My Very Own Sleepless in Seattle

How did I happen to have my own Sleepless in Seattle? I’ll tell you shortly but suffice it to say, I didn’t find a new love while I was out there.

My spouse and I went out to Seattle to visit our oldest daughter. The last time we visited her, the skies were sunny and the weather was warm. This time we experienced typical Seattle weather: it was rainy. And it was colder. But that didn’t stop us from having a great time.

We arrived on Friday but didn’t start our exploring until Saturday. But then we packed a lot into that day. We started off by heading to the Freemont district for a chocolate tour at Theo Chocolates. We got lucky and were able to take a tour.

Our guide, Sylvia, was extremely knowledgeable and was generous with the chocolate samples. My favorite had to be the sea salt. But there was no consensus among all of us; we each had our own favorite.

When the tour was through, we also got to sample some ganache. I was almost all chocolated out but I pushed through it and had my two pieces.

We definitely needed to work off those calories so we decided to walk to our next destination-the Chittenden Locks. We walked along Union Lake on our way there and that’s where my first adventure hit. Literally. I was fascinated with the Brooks Running HQ sign and statue that they had out front. As I was trying to decipher what the statue was I suddenly found myself on the ground. I had tripped and landed chin first on a curb. I’m thankful that only my chin was injured and that I didn’t lose any teeth or break my jaw!

We continued on to Gas Works Park. That’s a cool little area where you can see Seattle and the remains of the old gas system used to power Seattle long ago.

Only after that did we head over to the Locks. It was fascinating to watch large and small boats as well as kayakers going through the lock system. There was even a fish ladder to see but I have to admit that it isn’t that fabulous when the fish aren’t running!

Our last night we had a lovely dinner at The Melting Pot. I really enjoy these types of meals because it encourages conversation and slow eating. Although it may be slow, it is most definitely filling! Hubby and I even shared an entrée but that didn’t stop us from gorging ourselves.

So the weekend sounded like fun, right? Then where does the sleepless part come in? That has to do with our hotel. The room was great, the restaurant was great, even the bar was great but the A/C unit kept coming on every 30 seconds or so! Even having a new king size bed didn’t help. I’d still go back next time, I’ll just bring noise cancelling headphones!

 

The Best Weekend Ever

I had the BEST weekend ever. Do you want to know why it was the best weekend? It’s because I did absolutely nothing.

 

Don’t get me wrong. We did go out this weekend. Dinner Friday night was cooked at home. Saturday night we ate out at a local pasta bar and then walked to the Old Town and had a glass of wine. Sunday was football, pizza and dinner with my brother. It was wonderful.

But the best part was that we slept in. And I’m not talking about an hour over our usual wake-up call. For work, I am up at 5:00am. I get up that early because I need to feed the dog, take her for a run, eat breakfast myself and then get in the shower and get ready for work. All of that means that I am super tired during the week.

 

But even with all that, I still only sleep until 7:00am. So imagine my surprise when I woke up and looked at the clock and it read 9:00am!! And hubby slept until then too. I wasn’t even angry that we missed our yoga class. I happily sacrificed the exercise that would tighten my muscles for the extra sleep that reduced my bags under my eyes.

 

Sunday was just as glorious. We didn’t replicate the same length of time but 8:15 is nothing to sneeze at.

 

Back when my kids were young, sleeping in was never an option. I had taught my oldest daughter how to read a clock early on. She quickly learned not to wake up mom until 7-oh-oh. I counted myself lucky that my child was able to let me sleep for a little while longer. But nothing can compare to the bliss of waking up to the sun being fully up in the sky.

 

Even if it never happens again, I will cherish this past weekend fondly. You can’t take that away from me.