Summer Evening in Riverside Park South

Riverside Park, New York City

Felipe and I had a lovely sunset walk in the park tonight.  The weather was perfect and the sunset everything you could want to look at over the river.  It was nice to sit and listen to the crickets while watching the light breeze rustle the branches of the weeping willow.  I wanted to share it with you, so I made this gif...the only thing it's missing is the sound of the crickets...

Riverside Park, New York City

Seattle Must-Stop: Pike Place Market

Mariam and Felipe and I took a morning to explore and enjoy Pike Place Market, which is of course is a must visit place when spending time in Seattle.  We got some breakfast from Piroshky-Piroshky - which was AMAZING.  It's a Russian bakery, and I thoroughly enjoyed my onion, potato and mushroom piroshky, which is best described as a pastry full of savory yumness.  From there we had a nice to walk around the market, with all of it's produce stands, fish mongers, and arts an other goods stands with so many amazing items for sale.  I did not buy much while we were there - as I knew we'd be walking around all day - and fresh fruit and produce wouldn't last.  But I did get some Habanero pasta that I can't wait to try!  The market really reminded me a lot of La Boqueria in Barcelona, which I've had the fortune to visit a couple of times while traveling there with Felipe.  I can't understand why New York City doesn't have a dedicated covered market like that, people would LOVE IT.



Beautiful bouquets of flowers!




Produce stands with some of the most amazing fresh fruits and vegetables you could find.








Sweets too!


And of course the fish!






After walking around the food market a bit, and stopping for a quick bite to eat, we went downstairs to some of the lower levels and walked around the various shops there.  They have so many amazing little shops, selling everything from spices to used books and magazines, gifts, and even a magic shop, which caught Felipe's attention right away.



Felipe bought a copy of this Kellar poster on the right.





It was such a great place to spend some time and peek around at all the different things that the market had to offer.  I can see why it's such a big tourist draw.  On the flip side, I can also see why the crowds might make you want to do your daily produce shopping elsewhere!

http://www.pikeplacemarket.org/

Seattle Washington's Pinball Museum! (What a Blast!)

Mariam suggested we go to the Seattle Pinball Museum, and I never knew how much I would enjoy it!  Essentially it is a one room arcade, set up with a variety of Pinball machines in order of the year they were manufactured.  You pay $10 and you get to play as much as you like, and play we did!


Mariam and Felipe at the helm.

I loved a lot of the older games, they had such a great feel to the movement of the pieces of each game.









Felipe trying his skill at "King Pin" (circa 1973)


Circus circa 1974.


I think this game, "Mystic" (circa 1980), was probably my favorite, as I got a super high score on my first play.  I like to think that it's some innate skill that I have for playing pinball (I'm not going to say pinball wizard was written preciently about me, but...), but in reality it was massive beginners luck.  You can see the registered high score is 986,390 - recorded by Cindy, the woman who co-owns the joint... see below for my high score!


Woo hoo!  Over 600,000!


Felipe at "Strikes and Spares"....apparently loving the bowling themed games.

There were many amazing things that we did in Seattle.  So many beautiful places with natural landscapes.  But out of all things that we did indoors, this was SO MUCH FUN!  The owners were there (Charlie and Cindy) and they were super nice, the games were great, and nobody hogged any of the machines.  I think if there were a place like this in NYC, I would love to go (maybe there is...), but I don't think it could ever match this joint.  It would inevitably be overcrowded and overpriced.  This place was great, and I recommend it to anyone who stops in Seattle.

Seattle Pinball Museum
508 Maynard Ave. S
Seattle  Washington

Washington: Triple X Root Beer

Triple X Root Beer in Issaquah, WA

On the way back from Snoqualmie we stopped at Triple X Root Beer for a treat.  It's an old school diner, and they make their own root beer.  Elijah and I both had the root beer floats, and mar and Felipe enjoyed vanilla malt shakes.  The waitress suggested that for only $0.35 more we could upgrade to the large size...which I think would have used a pint of ice cream and 2L of root beer.  We passed and got the normal size, which was still too much!


Felipe and Elijah

They have a lot of antique 50's and 60's ephemera all over the joint, much of which is on loan from people in the area.  It's definitely quite a lot to keep your eyes occupied while you are there!





There is seating outside as well, but it was a little too warm for all of us.  There seems to be a very large parking lot next door, and there were several classic cars parked around for people to look at.  According to their website they host regular classic car shows.  It was definitely a cool place to stop.

Triple X Root Beer Drive In
98 N.E. Gilman Blvd., 
Issaquah Washington

What a Difference a Day Makes!

Tonight's sunset over the Hudson River...a little something pretty for mom on her last night here.


The storm approaching yesterday by Coney Island - we had to leave the Brooklyn Cyclones game at the middle of the 7th inning to avoid the menacing looking clouds.

I love summer weather.  I wish it were summer all year round!