Tag Archives: Washington

unionjack.jpg

Photo Friday: English Camp

English Camp, Union Jack, San Juan Island, Pig War

Yes, folks, that is a Union Jack flying over sovereign American territory under the permission of the U.S. government. The flag and flagpole were provided by Her Majesty’s Government as a sign of friendship. This flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland flies over English Camp on the San Juan Islands. (You’ll excuse me for using the full title of the U.K. – being an Irish expat I’ve had to explain the political subtleties of the British Isles more times than I’d care to count. I find it’s helpful to be explicit).

San Juan Island

English Camp, on the north-westerly side of San Juan Island is half of the San Juan Island National Historic Park, the other half being American Camp which lies on a south-easterly promontory. These sites were where the English and American garrisons respectively encamped during the negotiations over sovereignty of the Islands. This historical blip is known as the Pig War (1859 – 1872) since the matter of which flag really should fly over the San Juans was brought to a head when an American settler killed a trespassing pig owned by the Hudson Bay Company in June 1859.

Where else does the Union Jack fly in the USA?

When we visited English Camp over Labor Day weekend we chatted to one of the friendly rangers about the history of the place. During the conversation, he mentioned that English Camp is one of two places in the U.S. where the National Park Service flies the Union Jack on it’s own. Do you know the name of the other park? Leave your guess in the comments below.

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Sunset Over Lake Washington

lake-wa-panorama

This is why the Pacific Northwest is stunning during the summer months. When the sun shines, we get spectacular sunsets with flaming colors reflected over lakes and mountains.

This photo was taken at the marina at Carillon Point in Kirkland, WA looking west towards Seattle and the Olympic Mountains.

Enjoy more fun photos at DeliciousBaby.

Related Posts:
Summer Family Fun In Seattle
Family Hikes In Seattle

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A Surprise Find On The Burke Gilman Trail

burke-gilman-gilligans

We love weekend family bike rides – usually along the Burke Gilman trail in Seattle. On a recent Sunday cycle, we almost missed the micro-micro Gilligan’s Brewing Company. Always eager to support new local businesses, we stopped for a tasting. I can’t say it was the best beer I’ve ever tasted but it was definitely refreshing.

If you’re visiting Seattle and would like to take a cycle on the Burke Gilman you can find a list of area rentals (courtesy of the Cascade Bicycle Club) here. I recommend Recycled Cycles on Boat St. they have trailers, trail-a-bikes, kid’s and adult cycles available for rent – and they’re right on the trail.

Enjoy more Photo Friday fun at DeliciousBaby.

Current Giveaways: Win a GoGoBabyz Infant Cruizer

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Summer Family Fun In Seattle

seattle-summer-skyline

This summer we’ll be in Seattle and I’m looking forward to it. Seattle has a pretty well-deserved bad weather reputation for our damp and dreary Winter (and sometimes Spring and Fall too), but in the summer we have lazy, hazy days with the sun glistening off the waters of the lakes and the Puget Sound. The mountains east (Cascades) and west (Olympics) frame the horizon and Mt. Rainier, snow-capped, dominates the cityscape. With our northern latitude, we have long balmy evenings and glorious sunsets. I’m waxing poetical here, I know, but honestly, it’s hard not to.

This July we have guests coming to stay: relatives with three children ages seven, five and three. The’re coming from Portugal (to escape the heat of the Algarve) and they’ll be staying with us for two weeks. It’s the kids first visit to Seattle and I’m eager to help them make the most of their visit and so I spent some time this past weekend planning what I hope to take them to do and see while they’re here. Naturally, as with any family vacation, these are just a list of ideas and these plans could be turned upside down depending on temperament, tantrums, weather, interests or just plain kids-being-kids.

If some of these days seem short on activities, it’s because I’ve found that when planning a family trip, it helps to just plan one activity a day and to allow ample time for just hanging out and having fun – time which we don’t always get during our daily lives.

Day 1: I’ll spend the day introducing our visitors to our neighborhood so that they can find important things like cafes, ice-cream stores and parks while we’re at work during the following week. This is Seattle, so it’s not too surprising that even in my almost-suburban neighborhood there’s at least eight espresso joints from which to choose. My favorites are Zoka Coffee Roaster and Diva Espresso – both local companies. For ice-cream, these kids are in for a treat since we’re lucky enough to have the original Molly Moon homemade ice-cream store just down the street and newcomer Fainting Goat Gelato in case the line at Molly Moon’s is too long (it’s a popular spot). I expect that choosing a park in which to play will be a daily occurrence for my young guests. There’s a long list to choose from, but those with wading pools will be high on the list – a perfect way to spend some quality outdoor time with younger children in Seattle in the summer.

international

Day 2: My boys love water play on hot summer days and having a picnic by the International Fountain at the Seattle Center has always been a fun day trip. Playing around the fountain as the water and starts and stops – in time to the music – is a big hit with kids of all ages. It’s not for the faint of heart though, it can get crowded and younger children should be with a parent. If the International Fountain is just too much, the quieter, more secluded Fountain of Creation is just a few steps away on the north side of Key Arena.

Before we leave the Center, we’ll take some time to check out some of the other onsite attractions including the Pacific Science Center, The Children’s Museum, Space Needle and EMP – not to mention the Fun Forest .

Day 3: Today will be a Mom’s day. At the very least we’ll go for a kid-free walk, run or bike ride. I’ll make some beautification appointments in advance at either Ummelina or Habitude and we’ll finish the day at the Summer Concert Series event at Chateau St Michelle with a picnic on the lawn.

Day 4: I’m not a fan of theme parks (too loud, too many people, too expensive), but I do make an exception for water parks. Wild Waves is just off the I-5, an easy 30 miles south of Seattle in Federal Way. For us, it’s always been a once-a-summer, special event – my kids are looking forward to this daytrip already! It is pricey: entrance tickets are $28.99 + tax, but this year, the City of Seattle is selling reduced price tickets ($21) at community centers through September 7th.

Day 5: I’m calling this “Downtown Day”. I’ll be giving my guests tickets for the Ride the Ducks city tour and guest passes for the Seattle Aquarium. I’ll be suggesting that they stop for sandwiches at Three Girls Bakery or Le Painier on Pike Place Market for lunch but to take their food across the street to Victor Steinbrueck park where they can enjoy the sunshine and watch the ferries as they ply the sound.

Day 6: If you’ve ever planned a trip with kids you’ll know that it’s important to schedule some downtime. A day or a morning where there’s nothing at all on the agenda. This day could get moved up or back or duplicated, but in all the time I’ve traveled with my boys, it’s served me well to always include a do-nothing-day as I plan our trip.

Day 7: Holiday viewings of ‘Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory‘ is a family tradition in my family. I can’t wait to see and hear what these kids think of the sights and sounds at Theo’s Chocolates. They may be too young to remember all they learn while taking the factory tour, but I expect it will be a highlight of the trip nonetheless.

Day 8: There are so many things to do at the Seattle Center that it only seems fair to add a second visit.

Day 9: Have you ever been a local who just never took the time to visit a prime tourist attraction in your city? I’ve never taken an Argosy Seattle Harbor Cruise but I do know – from other guests who’ve visited and taken the cruise – that it’s a fun 1-hour tour of Seattle giving a completely different perspective on the city and the harbor. (I have discount coupons from SeattleTourSaver which I can use – thanks alaskatravelgrm).

Day 10 and 11: No visit to Seattle would be complete without experiencing the great, great Pacific Northwest outdoors. So, we’ll be camping. I’m still considering where to camp, although old favorites like Salmon La Sac will always be a good choice and the Hood Canal is a fun spot for family camping. We’ll have fun introducing our guests to fine american camping traditions such as ‘smores :)

Is there anything you love to do with family or friends when they come to visit which you think I’ve missed? Do leave a comment.

If you’re looking for a family-friendly hotel in Seattle, check out my review of the Hotel Monaco.

Seattle summer skyline photo credit: rickz

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Cafe Paloma

kids food and travel

My children are disgracefully fussy about food. I’m not going to even try to comprehend why. The genetics involved (i.e. mine and the WanderDad’s) should point towards adventurous palates with a penchant for hot and spicy. The reality couldn’t be further from the truth. I did an experiment once, and fed them their favorite food every day for dinner – wondering how long it would be before they would object. Two months later, I was sick of preparing pasta and cheese so I told the kids that I was going to do something else for dinner that night and was told “Well, it’s about time, Mom. We’ve had an awful lot of pasta and cheese lately.” Who knew?

Since my children are food fussy and I, like any mom, worry about what and how much they eat, food issues can add additional stress to traveling. One thing which helps is that we live in a fairly large city which has many, many nationalities represented in the restaurants available. We use these usually interesting, sometimes funky ethnic restaurants to try out new foods before we travel. Sometimes it’s a disaster – and we have to come home and cook for the kids – and sometimes it works like a dream. It’s never a waste of time since it gives me advance notice on whether or not food will be a problem when we’re at our planned destination.

Food is one of the best ways to experience and appreciate a new country. It makes me sad to see parents feeding their children pizza and chicken nuggets when they could be sampling local fare. Getting your children to try something new does take patience (which I’m not so good at) but sometimes it takes no more than a hungry child and a little encouragement to try the local ‘plain food’. When we visited Cyprus in 2007, CAM developed a taste for hummus and pita – out of necessity, because he was hungry and there wasn’t a scrap of peanut butter in sight. You have no idea how excited I was by this development.

Cafe Paloma
Cafe Paloma (entrance on the right-hand side of the photo) with Smith Tower in the background.

It’s easy to forget that getting a child to try out new foods when you’re away from home also pays dividends when you return. On a recent Saturday afternoon, we took a wander around the Pioneer Square area in Seattle and decided to have lunch at Cafe Paloma, a Turkish restaurant which is a favorite of mine. I’ve eaten there many times – usually for lunch since I work nearby – but this was the first time we’d taken the kids there. It was a bit of a gamble since hungry kids are grumpy kids and we still had a 30-minute bus ride home.

Cafe Paloma was quiet when we entered and the staff welcomed us warmly. There was, of course, no “kid’s menu”. We ordered some hummus to start, lamb pitas for the WanderDad and I and a chicken pita for the boys to share. I requested that the chicken pita be served with all salad and dressings on the side and asked for two plates. My food fussy kids will eat chicken and warm bread any time but (vile) greenery on the chicken could cause them to refuse to eat.

When the food arrived, CAM and BigB polished the naked chicken pita with gusto. The salad and the yogurt sauce were, as predicted, totally ignored. (Our lamb pitas, sauce and all, were scrumptious). I’m pretty impressed with how our waitress had interpreted what I had asked for and then brought the boys a plate each on which half a chicken pita was beautifully presented. There’s not many $10-a-plate places where you will get that level of service.

I feel so good writing about this. It’s taken many, many trips and countless arguments over food both at home and abroad to get to a place where this kind of food experiment would go so smoothly. Over the coming year we’ll be experimenting with Asian cuisines (outside of spring rolls, chicken satay and fried rice) in the International District in preparation for our RTW trip. We tried Dim Sum in a Vietnamese restaurant earlier this year and my boys ate exactly nothing. It’s going to take a little more effort than getting them used to mediterranean foods, but I think we’re up for the challenge.

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King Pork Cheops

pig photos

If you visited Seattle in summer 2001, you may have noticed some interesting street art: there were decorated pigs all around the city. This was a fund-raising effort by Pike Place Market. The pigs, of course, were in honor of Rachel, the life-size bronze piggy-bank who sits at the entrance to the market.

King Pork Cheops
CAM and BigB (although he wasn’t so big then) with King Pork Cheops.

Pig Tales With Mom
PigTales was CAM’s favorite pig.

Pig Tales Detail
I think he just loved this twist on the traditional princess-kisses-frog story.

You can see more of the pigs at the Images of Seattle website.

Check out more photos in the Photo Friday series at Delicious Baby.

Related posts (more travel photos):
I Love Legoland
but i thought we were going to rio for mardi gras
Mayan ruins and water parks in Mexico

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Boys at Little Si

special times in seattle

It’s started raining in Seattle. Not a surprise really, it’s October, and those of us who live here know that the grey we see outside our windows is probably with us from now until next April – and that’s the optimistic assessment.

A sunny day at this time of year is a special event that needs special treatment. Which is why, when the sun was shining last weekend, the WanderDad and I chose to ignore the usual weekend piles of laundry, a garden badly in need of weeding, and the myriad other household tasks. We piled the kids into the car, and headed for the mountains east of the city to hike.

Reality check moment: we didn’t actually ignore those things, I did. I don’t think anyone else in my household even notices they’re there :)

Mount Si
Mount Si

Mount Si is one of the most well-known hiking spots in this area. It’s a challenging hike for an adult, with a 3700 feet elevation gain and stunning views at the top. My kids are not quite ready for Mount Si, so we chose the smaller, and more family-friendly, Little Si. At 1,567 feet, with a 1200 feet elevation gain and a five mile round trip, this no walk in the park, but it’s a great hike for kids six-ish and over.

Best Hikes With Kids
Amazon.com: Best Hikes with Kids in Western Washington and the Cascades.

We’ve used Joan Burton’s book to help choose hikes with our children for many years. Our copies of the books are dog-eared and worn from use. All hikes in the book are rated by ‘kid difficulty’ which is extremely useful. Burton explains her rating system in the preface and uses a handy icon to represent difficulty in the description of each hike. I have found that this one feature has meant that I refer to this book more often than any other hiking and Northwest guidebook when I plan a day trip in this area with my kids.

Boys at Little Si
CAM and BigB at the top of Little Si

So, a tip from a local: if you’re visiting Seattle and you’re done with the Space Needle, Pike Place Market, and your kids are a little too old for the Children’s Museum or the Pacific Science Center, think about taking a hike. Drive east on the I-90 into the foothills of the Cascades and enjoy the clean, fresh air of the old-growth forest around you. Trust me, you’ll soon see why we locals rave about living here.

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