Day 18: UDub, Canoeing, and Queen Anne Farmers Market – July 2

We bought groceries last night so we could have a normal breakfast of cereal and fruit before heading to tour The University of Washington.  I don’t imagine Julia will end up at a really big school, but it is good to hear a different perspective and see what that really looks like…and UDub is a great version of big school (and includes a view of Mt. Rainier).  My niece Gretchen started her college search thinking small liberal arts, but is proud to be starting as a Huskie in the fall – so you never know.  We can see the appeal, but I don’t think Julia has been swayed.  If big starts to appeal we have a few public universities in CA that would make more sense (financially). After the tour we drove down to University Village which I pictured would be like the Claremont Village but turned out to be exactly like the Stanford Mall…pretty upscale shopping.  We had a delicious lunch at Element Pizza consisting of roasted broccolini, two green salads, and only one pizza to share between us.  Clearly our eating is slowing way down.  Or at least we are taking a small break for some greens.  

Kayaking in Lake Union was recommended to us as a favorite Seattle activity by several people (thanks Tate, Tony, and Dave!) so we set out to do just that.  We had some trouble renting kayaks though because they wouldn’t let minors in boats of their own – each minor needed an adult.  The option was presented to go back to UW’s Waterfront Activities Center and rent a 3-person canoe on Lake Washington in Union Bay.  It turned out to the perfect solution as this location was on the arboretum side of the Montlake Cut.  We were able to guide out boat under bridges into the arboretum and through channels full of ducks and blooming lily pads.  At one point a mama duck with 15 ducklings waddled into the water next to us.  Today was a super-hot day – probably the hottest we’ve had so far – and it felt nice to be on the water.  (We didn’t have our own cameras with us but here are some pictures from others.)

Last night Christine mentioned she’d be going to the Thursday Farmers’ Market in her Queen Anne neighborhood today.  So, after we got off the water we parked at her house and walked up the hill together to the top of Queen Anne.  It was a really nice farmer’s market full of farm vendors and prepared food trucks.  It is only open from June through October and is Seattle’s only community-run farmers’ market.  Their “for the community by the community” mission is clearly a huge success and it was really nice to feel part of a Seattle neighborhood, away from the other tourists.  It reminded me quite a bit of South Pasadena’s Thursday Farmers’ Market.  We ate dinner from the trucks and had a piece of fresh fruit for dessert…it was our first time to try a nectarcot (nectarine/apricot fabulousness).  

Seattle Art Museum

Christine - a wealth of information - also let us know that since it was First Thursday, all the museums in town were free today.  We were worn out from spending the day in the sun but as we had an hour or so to kill before Jim’s flight arrived, we went downtown to the Seattle Art Museum.   SAM’s focus is on mid-century American modern and contemporary art with a very light smattering of older European paintings.   I feel so unsophisticated that I don’t have a greater appreciation for or understanding of contemporary art.  What appeals to me is very predictable.  I asked Julia to find my favorite painting one of the upstairs galleries and it took her about 30 seconds to figure it out.  The thing that I actually found most interesting was the glassware found in a tomb of a 300 AD Roman glassblower - just remarkable.

Julia guessing my favorite in the room

Glass from 300 AD!

Then we all went to get Jim at the airport for the final time.  Now he gets to stay with us on the whole trip. Of course we are all thrilled to have him join us and excited for the family to be together.  At the same time, having this experience just us girls has also been really special…a memory we will all treasure.