Seattle, Day Three

Locks, chocolate, and books: three words that summarize Day Three in Seattle.

Back inside the rental, GPS led me past the charming Freemont neighborhood, through Ballard, and into a crowded parking lot in front of Hiram M. Chittenden Locks.  Parking paid, I received an unexpected gift of FREE admission onto the grounds! Inside the visitors center a kind gentleman invited me to join the hour long visitor's tour.  I highly recommend it because:
1. a well-informed tour guide gives the history of the canal,
2. at the channel she explains the inner-workings and process of the locks,
3. and she provides interesting information about the fish ladder and the types of salmon that navigate those waters, which flow from the fresh water of Lake Washington to the salt water of Puget Sound. 
Definitely worth the drive, but another option is to see it by boat. If time permits, take an Argosy Cruise and travel through the locks.

Under the water, on ladder 18 of the salmon run, visitors can view the fish that are making the journey to lay their eggs.

 

After seeing all those fish, I felt a bit hungry, so I made my way back towards Fremont to tour a chocolate factory about which I'd read. Theo Chocolate is an all natural, organic chocolate company that pays fair wages to workers in parts of the Southern Hemisphere (making it a fair trade co). Located in an unassuming brick building close to the water I was able to find free parking nearby on the street. Stepping out of my car, fragrant smells of sweet chocolate sailed atop the breeze that blew beneath my nose.  Heaven, really. 

Tours are given on the hour and cost $10.  I was able to purchase a ticket from the friendly lady working the front desk and I didn't need a reservation.  She gave me a fashionable blue hairnet to wear and verified that I wore closed toe shoes.  (Required for the tour and I'd brought along a pair of "tennys" just for this!) The tour guide was super: she explained the entire growing process, (Did you know that cocoa beans grow from huge pods on the trunk of skinny trees?)

gave us samples,

 

and taught us more about chocolate in general.  For example, I learned that the amount of cocoa bean that is required for a chocolate bar to be considered "chocolate" is extremely low, like 10%.  Theo's dark chocolate contains 70% and their milk chocolate contains 45%.  After the tour and sampling some downright delicious chocolate, I felt like a connoisseur!  Seriously, I now can taste the difference between mass-produced cheap stuff and high quality chocolate.  Chili was my favorite!

Inside the conference room before we toured the factory.

Our amazing tour guide!

The holding tank: where all that liquid chocolate is kept!

Don't we look fancy?

The good news: I don't have to travel to Seattle to buy it because Market Street carries the Theo brand!  Morally delicious! Score!  

The last place I journeyed on day three was The Elliott Bay Book Company.  A cool bookstore located in what seemed like a "sketchy" neighborhood.  I didn't feel unsafe, but I was careful to triple check that I locked the car.  I also didn't linger on the sidewalk to take in the scenery. Pretty sure I watched a drug deal go down, but hey, I'm not judging.  Whatever gets ya through the day.  Anyway, I would have liked to venture into other local bookstores in the area, but I only had time for one. I walked upstairs, read a few pages from 21st Century Skills: Learning for Life in Our Times by Bernie Trilling and Charles Fadel.

When I got back to the hotel, Matt and friends had already chosen the restaurant for dinner and it was nearby in Bellevue, the suburb in which they were working. No need to "write home" about it, because it wasn't all that great.  

Around eleven I snuggled into bed, eager for sleep and ready to explore on day four!

~Truly, Cinderella