My parents and grandma arrived in Seattle around noon yesterday. They rented the car and checked into the bed and breakfast on Capitol Hill where they’re staying through Sunday. I got off work at 4 and went out the front doors as usual, but then I saw someone I don’t normally see, Mom! She wanted to walk home with me the way I always do every day after work. So we walked to the apartment and met up with my Dad and grandma. I showed them the apartment and they were actually impressed with the size and said it looked bigger than they expected. I guess Troy and I have done a good job of setting expectations as to how small it is. They really liked the view we have and how new the place seems. We also showed them my car, which they haven’t seen since I got Washington plates for it.

After that, we drove to Dad’s favorite restaurant in the whole world – Palisade. Troy & I have been there once, when we visited Seattle three years ago, so it was nice to go back and try it again. Our table was right by the glass window facing the bay with the Seattle skyline in the distance – what a great view. There was also a birthday card from Palisade on the table that Dad had made for me since my birthday is next week.

They have an early dinner special for $30, you get a drink, salad/soup, entrée, and dessert. At first I got their tea, but I had forgotten I didn’t like it much when I had it before, so I changed my drink to their signature drink called the POG: pineapple, orange, guava drink with a little coconut milk. It was delicious! The salad was also very good. It was fresh greens with some type of vinaigrette dressing, topped with thinly sliced onion, radish slices, small nuts, and little orange squares. For my entrée, I got prawns with Yukon Gold potatoes and grilled veggies that included squash, zucchini, carrots, asparagus, and onions. Troy got the crab cakes and everyone else got macadamia nut chicken. Then for dessert, I got the burnt cream. It was all so good and I was so full! I made an apple pie for them on Wednesday night, but I guess we’ll have to wait to eat it since dessert was included with the meal.

After the awesome dinner, we drove back downtown to catch the ferry ride to Bainbridge Island and back. The top of Mount Rainier was visible, but unfortunately we couldn’t see all of it. It’s supposed to clear up and actually be pretty hot over the weekend, so I’m sure they’ll have other chances to see it. The sunset was really beautiful with all the water around us and mountains and trees everywhere. The last thing was did was go to Kerry Park at night. It’s definitely one of my favorite places to go with the great view of the Space Needle, downtown, and Mount Rainier during the day.

It was a great first day of their visit! It’s kind of weird that they are on vacation, but it doesn’t feel like a vacation to me since we live here. I'm looking forward to the rest of their trip.