Dinner at Volterra in Ballard

We feel lucky to live in a city with such great restaurants! Last week we ate with friends at one of our favorites, Volterra, which is just a few minutes away in the Ballard neighborhood. Volterra offers "comtemporary Italian cuisine"...much more than your basic pasta! Blayne ordered the special, which was swordfish.......it was amazing! We were surprised to see Dale Chihuly dining just a few tables away. We are told that he designed the lovely glass windows in the restaurant. See their website at Volterra Restaurant.

Savor Seattle Gourmet Food Tour - "Field Trip"

A few weeks ago, we took a “field trip” on the Savor Seattle Gourmet Food Tour. If you enjoy exploring lots of different restaurants and trying new kinds of foods, this tour is for you! We especially enjoyed homemade sangria at Andaluca, and the wild mushroom pizza at Serious Pie! Oh yes, and the seafood risotto at that little restaurant at Pike Place Market was also incredible! In addition, we also sampled wonderful “tastes” from 20 or so hidden gems on a walking tour of Pike Place Market and downtown Seattle. The group was a nice small size, and we were able to hear everything with the headsets they provided. Our tour guide and Savor Seattle owner, Angela Shen, puts together a great tour. She is a wealth of information when it comes to gourmet food in Seattle.

We have also done the Savor Seattle “Classics” tour of Pike Place Market, and highly recommend it! We can’t think of any better way to be able to sample so much variety and personally meet the vendors at the Market. You can learn more about their tours here: http://www.savorseattletours.com/pages/20-About_Our_Tours

Doing “Research” for our guests is one of the best parts of the innkeeper job! We love having the opportunity to be tourists in our own town.

Pathway of Light at Greenlake on Dec 12th from 5:30 to 8:30pm

We are looking forward to Green Lake's annual "Pathway of Lights" next Saturday December 12 from 5:30-8:30 pm. Community volunteers and Seattle Parks Department staff line the entire 2.8 mile perimeter of the lake with thousands of luminaria as part of this fun (and free!) holiday tradition.

There are stops along the way with carolers and hot beverages. Participants are encouraged to carry a light or candle to add to the warm ambience, and to bring a can of non-perishable food to donate to Northwest Harvest. "Luminaria Night," as we call it, is one of our very favorite Seattle holiday events.

At time of this posting, there were still 2 rooms available at the Greenlake Guest House on Dec 12. Come and enjoy a spectacular walk and a stay with us!