After getting back to the house from the airport, we sat around bowls of soup and the recorded finale of American Idol - until about 1:30am. Tour Guide Tina had our day already set, so wake up time was to be around 7:00am.
Thursday morning, around 9am, we left for downtown Seattle. Thanks to Carpool and Express lanes we didn't hit any major traffic and arrived within about 45 minutes. Our first stop: The Space Needle. This was an incredible view - and not nearly as scary as I thought it would be! We spent about 1.5 hours taking it all in before heading off to our next stop.
After purchasing tickets to the 1pm Underground Tour we stopped at a pizza place for lunch and then into a shop that sells Kilts, Utilikilts! This is a pretty unique concept and you'll actually see plenty of folks walking around downtown Seattle wearing these. After some elbowing we got Jesse to try one on! 
It's now time for the Underground Tour, so Jesse must change back into his shorts and off we go. This was really neat - and provided a great history lesson of Seattle. What we now know as Downtown is actually built on top of the old Downtown before the Great Seattle Fire burned most of it down in 1889. Click here for a lot of great information about it! Once finished with the tour we started our walk towards the Waterfront and hit the Aquarium. This is a really neat place - and I have to say my favorite part is probably the tidal pool room where you can touch all the different sea life. I started talking to an employee there and she took the four of us out to the attached dock and did a 'plankton dip' - where she throws a net out with a canister attached to see what comes up. We went back inside and put three drops under the microscope and saw a baby snail, lots of plankton and a tiny jellyfish. It was pretty amazing!
From there we pushed on to the Seattle Waterfront for a walk and then headed up to Pike Place Market, home of the famous fish throwers. What else is it famous for? The Gum Wall! Yes, that is all pieces of gum stuck to the wall!
Since it was getting time for dinner, we headed back to the car so we could park closer to the restaurant. Our dining choice for the evening was Anthony's on Pier 66 where we enjoyed a delicious dinner outdoors on the waterfront. (If you click on the picture, you can see the larger version with Anthony's in the background).Ready for Day 2? The plan was to drive up to Harrison Hot Springs in Canada where they have a sand sculpture contest going. We were there to see the completed sculptures from the Tournament of Champions contest and vote on our favorite. Click here for more information. This place is SO beautiful! It's only a 3 hour drive, so we'll be back and I can't wait to explore that lake! Below is just one of the ten sculptures we saw.
Afterwards, we headed out and stopped at Bridal Falls which is just breathtaking. It was a quick 15 minute hike to the falls. From here we pushed on back into Washington, stopping in Downtown Bellingham to find a cool local bar and grill for dinner near the waterfront.
Saturday we took the ferry over to Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands. After finding a local bar and grill for lunch, we walked around the waterfront waiting for the next shuttle to drive us to the local winery. 
Across from the winery in a large fenced field lives a camel and a white horse. The locals say they are best pals and reside together in harmony. The camel is surprisingly friendly! Some of the locals think he came from a petting zoo years ago. After spending the day on the island, we got ice cream cones before boarding the ferry and heading home. Sadly the journey ends on Sunday, we took Emily and Jesse to our favorite Brunch location on the waterfront in Mukilteo, Arnie's.
Thank you for coming to visit us Emily and Jesse - we thoroughly enjoyed spending time with you, showing you both around, and we can't wait to see you again!
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