A Date with Dad and Mom

Breakfast with my parents in Seattle!  It's probably been 20 years since Tom and I had the chance to go out with them, just the two of us and the two of them!  Yesterday we put on our warm clothes and sunglasses and drove to the Salmon Bay Cafe, a funky restaurant in Ballard that hasn't changed a stitch since we'd go there as newlyweds, and stood in line for 20 minutes to get seated.

The food was delicious, the company delightful.

After breakfast we drove along Shilshole till we got to Golden Gardens.  What a glorious day to be out!

We spent some time exploring Ballard, driving to the corner where Tom had lived in the first home he ever purchased.  A stand-alone double garage made a marvelous art studio for him.  The yard was huge, filled with brambles, and Tom cleaned it up and planted a garden that was the envy of the neighborhood!  

Dad spent three growing-up years in Ballard.  (When I worked at Youth for Christ in the mid-80s, our office was in the music room of Dad's old junior high school!)  Time commitments prevented us from driving by Dad's old neighborhood yesterday, but he's told me some great stories from those day.

What a lovely way to end the year.  If you'd like, maybe you can join us next year for breakfast at Salmon Bay Cafe!