Alki Beach

Two non-Washington natives trying to figure out how to say Alki... is it Al-key, or Alk-eye?  We don't know.

But we went to the beach, none the less.  Alki beach is a pretty well known Seattle beach located in West Seattle.  It offers a good size beach, beach front restaurants and shops, and a long beach walkway that gives an amazing view of downtown Seattle from across the Puget Sound.  Rumor has it the baby seals love to camp out here sometimes as well.

I've done some shopping and eating in the West Seattle area, but this was my first Alki adventure.  I can see how this area is jam packed with people on sunny days.  But I skipped over there on a nice cool & cloudy day to stick my toes in the sand because if you're this close to the sand all the time, you should definitely go take advantage of it whenever possible.

Every Seattle adventure should include food (there is always a great local place to dip in to!), so our first stop was Duke's Chowder House right on the beach.  I had Alaskan salmon sliders on some kind of molasses toast with pesto and it was delicious!  Add it to the recommended eating list.

Otherwise the afternoon consisted of walking on the beach, toes in the sand, and great conversation.

Plus a little view of the Space Needle is always a nice touch to a Seattle afternoon.  Can you find it below?  I didn't take pictures of the skyline view because we didn't walk that far this time around.

A beach day is never a bad idea.

What did the big flower say to the little flower?

"Hey Bud!"

I went back to Mount Vernon and visited the very beginning of tulip season.  It was busier than daffodil season, but not as busy as full tulip season (although we did have to pay $5 admission this time around).

It's basically the same as the daffodil fields (same location and everything!), except I went with different friends and we grabbed dinner at a different place (Skagit River Brewery- it was very yummy).

Not all fields were in full bloom, so there was still quite a bit of green.  You can imagine how beautiful it looks in full bloom!

Just flowers, a bit of rain, and lots of mud, so I'll let the pictures do the talking this time around.

These were my favorites...almost ruffly on the edges!

The red is crazy pretty.  It was super muddy, so my boots were finally used for more than just rain (and totally worth it!).  

So there you have it.  Tulip time.  Hopefully some day I'll go back and experience all the festivities when the flowers are in full bloom, but this was a nice teaser for now!