It is really hard to plan dates with the hubby now that all of our schedules (the kids’ included) are so much more complex. But this doesn’t mean we just mope around and give up hope. We just have to live a little more spontaneous and sometimes we catch the luckiest breaks.
The other day in between errands and meetings, the hubby and I found ourselves in Pioneer Square and I love how so many new venues just keep popping up in this gorgeous place. I have been dying to try the London Plane restaurant ever since I heard of its arrival and peeked in at its cheery robins-egg blue stools in the window while marching to the Sounders match (yes, I’m Sounders till I die even though I haven’t figured out the rules in the past 4 years). When I first stepped inside it felt like a mini version of the ferry building in San Francisco, a fancy-ish high-ceilinged place where you can sit and have a bite, pick up foods for your pantry, grab flowers or hostess gifts and sweet home findings because one can never have enough beautiful things.
But here, more than anything, you can find one of the two best breads in the city. It’s a *gasp* 7 dollar loaf that is delightfully smoky and crusty on the outside but tender, chewy and moist on the inside and it is the perfect lunch-time souvenir to go along with the night’s dinner. I say one of two best breads because my heart still belongs to Tom Douglas’ potato bread (He also owns a similar London plane/melrose market conglomerate with the foodie-vortex Assembly Hall), but I digress.
Our meal was delicious- there are lots of vegetarian friendly options and sharing the salad trio, the bread and dip plate and soup for lunch, we were stuffed but still had room for dessert. The gorgeous flowers everywhere (from marigold and mint) just add so much beauty and if we had more time I could have spent a whole afternoon just lunching and shopping and lunching some more and next time I’ll pick myself a bouquet of flowers. (They are so spectacular I saw a lady reach out and TOUCH one-oops.)
And as we wandered out of the restaurant we realized it is also really nearby another place we’ve wanted to catch a peek at for a long time-the UPS waterfall Garden Park.
I’ve seen pictures and I took a few but nothing can do this place justice because it’s so gurgling and fantastic that in real life it even splashes you a little. I can’t imagine where all that water is coming from and I don’t want to. It’s just magical and it’s hidden and empty and I wish more people were sitting there, enjoying the crisp day and eating bread from London Plane.
And yes, we might have been able to take the kids on this adventure, (we did see a few little ones in the restaurant while we were there) but it was nice that this time, this teeny delightful, adventure just belonged to us.
(ps. thank you love.)
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)