Motegi

From there we headed to one of the oldest and largest wineries in the state, Chateau Ste Michele. Pam and I signed up for the free tour of the winery and had another wine sampling. The buildings and grounds around the winery were gorgeous and we could easily have spent half the day there.

The bus made a few stops in town to pick up the rest of the tourists before we made our way northward out of Seattle. We proceeded through Bellevue and Kirkland (the namesake of Costco’s store products) on our way to the first stop at Goose Ridge Estate Winery. They operate the largest vineyard in the state and apparently supply some of their grapes to other regional wineries. We enjoyed a sampling of a selection of their Goose Ridge wines.

Sounds good to me:

From there we headed off to the Sheraton to meet our tour guide, Cory, for a winery tour and visit to Snoqualmie falls. The Sheraton is just another 10 minute walk from the Pike Place Market and very close to the original Nordstrom’s department store. We must’ve passed 2 or 3 more Starbucks on our walk. It seems like there is one on every block!

This morning we walked to Pike Place Market (10 minute walk from the ArtHouse apartment) and picked up some coffee at the original Starbucks. The line was suprisingly short at 8:30AM and our Barista/Coffee Master was very cheerful and friendly. We found out that we both grew up in Iowa! Go Hawks! Of course we had to grab a few souvenirs there for our caffeine addict friends and family back home.

However, at least when I view the photos, included are ads for local (my town) call girls. It is quite offensive; does anyone else have ths questionable add-on?

That’s horrible! Is this the case for everyone? Are the ads on the photos?

Can you tell me which photos have the ads?

Pam is checking the thread on her phone and only sees ads for clothing and resorts at the bottom of the page. Perhaps the ad server is catering to your local advertisers.

I have been trying to find a good image hosting service for the embeded photos.

I used to use Flickr but they’ve changed the mobile version so I can no longer get the direct image links to embed into the forum.

For this thread I’ve tried google images, imgur, and Dropbox but the interfaces for getting image links on my phone are also not very good. That’s how the first few posts were apparently messed up. So for the last few posts here I’ve gone with postimage.org.

Following, as we will be on the June 16 sailing.

 

I thought the Juneau stop was from 7 am - 1:30 pm? Sounds like fun, and a lot planned at that stop.

You are correct about the timing. The NCL Tracy’s Arm Excursion departs from the ship at 1:15. From what I understand it is a small boat that goes up into the fjord and gets much closer to the glacier and the fjord walls than the Bliss can. The Bliss will be following into the fjord from behind. The boat then rejoins the Bliss at the far end of the fjord to alllow everyone on the excursion to return to the ship.

What excursions do you have booked? We have some but may change our minds. Dying to hear about all your experiences.

As far as excursions we booked the following:

Juneau:

1) Helicopter Taku Glacier and Sled Dog Experience through a third party tour operator in the morning

2) Tracy’s Arm Fjord and Glacier Explorer excursion through NCL in the afternoon.

Skagway:

1) White Pass Rail and Bus combo tour through Chillkoot tours.

Victoria:

1) Buchart Garden Tour through NCL

We didnt book anything for Ketchikan and are planning to explore on our own.

In Juneau we had hoped to get the glacier canoe and ice cave tour but it was sold out months in advance. I suppose we will try it next time!

And to cap it off Carol and Clark treated me and Pam to an amazing seafood dinner at their favorite restaurant, Rays Boathouse, where we were joined by Carol’s sister and her husband as well.

The restaurant is perched on the waters edge with an absolutely breathtaking sunset view over Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains.

Very interesting...

After catching a $5 Lyft back to our rental apartment to freshen up Pam’s father’s cousin, Carol, and her husband, Clark, picked us up for dinner.

As a Seattle area native, Clark was one of the original employees at Trident Seafood company, the largest seafood company in the US. Through the business he knows many of the crab boat captains from the Deadliest Catch television show. He had so many stories to tell about life at sea, crab fishing, and the northeast. Funny

enough he had just returned this morning from Ketchikan, Alaska where we will be sailing soon on the Bliss! He was delivering one of the company boats up there for the season.

They took us to the Ballard Locks where we saw the boats as they were passing from the the fresh waters of Lake Washington to the salt waters of Puget

Sound.

We also were able to see the fish ladder where salmon are able to bypass the locks and dam during their spawning season.

Soon it was “Hoppy” Hour at the Pike Brewing Company’s Tankard and Tun so we sat down for a couple of cold drafts. It was $1 off for each and Pam had a special brew that was created by the brewery’s female employees for their annual women’s charity event.

During the Hoppy Hour their oysters are $2 each. We saw several plates get shucked.

Afterward, we stopped to take a selfie in front of the original Starbucks. We didn’t get any coffee because the line wrapped around the block!

At the Pike Place Fish Company we witnessed the famous tossing of the salmon:

We then made our way down the steps to the disgustingly infamous “Gum Wall” to witness the collage of chewing gum lining Post Alley under Pike Market.

Hmmm... I’m at a loss for words about this... Has anybody seen him?

BTW, the Lyft pricing for the trip up to Boeing in Everett was just under $60 each way. A bus or even a rental car would probably be cheaper...

For the ride back to Seattle we asked to be dropped off at the famous Pike Place Market.

We grabbed a quick lunch at the Piroshky Piroshky russian bakery. It was our first time trying these russian pastries and we loved them! I recommend the beef and cheese or the salmon piroshky pie as a savory meal and the marzipan pie for dessert.

Close up detail of one of the 787s engines

One of the newly completed jets on its maiden test flight:

Watch out! Pam’s at the controls...

Well, since the plane’s emptied out I guess I’ve got the whole row to myself!

A view of the earth from the International Space Station:

Inside the ISS module:

TWO of Boeing’s massive Dream Lifter cargo aircraft were on site dropping off fuselage components for the 787s.

The Future of Flight Aviation Center

Today we started off by going to a local Starbucks before we headed up to Everett for a tour of the Boeing Factory. I gotta say the Starbucks baristas in Seattle do seem to make tastier drinks than elsewhere. We’re excited to see how the Starbucks is on the Bliss!

Apparently the Boeing aircraft assembly complex is the worlds largest single enclosure. The tour guide said it could accommodate all of Disneyland and the parking lots inside the building!

There are no photos allowed inside the assembly plant so I will post the free souvenir photo we received

They have a nice interactive museum as well:

If anyone’s in the mood for sushi Pam and I checked out a place called Shiro’s (because my uncle’s name is Shiro). We had the Shiro’s chef 5 course tasting selection and it was outstanding. Every dish was impeccably seasoned and the flavors were delicate yet complex. And the quality of the seafood was fantastic. There was a Spanish tuna that they served three different cuts from in three separate courses and each was so different that we couldn’t believe it came from the same fish!

Shiro’s Sushi

2401 2nd Ave

Seattle, WA 98121

United States

The Space Needle is a $5-$7 Lyft/Uber ride from the port. You could walk it but it is all uphill and quite steep.

Be aware that the Space Needle is currently being renovated. So there are a lot of construction barriers set up around the base as well as at the observation deck level. But you can still get some fantastic views from the top. We went around sunset and the weather was clear so we were able to see Mt Ranier just to the right of the city skyline.

In my photo you can see the Bliss in the bottom right from the Space Needle observation deck!

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We went to the Space Needle and Chihuly Garden and Glass gallery yesterday afternoon. You can get a combo ticket for both on Groupon. They are situated next to one another.

Interior photos of the Art House rental unit:

Walked down to the pier yesterday to check out the Bliss.

 

Repost for photo;

Checked into our rental apartment at the Arthouse Lofts on Elliott street

 

 

It has a small kitchen and full laundry facilities and is just a block away from the Pier 66 where the Bliss is in port.

 

You can see the Bliss from our balcony!

 

 

I’ll post more photos of the apartment tonight.

 

It was under $170 per night plus taxes and fees.

 

The flat rate taxi was $40 from SeaTac airport to the apartment. Cheaper than Uber or Lyft.

Repost for photos:

Welcome to Seattle, Motegi. Great view of Mount Rainier! I will be following along on this travelogue. Oh wait, I am on the same sailing as you are! See you onboard in only 2 short days! ;p

 

Enjoy the rest of your time in Seattle too before the cruise!

 

P.S. I'm going to have to remember that Arthouse Lofts the next time I need to stay in downtown Seattle. Was not familiar with that one. I look forward to seeing more pics of that loft too. Getting anything under $200 is a steal in downtown Seattle.

Thanks! We were so happy that the weather was so nice yesterday. We are doing the touristy things around town until Saturday.

Walked down to the pier yesterday to check out the Bliss.

Checked into our rental apartment at the Arthouse Lofts on Elliott street

It has a small kitchen and full laundry facilities and is just a block away from the Pier 66 where the Bliss is in port.

You can see the Bliss from our balcony!

I’ll post more photos of the apartment tonight.

It was under $170 per night plus taxes and fees.

The flat rate taxi was $40 from SeaTac airport to the apartment. Cheaper than Uber or Lyft.