Seattle

Okay, so here are some tidbits about my business trip to Seattle. We arrived on Tuesday and stayed at the Silver Cloud Inn in Bellevue. It is a lovely little hotel. I had a corner suite, so there was plenty of room to spread out. I could have done a cartwheel in my room and bathroom.

That evening we ate at McCormick & Schmick's, a seafood restaurant in Bellevue. OH MY GOODNESS! My dinner was so delicious, I am salivating right now just thinking about it. I ordered the Atlantic Salmon stuffed with succulent crab meat, shrimp, dill, and brie cheese. Holy Cow was it ever so good. We also had the best calamari I have tasted and half a dozen of oysters on the half shell. Yummy! Can you tell I am a seafood person? Then came dessert. Being the total tourist that I am, I had to take a picture of the chocolate cake. I had our chef put his hand next to it to show how huge it was. It came on a regular size dinner plate. I only had a bite. I didn't want to go on taste sensory overload.

The next day we hit the QFC stores. We visited two in Bellevue, one in University Center, and one in Redmond Way. I could have run right into Proxima and not even have known it! The stores were quite impressive. I can see these stores kick butt in perishables, which was my main focus for the trip. How can we improve our perishables back home? They have definitely mastered it there.

The most exciting part of the trip was when we went down to the Pike's Market. The Pike's Place Fish Market is famous in my company. The guys down there are famous. They have made a video called The Fish Video. It talks about how to have fun while at work and how to make the most out of your job. As soon as I saw some of the guys from the video, I squealed! They looked at me right away and asked how I knew about the video. I told them which company I worked for and they were all smiles. One of the guys pulled me behind the counter to see if I wanted to "catch" a fish. I did! I caught a beautiful salmon. I also got my picture taken with the group and we bought a book which they all signed. It was totally awesome!

Have you ever seen a monk fish before?

We tooted around the city a little more and went into the original Starbucks. Cheryl, you would have been in heaven in Seattle. Coffee everywhere. And I mean GOOD coffee. We then headed over to a little bakery and grabbed a piroshki. Yummy! I totally advise everyone who visits to do the same thing.

Later that evening we ate at Maggiano's "Little Italy" Restaurant. It was pretty good. Not as good as the night before. I think the dinner I had at McCormick & Schmick's was the best I have ever had.

We left on Thursday to come back home. As much as I loved being in Seattle, I did miss my home. Could I live there? Probably. It touched me to the soul. I have never seen mountains before. When I saw Mt. Rainier from the highway, it brought tears to my eyes. What beautiful world we live in. It just takes time to see it.