Mountains + Cider + City // Day 3

The agenda for the day was certainly different from the prior days. We were beginning to scale back the nature and bring on the city life. Up until like 4pm we still hadn't determined where we were sleeping that night. Do we stay on the coast somewhere and then get up early for Seattle? or head in that night? We ended up with the later option since it would give us a little more relaxing time before the Mariners game on Sunday.

Morning Time

It's always hard for me to resist a morning walk - especially before everyone else is awake. It is one of my favorite ways to start the day and explore a new place. When I'm at home I wake up around 5, so it is not hard at all to be up at dawn on the west coast. The morning walk around the lake was so peaceful - plus there was another rainbow. Maybe it's just a daily occurrence here? Either way I was excited about it. Felt like a good omen for the day.

Also the hotel breakfast was pretty good. I think we all still votes for Kalaloch to win but the view helped. So pretty. Jake, the breakfast lover, wasn't a fan of the potatoes because "he ordered potatoes, not onions". These gems kill me.

Hurricane Ridge

Hurricane Ridge was about an hour drive from our hotel. When we looked it up on Google Maps it also said it would take 9 hours to walk there - which I find hard to believe. It was another site that was 10+ miles off the main road... except this time the 10+ miles were up a mountain. We had originally planned to do a small hike at the top but forgot to check the weather. There was still a pretty significant snowpack from the winter and the road had even been closed a few days prior. So instead we stretch our legs, checked out the view, and spied on some deer. On the way down the mountain, there were a few pullover spots where you could see the San Juan islands, the ocean ... and Canada. I was impressed.

Dungeness Spit

When a friend from work heard we were going to the Peninsula, he recommended checking out this Spit. He probably said other things but all I heard was "there are seals everywhere". I saw absolutely zero seals - but it was really pretty. They charge you $3 per family to walk out to the spit... and we only had $2.80 between the three of us including all the change we could scrounge up. So at some point we should send them the extra twenty cents. At the end of the five mile spit is a lighthouse. While I'm a sucker for any lighthouse, we weren't going to walk ten miles at high tide to see it. The drive out to the spit conservation area is a totally different experience than the rest vacation. When you leave Hurricane Ridge the land rather quickly transforms into more country and farming with cows, horses, and maybe even some goats. Kerrianne was real thrilled to see some deer and leapt out of the car super fast.



Lunch at a Lavender Farm

We are a bit early for Lavender season but it was clear that this part of the Sequim peninsula is known for that. Kerrianne had found a farm (Nourish) that offered very organic and local food. I'm not sure that people describe organic food as "very" all that often but it feels appropriate here.

Lunch was pretty solid. Jake had a bacon cheeseburger (of course), I had the pizzetta and a side of emergency fries, and Kerrianne had the smoked salmon sandwich. I call them "emergency fries" because when the meal came it was so small that I freaked out and ordered them - as one naturally does in a food emergency.

Cider Party

After refueling we were ready to tackle Kerrianne's favorite and most anticipated part of the trip.... cider houses. Similar to other wine regions, there are a handful of cider makers in this area of the peninsula. We ended up visiting three totally different places.
  • Alpenfire = super small but super cute. USDA certified organic.
  • Eaglemount = not as cute, but crazy nice. You normally get 5 tastings but they guy just kept letting Kerrianne try different ones. Also, there was a nice dog named Emily.
  • Finnriver = my favorite. It was a veritable party with so much going on. There was a pizza situation, brats ... and then of course cider. While the other places were really just about cider, Finnriver was a total experience.

To Seattle

For some reason, whenever I think of people going to Seattle... I think of them taking the Bainbridge Ferry. I kind of imagined it to be a bit like the Martha's Vineyard ferry - which it kind of it. We just pulled right up, paid $20, and were on the boat with no hassles. The view coming into Seattle is really impressive with the mountains set behind the city skyline... it is also insanely windy.

After docking in Seattle, we dropped the rental car, checked into Hotel 1000, and had dinner at Von's. The selling points for Hotel 1000? Complementary champagne upon checkin and beautiful bathtubs... also close proximity to Pike Place. Von's was decent for dinner. Our waiter had a lot of personality but with limited skill set. This place specialized in all things sourdough. Jake had a fully loaded pizza with sourdough crust and I had some SUPER tasty tomato basil soup. It was also the first place that didn't have any root beer for Jake - boo.

We closed out the day with some lazy time in the hotel room. No Uno playing for the night - instead I took a bath with champagne. Obviously.

Tomorrow? 

A bit TBD but we are absolutely going to the Mariners game and the first Starbucks. Jake has acquired a taste for lattes and it feels like a great place to do that.

No comments

Post a Comment

© WHAT JEN DOES • Theme by Maira G.