My Lovely City, Seattle

On Presidents' Day Stan and I took the bus downtown and enjoyed a walk and lunch in our pretty city.

First, let me show you my new walking shoes.  I have had the best luck with tennis shoes at Ross!  The shoes are all out where you can easily try them on without having to ask for a particular size and the prices are terrific.  These are Skechers, a brand that seems to fit me well, although I wasn't sure about those big bubbles on the soles.  I can feel them a little bit (after all, I'm a real princess).  But at the end of the day, I remarked to Stan that they must be okay because I didn't think of my feet once the whole time we were out.

Seattle is quite hilly, so there are lots of stairs and hill climbs to provide good exercise.  After getting off the bus, we headed down toward the waterfront via the Harbor Steps.

Hmmm, we might look for an alternate route back up...

Stan noticed the Seattle Steam Company.  I must have passed it a few hundred times without ever seeing it - I had to Google it to see what it does.  Duh.  It provides steam to over 175 businesses in Seattle, via 18 miles of pipe.  Several of its largest customers are the big hospitals in the city, and some hotels, the public library and the Seattle Art Museum.  In May 2014, Seattle Steam was bought by Brookfield Asset Management of Toronto and its name is now enwave (lower case e intentional).  Rats, I like the Canadians but I don't think we should sell our assets outside the country.

We stopped for lunch at the Bell Street Diner.  Do note I had cappucino instead of wine, and a pretty healthy lunch.  I ate all the fish and salad before having just a bit of the chowder.  But, uh oh, there was an item on the dessert menu called Coffee Affogato - espresso poured over a scoop of dulce de leche ice cream.  We didn't have dessert, but I can't seem to get that out of my mind...

I couldn't resist this cutie, sound asleep although the noise from the construction was deafening.

Seattle's Great Wheel.  What do you think, Mira?

More stairs.  As you can see, we could have crossed the street to take the elevator, but instead we walked up this flight of stairs.  Totally worth it was the view from the top.

I commuted to work on that ferry for many years.  Now I feel a bit nostalgic!

It was a lovely day, and I logged 8,970 steps on my Fitbit  : )