Beautiful Bellevue

Today Jonathan and I headed over to the Eastside to explore the delights of Bellevue. We started with a walk around Kelsey Creek Farm, a lovely spot with a salmon ladder (although the salmon don't run until September), a wooded ravine with winding paths and wooden bridges, and a 1930s dairy farm, now an educational center. Bellevue Botanical Garden was close by - formerly a private home, its gardens have now expanded from 7 to 53 acres. Lots of Japanese architecture and planting, very lovely.

Our next stop was Bellevue Brewing, which has only been open for two years. We were impressed with the clean tasting beers, especially their signature oatmeal stout, and I loved the seafood Louie salad with house smoked salmon and shrimp. After lunch we caught the bus to Bellevue Square for some retail therapy at the high-end mall. We were intrigued to see the Microsoft store, just across from Apple. We strolled across the park to Old Bellevue and stopped at Fran's chocolates before catching the express bus all the way back to Capitol Hill in downtown Seattle. We swung by the Starbucks Roastery and watched while a batch of Vietnamese beans was roasted to perfection, and then stopped for dinner at The Pine Box before walking home. We walked nine miles today!