Seattle

June 2012

Aaron and I traveled to Seattle for the first week of June 2012.  We started planning the trip during the winter of 2012.  Aaron wanted to hike at Mt. Rainier.  As I tried to plan this, it became obvious that this wasn't in our cards.  Apparently you need to hike Mt. Rainier in August or September in order to avoid much of the excessive snow.  Very few trails would be snow-free during early June.  Because of this, we planned a hike along the Olympic National Park (see post here).  Due to bad weather along the coast, we were also able to spend a couple of days at Mt. Rainier (Longmire and Ohanapecosh).  Besides our hiking, Aaron and I were also able to enjoy Seattle some of the surround port towns.

I chose our accommodations through airbnb and we were very happy with our pick.  On airbnb, people can list their extra bedrooms, vacation property, etc for others to rent instead of booking a room at a more traditional hotel.  Since rooms in Seattle are expensive, this was a great alternative for us.  We booked our room in the International District.  We had a loft with shared kitchen and bathroom area.

A quick picture of our room

Bike Racks out front

Day 1: Seattle

The day we arrived to Seattle, we dropped all of our bags off at the loft, then went outside to explore.  We had an awesome lunch at a thai place called Thai Curry Simple which I highly recommend!  After lunch we explored Seattle, picked up some wine, and then took the bus to catch up with Aaron's high school friend, Dana.  We drank some wine while catching up, then headed out for sushi and drinks before a late-night cab ride back to our room.

Pike Place Market is amazing!

Crumpet shop

Original Starbucks

Street Performers

Fremont Troll

Day 2: Rug & Food Tour

On our second day in Seattle we slept in, then headed out for more exploring.  For my birthday, Aaron bought us tickets to the Savor Seattle Food Tour.  Aaron and I have been avoiding meat since last year, so eating meat on the food tour was an interesting experience.  Before the food tour, we checked out a bunch of rugs and then made our big Seattle purchase, a new rug for our living room.  The food tour took us to several restaurants and Aaron and I were STUFFED by the end of it.  After a little digestion, we headed out for a long (12.5 mile) run in hilly Seattle.

Persian Prayer Rug - looks great in our living room!

Gum Wall

Pike Place Brewery - on the food tour

Yellow Leaf Cupcake Company
Tomato soup cupcake and maple/bacon cupcake

Serious Pie - amazing pizza

Day 3: Seattle

On day 3, we met up with Aaron's dad, who was in the area after running a marathon in Port Angeles.  The three of us walked to Pike Place Market for coffee at Seattle Coffee works and piroshkys from Piroshky Piroshky.  After roaming around a while, we headed back to the International District for lunch at Thai Simple Curry.  Once Aaron's dad headed to the airport, Aaron and I decided to make a trip to the original REI to pick up some things for our upcoming hikes.  Since it was a gloomy Seattle Monday afternoon, we thought it would be fun to head to La Buona Travola for a wine tasting.  We stopped at this place during our food tour, but wanted to go back for an afternoon wine tasting and for some relaxation.  We had amazing service and probably sampled 15-20 wines!  After too much wine, we headed to SeaTown for oysters and to meet up with Dana and Shaun.  Then, we walked over to Serious Pie for pizza.  Yes, that would be TWO Tom Douglas restaurants in just a couple of hours!  After pizza, we headed  back to the International District for some beers and then called it (a late) night.

Aaron and I

Soy Latte at Seattle Coffee Works

Original REI

Day 4: Experience Music Project & Space Needle

On our fourth day in Seattle, we had lunch at Salumi with Dana.  Salumi is the restaurant that Mario Batali's parents own.  I had the BEST salami sandwich I have ever eaten.  We also had hand-made (that morning!) gnocchi.  Amazing.  I would definitely head back to Seattle just for the food!  In the afternoon, Aaron and I checked out the Experience Music Project & the Space Needle.  We also did an evening run so that I could see the house boats on Lake Union.  I really wanted to see the houseboat from Sleepless in Seattle, but settled for just checking out the boats in general.  In the evening we headed back to Pike Place Market for a late dinner at Steelhead Diner

Making Gnocchi at Salumi

Aaron and Dana at Salumi

Space Needle

Experience Music Project

Space Needle

The Monorail coming out of the Experience Music Project

Guitars at Experience Music Project

Lake Union

Lake Union

Pike Place Market at night

Day 5: Leaving Seattle

On our fifth day, we got up early.  Aaron headed out to get the rental car, and then we took a ferry to head to Olympic National Park (see more here).

On the Ferry

Seattle Skyline

Day 8/9: Return to Seattle and then back to Arizona

After leaving Seattle to visit Olympic National Park, Port Angeles, Port Townsend, and Mt. Rainier, we returned for the last night.  We hit up Pike Place market to buy flowers, food and dessert, then headed to Dana and Shaun's to grill out and relax for our last night in Washington.

Flowers for our hosts!

More information from Port Angeles & Port Townsend coming soon.

We had an amazing trip to Washington and I am constantly longing to be back (usually when I'm sweating in the Scottsdale heat!).