Tacoma to Seattle and Back

Maybe the weather wasn’t the best for our trip to Washington state but the food was something to talk about.  The night before the Tacoma City Marathon, Ted and I had an excellent meal at Pacific Grill, early reservations at 5:30 pm

A light but fabulous meal after which, it was early to bed even though sleep doesn’t come easy the night before a race.

After the race…

The following day, after the races, we were anxious to get cleaned up and visit local hot spots for food and drink.  It was 1 pm when we made our way back to Pacific Ave. We were still seeing finishers come in.  Remember my maniac #123 friend, Nick?  We ran into him again and invited him to join us for a drink.  No way. He had a plan. After race walking two full marathons in two days, he was heading to bed.

First stop: Harmon Pub Brewery

Following that superb lunch, emphasis on superb, we got a taxi and paid a visit to the Emerald Queen Casino which resulted in the casino paying us.  It was raining and cold, not much else to do. Besides, we ended up winning $400 so it was a fun trip…..CACHING!

The taxi dropped us off back at Hotel Murano where we found the bar area closed and didn’t want to eat in the hotel cafe.  We asked the front desk what would be open as, believe it or not most places were closed! It was Sunday and in spite of the race, places were not open, BUT… Pacific Grill was.  We went back to PG, sat at the bar and enjoyed a very light meal. A nice end to a busy day.

Round 3… Monday’s visit to Seattle. 

We had one more day in the state of Washington and we had plans.  Pike Street Market, The Aquarium, The Space Needle.

Starting healthy

Seeing healthy at Pikes Market

We saw those famous fish guys who toss the fish to each other across the counter. That was fun. We watched a “fish throwing match” for a while.  We walked outside and inside the market, completely in awe of all the delicious, fresh goodies, purchasing smoked salmon and dried cherries.

We made our way down the steep slopes, passing the gum wall (totally gross!) and ending up at the Aquarium.

We enjoyed watching the sea otters play.

It was time for lunch at Pikes Pub, a lunch at the bar before heading off to the Space Needle.  Had we known it was so easy to get into the restaurant at the Space Needle, that would have been our lunch choice.  Instead, we settled for a glass of wine while we saw 360 degrees of Seattle.

As we drove back to Tacoma the sun was making an appearance for the first time all day.  It was perfect for a drive through Point Defiance Park, where we ran the previous day. 

At 5:45 we stopped at Dukes which was along Rustin Way and on our way to returning the rental car.

Everything was fresh, natural, and came with two recipe cards featuring the item of the month which was crab.  The first for crab “uncakes” because Duke doesn’t use fillers in his crab cakes and the second for she crab chowder. 

Everywhere we ate in Washington was fresh and so very good.  Being fish lovers I guess we ended up in the right place. 

We’ll be back this way again only about 180 miles away when we land in Portland this October. Can’t wait!