Beautiful Saturday in Gig Harbor

From our home in Tacoma, Gig Harbor is a 10-minute drive across the Narrows Bridge. Our first stop was the Farmer's Market to pick up some inspiration for dinner. Somehow, the first purchase turned out to be a carmel apple!

Leaving the market, I noticed the Best Western Wesley Inn is right across the street from the site of the market. I had not seen this hotel, so we drove through the parking lot and it looks very, very nice.

From there it was down the hill to the harbor and the dock just below Anthony's restaurant to rent kayaks for a 90-minute paddle around the harbor. We had a great time on the water. A harbor seal popped its head up about 10 feet from Aidan's kayak and looked at him for a minute. We paddled out to the small light house at the mouth of the harbor for a view of Point Defiance passing the famous Tides Tavern on the way. The Tides is 21 and over only, so we had lunch at The Spar, one of our favorites for weekend lunch.

Delancey...extraordinary pizza restaurant

I learned about this restaurant from the blog and a recent issue of Sunset magazine. We found an opportunity to drive up to Seattle on a warm Wednesday night in August to see what the fuss is about.

It is about fresh food and high quality ingredients. The service was very well informed about the menu and she was there when we needed her and efficient in that she was not there more than she needed to be. The specialty is pizza, but the menu is loaded with great choices.

We started with the fresh tomato salad, probably my favorite dish of the night. The dressing of olive oil, shallot, orange and a flavorful cheese was a hit. The Crimini pizza was a thin-crust, slightly charred and again, topped with good quality ingredients and not too many of them. I had my eye on the dessert from the start and the lemon pound cake with strawberries and real whipped cream was a great way to end the meal.

We spent our half-hour wait for a table walking around the neighborhood near Ballard High School. Ballard is a Seattle neighborhood that has lots to offer. The Woodland Park Zoo and the Ballard Locks are both nearby.