Hi friends! I hope you’re doing well and finding a new rhythm as summer comes to an end (who else is as excited for fall as me?).
Earlier this month, Cesar and I took a four day trip to Seattle and had the BEST time while there. It was my first visit to the Pacific Northwest and was seriously smitten with Seattle and its perfect 60-70 degree weather. In total, we spent Thursday morning to Sunday evening there. Below, I’m sharing how we spent our time.
Four Days in Seattle
Day One: Pike Place Market and Exploring the Water Front of Pike Place Neighborhood
To maximize our time in Seattle, we booked a 6am MT flight from Denver, landing around 8am PT in Seattle. This was our first time flying Alaska Airlines (normally we fly Southwest), and it was nice to have an assigned seat and plug-ins at each seat.
We took the light rail, called the ORCA from the airport towards Northgate and got off at the University Street stop. I had booked a Nannybag reservation for someone to watch our bags for half the day (we couldn’t get into our Airbnb until 3PM), and sadly, it did not work out. I texted the host’s number to let them know we were running about 20 minutes late, and he responded with something like, “Sorry, haven’t been doing that for years, I’ve tried to get Nannybag to delete my location but they haven’t.” SO, we improvised. Luckily, my husband’s colleague told us that we could store our bags at one of the dealers’ office spaces, which worked out well for us.
After dropping off our bags, we walked a few blocks to Pike Market. I had ordered my go-to drink at Starbucks before leaving the airport (an iced double espresso in a grande cup with a shot of sugar-free vanilla, soy milk, and topped with light cream foam) – hey, we did get up at 3am! – but I was craving more coffee when we got to the market. I ordered a double espresso from Ghost Alley before walking through the gum wall. Y’all, it’s an entire alley way fillllllled with chewed up gum! I was a bit grossed out, but Cesar chewed some Double Bubble (Ghost Alley sells pieces for 50 cents each) and left his mark on Seattle – literally. *laughing emoji*
We wandered through the five levels of the market, first seeing some flying fish at Pike Place Fish Market, then we soaked in the stunningly bright dahlias and floral arrangements as we explored the market further.
Cesar’s colleague, Bart, who lives in West Seattle came and picked us up for lunch. He drove us north to Palisade, a nice seafood restaurant that overlooks the Elliot Bay Marina. He also drove us through the Fremont and University District neighborhoods, which was nice to see driving through (we did not rent a car and planned on walking to most places).
After picking up our luggage, Bart dropped us off at our Airbnb, which was located in a quiet neighborhood about 20 minutes east of Pike Market. And that’s where the surprises started!
This was not a well-kept Airbnb. It had broken window blinds, the couch was actually the most lumpy, uncomfortable futon I’ve ever sat on, literally all of the artwork in the photos of the Airbnb listing were not on the walls (but the command hooks where they used to hang were still up), one side of the wall in the bedroom was cracked all over – it was a mess.
When we booked it, the listing had no reviews, but it was centrally located, one of the most affordable options, and the photos made it look like a totally fine, simple space. Oh – and Cesar had to do like 10 extra steps to actually confirm the booking ( submit an extra deposit, complete a background check, submitting ID, and selfie, etc). I just checked the listing, and I *think* Airbnb may be intervening and not letting the listing last any longer because ALL dates are blacked out on its availability.
After the initial shock of the space wore off, we decided to just deal with it, and I took a nap. Originally, we were going to go to Lola for dinner at 6PM, but we weren’t yet hungry, so I cancelled the reservation and we found our way to La Cocina Oaxaqueña, a Mexican restaurant, later in the evening.
We ended up passing out somewhat early due to our 3am wake up.
Day Two: Day Trip to Bainbridge Island
We had turned off our alarms and slept in (it was much, much needed after our 3AM wakeup the day before), enjoying a slow morning with breakfast at the Airbnb (I had greek yogurt, Cesar had scrambled eggs with toast). While on our walk to the Pier, we stumbled across Retro Coffee and popped in for an iced latte. And omigoodness, was it delicious. I got an iced latte with soy milk and a shot of caramel – and *chefs kiss* it was phenomenal, literally the best iced latte I’ve had in yearsss. Made me very, very happy while on the ferry to Bainbridge.
Bainbridge was a relaxing day trip from Seattle. The ferry took about 35 minutes to get to the island, and there’s a couple main streets to explore, which we did by foot. On top of the most amazing latte ever, we hit up Emma and Otto’s Ice Cream stand. I enjoyed a dollop of vegan strawberry ice cream in a waffle cone while Cesar downed a creamy, freshly made salted caramel ice cream. Both had a surprise whopper candy at the bottom of a cone – we were charmed by it – a tasty addition.
We spent a few hours strolling WInslow Way, Brainbridge’s main street. Here, we popped into a variety of stores, including a secondhand book store, an antique mall, and grabbed sandwiches at Red Cedar Cafe for lunch. After lunch, we walked a ways and then discovered the Bainbridge Island Historical Museum, which highlights the islands history, beginning first with the native Squamish people and continuing with major milestone’s over time (the first European explorers, history of the logging and agricultural industries, effects of WWII, the invention of pickle ball on the island!, and more).
While waiting on the delayed ferry, Cesar grabbed a beer at Hi Life, and we rested our feet a bit (20,000 step day for me!) and enjoyed the shade (it was a bright, bright day). The wind blowing my hair during the ferry back to Seattle felt like a treat.
That night, we enjoyed drinks and roasted brussel sprouts at Capitol Cider followed by another drink at Mercado Luna, and finished restaurant exploring with the tastiest ramen at Tamari Bar in Cap Hill. Randomly, we had seen a bunch of Highball drinks listed at Hi Life, and then when we saw more listed at Tamari, we asked our waiter to describe the drinks since we’d never had one before, and we got to talking and told him about seeing them on Bainbridge. Then, he told us that Hi Life is a sister restaurant to Tamari – such a small world.
Throughout the evening, my stomach was feeling a bit off, so we scooted back to the Airbnb and got a solid NINE hours of sleep that night.
Day Three: Kayaking and Lunch near Alki Beach
On Saturday, we slept in, had a light breakfast, popped back into Retro Coffee for another iced latte, and made our way to Pier 50 to catch the West Seattle ferry for a quick 10 minute ride. We had an 11am reservation with Alki Kayak Tours for a two-person kayak. Kayaking is one of me and Cesar’s favorite adventurous activities to do together. When we first started kayaking, oh my, it was quite the uncoordinated affair. Now, though, we have a pretty great stride going!
We kayaked around to Alki Beach, watching ferries and private fishing boats passby. The weather was literally PERFECT. Because I tend to burn easily, I wore an extremely lightweight white zip-up to cover my arms, which worked out great. We definitely built up an appetite from one hour of kayaking. Then, we made our way just around the corner to get in line at Marination Ma Kai, a popular beachside Hawaiian restaurant right beside the ferry dock with the most amazing view of the Seattle skyline. Cesar and I shared fish tacos, aloha pork sliders, and a delicious mango and passion fruit shaved iced.
After eating, we again hopped on some scooters and cruised through Alki Beach. So many people were out enjoying their Saturday. We saw soo many golden retrievers being walked and also jumping into the water to chase balls, it was hysterical. We then grabbed a drink at West Seattle Brewering Co. Later on, a Pride parade went through the main street, and we saw an incredibly talented marching band perform.
While kayaking, some water got all over my sneakers and pants, so I needed to shower before going out again. We freshened up at the Airbnb and made our way to Serious Pies Downtown for some wood-burning oven pizza. It did not disappoint! The family next to us was going on a cruise to Alaska, and the cruise had changed the time of departure, and they were having a really good time at dinner. We talked about being pizza snobs due to our NYC era of living, and they were actually from New York and totally got what we meant.
After dinner, we made our way to Bathtub Gin, which we thought was a sister speakeasy to our beloved favorite speakeasy in NYC, but we were wrong. 😢 And their cocktail menu was not intriguing, so we ended up leaving and explored the streets of Downtown, ending up at a hole-in-the-wall pinball bar, called Shorty’s. Y’all, we played a lottttt of pinball! And ski ball! Somehow, Cesar hit over 7 million points one time on pinball, and I kept hitting the 100 hole in ski ball – so overall, it was a victorious time.
Day Four: Visiting the Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Scooting to Gasworks Park
Sunday was our last day in Seattle. We woke up, ate breakfast, packed our things, and then checked out of our Airbnb. I used Nannybag to have our bags held for us at the Green Tortoise Hostel, which is a one minute walk from Pike Market. From there, we found a couple of scooters and made our way to Capital Hill for a Starbucks Reserve Rostery experience.
It was around 11-11:30am when we arrived, and wowie, it was busyyyyy. Like, the line was never-ending, we literally couldn’t find the end of the line! I scouted seats for us while Cesar jumped in line for us. I messaged him the drinks I wanted while he waited. I chose the cold brew flight, which is a trio of different cold brews, 3oz each. And THEN, I got a grande nitro cold brew with a ham and cheese croissant Everything was delicious besides the whiskey barrel-aged cold brew. That tasted just like straight whiskey, and I handed that right over to Cesar (who doesn’t drink coffee btw lolol).
After Starbucks, we looked on Google Maps how to get to Lake Union, and we scooted there, which was a fun ride. It was perfect weather, and with the combination of riding the scooter, having the wind in my face and the sun on my skin felt like I was a little kid again. We ended up scooting all the way to the north side of the lake and ended up at Gasworks Park, which has an interesting origin as it used to be the location of a gasification plant. The view of downtown Seattle from the park is *chefs kiss* good.
We did some research for brunch options and found our way to Dreamland Bar and Diner in Fremont. Y’all, this place has such a fun vibe and aesthetic. The hallway is literally full of disco balls! The breakfast sandwich was super flavorful. 10/10 recommend.
After brunch, we strolled through a vintage pop-up that was literally right next door. I got a checkered ring (that I’ve been wearing nonstop), and then it was time to start heading back to downtown to pickup our luggage.
One of my favorite parts of Seattle is how bike-friendly it is. There were bike lines like 95% of the time where we stayed (and also the surrounding areas). Although we didn’t bike, we did use scooters a lot, and I felt much safer than I have scooting around in other cities.
We made it back to the hostel, grabbed out luggage, and commuted to the airport. Ironically, Cesar’s colleague, Kristen was landing in Seattle when we got there, and she was waiting for another colleague to land, so we met up with her and had a drink before our flight took off. Our flight was about an hour delayed, and I was ready to rest my eyes once we boarded. It was me at the window, Cesar in the middle, and then an Alaska Airlines flight attendant at the aisle (we were flying Alaska). We chatted with her a bit, and eventually we showed her Cesar’s blow-up sleep pillow concoction, which she laughed about and said that she’d never seen one before! I thought that was a win.
We had an uneventful flight and got home around 2am. All in all, we had a blast, and I look forward to going back to the Pacific Northwest again hopefully soon.
Have you been to Seattle? Any other recs for me to put on my list to check out next time? Let me know!
Cheers,
Marah
