Bloedel and Dining Out

Figuring out new places to explore while in lockdown is getting a bit tiresome. The kids are mostly game to do hikes and bike rides but that kind gets old after a while. We changed it up a little by heading over to Bainbridge Island last week to walk around Bloedel Reserve. I know, I know, it's pretty much a "hike" through a garden so isn't really outside the box but because it requires reservations to get in, it's not very crowded at all and is a nice little stroll (2 miles) through very pretty grounds. The kids had a mostly good time running around while the grownups oohed and aaahed at the gardens. The last time we went was when Evie was first born, and it was pretty much as we remembered it.

Anyway, we couldn't get a reservation until 3:40pm so we took the 1pm ferry over and then passed time by hanging out at Old Man House Park in the Suquamish reservation area. I'm a bit bummed that we didn't go check out Chief Sealth's (aka Seattle) burial site since it was right there!

After the Bloedel Reserve, we had lots of time to kill before getting on the ferry so guess what? We went out to dinner for the first time since March! We went to Doc Marina's, ate out on their covered deck and I think the followed precautions really well - max of 4 people per table, tables spaced far apart and if it wasn't at least 6 feet away, they had these plastic shower curtain looking things to divide the space. I'd say the deck was really only maybe 30% full so everyone was pretty spaced out anyway. All staff wore masks of course, and they required you to wear masks when walking through the restaurant to the bathroom etc. We've gotten takeout or delivery only a handful of times (Scott is wary of germs and thinks it's too expensive for what you get) so going out to eat to have someone else cook and serve food, and then do cleanup, felt so luxurious!

The kids were zonked out by the time we got them into bed. All in all a good day.