Exploring Walla Walla

Walla Walla. "The city so nice they named it twice".

We spend Valentine's Day weekend on a mini-getaway to Walla Walla just the two of us. With a just less than an hour drive, I'm not sure why it took us so long to visit!

What a wonderful little city. We checked in at the historic Marcus Whitman Hotel. They even upgraded us to a room in the tower! The hotel is absolutely gorgeous.

Yelp said the best restaurant in town was the one in our hotel, The Marc Restaurant. How convenient! Oh man, it was delicious. We started with a huge cheese platter with way more than just cheese.  

 Daniel enjoyed a steak with purple potatoes and carrots, I had some pan fried butternut squash tortellini with some pretty amazing sauces and garnishes.

Looking at these pictures again makes me drool.

We had to take a post dinner picture in the lobby, and of course some selfies in the scary old elevator.

 
We spent the next day with my cousin Jacob and his wife, Shawna. They moved to Walla Walla about a year ago. It was so fun to spend time with them, and get the tour from locals.

We started out with breakfast at Bacon & Eggs. This restaurant was packed, and righteously so. It was yummy and had a great environment. From Shawna's recommendation, I got the bagel and salmon lox. It was scrumptious.

Next, we went on a hike around Bennington Lake. It provided more trees and elevation changes than our usual Hermiston hikes. Getting out and about in nature is always one of my favorite parts of exploring a new place.

Jacob is in the wine industry, and we were in Walla Walla after all, so wine tasting was a must! There are about a zillion tasting rooms to choose from.We went to Seven Hills tasting room. We sampled some really wonderful wines and were treated to a bottle of Riesling to take home.

Now, there's one important detail I forgot to include in this perfect little story of our Walla Walla trip...

The day we planned to leave, I woke up in the morning feeling awful. I was hit with a terrible cold- one of those can't breathe, brain frazzled, constant stream of Kleenex colds. We were so looking forward to our trip; I didn't want to cancel so I toughed it out. I'm so glad I did, it was well worth it despite the constant nose blowing and slight brain fog.

One funny moment happened at the tasting room, my cousin was showing us how to taste the wine, I attempted to get the aroma of the wine and let out a giant sniffle. I don't think it's supposed to be that loud!

After going through another half pack of tissue, we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the city. We found some great bookstores and coffee shops.

We went to a lovely park with an aviary and enjoyed watching the birds.

This old Opera House is now a Macy's. The interior is really cool too, very art-deco.

I know we will certainly go back, Walla Walla is definitely worth a visit! As I said when we explored Spokane, few things are quite as refreshing as escaping for a weekend to wander and savor a new place. I'm so thankful for the opportunities we have to adventure, travel and experience new things together- even just an hour away.

linking up with:

Paula's No Rules Weekend Party

Peace & Love Linkup