Back from Chicago

DH and I recently attended a Leadership conference at Willow Creek in South Barrington, IL. This was our first trip to the Chicago area and we had a fantastic time.

We arrived into O'Hare around 7am, rented a car and traveled around the suburbs. We noticed there was a lot of ponds/lakes and nature preserves as well as beautiful plantings and gardens along the streets, medians, and communities.

We ended up at a sanctuary in Schaumburg. It was a nice place to walk around and stretch our legs.

At the wildlife sanctuary


The next morning, we headed over to Willow Creek for our conference. We later met up with our Pastor Joey and his wife Sarah.

Can you believe 7,000 were in attendance?


Acknowledging the support globally


Entertainment break...one of several

We enjoyed two days of magnificent and invigorating speakers. They included Bill Hybels, David Gergen, and a host of religious and business leaders.


We did get an opportunity to take a trip downtown. We ended up parking around Soldier Field and walked around the waterfront. Now, you know I haven't been doing any sewing and I didn't attempt to head over to Vogue Fabrics. I know, shame on me. I did get an opportunity to see a wedding photo session. So, I present my only fashion photo from this trip:

Wedding photog moment. Caught this scene along the waterfront


We headed over to the Shedd Aquarium.

Back side of Shedd Aquarium & city view

Do you know how hard it is to take pictures through glass?

Finding Nemo

We would definitely go back to Chicago and spend more time uncovering treasures of this beautiful city.

A big thank you to Joey and Sarah for encouraging us to join them on this remarkable leadership trip.

Hamming it up for a picture. Joey and his Jamoca Almond Fudge moment


(If you have been to Chicago, please leave a comment about your favorite places to visit, dine, shop, etc. We will definitely use these tips for our trip next year).

Where Have I Been?

I'm still away from my sewing machine. Have I thought about sewing? Not really. DH & I are still enjoying our cruise. We'll be back late Monday. Back to the cold/freezing weather (I just checked the local weather).

For those of you who are going through the cold spell and want to think "warm thoughts", I wanted to share a quick picture of Honeymoon Beach in St Thomas. We had a fantastic time there.

If you want to see more pics and posts...head on over to my 2BCruising blog. Enjoy!

Han & Greg...Thank You!

Han & Greg...thank you for a wonderful time in Seattle. Your wedding was absolutely beautiful. I am thankful to have had the opportunity to meet so many lovely friends and family members. Also, to get re-acquainted with those we haven't seen in many years. It was a very special time for all of us. Thank you.

Seattle's Waterfront & Other Sites

I know by now, you're tired of my Seattle posts. This is just one more to cover the other places we visited. I'm still recovering from my cold/fever over the last few days and unfortunately, sewing is not on my mind right now. I'm sure my sewing mojo will come back this weekend.

Waterfront:

If you're in Seattle and you see this sign, you are between Pike Place Market and the Seattle Waterfront. Walking left will take you up to the Pike Hill Climb and walking right...you'll be in front of the Sea Aquarium.





I saw this water sculpture next to the aquarium and played with my camera's aperature setting. I was able to catch the neat water affects. So, that's how the Pros do it.










I stood behind Pike Place and captured these two shots of the waterfront and also of Qwest Stadium.



Once you get to the Pike Market, it's an easy walk down to the waterfront. If I get a chance to visit Seattle again, I would definitely stay closer to the waterfront. On this trip we spent a lot of time here and less time downtown.




Pier 57:

While wandering around Pier 57 we stumbled upon this little shopping arcade. Here we found a "boat builder" shop. How cool is that?












Interesting to see the construction process and what they start from.











While we were waiting for the restaurant to open, we had to have a little fun and entertain ourselves...





Pioneer Square:



We made it down to Pioneer Square. This is suppose to be one of America's largest National Historic District. There are many fine restaurants and boutiques located here.






This is Smith Tower. There's an observation deck on the 35th floor where you can look out at the city below and the mountain ranges nearby.












This is an interesting architecture design. If you can believe it, this is a garage.









I wonder if the owner of this hotel realizes it's 2008 and not 1908?








This is an interesting wrought iron display. It's located in front of the Pioneer Building and the start of The Underground. The Underground is famous for its subterranean storefronts and sidewalks entombed when the city rebuilt on top of itself after the Great Fire of 1889. Time didn't allow us to take this tour. It would have been interesting.




Seattle Center:

We had an opportunity to take the Monorail to the Seattle Center. It was a cloudy and rainy day and we did not think the view from the Space Needle would allow us to see much of the city or the mountains. So, here's a picture of the Space Needle from ground level. You can see an elevator taking the visitors up to the top. There's a slow rotating restaurant at the top.







Instead we headed over to the Experience Music Project (EMP) museum. This is co-located with the Science Fiction Museum (SFM). While in EMP, we came across this sculpture. Here is the base of the artwork.







You can see that this sculpture reaches up to the ceiling. It was incredible. If you look real close you can see a keyboard.







There are 700 instruments in this display with about 40 of them playing a note/tune. Here is a close-up of one of the guitars playing/strumming.

We left the sculpture and headed into one of the music rooms. I snapped a picture and wouldn't you know it...I wasn't allowed to take pictures in the rooms. No photography allowed. OOOOOOOOooooops! I felt like a little kid who got her hands slapped. So, I have no more pictures of the EMP nor any pictures from the Science Fiction Museum. If you're interested in music...you have to check out the EMP. If you're interested in Sci-Fi (e.g. Star Trek, Star Wars, etc)...you will enjoy the SCM museum.


The Brunch Cruise:

We ended our weekend with an Argosy brunch cruise around Elliott Bay. Thanks to Greg and Han for providing this wonderful cruise. Along the way were able to see the NCL Norwegian Pearl docked at one of the piers with the Space Needle in the background.





Here is the Alki Light House.







A view of the downtown city skyline from a distance...




...coming back in from our cruise. The food on this cruise was pretty tasty. I enjoyed the smoked salmon and also the sweet treats that were on the buffet. Also, the sun came out for a bit. A nice way to end a long wonderful weekend in Seattle.

If you get the chance to visit Seattle, you have to put on your walking shoes and walk around downtown (lots of shopping to be had), Pike Place market, Pioneer Square, Seattle Center, and the Waterfront. There's a lot to see and do and eat. I understand August is a great time for a visit as the sun will be shining for most of the month. I think DH would prefer that time.

As for fabric stores...I didn't see any. I did find out that there's a fabric store in North Queen Anne. I believe it's called Nancy's Sewing Basket. Also, Textile Studios is located east of downtown Seattle. I wished I had another day to find these two places. That will have to wait for another trip and this time DH will be with me to experience this exciting city...hopefully next year.

Another View of Pike Place

Pike Place encompasses about 9 acres. It's a huge area and I'm sure we didn't cover the whole territory. To give you an idea of how old this area is, Pike Place Market started in 1907. Besides the farmers, there are crafts people that show their wares (e.g. candles, jewelry, clothing, oils, etc) and they rent their space daily. I agree that it's the most frequently visited site in Seattle. If I lived in the area I would probably be shopping there daily for fresh fruits and veggies and of course, the great looking fish.



Besides the market place there are other shopping venues to visit. Up and down a street called Pike Place, there are many store fronts selling lots of food.


We stopped in at Three Girls Bakery. Sherril posted about the wonderful brownies there. There is also a small cafe right around the corner for lightfare meals.








There was too many choices to make, so I opted for a blueberry scone.










We got down here early enough to see the cheese being made at Bleechers.






I'm sure I have posted somewhere on my blog about munching away at a huge oatmeal cookie I brought back from Seattle. Well, I got it here at The Cinnamon Works. It was an awesome cookie! Chunky, moist, and delicious. I was still eating it for two days and that's after DB took off a piece for himself.




We didn't get anything here, but enjoyed watching the folks behind the counter make the pork buns.




They also carried the typical Chinese sweet treats. This shop was Mee Sum Pastry.











Every single time we walked along Pike Place, there was a crowd here at Piroshky. There was also a wonderful bakery smell that just beckoned you to come into their shop.







You can see them make different pastries and goodies throughout the day.









Here it is, the first Starbucks. Actually, it's really Starbucks #4. The first three were closed. Thank you Mandie for correcting me. Mandie found this information while taking the Seattle Coffee Crawl tour.


The inside is very rustic looking. Can you believe there are no customers here? Yes, we are early birds. Typically, this place is packed with folks coming to buy the "Pike Place Starbucks" mugs and their coffees.






During the day, entertainment can be found here.








When you look up from Pike Place you will find alley ways with interesting shops and more places to eat. Notice the hill? Seattle reminds me of NYC and San Francisco.








This one is Post Alley.









More places to eat and another fruit and veggie vendor.











Here is the backside of Pike Place Market, a view from top of Western Avenue:




Next Up: Views of the Waterfront & other pictures

(Don't forget to continue reading on about Pike Market Place)

Visiting Pike Place Market...Over Several Days

I really thought we would only be visiting Pike Place maybe once or twice during our stay in Seattle. We ended up there 6 times over 3-1/2 days. Yes, DB, I was counting. It was nice to get our daily dose of fruits and sweet snacks. It was also neat to do some people watching.



Here we are arriving mid-morning. I can tell it's the start of another busy day in the market.





This is the infamous place to watch the flying fish. They throw a lot of the real fish, but be careful because they might throw something else at you. lol!





There is a lot of seafood to be had here.





I wonder if cousin Brian is enjoying his take-home box of crab?








There are many vendors selling fruits and veggies. It's a sea of color.





















There are many vendors selling lots of colorful flowers. They bundle and wrap the flowers throughout the day.














For those of us who get up before the crack of dawn, here is what Pike Place looks like before some of the vendors arrive.





It was actually kind of strange to be walking around without the noise and the crowds.




Yeah, I went crazy when I saw these peppers hanging in the street. I don't care to eat them, but look at all the beautiful colors!




A short bunch of peppers...



A long bunch of peppers...


DB had a good time take pictures of the hot peppers. He's the only one in the immediate family that can eat these and not break into a sweat.


The vendors in the main market area actually take down their stalls every evening. In the morning, we noticed they come in with large boxes, crates, etc and unpack the fresh seafood, fruits, vegetables, and flowers. They carefully layout their produce, sorting by color, and even polishing a few to make them shine.

One thing we learned here is not to touch the fruits and veggies. You don't need to check, they are ripe and ready to eat. The vendor will gladly pick out your produce for you. All you have to do is ask.

Next up: Other interesting vendors/stores around Pike Place Market...stay tuned.

(and don't forget to read the previous post...Eating Our Way Through Seattle)