A Sweet Saturday in Seattle

Best known as the city of coffee, who knew Seattle also had a reputation for chocolate? My best friend from kindergarten and I discovered this firsthand during a two-hour long chocolate walking tour of downtown yesterday. If you've ever thought you couldn't get enough of the decadent treat, I have news for you — you can! But I must say, I got to find that out in the most decadent way possible. :-)

The Savor Seattle Chocolate Tour is touted as a chocoholic's dream tour, and they don't disappoint. I literally had the shakes by the end of it, and actually had to bag up the chocolate at the last destination because I'd hit the chocolate wall.

We all gathered at The Mayflower Hotel at 11am and started off on a great note with a shot of the bartender's infamous "Flatliner" cocktail. I now believe every tour should start off that way!

We then made our way to the Dahlia Bakery, just down the block from the Dahlia Lounge restaurant. After a week of daily downpours, we obviously were successfully paying homage to the chocolate gods, because they smiled down on us by clearing the skies and bringing out the sun for the tour.

At the Dahlia Bakery, we were treated to Tom Douglas's famous Triple Coconut Cream Pie (not sure where the "chocolate" fits in on this one). O...M...G. 'Nuff said.

Before we could stop gushing over the mini pies, we were given a truffle chocolate crinkle cookie sprinkled with powdered sugar.

As we made our way toward Pike Place Market, we came upon the next stop on the tour — the Chocolate Box — where we were treated to chocolate enrobed brownies, mini chocolate cupcakes with buttercream frosting, and chocolate and lemon gelato. This was the point where my friend started showing signs of defeat. My only words to her, "Power through, girlfriend, power through!"

We then continued down to Pike Place Market, which was packed with locals and tourists on what had turned out to be a beautiful afternoon.

We stopped at The Confectional (love the name!) where our sugar shock quickly shifted into overdrive with the arrival of white chocolate raspberry cheesecakes and Colombian drinking coffee. So velvety rich with secret spices that they wouldn't "confess" to us.

This is about the time that I started hitting the chocolate wall. I was in much need of protein, and even the vegetables in the produce stands there at the market were looking good to me. Anything, but more sweets! LOL!

But, it was onward and upward from there. Our next stop was at Kukuruza Gourmet Popcorn to sample popcorn covered with melted chocolate, nuts and cocoa nibs. Unfortunately, the photos I tried to take of our treats turned out blurry because my hand was shaking so much from the sugar high. But, I did manage a photo of the savory popcorn that I will have to sample at another time. Who knew there was a flavor called Buffalo Wing & Blue Cheese?

Fran's Chocolates was the final stop on the tour. I'm not ashamed to admit that by the time we were given three truffles (including a salted caramel - one of my favs!), my friend and I had to just put them into our little bag to save for later. I never thought I'd get to the point where I'd be turning down chocolate, but apparently it CAN happen. Maybe in a few days I'll be able to revisit the truffles. I'm sure I'll manage somehow. ;-)

After the fabulous tour, my friend and I wandered back through the Market. I forget how much fun it is to play tourist in your own city. I bought some of my favorite pasta (Pappardelle) at DeLaurenti's Italian Market & Deli, and was totally excited to find that a little bakery in the Market actually carried homemade canolli (even though I could barely look at the sweet dessert after our tour). At least I know where to get them when I want a special treat...and when I'm able to stomach anything sweet again. And I picked up a beautiful bouquet of flowers for myself from one of the several flower vendors. All in all, this was the perfect spring day in the city!