Visiting Seattle - Part 1

In between jobs I had about two weeks off and knew I wanted to travel somewhere. I ended up spending a few days in New York and then hopped on a -- fairly last minute -- flight to Seattle! Seattle has been on my "to visit" list for a while. Between the seafood (Top Chef season 10!), the beer, the mountains, the culture, and the casual hipster-esque vibe, I just knew it was a city I wanted to check out.

I flew out of JFK super early in the morning and was thrilled to get my own row on the flight. It was actually one of the easiest and most pleasant flights I've ever taken. Plus, look at this insane view from the plane!

I arrived in Seattle around 10:30 am. I had nowhere to be, so I took my time and hopped on the light rail. I love using other city's transportation systems -- it makes me feel like such a local! It was about 1 hour on the rail + the subway to get to neighborhood I was staying in, Lower Queen Anne. I decided to book an AirBnB for the trip since I was traveling alone and didn't want to spend a ton of money on hotels. The girl I was staying with wasn't out of work until 4, so it was just me and my luggage for about 5 hours.

I was a little nervous about traveling alone. This was my first non-work trip on my own and I worried about being bored, lonely, etc. The first few hours in Seattle was the ONLY time I felt this way. When I made my way over to the Lower Queen Anne, I ended up hanging out in a park for a few hours because it was a beautiful day and I had nowhere to go. I was so tired from waking up at 4 am that morning and spent most of my time just trying to stay awake in fear of my bags getting stolen should I nod off. It was a weird couple of hours but eventually I got up and started Yelping for a place to grab some food and drinks. I ended up walking about 20 minutes to the Masonry, and suddenly, felt right at home.

I hung out with the bartenders, read some of my book (The Enchanted -- read it!) and ordered my first Seattle beer. Food wise, I ordered the weird combination of pickled vegetables and beer steamed clams.

Eventually I made my way over to the AirBnB. The entrance to the apartment was actually through the beautiful Kinnear park. The best way I can describe Lower Queen Anne is GREEN. There were so many lush trees, plants and flowers. It was really beautiful! My host (Libby) was great and had two adorable friendly cats named Denzel and Tori Spelling. They followed me everywhere.

Park entrance

Pathway down to the apartment

The building

Waterfront view from the deck!

Kitties!

I hopped in the shower then made my way over to Ballard for dinner. I originally planned to stay in Ballard, but it was a bit too far from downtown Seattle. The neighborhood was pretty cool and reminded me a lot of where I live in Boston -- very industrial feeling and right on the water.

For dinner I went to the Walrus and the Carpenter and grabbed a prime seat at the bar. This was my first encounter with friendly Seattle people. Like I said, I was a little worried I'd be lonely/bored during my trip, but honestly, I couldn't have sat silently even if I wanted to. The people in Seattle were SO friendly, and nearly immediately would start talking to you if you were alone. I spent this entire meal chatting with an awesome couple who gave me so many great recommendations for my trip! I also was not disappointed with my meal. First stop, some Pacific Northwest oysters, of course!

I had seen photos of this steak tartare and had to order it. Look at that egg!!

After dinner I made my way over to Reuben's Brews a few blocks away. Ballard (and a lot of Seattle) is FILLED with cool breweries in warehouses. This was just one of many I wanted to try.

Around 8:30 my phone was about to die and I was totally exhausted, still being on east coast time. The best part of traveling alone? You, and only you, decide when it's time to go. I finished my beers, grabbed a cab back to the AirBnB, and easily passed out around 9 pm.

Every time I'm on the west coast I get a glimpse at what it would be like to be a morning person. I woke up the next day at 6 am -- with nine glorious hours of sleep under my belt -- ready to bounce out of bed and take on the day. I got ready, put on my walking shoes and made my way over to Myrtle Edwards Park where I could take a waterfront path through Olympic Sculpture park. Despite it being midweek there were still tons of people out and about, walking, running and riding bikes.

The sculpture garden was very cool. As you can see in the photos, weather wise, this was my "worst" day in Seattle. It actually didn't rain once I was there. On this day it was overcast and about 65 degrees -- way better than Boston which was getting torrential rain for about a week straight!

I then walked from the sculpture park about a mile to Seattle Center, where the Space Needle and most of the museums are. On my way I stopped at CJ's Eatery for a hearty breakfast. I ordered an omelette filled with some local Uli's hot Italian sausage.

Then it was off to the Space Needle! I ended up buying the dual pass to go up to the Needle and visit the Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibit. It was so worth the price!

The Space Needle, a historic landmark, was built for 1962 World's Fair. At 605 ft it was once the tallest structure west of the Mississippi River (side note -- when I bungee jumped in South Africa it was from 710 ft, so...o m g). It can withstand winds of up to 200 mph and earthquakes of up to 9.1 magnitude. It also has 25 lightning rods!

Asking strangers to take my photo will always make me uncomfortable. 

Seattle rooftops have a bunch of fun surprises you can only see from the Space Needle -- like these giant monster spiders. Yuck.

Had to add my name to the visitor list to make it official!

Once I cam down from the Needle I headed across the street to the Chihuly exhibit. I spent hours in this place admiring the art work. I've seen some Chihuly pieces but never in this amount or display and I was totally captivated. At one point I sat in one of the exhibit halls for about 45 minutes talking to this older woman about how it made us feel. It was probably the most "moved" I've ever been by art. Dale Chihuly was born in Tacoma, WA so Seattle definitely has a soft spot for him. If you're in town, I would 100% put the exhibit on your list, art lover or not. The photos absolutely do not do this insane blown glass justice, but here are some of my favorites anyway:

This was a ceiling. 

After the exhibit I walked over to the EMP (Experience Music Project) Museum. The EMP Museum was founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and is dedicated to contemporary popular culture. I had a lot of fun in the museum exploring the different exhibits and halls: a guitar gallery, a Jimi Hendrix exhibit, a Nirvana exhibit, a science fiction and fantasy hall, a horror film hall, a Hello Kitty exhibit, and my absolute favorite, the Sound Lab. At the Sound Lab you could learn how to play various musical instruments and even record your own demo. I tried playing drums, acoustic guitar, bass and keyboard. Let's just say I am not ever going to be a guitar player. I only took a few photos in the museum...

I was definitely starting to get hungry again so it was time for the most highly anticipated part of my trip -- visiting Pike Place Market! I went immediately to the famous Beecher's Handmade Cheese and ordered a half and half (half original, half spicy pepper). I also grabbed a chocolate croissant from Le Panier and an oyster shooter from City Fish Co.

Once the market closed I made my way over to the Zig Zag Cafe for a cocktail. Of course, I did lots of research in advance on where and what I should eat and drink. Seattle is filled with amazing cocktail bars and speakeasies and Zig Zag was just one of many I wanted to check out. On the way over I stopped at the infamous Gum Wall. In November, 2015 the city cleaned the gum wall for the first time in 20 years! I was worried that it wouldn't be as "impressive" when I visited but this wall is crazy!

Once I found Zig Zag (it was challenging) I grabbed a seat at the bar and chatted with the bartender. He wouldn't let me order off the menu and instead crafted me amazing cocktails based on what I liked. I immediately made friends with the people around me (that's Seattle, apparently) and we chatted and sampled food from the menu for a few hours.

At the end of the meal one of the guys I was chatting with picked up my tab! It was so insanely nice! Just another example of how great the people in Seattle were.

Despite feeling like I had been eating all day, I really wanted to go to the dinner spot I had planned on. So I made my way back toward Queen Anne and took a seat at Eden Hill. The restaurant has only 24 seats and offers contemporary, creative food. I was super excited! I ordered a beer and two of the smaller plates: the beet confit salad (ash ripened goat cheese, honey vinegar and pear, pickled onions, borage) and the crispy pig head "candybar" (merlot pickled red cabbage, pear and champagne soup, creme fraiche, serrano peppers). The second dish is created by making head cheese (a terrine made from the head of a pig -- the parts of the head used vary, but the brain, eyes, and ears are usually removed), sweetening it up with fermented black bean, hoisin and brown sugar. The chef then presses it between two sheet pans. Once set, the head cheese is cut into the shape of candy bars and fried until crisp. Both dishes were amazing.

Photo credit

I was so beat once I finished with dinner and made it back to the apartment around 10 pm. I set my alarm for an early wake up call and was asleep before I knew it.

Part 2, coming soon!