Gov. Christine Gregoire had barely finished the last bite of her Big Mac when she stepped out of her vehicle in front of The Grape Choice wine shop in Kirkland on Saturday afternoon.

Earlier that day, she had participated in the Issaquah Salmon Days and then toured Old Main Street in Bellevue. After her visit in Kirkland, she would be off to Duvall to visit the city’s Main Street as well.

“I want to get a feel on main street, if you will, about what’s going on with the economy and I don’t want somebody to brief me,” Gregoire said as she joined up with Rep. Deb Eddy (D-Washington) and Kellie Jordan, Kirkland Downtown Market president for a walk around Main Street in Kirkland.

During her hour-long tour, Gregoire went into several shops, met with business owners and talked to them about how their business was going amidst a struggling national economy.

The purpose of her trip, she said, was to learn what she could do during these “tough economic times to make sure that the backbone of the community — small business — is going to be able to get their credit line and survive through these tough times.”

Before the group had the chance to give their legs a warm up, Gregoire had already turned next door and disappeared inside The Bridal Garden store on Lakeshore Plaza.

“This is where my kid bought her dress,” she said of her daughter, Courtney, who recently got married.

Inside, store owner Tonya Chapman was delighted at the sight of the Governor, and the two went on for a few minutes about Courtney’s wedding at the Executive Mansion.

Before the wedding, Gregoire said her daughter’s first stop to try on wedding gowns was The Bridal Garden. Three shops and 40-plus dresses later, they returned to Chapman’s shop to purchase the very first gown that Courtney had tried on.

The next stop during Gregoire’s tour was Bella Tesori and Bella Bambini on Lake Street, where she shook hands with store owner and Olympics’ ice skating champion Rosalynn Sumners.

“How goes it?” Gregoire asked.

“We were actually doing fine until last week, which was a little weird,” Sumners said. “Kids are going back to school and everybody’s freaked about the economy.”

But she did have a lot of walk-in traffic over the summer, which was great, she added.

“Hook up with these wedding shops,” Gregoire joked before she left. “Tell them the next stop is the baby shower.”

During her visit, the governor also visited uBRDO Cycle and Mountain Supply bike shop on Central Way and Park Lane’s Simplicity Décor, where store owner, A Liengboonlertchai, presented her with a Rodin vase from Thailand in appreciation of her visit.

The group also walked Lake Street, stopping in to Trickwood Skateboards and Gunnar Nordstrom Gallery.

Since the summer, Gregoire has walked the main streets of various areas throughout the state. Eddy said the governor’s visits are two-fold: to give Gregoire a more close-up look of the cities and to let shop owners know “what a business-friendly Governor she is.”

On Saturday, Gregoire’s final destination was Kahili Coffee, where she was met with a standing ovation from a group of supporters, including Kirkland city leaders and representatives from the Washington Education Association.

Councilwoman Jessica Greenway said the fact that Gregoire is taking the time to walk Main Street in Kirkland and be an “on-the-street governor proves that she has an incredible commitment to the people. She really wants to hear what people have to say.”