Tyler had a conference in Seattle, one of our bucket-list/wanderlust destinations. Ironically, after our trip to New York, we were talking about our next vacation and where it would be. We had made a list of places we wanted to go and Seattle was top on our list-how perfect! Here is the run down of our three day trip to Seattle, Washington:
Now, a bit off topic, but if you’ve ever heard my travel stories, I have the worst luck. Here are some recent examples to validate my point…
Example 1: The massacre in Las Vegas took place the weekend before I was leaving to Vegas for my friends bachelorette party- I was leaving that Wednesday. The incoming flight from Las Vegas had an Air Marshal aboard, and somehow upon exiting the air craft, he lost his GUN. Alarms were sounding, our plane was grounded, sniff dogs came around 3 times, we were searched and frisked. This made National news.
Example 2: My husband and I were traveling to my hometown, Bakersfield for my friends wedding. We decided it would be best and easiest to fly into Bakersfield, rather than what I usually do (LAX). We had a layover in Dallas. Upon arriving to our departing gate in Dallas, we were informed that the plane was “broken” (actual word used by American Airlines), and they didn’t know how long it would take to find a new plane. We were delayed, resulting in us missing our next connecting flight in Phoenix, meaning we had to find another flight into an airport close to Bakersfield or we would have to wait 5 hours for the next flight. We had to change our car rental, because we ended up flying into Fresno. Then, we drove the almost 2 hours to Bakersfield. 15 hours of traveling. To top it off, the flight back to Indianapolis was delayed in Phoenix.
FYI, these happened in the same month, so needless to say, I’ve earned some good “juju”. And, I lucked out!
When I purchased my ticket to Seattle, I anticipated that I would have received my new drivers license with my married name. Well, I hadn’t, and I had to go to the service desk, when I got to the airport. The lady behind the counter went to her manager and called TSA- she ended up changing my name on the ticket AND upgrading my seat (not sure if this was on accident). I got free drinks, extra legroom, and had an entire row to myself!
If you’re ever planning a trip and you don’t have to be there by a certain time, I love leaving when it’s sunrise or sunset, because you get these beautiful views from the plane:
This flight was 5 hours, incredibly boring, but made me even more excited to be going to Seattle. Unfortunately, when I got in it was almost 9, so everything was closed. We walked around and stopped into Jimmy Johns for a quick snack. This reserved our energy for the next day-Thursday, which was full of adventure!
We stayed at the Sheraton Downtown, which was minutes away from everything and anything, including Pike Place Market where you’ll find these bad boys:
We woke up early… really really early (we were mentally still on EST). We started our day off by finding a Starbucks- not hard to do when there is one literally in every corner. If you didn’t know, Starbucks was founded in Seattle, so I’m not exaggerating when I say EVERY corner. We then headed to Pike Place Market. If you didn’t know, this is a Seattle staple! It’s a huge farmers market that has shops and restaurants. The food in the market is so fresh and delicious, you’ll definitely end up buying at least one item!
Coat: Target
Jeans: American Eagle
Boots: Steve Madden
Top (SOLD OUT, SHOP SIMILAR STYLES): Hudson
Neiman Marcus
With no where to be, we grabbed breakfast at “Biscuit Bitch“-yes that is the actual name- then made the trek to the Space Needle.
Top: Old Navy
If you were to do one thing in Seattle, between the Space Needle and the market, I would say it would be too close of a call. The views from the “need” (what Tyler referred to it as), were absolutely breathtaking. Had it been warmer, I would’ve stayed on the observation deck all day.
Could you see why?!
After the Space Needle, we stopped by at the market to grab lunch. I heard Pike Place Brewing Company was a top stop- so I forced Tyler into trying it. We split a pretzel, pulled pork sandwich and I got a flight (you can see what beers I tried on Untappd), then grabbed a beer at Seattle Beer Company.
We were on our way back to the market, when we stumbled across another Seattle staple-the Gum Wall in Post Alley. And, yup-I took this gross opportunity to take a picture!
Coat: Target
Booties: Nordstrom
Jeans: American Eagle
Top: Old Navy
After the quick snap, we continued back into the market-looking for goodies to bring home, and found truffles (Spoiler alert: we didn’t buy any)!
Tyler asked the lady “How much are the truffles per pound?”. She literally scoffed and said, “You mean per ounce- $50”. That’s $50 PER OUNCE! Thank god for this lady scaring us away, because we met another lady at the market who told us about a hidden gem La Buona Tavola- Truffle Cafe, which ended up being our favorite part of the entire trip!
The Truffle Cafe has products that have been shipped from Italy, offering a variety of oils, spreads and wine that are all to die for. They had this pistachio “Nutella” that I could have literally ate all of in just one sitting. They also had Truffle Salt (which we left with!). Had we did more than one wine tasting there, I think we would’ve bought the entire store. The good thing is they ship products to anywhere in the US, so if we regret not purchasing something, we can order it from them.
Afterward, we stopped in a store to grab some touristy tees. If you didn’t know, Washington is really into the whole legend of Bigfoot… like really into it… so I had some fun shopping:
This was probably the best day I’ve had in a while, because after messing around, laughing hysterically with Tyler, we went to an awesome dinner. Seriously. If you go to Seattle, you absolutely have to stop at Japonessa. Whatever you do though- get reservations! This is the happening spot, and has absolutely amazing sushi.
Since I chose everything on our to-do list Thursday, I gave Tyler the next day. He chose Bacco Cafe -their eggs Benedict reminded me of Sarabeth’s in New York, which I would highly recommend! Then, we wandered around the market again, and made our way down to the Seattle Great Wheel (ok, I may have pressured this one.
I was terrified at first, but these views were well worth it.
The one thing I loved about this vacation is that we had nothing but time to kill. We stopped at Ivar’s Acres of Clams, for lunch and then went to Top Pot Doughnuts and had a donut (in the middle of the day). We went to the Amazon Spheres and the Amazon Go store.
Then, went to the huge Nordstrom and spent [too much] time trying on clothes just to waste time, so we were hungry enough for dinner.
Last, but not least of our adventures, we went to dinner at Purple Cafe. I wish I had pictures of the inside, because this place was neat. It had a spiraling staircase that wrapped around all the wine they offered and went all the way to the ceiling. Get this- there was a hidden door that the servers opened to go get more wine- in the staircase. I was surely impressed that Tyler picked this place out. If you go there, you have to get the Maine Lobster Macaroni and Cheese. I wasn’t even hungry, and I ate every bite.
If you haven’t been to Seattle- put it on your list! It’s such a beautiful place with so much to do! I promise you won’t regret it- just remember to pack a raincoat!
[…] we went to Seattle in January, we went to Purple, and I had the absolute best lobster mac and cheese! On Monday, I was having some serious cravings […]