds of other consumers under the magic Apple marketing spell. Jacki and I then walked through Central Park, noting that the ball fields were marked as unplayable with large red flags.

We shopped and then waited out of the rain at Loehmann’s and the Starbucks on 75th and Broadway while Reid worked on a Goldman Sachs team project in his apartment. Finally, we met with Reid and roommate Alex at their handsome apartment on 75th Street, then Reid took Jacki and I to an elegant dinner a couple of blocks away at an Asian fusion restaurant named Citrus. We had a very interesting discussion about Reid’s work, Reid’s work, and more of Reid’s work. Jacki and I returned home to Brooklyn where we got ready for an early start in the morning. A thunder and lightning storm added some drama to the evening.

Monday, April 26

We took the subway to Penn Station in Manhattan and boarded the Amtrak Regional train to Union Station in Washington DC. The journey passed through Newark and Trenton, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and a few other cities along the way before arriving in Washington. We got our first celebrity sighting of the vacation when we saw Spike Lee boarding the taxi behind us outside Union Station. Our cab driver chose to listen to Rush Limbaugh at top volume in the taxi on the way to our hotel on M Street in Georgetown. We were not amused.

After settling in, we walked pat George Washington University to the White House where the New York Yankees were visiting for their World Series greeting from the President. Jacki and I got our second celebrity sighting when Yankee General Manager Brian Cashman came out and signed some baseballs for a couple of fans just outside the White House gate. We walked around the White House (admiring the new vegetable garden), through the World War II Memorial, and along the Reflecting Pool in the rain where pairs of ducks were feeding with their ducklings.

Then we walked through the Vietnam War Memorial in the rain, fitting weather for such a somber place. The memorial was near the Lincoln Memorial, which we visited next. There, National Park Rangers were playing a recording of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech over a loudspeaker to commemorate the greatest speech of the 20th Century (so the Ranger said) made a few steps away. We spent quite a lot of time inside the Lincoln Memorial, including listening to a half-hour talk by an obviously well-informed and interesting Ranger. We were impressed and touched by the monument and the man (Lincoln). We returned to our hotel via the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Watergate complex. We had dinner at a tiny, nearby eatery that had crepes and bubble tea.

Tuesday, April 27

We awoke early, had breakfast at Baked & Wired, a small bakery/coffee place a block from our hotel, and walked to the White House for our 9:30am tour. We were a bit surprised to find the sidewalk in front of the White House was closed off – the same place where we took pictures the day before. The security to get into the White House was not too strict, though we had earlier given our SSNs and other info for background checks, so apparently they had enough info about us. We toured the downstairs East Wing rooms, including the Library, the Vermeil Room, and the China Room. We then went upstairs and saw the East Room where entertainers perform for the Presidential Family. This is where, the day before, the Yankees were received by the President.

While in this room, we asked the Secret Service Agent (SSA) on hand about some red markers out on the lawn that Kurt had observed when looking out the window. The SSA confirmed Kurt’s suspicion that they were for a helicopter, and hinted that we might want to stick around awhile because they were put out there in the morning and were not always on the grass. Shortly thereafter, further indications led us to believe, correctly, that the President’s helicopter (Marine I) would be landing. We staked out a good spot by the window and got to see the helicopter make a landing about 150 feet in front of us. A group of people (staffers? visitors?) were standing nearby to watch. After about 20 minutes, President Obama strode out of the White House, gave a quick salute to the Marine on site, and bounded up the stairs of the chopper. Kurt saw him shake the hands of the pilots, then go further in. Staff members accompanying the President climbed on board through a different hatch, and a few minutes later, they took off. It was very exciting to see, and the friendly SSA said that it is quite rare for the President to leave in this manner while White House tours are taking place, and that we were very lucky to get to see him. The SSAs stationed in each room were extremely personable and were happy to answer questions and tell stories. We saw the Green Room, the Blue Room, the Red Room, and the State Dining Room before exiting the White House.

We next went to the White House Visitor Center and looked at the displays. A walk up the street brought us to a White House gift shop full of tacky gifts, including a number of Sarah Palin items. Kurt was disgusted. He did, however, buy some pencils picturing the White House and President Obama.

We had a quick lunch at a nearby restaurant then took the Circulator bus back to the hotel where we collected our camera, Chapsticks, purse, and a few other items which were not allowed on the White House tour. We took the metro subway to the Capitol South station that is right next to the Capitol, the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court Building, and other important places. Instead of the usual New York subway station advertising, Jacki and I noted the ads of defense contractors in the Washington metro station. Pictures of military drones with such slogans as, “Before you see the threat, we have destroyed it,” stopped us in our tracks.

Before taking our VIP tour of the Library of Congress arranged by Jacki’s congresswoman, we obtained LOC Reading Cards at the Madison Building, where we were briefed on how to do research at the LOC from a Librarian named (no kidding) Marian. Actually, from what she told us, we doubted her credentials as a degreed librarian. We took a tunnel route from the Madison Building to the Jefferson Building, where the tour started. After spending a good amount of money at the Library Shop (gift shop), we joined the tour and got to see the surprisingly ornate interior of the building. It was most impressive, and we were told that it was built in the 1890s for the sum of $6,100,000. After leaving the Library at closing time (5:00pm), we noticed signs put up for a Democratic Caucus gathering for legislators and their spouses to be held in the Library.

We took a walk around the area, checking out the Supreme Court building, a residential area that we considered staying in, and the Capitol building (just the back side). A quick Metro ride brought us back to Foggy Bottom and a walk back to our Georgetown hotel for a rest before going out for dinner at a nearby barbecue restaurant called Old Glory. We got caught up in a trivia contest, but left early because of a couple of cigar-smoking guys out on the deck nearby us. We then walked through a few streets of Georgetown that were filled with high-end chain stores and lots of well-off-looking people before returning to our hotel for the night.

Wednesday, April 28

We again had breakfast at Baked & Wired, noticing the café had a blackboard with a customer-contributed list of their favorite suicidal authors (Sarah Palin was on the list). We then walked to the Foggy Bottom Metro station and took the subway to the Smithsonian stop. We went directly to the National Holocaust Museum and got in line for timed tickets to see the permanent exhibit. Our ticket was for 11:45 am, so we crossed the mall to the American History Museum. Highlights from this museum were: the lunch counter from the Montgomery, Alabama Woolworth’s where southern civil rights protesters sat in their ultimately successful attempt at integration; the First Ladies exhibit showing gowns of White House wives and hostesses (some were daughters or daughters-in-law); the giant flag that waved at Fort McHenry in Baltimore during the War of 1812 and inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner; and the popular culture exhibit that included Dorothy’s ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz, Kermit the Frog, Fonzie’s leather jacket, Archie Bunker’s chair, and a few other objects. We had lunch in the museum cafeteria, then walked back to the Holocaust Museum where we spent the next few hours seeing all the very sobering exhibits.

Next, we walked down the Mall to the Kennedy Center, where we saw a free concert by Balla Kouyate, and his World Vision group. They played wonderful African music from Mali. We walked back to the hotel and regrouped, then went to dinner at Taj of India restaurant on M Street near our hotel. It was a great meal.

After dinner we took a taxi to the Lincoln Memorial and were surprised to see many tourists out and about. There was a full moon, and we had a lovely walk down the Mall to the Washington Monument, then up to the White House. Everything was beautiful in the moonlight. We ended up taking a taxi back to the hotel because the Circulator bus we intended to take had stopped running earlier. Got back to our hotel after 11:00 pm.

Thursday, April 29

Once more, we had breakfast at Baked & Wired, then checked out of the hotel. We boarded the Circulator bus and rode it to Union Station (about 40 minute ride), where we left our luggage at the Tiburon Lockers for a few hours. We walked to the Capitol nearby. Jacki went into the Library of Congress Jefferson Building to see the exhibit of Jefferson’s library and to see the beautiful building one more time. Kurt enjoyed the outdoors, taking time to sit on the steps of the Supreme Court and walk around the Capitol Building to soak in the atmosphere on this beautiful sunny day.

We met up again and walked to the American Museum of Art where we had lunch and saw the Chester Dale collection of Impressionist art, which was very impressive. Many pieces by Degas, Mary Cassatt, Renoir, Monet, Picasso and others were included. We then took a leisurely stroll back to Union Station, collected our luggage, and boarded the train for New York.

The Amtrak Regional train went through these stations: Thurgood Marshall Airport; Baltimore; Wilmington, Delaware; Philadelphia; and Newark, Jew Jersey. While passing through Philadelphia, we could see a rowing competition on a River. We arrived at Penn Station and boarded a 3 train back to Brooklyn and another fine dinner at Coco Rocco.

Friday, April 30

We started the day with a trip to the laundromat. While the clothes were washing, we had breakfast at Blue Sky Bakery across the street. After dropping the clothes off at the apartment, we took the subway to Manhattan to have lunch with Ira. We stopped off at Times Square to see about getting half-price tickets to a Broadway show, but the TKTS booth was not yet open. Times Square was, as usual, packed with people of all kinds from all countries.

We then went on up to Lincoln Center where we met Ira who had come down from the Bronx via the Fordham Ram Van. The three of us walked up to 71st and Columbus where we had lunch at Big Nick’s. We got to hear about Ira’s classes and life at Fordham, and we told him about our trip to Washington DC. Our usual waiter, Mike, was there and we had a fun and interesting conversation with him. Turns out he is from Greece, not Italy as we had thought. Mike said he has been in this country for 15 years and has a green card. He has given up motorcycles because of the cost and lack of time to ride. His mother and Jacki are happy about that.

The three of us (not Mike) then walked down Columbus to 67th Street to the Apple store, where we all played with iPads and looked around for a while. It was then a short walk back to Lincoln Center where Ira caught the Ram Van to return to school.

After seeing Ira leave, we returned to the TKTS booth at Duffy Square in Times Square where Jacki bought discount tickets to the musical Avenue Q. We returned to Brooklyn on the subway where Jacki stuck up a conversation with a young woman who was born and raised in Brooklyn and worked as an accountant for Price Waterhouse. She gave us good recommendations on visiting Williamsburg (where we could see Hasidic Jews and hipsters living off their trust funds) and other sites in Brooklyn. Back in our apartment, we changed clothes and had some leftover dinner from the night before. We rode the Q Train back to Manhattan, viewing the Brooklyn Bridge and Statue of Liberty in the setting sun from our train on the Manhattan Bridge. We walked to a heavily crowded and raucous West 50th Street to the New World Stages where we saw the humorous musical, Avenue Q. After the play we returned to our Carroll Street home dog tired.

Saturday, May 1

We bought breakfast at a bakery on 5th Avenue in Brooklyn to have in our apartment then took the G train to Williamsburg in search of hipsters and Hasidic Jews. We found the latter in droves along Marcy Avenue this warm weather Sabbath, walking in traditional Orthodox Jewish clothes that are almost impossible to describe with words. The sight of grandfathers walking hand-in-hand with grandsons, women walking with daughters, and children playing on sidewalks and balconies begged for photos but we refrained in respect for such pious lives.

We continued walking north, where we saw increasingly Latin neighborhoods with small restaurants and graffitied warehouses, with the very occasional hipster scurrying for cover from the sun. We ended up at the tiny Grand Ferry Park to enjoy views of the Williamsburg Bridge and the Lower East Side of Manhattan. We sat in the shade eating popsicles from an ice cream truck and listening to the East River lap against the rocks as boats passed by.

Jacki and I retraced our steps to the G train for a return to the Carroll Gardens neighborhood and a walk through the Gowanus Canal surroundings. We had cold drinks on this hot day at the Fall Creek Café on Smith Street before a visit to the art gallery/museum/store/library called Proteus Gowanus on Union Street. This place, mentioned in The New Yorker, had what they called a Reanimation Library of LOC cataloged used books that intrigued us librarians.

We returned to our apartment on Carroll Street to freshen up before boarding the subway to Manhattan and our last dinner with Reid. We met Reid outside of his apartment on 75th Street and took some photos of him, though he was suffering from a cold he had caught earlier in the week. Reid took us for a short walk through Riverside Park, under the Westside Highway to one of his favorite spots, The Boat Basin. It was easy to see why Reid likes this restaurant so much because of the hundreds of twenty-somethings having the times of their young lives at the top of their lungs.

While waiting for a table overlooking the Hudson and then having dinner, we reviewed the past difficult week for Goldman Sachs both in the media and in the U.S. Congress. Reid seemed unfazed by all that was happening around him and we left him in good spirits but with a bad cough at his apartment. Jacki and I strolled around the Upper West Side for our traditional last bakery dessert (why does the carrot cake always look much better than it tastes?) and more cash at the Wachovia ATM (why do New York vacations have to cost so much?). We returned to our apartment a little faster than normal using a new 2 Train to the Q Train transfer technique Jacki had learned tonight from a helpful subway traveler.

Sunday, May 2

We woke to another hot, muggy day and shocking news on the Internet of a car bomb that was discovered last night in Times Square, a half-hour after Jacki and I had passed through there while transferring subway trains.

After breakfast at Blue Sky Bakery we took a hot, brisk walk past a few stoop sales to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden for souvenirs. Upon dashing home (Kurt had to go to the bathroom in the worst way), we discovered that our Jet Blue flight scheduled for later in the day had been canceled, due to “weather.” There were thunderstorms predicted, but as it turned out, the afternoon was of fine weather with a little cloud cover but no storm. We both suspected that Jet Blue canceled the flight for some other unexplained reason. In any case, Jacki booked us for Monday’s afternoon flight and we fervently hoped that it would leave as planned. We took the rest of the day easy, with Jacki doing a little shopping and Kurt’s intestines working overtime while he read the Sunday New York Times and caught up on this blog. We were lucky that our apartment had not been rented for Sunday and so we were able to spend another night in Brooklyn. To finish off this day of rest we took the subway to Brooklyn Heights and slowly walked along the Promenade, buying dinner at a deli on Montague Street. Jacki and I shared a leisurely meal sitting on a bench looking at the lights of lower Manhattan twinkle on at dusk. Upon finishing, we walked through the quiet, posh neighborhood for the return to Park Slope.

Monday, May 3

We woke up to light rain and further heavy uneasiness if Jet Blue would see fit to fly a jet through cloud cover this day. After having breakfast from a 5th Avenue bakery, calling a car service, and finishing packing, Jacki and I walked for several blocks on 7th Avenue to where the pretty brownstones of Park Slope faded to more generic Brooklyn walkups. Upon returning to 621 Carroll, we waited for the car service to arrive and admired with apartment owner Sherry how New Yorkers move their cars on street sweeping days and the strategizing necessary to avoid suffering a $100+ parking violation. At noon our suitcases were loaded into the trunk of an old Town Car for the always-prompt car service ride to JFK. During the drive down Park Boulevard, Jacki spotted a colon health clinic with a sign admonishing passersby not to “let your colon dig your grave.”

We arrived at JFK three hours early for our flight which was probably wishful thinking that our early arrival would somehow bring a quick flight home. Such was not the case when the plane was late to arrive to the gate and the JFK air controllers would not let our plane take off into a slightly dark cloud. We did make it home, albeit in separate rows of the airliner, with three unhappy babies muffled, thankfully, by Jacki's earplugs.

All in all, it was another wonderful trip to the East Coast.

Jacki and Kurt’s Vacation to Seattle and Beyond - Sept. 2009

Thursday, September 17, 2009

We started our vacation in Tiburon, walking downtown where Kurt got a cup of Joe to begin his day right. After driving to Oakland and parking in a long-term lot not far from the airport, we boarded our Southwest plane and flew to the Seattle-Tacoma airport. We rented a blue Chevy Anvil (actually Aveo) car from National Car Rental (blog sponsor possibilities?), and headed to the northern outskirts of Seattle to check into our Priceline-obtained Northgate Extended Stay Hotel. Our room had a view of Mt. Rainier, an unexpected bonus.Heading back into Seattle, we parked the car andexplored the downtown area, including Pike Place Market which was pretty well closed up for the evening. After dinner at a Thai restaurant where Kurt enjoyed his first plate of Pad Thai, we did some walking, buying postcards at the large Read All About It newsstand.It’s a little embarrassing to report that by then our librarian blood got the better of us. We hunted down the Seattle Public Library, walking all around the closed building and actually peaking in windows. Okay, this is really embarrassing. We returned to our motel for the night.

Friday, September 18, 2009

It does seem to be true that there is a Starbucks or two on every corner in Seattle, and we visited our first one near our motel for coffee and a scone for breakfast. Then we drove to Belleview in search of a local GEICO office (for documents needed in Canada). Jacki performed numerous “whoop-arounds” and we saw many a neighborhood during our search, including posh Clyde Hill and a blueberry farm. We debated the value of having a GPS or iPhone vs. old-fashioned paper maps and decided that it is far superior to be lost using a map than a GPS. Throwing a map out the window is much cheaper than throwing an iPhone out the window.

Eventually we found the office, handled our business, and made it into downtown Seattle where we lunched at the Three Sisters Bakery at Pike Place Market. Our very efficient waiter had dreadlocks tied back under a cap. We watched as another customer at the counter pulled a very long hair out of his sandwich and showed it to the waiter who asked, “Is that mine?” After lunch we walked to the Washington State Ferries Terminal and boarded the ferry to Bainbridge Island. Jacki’s college roommate, Marilynn, picked us up and drove us across the island to her beautiful house in the woods. We got to see Marilynn’s latest artwork, photos applied to large pieces of metal. It was very intriguing and we liked the effects she was able to achieve with the method. Soon after, we walked along the western Bainbridge shore in warm, sunny weather with dog Tito who attempted to retrieve anything, large or small, that was thrown in the water. Kurt will undoubtedly reminisce about what a wonderful dog Tito is for years to come. Passing by many beautiful boat houses, we saw a family of river otters in a lagoon. After returning to Marilynn’s house, we waited for her husband, Dan, to return from work by conversing and working on crossword puzzle. We all went to dinner at Dan’s favorite Bainbridge restaurant, Four Swallows. It was definitely the best dinner we had on our whole trip – delicious! The time got away from us and we had to rush back to ferry at 9:40 pm for our return to Seattle.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

We woke to a light rain, our view of Mt. Rainier obscured. After a quick breakfast we drove into Seattle to explore the Queen Anne neighborhood. We attempted to find a nice view of downtown, but couldn’t find a clear view anywhere. We enjoyed walking through the neighborhood, however, and got a feel for the area.

Next we parked at the Seattle Center and rode the Monorail into downtown Seattle and headed a few blocks down to see the inside of the new library. Shock and awe is perhaps a slight exaggeration of our reaction to the structure, but not much. It is a hard place to describe; definitely an architect’s building, but it also seems to function pretty well as a library. We spent an hour or two wandering around, trying to see everything we had heard about and seeing plenty of things we weren’t expecting. We made our way back to the monorail via Pike Place market, where we purchased flowers and fruit. Back at the car, we drove to De Moines, south of Seattle, to visit with Bud and Jane Reanier (no relation to the mountain), Kurt’s Godparents. We had a pleasant dinner at Wesley Gardens retirement housing where the two 90+ year-olds live, a tour of the dahlia garden, and a nice conversation. We were especially interested to hear about the Reanier’s experience at Pearl Harbor in 1941. Residents of the home were abuzz with news that the University of Washington Huskies had upset USC that afternoon.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Sunday morning we again had breakfast at the Northgate Starbucks (this is getting old). To be fair, Kurt did purchase coffee at a number of other coffee houses; this Starbucks was just the most convenient for us in the morning. We drove north up Highway 5, passing forests, fields of corn, potatoes, and blueberries, to Chuckanut Drive which runs along the beautiful Washington State coastline. We stopped in historic Fairhaven and patronized the impressive Village Book Store before meeting Jacki’s Redlands friend, Kris, at the Colophon Café next to the book store for lunch. Afterwards we walked along the waterfront of Bellingham harbor and saw many families out enjoying sunny, warm weather. We drove with Kris through Bellingham to her three-acre farm and toured her well-decorated house, barn with mothballed cars; met horses, dogs, cats, and birds, and picked apples. Jacki and Kris caught up on old times while lounging in the sun next to the pond while Kurt talked to Reid at Times Square via cell phone. After saying goodbye to Kris, we walked through downtown Bellingham and found a local place for some excellent burgers. As the sun set, we drove to Anacortes and found the cozy Anaco Inn. We unloaded and quickly toured Anacortes in the dark, happening across a rope factory operating on Sunday night.

Monday, September 21, 2009

We woke up early to catch the morning ferry to Sidney, and bought breakfast at Starbucks in Anacortes (this is getting really, really old!). It was beautiful watching the sun rise while waiting to board the Washington State ferry at Anacortes with the rental car. The sea was as calm as glass during the 2+ hour ferry ride between San Juan Islands. Kurt spotted a bald eagle in a tree on one island, and we saw seals in the water. On the ferry we read a little of the Seattle Times to catch up on news and see about the victorious 49ers. After landing in Sidney, British Columbia, Jacki made a point to have our passports stamped at the border station, though the agent was reluctant to do it since others might want the same privilege. We just wanted something to show in our passports since both of them were clean as a whistle! We bought lunch to-go in Sidney, then drove to Butchart Gardens on Vancouver Island. By chance we met author John Saul in the parking lot after noticing his Book 28 license plate. It turns out he is a very well known author; the Bel-Tib library has about 10 of his books. We had lunch overlooking the Sunken Garden. The weather was sunny and the perfect temperature as we toured the grounds. Dahlias were at their peek and chrysanthemums were just starting to bloom. Jacki took many photos as ideas for our future gardens. She thought that Butchart Gardens is a Disneyland for gardeners! We drove to Victoria in the late afternoon and found the James Bay Inn where we were staying for the night. We both took naps in the hotel after waking early that day for the ferry. Later, we walked in downtown Victoria, past the Parliament Building and the Empress Hotel, to dinner outdoors overlooking the harbor and a nice sunset. We saw the ferry Coho arrive and sound its horn. We walked downtown and admired the city lights before turning in.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

We had breakfast at The Mirage Café (not Starbucks) in downtown Victoria, where Kurt had his best cup of coffee yet. We got in the auto line at the Victoria Ferry Terminal, and talked with a tour bus driver while waiting to board. He said he was taking a group of French tourists on a 17-day road trip all over the Western U.S. and part of Canada, staying in a different place every single night. After dropping them all off at the aiport in Seattle the next day he was going to high-tail it down to Los Angeles where he lives, spend a day at home, then go off on another tour. Luckily, he loves his job and his wife loves it when he makes money – happiness all the way around! Though it was a lovely ride across the Sound, we were disappointed to not have seen much marine life, in particular no Orcas. Though we had boarded the Coho mid-way through the car line, we somehow ended up right at the bow for unloading, and were one of two first cars off when we got to Port Angeles. Kurt waved victoriously to those waiting to board the ferry back to Victoria. We drove and walked around downtown Port Angeles, visiting a store dedicated entirely to the Twilight books, which have been almost as popular as Harry Potter in our local libraries. We visited the Chamber of Commerce Information Center, and ate lunch in an unremarkable café in unremarkable Port Angeles in remarkably great weather.After locating the Port Angeles Public Library to ask directions to Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park, we drove up to the Ridge and found views impaired by forest fire smoke blowing in from Oregon. We hiked up to the top of Hurricane Ridge to take the obligatory photos of Jacki sitting on a rock formation. Then we drove to Sequim, bought food for dinner, and made our way to Lucy & Rick Gibbs’ house on the northeast corner of Discovery Bay. The Gibbs are practically relatives of Jacki’s co-worker Patty McDonough, and kindly offered the use of their home while they were visiting their son in Mill Valley. The house was just feet from the water, a very quiet and beautiful spot. We made a nice home-cooked dinner of spaghetti, broccoli, and bread, did a load of laundry and went to bed.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

We woke at sunrise with the sun shining red through band of smoke over Discovery Bay. There were lots of birds, ducks and geese, but no bald eagles. We saw a deer and a raccoon. We drove west on Highway 101, stopping at Sunny Farms, an excellent organic grocery store outside Sequim, for coffee and lunch items. Whole coho salmon in the fish department and hundreds of pumpkins at the entry added to the atmosphere of the place.We stopped in Port Angeles to go to library (closed, no WiFi on), mail letters, and withdraw at Wells Fargo, then drove to Lake Crescent in Olympic National Park. We visited the old ranger house where Jacki’s in-laws used to summer. Jacki called Natalie with a question from the ranger about the house’s old chimney and had a nice talk. We ate lunch lakeside, lounging in Adirondack chairs and admiring the clear water that was as calm as glass in the unseasonably warm weather. Then we drove to the Salmon Cascades and spent a long time watching for salmon trying to swim up the rapids (maybe saw three fish jumping, many more large salmon in the pools below the rapids). We continued to Sol Duc Hot Springs and took a hike to Sol Duc Falls in the lush rain forest. We drove back through the then windy Lake Crescent and to Port Angeles with fog above the mountains along the way. Had dinner in Sequim and returned to Discovery Bay in the dark.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Cleaned the Gibbs’ house on a foggy Discovery Bay and watered their plants before driving to Sequim for coffee and gifts for the Gibbs and Wendy (from Purple Haze Lavender Shop). We ordered takeout Thai food from Sawadee Thai Restaurant in Sequim and ate on the deck of the house overlooking Discovery Bay in warm, sunny weather. Then we drove to Port Townsend, a lovely Victorian fishing village with many shops for tourists like us, watched boats come and go and rested in the sun. Next time we would like to stay in a cottage at the Swan Inn and visit the Carnegie Library in town. We took off in mid-to-late afternoon and drove to Bainbridge Island just in time to catch the 5:30pm ferry to Seattle. The two-lane Highway 19 from Port Townsend was one of the most pastoral we had traveled. We drove to the Seattle Center neighborhood of town and walked to four hotels looking for the best price (Jacki does love a deal and we found one at the Travelodge--too bad it had a bullet hole in one of the room’s windows!). We walked a few blocks downtown and had a pizza, returned for bed.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Had complimentary breakfast at the Travelodge, then walked to a bus stop near Seattle Center. We rode the bus through the Fremont neighborhood (a site to which we must return) to the University of Washington and toured the main campus, including the magnificent Suzzallo Library reading room. We enjoyed roses and a view of Mount Rainier over the campus fountain on yet another day of perfect weather. We walked past Husky Stadium to the Waterfront Activities Center and rented a canoe for an hour. We paddled underneath highways to botanical garden and enjoyed trees, ducks, and turtles. The we walked through the UW campus to Agua Verde Restaurant for a busy lunch by the waterfront before catching another bus to the Ballard Locks. There we watched a wide variety of boats use the locks, and toured the Ballard Fish Ladders where we saw a handful of salmon swimming upstream. We walked a short distance (during what was obviously happy hour time) through the Ballard neighborhood, bought snacks at micro pastry shop, and caught another bus past the Lake Union waterfront to Seattle Center. We toured Seattle Center looking for entertainment and returned to the hotel. Then we drove to the Queen Anne neighborhood for an excellent dinner at the Five Spot Café.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

We had a complimentary breakfast at the hotel, then packed our luggage for the trip home. We drove through Downtown and Pioneer Square areas looking for coffee for Kurt. With some extra time before our afternoon flight, we stopped at Angle Lake south of SeaTac and watched a man run a radio-controlled, hand-made model of the Aircraft Carrier Constellation. Back at the airport we returned the rental car and worked on a crossword puzzle while waiting for our Southwest flight back to Oakland. The flight was delayed an hour and a half for a “situation” with the baggage door. We arrived in Oakland to 90° weather and a home-cooked meal (finally!) at Jacki’s home. It was hard to believe our trip was already over, so we downloaded vacation photos and reminisced.