We had a wonderful long weekend in Seattle to celebrate the 4th of July.
Sandra and I drove up to Seattle on Friday and walked down to the new Whisky West Bar on California Avenue. We loved the place. The beer/wine and of course, whisky lists were awesome. Food menu to come....they just opened a week or so ago so the kitchen is still working out the kinks. Brian arrived home from Delaware late Friday night/early Saturday morning so we were all ready for a Seattle adventure!
Saturday we spent touring the Chihuly Garden and Glass Exhibit below the Space Needle. Opened in 2012, the garden is an exhibit showcasing the studio glass of Dale Chihuly. The project includes three primary components: the Garden, the Glasshouse and the Interior Exhibits, with a 90 seat indoor/outdoor cafe.
I've wanted to go it's opening so it was a fun "new" Seattle experience for all of us.
Afterwards, we took the montorail back to downtown and walked down to Pike Place Market. The market is always fun to tour and a great place to people watch. We exited the west side of the market at the Victor Steinbrueck Park and walked over to Cutter's Crabhouse for "linner". Lunch was wonderful and my Wild Salmon Club was amazing.
Sunday, we had breakfast at Endolyne Joe's with a Bloody Mary...before taking Sandra down to my Mom's to spend the second half of her visit. Brian and I had a quiet Sunday afternoon at home with Sammy.
Monday was the 4th of July BBQ at Mom and Kenny with friends and family. It was a much cooler day than last year and we all enjoyed sitting out on the patio and having a really lovely afternoon.
I hope you all had a fabulous weekend!
Enjoy!
Stacy
Last Saturday night, Brian and I attended the Arts West Christmas production, Wonderful Life. It's getting rave reviews!
George Bailey's struggle to grasp why life is worth living finds a fresh voice in this enchanting one-person retelling of Frank Capra's classic film It's a Wonderful Life.
This play, penned by Helen Pafumi and Jason Lott introduces the audience to the residents of Bedford Falls, NY on a fateful Christmas Eve 1945. Wonderful Life is a heart warming holiday story and this adaptation is a fascinating combination of both creativity and inspiration.
Although we have seen it before, Wonderful Life is the perfect Christmas performance and everything Arts West does is so well done and enjoyable for a community theater.
Just like last year, we decided to head over to the Matador for cocktails and dinner, but this time we had an early pre-theater dinner before the show.
Just another holiday tradition that we really look forward to every year!
Do you have a holiday tradition? Leave me a comment below and let me know the one thing you look forward to every year.
Enjoy!
Stacy
Last Saturday, Chick and I took a trip out to Yamhill County for a self-guided art tour, followed by lunch in Carlton, OR.
In 1993, a grass-roots organization of visual artists opened their studios to the public for the first arts studio tour. Since then, thousands have visited each year to meet some of the areas most talented artists - many nationally acclaimed.
This year the Art Harvest Studio is celebrating 20 years and all we needed to do was drop into one of the participating studios, buy a badge for $7 and then visit as many studios we could take in.
We decided to head down Hwy 99 with our first stop in Lafayette, OR before turning north into the heart of Yamhill County towards Carlton.
It was an absolutely spectacular fall day and any trip out to Yamhill County is beautiful, but last Saturday the smell of fall was in the air.
The first studio we picked was Elaine Walzl's Studio showing works by herself and Linda Workman-Morelli who does pit-fired pottery. I got stung by a bee, but Chick and I each walked away with a small treasure. A great first stop!
From there we headed north into Carlton and checked out Dwight Evalt's mixed media and sculpture work at his garage studio. He was very accommodating and opened up his home where he had other work showing. He likes to use nature (pine needles), recycled materials and fire to create paintings and sculptures. Interesting guy.
Our last stop before for lunch was a home studio of husband and wife artists, Mike and Liz Santone. Mike shared his love for pottery by demonstrating how to make one of his wonderfully expressive masks. Inside her home studio, Liz demonstrated how to make felt from wool scraps. I bought a small decorative lapel pin and Chick picked up a $5 mystery bag containing several of Mike's masks.
For lunch we headed into the heart of Carlton and found a lovely wine/cheese bar called The Horse Radish. They have a great assortment of cheese, wine with an eclectic menu of soup, salad and sandwiches.
Ham and Swiss on Focaccia Bread with Fig Jam & Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Bisque
Out on the road and north again to the city of Yamhill to the studio of Susan Day, who has some amazing pastels depicting the Oregon countryside around Yamhill County. Her studio was tucked away in this amazing "secret" garden.
Our final art stop was at Linda Hayes jewelry workshop. Her pieces are one of a kind, some made with precious stones and jewels and each one a work of art.
Since we typically only head out to Yamhill County for wine tours, so this was a fun way to explore the art scene that makes this part of Oregon so unique.
One can't really tour "wine" country without one stop at a local winery. Off the beaten path just past the small community of Yamhill lies Kason Vineyards, where we were given our own private wine lesson and tasting (we each took home a bottle of Chardonnay).
It was a wonderful adventure and an event we hope to explore again next year!
Enjoy!
Stacy
