The local members of our Photo Art Journal group met up for a photo crawl - where else but the International District!! It was a fun co-incidence that both of my groups chose the same location, but it worked out well, allowing me to become familiar with the area. Above, a foo dog guards one of the gardens in the community garden area of Kobe Park.

 Also in the park, another view of the large stone lantern.

 It also happened to be Dragon Days, and there was a street fair, and exhibits of oriental arts. This girl was doing a dance with a samurai sword.

 Many golden Buddhas laugh uproariously.

Brightly painted store fronts in Canton Alley.

I know this is a blurry mess of a photo, but I wanted to show our "After Crawl". We convened at the Panama Hotel for lunch and some journaling. It was great - we had a huge table, good food, and loads of fodder for the blank journals that Gwen made for each of us. From left: Jan, Gwen behind her, Paula, sitting, and Lynne and Dawn standing.

This friendly kitty was inside a window display, but she really wanted to be petted - she kept rubbing up against the window when we put our hands out. We certainly had a wonderful time!!

I didn't get out my camera today, so here are some more from the Retreat! Above, some of the gardens in Kobe Park, with prayer flags, and a view way down to the city below.

 A couple of my favorite shots from inside the Panama Hotel - above, the entry doors, looking up to the lobby on the second floor. Below, Cathi peeking around the door in the corridor of the hotel, with Karen walking toward the window at the end of the hall.

 It also happened to be First Thursday Art Walk, so we visited a few galleries closer to Pioneer Square. These artists designed and constructed their costumes from recycled materials, including a lot of coffee filters. The hoop skirts were so wide they had to pull them sideways to get through the doors!

 The China Town Gate, below, and dragons are some of the street art in the area.

 Cathi tries to see the top of the clock tower at the King Street train station.

The Union station was recently refurbished inside, and is just awesome!

THURSDAY, JULY 7, 2011

Our book club had it's annual retreat today - since we had read the book "On the Corner of Bitter and Sweet", which is set in Seattle's International District, that is where we decided to go. Karen, Cathi and Robin are in Hing Hay Park, which is just a block away from the hostel we are staying in at the American Hotel.

 Then we went up to Kobe Park, where there are "P" patch community gardens, including this Scarlet Runner bean plant, and a large stone lantern, presented to the park by sister city Kobe, Japan.

 Then we stopped for tea at the Panama Hotel Tea shop, and also enjoyed a tour of the hotel and the original sento baths in the basement.

This is the waiting area for the train at Mukilteo - we had to be on the 7:00 am ferry, and Cathi is trying to catch up on some nap time before the train arrives.

We got a kick out of this sign in the hostel lobby!

 Had a couple of visitors early this morning!

 On the Fourth we went over to Suze & Jonathan's house on a bluff above Useless Bay. The Bay is surrounded by affluent homes, and it seemed like all of them were setting off fireworks! Above, a nearby explosion is half hidden behind some trees - makes it interesting.

 When we got there, the sun had set, but the crescent moon hung over the Olympic mountains.

 As it got darker, more and more fireworks went off across the Bay.

There was a group below us on the beach, and this is one of theirs, which was about eye-level for us! You can see the lights of the homes across the Bay, too. It was a fun evening!