I love Tacoma and Lakewood. Our last vacation was at the Best Western in lovely downtown Lakewood in June, but when we had a loooong weekend involving two granddaughter weddings from Point Defiance to Issaquah and Seattle, we had a one day window to relax. We booked a room at Mildred’s Bed and Breakfast in Seattle. – mildredsbnb.com/
Mildred’s is owned and operated by Melodee Sarver. We found Mildred’s almost five years ago. We had stayed at several downtown hotels and other B & Bs on Capitol Hill, but once we found Mildred’s it’s the only place we stay when we travel to Seattle. We love Capitol Hill. The shops and restaurants nearby are friendly and interesting. When we need to travel to downtown Seattle for the theatre, we’ve found it more convenient to call a cab or Uber and have them drop us off and pick us up. Then there is no hassle about parking. We’ve been delivered almost to the door of the Fifth Avenue Theatre for a play and then we were picked up afterwards on the corner a few yards away. It costs a little more than parking, but not that much . . . believe me. Not that much!
Mildrid’s three story mansion is directly across the street from Volunteer Park. We always stay on the second floor in a room with a private bath. There are always chocolate candies by the bed. In the hallway are a second bathroom and a small landing area stocked with coffee, cookies, cold bottles of water, and lots of magazines about Seattle and the Pacific Northwest.
For the last couple of years the Asian Art Museum atop Volunteer Park has been closed for renovation, but it’s planned to open in the fall of 2019, so we’ll probably return and enjoy the always fascinating exhibits. In nice weather the museum is an easy stroll from the front door of Mildred’s, perhaps two hundred yards away. There is also lots of parking available at the museum. In addition, Cal Anderson Park is also close by on Capitol Hill. Madison Park is just minutes away next to Lake Washington with more restaurants and shops.
Friday morning I left home at ten-thirty and drove to Bellevue for a business meeting followed by a wonderful lunch at Seastar Restaurant. From there I continued to Issaquah and Pine Lake. Peg stayed in Tacoma and attended granddaughter Caitlin’s wedding at the Rose Garden in Point Defiance Park. I arrived on time at the wedding reception at the Pine Lake Community Center, which was already well under way. I met Caitlin’s husband’s parents and cousins while enjoying Mariachi Ayutla (a nine piece Mariachi band). Everyone was so nice and friendly. They had no idea who I was. The wedding party finally showed up around seven-forty-five just as the second band was setting up. We enjoyed tacos and Mexican beer before leaving with granddaughter Vanessa and heading to Capitol Hill to check into Mildred’s, prior to collapsing in our bedroom.
Saturday morning I was up early and ready for breakfast. There were fresh fruit, waffles, crescent rolls, eggs, coffee, tea, orange juice, and much more. I’ve never visited a B & B where I didn’t enjoy the conversations with other guests. Once again I was in luck. Melodee’s parents from Eastern Washington were staying there too. I met them both. They had brought fantastic peaches from their Yakima orchard. Peg came down for breakfast and we all talked and laughed for some time.
Although we had planned a relaxing day, we still had miles to go before we slept. While Peg shopped for art supplies at Dick Blick, I parked in the alley and watched the passing parade of people at Cal Anderson Park. There were basketball players (pick up games?), happy couples (both male and female), joggers, and a weird guy with a strange machine who talked to people and shook their hands a lot amid mysterious vapors.
The Frye Art Museum is a frequent stop for us. If we are in Seattle, we generally stop in. It’s free and always intriguing. This time there was an exhibit involving recorded video, live video, and static models, all combined. There was also a showing of the Frye permanent art collection mostly featuring German paintings from the early 1900s. We saw many of our old favorites and found new ones as well. We ended up in Madison Park for dinner at Cactus. We recently reviewed Cactus in the Proctor District of Tacoma. Once again we enjoyed the food. – thesubtimes.com/2019/08/11/cactus-growing-popular-in-the-proctor-district/
We relied on Mildred’s to rest, sleep, and relax. Sunday morning once again we were joined by Melodee’s parents for breakfast. After packing up and a short nap, we traveled back to Madison Park for lunch before driving less than a mile to the Seattle Tennis Club for granddaughter Vanessa and William’s wedding. We arrived back home around eight-thirty and tired beyond belief. Our adventure took three days and I think it put us behind about six days. The happy faces of family members, new family members, and our granddaughters made everything worthwhile. Staying at Mildred’s made it all possible.
