Judy and I decided to pull together a trip to the Seattle area for the Mennonite Girls Can Cook who live in British Columbia. Judy came up with a plan for the 7 B.C. girls to drive to Bellingham, Washington and hop on Amtrak south. It’s hard to corral that many girls and come up with a good date for everyone but we finally did and Wednesday June 25th would be the day. When the day was finally here one of the 7 had to stay home. Life happens…
I made a sign so they couldn’t miss their tour guide and limousine driver for the day. The car the rental agency gave me seemed as big as a limousine. This photo that Bev took catches the big white limousine SUV in the background. Thanks Bev for the photos I’m stealing from you for this post.
Our first stop was the Queen Mary Tea Room near the University of Washington.
We each had a different china pattern on our tea cups.
The food was delicious and presented nicely. We finished up at the tea room and after checking out the Tea Emporium we drove to our 2nd stop of the day, University Village.
“University Village is an open-air lifestyle shopping center which offers a unique formula of locally-owned boutiques and signature national retailers. U Village is a regional destination for home furnishings, popular fashions and unique gift items with a distinct collection of restaurants and eateries.”
We all enjoyed the beautiful flowers that were blooming in hanging planters and large planters throughout the center. We gave ourselves a time limit and we managed not to lose anyone while we were here.
Next stop before our dinner reservations would be my humble home. A couple of the girls had been to my house before but it was new to the rest.
It was fun to have everyone in my home for a quick refreshment and tour.
We stole Dear away from his bathroom renovation work to take a photo of all of us together on our deck steps.
We made dinner reservations at the Beach Cafe on the Edmonds waterfront which was just a hop skip and jump away from the railway station. The girls wouldn’t want to miss the train.
Several of us chose the different fish tacos for our meal while others had shrimp and scampi dishes. We shared a couple desserts just to top everything off with. By this time in our day we were rather beat and forgot to take some photos of our dishes and desserts.
On to the station and our goodbye hugs.
A lovely day from beginning to end.
I’m already making plans for an Island getaway for the next MGCC girls day out.
Here’s our day through Anneliese’s lens.
Tonight Dear and I are meeting up with Josh and Laura to celebrate a late Mother’s Day/Father’s Day meal together. We will also celebrate the U.S.A. advancing to the round of 16 with our 2nd place finish in group G.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 
Ellen, you are one class act. I sure did love the day that you and Judy planned together! Thank you so much. It was a most enjoyable day and I will certainly make the next trip a priority on my calendar. =)
Bravo Ellen! You keep this sort of good old US of A hospitality up and folks will be clambering to breach our northern border as well! I say the MGs need to take a run at seeing the Lavender fest too. Seattle has endless delights: buy unlimited train travel access now!
It looks like a wonderful day and get together, Ellen! I’m sure you made a wonderful host and “limousine” driver 🙂
So fun to see you together again! It takes careful planning, I’m sure.
Looks like a fun (special) whirlwind kind of day..
It was an awesome day with such dear friends. Just sad that the other 3 had to miss.
The train was such a great idea that I want to do that again with our family sometime.
What a fun time with good friends! Thanks so much for organizing the day’s events in Seattle, Ellen.
What a delightful day that must have been! Time with friends is so refreshing!
It’s lovely to see you all together on our side of the border! Looks like you gave them a good tour. It’s so nice to see the three faces I know from blogging – Judy, Lovella, and Julie!
Now this sounds like a very fun time for a group of friends. Good for you all for making it happen.
What a terrific day! Love the group picture on your deck!
It looks like such a delightful, perfect day; friendship, beauty, food, laughter. Tea cups with planted with flowers … what a gorgeous idea!
Another feather in your tour guide hat! I read Anneliese’s post and it’s nice to read another view. Love all of you with your teacups!
Looks like fun! laurie
What a wonderful time you all had! It seems like it was just a perfect visit. I read Annaliese’s account, too, and felt a tad bit envious. You are blessed to have such friends! (Although, she did call you goofy, LOL.)
Jerrelea, I love that she called me goofy. LOL!!
Wonderful gathering of the “girls” — seems a bit of a whirlwind, but when time is short…
So nice, Ellen! I know the ladies all enjoyed being in your home for a visit, too! Here’s how my mind works: Anyone new to your blog would read the sentence “We stole Dear away from his bathroom work to take a photo of all of us…” in a completely different way than those of us who know he’s been remodeling in there!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
You remain the Hostess With the Mostess and the Tour Guide Extraordinaire!!!
Oh dear me…my wording sometimes leaves too much to the imagination.