From Seattle to Lake Stevens

After our visit in Seattle, it was time to head to Lake Stevens to the north.

But not after one more trip up the Space Needle…

The views from the observation deck are amazing – especially on a clear day.

Mt. Ranier in all her glory.

There aren’t very many days in the year when the mountain is this clear.

We were very fortunate that the weather was so incredible!

A friend of our family flew in to Seattle because we were staying with her friends in Lake Stevens.

I was lucky on this shot.  This float plane was turning right in front of us while we were on the Space Needle.

Landing spot?  Lake Union – a very popular landing place for float planes.

Time to head to Lake Stevens…

But first a stop at a restaurant at the Port of Everett.  Right on the water…

just in time to watch the sun set while we ate our dinner.

Mt. Baker peeks out over the masts of all the boats in the harbor.

So beautiful…

Loved watching the lights get brighter as night drew nigh.

Such a precious sight.  See the seagull at the top of this frame?  She was sitting on her nest.

I will say she had a lovely view from her “room”!

The next morning, we visited the Everett Farmers Market.  This is a Sunday market down at the harbor.

A lot of folks came out to buy at the market.

And of course, while visiting all of these markets, I was looking for ideas to bring home to use in our own market in Statham.

Loved this idea!

Ahhh – more cherries!

Creative idea to solve an unavoidable problem 🙂

Lots and lots of flowers!!

Gorgeous radishes – their growing season was about 7 weeks behind ours.

These snap peas were delicious.

Another creative solution to a sometimes emotionally volatile situation.

A pasta vendor!  This particular pasta can only be purchased at a Farmers Market or direct from the factory.

I bought some of the Lavender just cuz I was so curious about what it would taste like.

This was an orange szechuan pasta.  Yep, bought this one too.

This one was made from citrus – interesting…

And of course I had to talk to the lady with the eggs.  Apparently they are a little more strict than we are and there are a lot more fees.

She had to pay state fees, and another fee for each town she sold in.  You’d have to sell an awful lot of eggs to cover all those fees!

Beautiful display…

Even more beautiful food…

Worms!!  They sold everything a person would need to get started with worm composting – even the worms.

Nice packaging ideas.

These seemed to be fairly popular at the markets we visited…

This set-up was on the back of a trailer or truck bed.

Yum!!

Yep – they sold rabbit meat.

Would love to know all the regulations for getting a label for rabbit 🙂

And I stopped to talk with every vendor who was selling beef.  Prices were about the same and so were the practices for growing out the steers.

And what would a market be without bread??

In all the markets I visited, this was the most clever idea I came upon.

This yard art is created from recycled glassware.

It was absolutely gorgeous!

And yes, I was lamenting the fact that I had no room for one of these in my suitcase.

Another creative way to display soap.  You purchased it by the 1/2″ or inch.  The aroma at this booth was intoxicating.

The advantage of going to a market by the water!

These shrimp were huge and had been caught the night before and steamed.

Couldn’t get much fresher than that unless you did it yourself.

Fresh crab!

Another nice idea to incorporate in our market…

So I brought home my purchases with the agreement from our hostess that she would figure out what to do with these items.

She loves to cook!

And boy am I glad I left the cooking to her!!

This Lavender pasta was really good! I have since ordered more directly from the company located in Colorado.

Fresh veggies from the market….

And all this makes for a feast with wonderful friends on a gorgeous night…

in beautiful Lake Stevens, WA!

Tags: Everett Farmers Market, Lake Stevens, Lazy B Farm, Seattle, Space Needle