A Staycation in Ballard

I was a very lucky girl this weekend - Jon surprised me for our 4 year anniversary and took me on a staycation in Ballard!  This is a pretty big deal, since Jon HATES Ballard.  (He thinks it is too hard to get to, full of hippies, and you can never find parking… all of which…are true.  BUT STILL…!)  I love Ballard, especially the restaurants and the Farmer's Market, so none of these things matter to me.  Every time we go there, I think I have always commented on this cute little boutique hotel called the Ballard Inn in the heart of Ballard, and this is where we ended up staying this weekend.  (Awww…!)  Considering how much Jon hates Ballard, this was very nice of him.  (Apologies for the sappiness of this post…)

The inside of the Ballard Inn - isn't it adorable?

We started off the weekend by playing Putt Putt on our way to Ballard.  (Is there any better way to start off a weekend…?)  I always forget how much fun Putt Putt is - it's such a cheap and entertaining activity!  There were a lot of "water hazards" in the course that had turned into frozen ice hazards in the midst of our cold weather, so it was an interesting game.  We ended up in a tie, despite all of our trash talking...

The score was 60 to 60, respectively...

Finally in Ballard proper, we eased into the evening by having appetizers at Barnacle, the new bar next to Walrus and the Carpenter.  It was a lot of fun - and they have potato chips for you to snack on rather than peanuts.  Note that there are VERY few seats, but I'd recommend this place!  Most people seemed to be getting the Octopus Terrine (thinly sliced octopus), but we stuck with Oysters and duck liver mousse.  I really loved the decor of this place - they stored most everything in mason jars, and had tiled their whole restaurant with really pretty and artistic blue tiles.  I should have taken some pictures of this - sorry!  I thought about grabbing some to show from Google, but that just didn't seem right…  just take my word for it - it's a fun place.  Next, we had dinner at Volterra, a little local Italian restaurant.

I had the scallops, and Jon had the pasta.  Yum!  

Dinner was lovely, and we are learning that the key to affordable dinners is NOT ORDERING ALCOHOL WITH THE MEAL!  Yikes, how alcohol adds to the bill.  I enjoy a glass a wine with my dinner as much as the next person, but you can literally double your bill in no time.  Much better to start off the evening with a glass of wine at home, or finish the evening with a night cap in the comfort of your own living room.  We followed this rule by drinking champagne and watching the Olympics in our hotel room to finish off the night.  (I know, we're pretty wild.)  The next morning, we woke up to snow…

So pretty!  It's also our first snow in the Seattle area, which really sets us apart from the rest of the country…!  The Ballard Inn is right outside the Ballard Farmer's Market, which is my favorite Farmer's Market in Seattle, so we had to take some time to walk around.  Seabreeze Farms is one of our favorite vendors at this market (they also go to the University District farmer's market), so we bought some milk and meat from them.  Seabreeze is a local organic farm on Vashon Island, and we were lucky enough to enjoy a Farm-to-Table dinner with them this past summer.  It was amazing, and now we try to buy from them whenever we can.  Definitely check them out - you will notice the difference in their products!

Finally, we finished off our Ballard extravaganza with some tea from Miro.  Apparently they also have roiboos tea latte's - although not the way that the Cederberg Tea House makes them - but it was still a great way to relax after walking around on the snowy streets of the Farmer's Market.  

Artistic display of the Farmer's Market sign while having tea.  :)

Now here we are - back in good old West Seattle.  I know plenty of people think that Staycations are silly, but I adore them, and this was my first one in Ballard!  Big thanks to my man for making it happen, and I hope some people are introduced to the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle.  It might be hard to get to (IE not next to any freeways), but it's worth the trip!  Just watch out for the hippies.  (Just kidding…!)  :)