NWWanderer, are you the reason they always run out of almond croissants before I get there? :)

Thanks for all the suggestions! SO wants to come back in 3 weeks but I can't reroute our Park City trip like that. We have decided we need to return annually at the very least.

NWWanderer.....oooooh, it IS dangerous, isn't it? I would have to bicycle everywhere to make up for those calories if I lived nearby. Their quiche lorraine was perfection to my palate....light custardlike texture with a flaky crust. SO preferred his broccoli quiche which had a firmer more traditional texture. My quiche would almost qualify as a pastry.

Clara-we returned yesterday and I am back at work already. We loved the cool weather we had in Seattle and San Diego feels really warm and humid, unusually so, and especially in contrast to Seattle.

LOL, Lennyba--it might well be my fault if it's the combo pain chocolate-almond croissants you're after, ha! Those are my favorites.

I'm off to Paris next week--I'll have to see how the croissants and pastries there compare ;-)!

I loved the line I read from one of the review articles there...."everyone else in town loves this place too, and they are all ahead of you in line." :))

I've been to Paris and this was better....but, you should definitely do some research yourself and report back. ;)

<I'm off to Paris next week--I'll have to see how the croissants and pastries there compare>

Now that was just mean!

nycountry: Park City???wow???another of my favorite places...I was born in Utah.

Yea, that's where I have my second home.....up in the mountains on 13 acres. End of September should be peak fall colors, my favorite time of year.

And ski in the winter time...DH will be so jealous....he loves to ski and I just love Utah...all my origina family, mom, dad, grandparents, sister, friend..all sleep in the cemetary there...so much of my heart is buried there....still, we like the PNW....guess home is where ever you decide it is.!!

yes, well we'd like to make PNW home too!....someday. I could see trading San Diego for that.

ncountry: You gotta come and spend a week or three here in February, see if you still feel that way...(today, and the next week are predicted to be gorgeous.)...Ironically, we usually head for San Diego in late Feb or March, just to get a sun break...aren't we lucky we can enjoy all these freedoms. We like to go to La Jolla and stay atn the Inn at LJ shore, right on the ocean and just do almost nothing.

Well, in February, I'm usually away skiing in Utah or doing a Caribbean cruise. I doubt we will be able to move to PNW till our kids are out of school anyway; another 7 years.....and we'd probably be there for summers mostly. We've heard all the doom and gloom of the rainfall there!

The Seattle weather reports are hugely exaggerated imho. I've been living here for 25 years and think it's a fine climate. Rarely too hot or too cold, nothing to shovel. That said, a tropical get-away mid-winter definitely is not a bad idea.

I always laugh when I hear people complain about the rain in Seattle. We moved here from the coastal area of Humboldt Co, CA twelve years ago. Now THAT area has gloom & doom weather! We'd be lucky if the fog burned off by noon. If it did, it was always back by dinner time. We moved up here (Snohomish Co, WA) and LOVE the weather. Yes it rains, but at least when it's not raining we see the sun :)

Serendipity42

Heck, sometimes we see the sun WHILE it is raining!

Serendipity--You are in our old area:) We loved it and miss it a lot. Good thing we are only a couple hours away!

Gloom and doom are in the eye of the beholder, ncounty. We wouldn't live anywhere other than the PNW, and believe me, the USCG ran me just about anywhere there was salt water.

Well, the setting really is about as stunning as it gets in the U.S.; the mountains, the islands, the Sound, the trees, even your produce at the Market is astonishingly gorgeous. Plus, Vancouver and Portland are fairly close by AND I learned that you have no state income tax and Oregon has no sales tax. All good.

For the most part we can't take credit for growing the beautiful produce you see at the Market!

It comes from other places. Certain things in season are local, like peaches, nectarines and pears at the moment, but the year-round Market vendors sell imported stuff just like a grocery store does.

but I DO agree the rest of our fair city and surroundings are drop-dead gorgeous ;-)

They are too gorgeous to have come from too far away, Suze. I assumed they came from the surrounding areas. I am referring to the incredible dahlias in colors I have not seen anywhere else, peaches and nectarines, walla walla onions and mushrooms, and the pluots from that outside stand towards the north end....an amazing radiant golden orange apricot color.

Oh, and the bouquets of flowers for only 10 or 15 bucks.....they were stunning and high quality with dahlias and lilies. It would be $100 with FDS. We were saying we'd have a fresh bouquet every week or every other week if we lived there.

BTW, did you see the halibut cheeks? I didn't know fish could have such big cheeks! And, ahi tuna for $3.99/lb; of course, you have to buy the whole fish which was huge but great for a large dinner party.

Oh yes, you're correct all those things you named are local this time of year. Halibut cheecks are delish!