BLOGMAS 2019 - Day Sixteen

This past weekend, we started a new tradition - City Sidewalks.  I thought it would be fun to pick a city each December and spent a weekend, or a few days if it's a flight away, to see a show, do a little shopping, and see the holiday decorations in the city.  This year we stayed close to home and picked Seattle.

We were late leaving our side of the water because of Sophia's schedule and the traffic so we didn't get to our hotel until late on Friday night.  I picked the Sheraton Grand Seattle because it is the location of the 27th Annual Gingerbread Village which is a fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.  Teams of architects and chefs from the Sheraton collaborate on creating extravagant gingerbread houses.  This year there were five - #ElfLife - the Elves and the Shoemaker, Elf the Movie, Elf on the Shelf, Cookie Elves, and Santa's Workshop.  They were amazing and judging by the crowds, a wonderful fundraiser for the Foundation.

Elf on the Shelf

Cookie Elves

The major department stores opened starting at 9:00am so we got up early-ish and decided to view the gingerbread houses first.  When we got back to the hotel in the afternoon, we saw that we made a wise decision to view the houses early as the line filled the lobby.  The hotel was beautifully decorated and we stopped in front of the large tree in the lobby to snap a photo.

We spent the morning at Nordstrom and in several of the shopping centers in the immediate area where there were a lot of shops we wanted to check out.  The decorations were beautiful.

We went on to Macy's after Nordstrom but it was a very poor second.  I just found out that Macy's is closing in February 2020, it's a shame as it is such a part of downtown Seattle but it's a tough world for retailers these days.

After shopping, we headed down to Pike Place Market and our favorite French bakery, Le Panier.  We love it there, for lunch, or breakfast, dinner, or a quick bite anytime.  We wandered around the market for a little while and then headed back to Nordstrom to pick up a gift for Sophia's roommate who was watching Spectra for the weekend.  After stopping there, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for our evening out.

We wanted to include a show in our City Sidewalks weekend and decided to check out Land of the Sweets;  The Burlesque Nutcracker.  It was very entertaining with wink, wink, nudge, nudge humor, a little like the Benny Hill Show of years past.  It was a dinner show, with the food being provided by Wild Ginger, a wonderful restaurant, and it did not disappoint.  We had shu mai dumplings for our starter and then we selected Mongolian Triple (Lamb) Chops and Angkor Wat Chicken, a spicy, wok-fried chicken.  Both were delicious.

On Sunday morning, it was back to Le Panier for cafe au lait and a pastry and then a quick stop at Nordstrom to pick up a bandana that we were having personalized for Spectra.

The trip home was a lot easier with a quick ferry ride to drop me off at home, and then Sophia was home just as it was getting dark.

Next year, Vancouver or Portland if we decide to stick close to home again, or perhaps San Francisco.  There are a lot of cities on our City Sidewalks list.

Less than ten days until Christmas!  I've really been enjoying BLOGMAS and I appreciate your comments.  I've been keeping the posts short; today's is probably the longest so far so I hope you enjoy reading about our weekend away.