Busy weekend with the family...........

Remember the family that came for a visit? We actually had a pretty good time and I got to play tourist for awhile, which was kind of nice seeing things through different eyes. I think being around certain things all of the time, I wonder if we take them for granted? I live in the Pacific NW, in a very beautiful part of the state of Washington, the west side of the state where we're surrounded by beautiful snow topped mountains on all sides, the sound & the ocean that is probably about an hour's drive away. It was actually nice to take a step back & admire all of what is around me.


We stopped at the Space Needle, in Seattle, for lunch, which is always wonderful. Here are the beautiful tulips that they have planted at the base of the Needle.




We then went to Fremont that afternoon for a beer festival called Hop Scotch. At this festival, we had the opportunity to sample over 60 beers from local breweries as well as 10 different Scotches & Tequila's. We are very fortunate in that in the states of Washingon, Oregon & California, we have a huge number of what I call "craft brewers" where making beer is considered an art. Fortunately, there are no laws prohibiting the selling of beers over 4% alcohol by volume since a lot of the beers brewed in this area are around 5.5-9%. I have a friend on the east coast where some of the counties around her are completely dry & where she lives they're only allowed 4% by volume (what a shame).


After the festival, we were all hungry (of course), so we found this place called The Ballroom. Below, you can see the pizza that we ordered. On the menu it said it was a 28" pizza. Ok with me, numbers don't mean anything unless I can actually see it. When she brought it out, I couldn't believe the size of this thing, as you can see it pretty much took up the entire table. One slice (for the visual reference people) from crust to tip, it was as long as the tip of your elbow, to the tip of your middle finger & it was GOOD! (That's my bro in-law with his girlfriend on the right & the gal on the right side of me is a friend of ours.) Daryl & her hubby were off playing pool.

The next day, we took them sailing on Shilshole Bay (Daryl has taken sailing lessons, great another hobby) :) At this marina, they have this beautiful statue of Leif Erikson standing guard over Shilshole Marina & it also serves as a tribute to the Norwegian heritage of the Seattle area. It was a gift to Seattle from the Norwegian American community during the 1962 Seattle World's Fair. The statue base is a granite stone about 6 feet high & he is surround by authentic Viking carvings (see below) & there is also a list of over 850 names of immigrants, along with their home towns & years of migration.

Aren't these just absolutely beautiful?? Now see, if I wouldn't have been paying attention, I would have missed out on these beautiful works of art!! (might be kind of interesting to create some fiber art with these beautiful designs..........)