Hello Monday ~ Weekend/Washington Recap 8/31/26

 Good morning!  I hope you all had a nice weekend.  

 I spent some time with Jenn Friday night, took a drive with her Saturday night and some Sunday afternoon time too.  I had a 5K with work Saturday morning and did some cooking this weekend.  Here are a few weekend pictures and then I will be recapping my time in Washington today.

My last trip post on Friday wrapped up with me arriving in Seattle, Washington.  I took the ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge Island, where I would be staying for the next 3 days.  I stayed in the cottage house of a college friend who lives there.  She was actually my big sister in my sorority! Bainbridge Island is darling and reminds me of the Nantucket of the Northeast.  Because the weather is ideal, the flowers there are so beautiful!!  The dahlias in particular were lovely.

This is the view from my friend's backyard.  She lives on the Puget Sound.  Can you even imagine?

She showed me around the island the next day.  

Amy & I tried to re-create the picture taken of us 38 years ago at college!

Interesting fact, my youngest daughter's roommate she had at college her last 2 years is also from Bainbridge Island!  Brook flew to Seattle Monday, the day before I arrived, to spend a few days with her friend.  We were both on the island staying at separate places and didn't see each other until Wednesday evening.  

Wednesday night, I went to visit Brook's roommate's family, whom I had met in Savannah while they were in college.  Isabella flew into Seattle Wednesday night and after her ferry ride, we picked her up & brought her back to their house. It was one of those magical nights we sat outside laughing, eating, drinking rose', all with their beautiful view of the water. It was 10pm and I thought, it is midnight back home and we are here having the time of our lives.  Also, we were in sweatshirts and using blankets outside.

Zoe's boyfriend was our cook for the night making pizzas in the pizza oven.

Side note....gas is more expensive there!!

The next day, Isabella, Brook and I took a day to explore Seattle.  Before we set out on our day, Isabella and I took a walk at the nearby park where the sport of pickleball was founded!!

Let me tell you, the girls and I hadn't been on the ferry more than a few minutes, and they had me laughing.  I love watching them and being with them.  We took our selfie with Seattle behind us and then they acted out this scene from Gray's Anatomy.  Isabella made a video of her saying these things and it is hysterical.  I was having the time of my life once again and we hadn't even made it from Bainbridge to Seattle.

Our first stop was Beechers, known for their homemade cheese.  We could actually watch them making the cheese as we ate grilled cheese sandwiches, macaroni-n-cheese and tomato soup.

We walked around the Public Market and saw the guys famous for throwing the fish to each other.

We went into a few shops as we walked from the market to the monorail.  There was a store that sold everything purple!

We took the monorail to the Space Needle Station.  We decided not to go up to the top of the Space Needle, but to go to the Chihuly Glass Museum instead.  We do more artistic things these days with an artist in the family.  I had gone up in the Space Needle back in 1992 when my Mom and I went to Seattle for a weekend.  

Isabella bought a keychain with a harmonica.  She entertained us on a break while sitting outside at the museum.  She is so funny!

We took a visit to the Seattle library which had a lot of cool architectural design features.

Before catching the ferry back to Bainbridge, we stopped to see Zoe at work in Seattle.  She works at a wine bar so we all enjoyed a glass of frozen rose'.  

The girls stayed with me this night at Amy's house.  It was fun for Amy to get to know them and the girls were able to take kayaks out in the Puget Sound that evening.  They loved this.  Once again, it was all lovely and such a great end to a fun day!

Thank you for reading along!  On a trip update, this concludes week one of my trip and next up will be Alaska updates.  We left for the cruise one month ago today.  Man, time goes by fast.  Maybe I will have this recapped by the 2 month mark :).

Have a good Monday!

Friday Favorites ~ August 28, 2026/Amtrak

 Happy Friday.  My week has been good overall, but has seemed a little slow.  Since my trip, I have kept up walking every day, which has helped me feel better.  I try to walk outdoors most evenings, but have also walked inside on my walking pad a few days.  I am thankful for some shade and evenings that have not been too hot to walk. This is my first favorite!

A few other favorites:

I had lunch with a former travel agent co-worker that I hadn't seen in at least 2 years this week.  We sat for 2 1/2 hours and it was so fun to catch up with her! 

 My apartment complex had a paint night so we went to paint little flower pots one night too. When I came home from work yesterday, they had left me a small gift at the door for coming.  I love where I live!

Now I am going to jump back into my trip from last month.  To end my time in Canada, I took an Amtrak from Vancouver to Seattle, Washington early one morning.  The train stations are so pretty.

I bought the business class ticket, which is not too much more than coach and it was 100% worth the extra cost.  I felt like I had my money's worth before I even boarded simply by being in a shorter line!

This was my chair for the 4 hour ride, but I did have someone sit across from me, but that was okay.

The scenery along the coast was so pretty to see.  

Then I arrived back in the USA in Seattle, Washington.

I had a view of the baseball stadium from the train station.  I walked a few blocks this time with my luggage to the Seattle ferry station. I felt like I utilized planes, trains, automobiles and the ferry a lot in my first week!

It is so pretty to see the sights of Seattle from the ferry!  

I will do a post on Bainbridge Island and Seattle next week.

I hope you have a great weekend and thanks for reading friends!