Business at work has left the blog severely neglected. People are at the point of physical violence, demanding new posts. So here goes. Stephanie and I headed to the Northwest a couple of months ago for a little R and R. Nothing too high stress. Just some good food, good weather and a little kayaking. And for Stephanie a “little” shopping. We spent a lot of time roaming the Pike Place Market and streets of downtown. We got things moving a little and went kayaking on Union Bay up through The Cut at University of Washington and on through the Arboretum.

Our favorite part of the trip was probably all of the great food. We enjoyed great fresh seafood at the tourist venue The Crab Pot. We fought the crowds at the authentic Maneki in Chinatown. But our favorite was the authentic little Enza Cucina Siciliana . There we enjoyed the cool Pacific breeze as Enza serenaded my wife in Italian. Stephanie asked her about a couple of dishes and she was apparently so enamored by her that she brought us both of those dishes but not the dish I ordered. We didn’t care though because it was all amazing.

We spent one afternoon on a ferry to Bainbridge Island were we walked the streets and stuffed our messenger bag with delicious treats from Blackbird Bakery, after second and third helpings, of course. As we returned to the mainland, the sun spotlighted the Space Needle giving us the view below.