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Sleepless in Seattle

by | Aug 14, 2018 | Featured, Travel

Sleepless in Seattle

A Travel Guide for Seattle, Washington

For a place of culture, fascinating history, great food, perfect weather and gorgeous views add Seattle to your travel shortlist. For the 4th of July I celebrated our country’s independence in the 42nd state, Washington.

I will preface this post by saying my visit to Washington consisted of both touristy activities and some local secrets. Typically I prefer to travel like a local but sometimes you have to experience those cliche places.

Before every trip I take I will spend some time on good ole Pinterest and of course, the Google SERP page (sorry my SEO is coming out, SERP is “Search Engine Result Page”) doing a little research on the place I will be visiting and to find must-sees. If you are visiting a place I’ve gone check out my blog post on it but I also encourage you to check out the corresponding Pinterest board I have. Some of the places I pinned but didn’t get to visit may be a “must see” for you but I ran out of time for it.

Okay, enough non Seattle talk…you are here to read about Seattle so let’s talk about Seattle! Below you will find photos and more description of each of these items but from each of my trips these are some of my top highlights I suggest visiting:

Must See Locations in Seattle

  1. Space Needle (duh, I know)
  2. Pike’s Place Public Market
  3. Underground Tour (SPOILER ALERT…Seattle was build on poop and by prostitute aka “seamstress”)
  4. Dahlia’s Bakery
  5. Starbucks Roastery & Tasting Room
  6. Molly Moon’s Ice Cream
  7. Seattle Mariners Game at SafeCo Field
  8. Hiking
  9. Ferry Boat
  10. Gas Works Park
  11. Freemont Troll
  12. Ballard Locks
  13. Seattle Great Wheel
  14. Chewing Gum Wall (disgusted me so badly but if you like gum and germs you should visit)

This was not my first trip to Seattle, I once had a layover in Seattle on my way home from Alaska and spent a whole 12 hours in the city and airport. I did not get to fully experience the city but it did give me a slight familiarity with it. Being that I had been there once before there were some items that I skipped this trip to avoid duplicative visits. I’ll mention those and still recommend you get them when you visit. Also, I had a friend in Seattle who helped show me the ropes and was an excellent tour guide!

Since I only had a few days in Seattle It was necessary to jump right in and start the adventure  and sight seeing immediately. First stop for me was the Freemont Troll.

Freemont Troll: 

Any search for Seattle on Pintrest will undoubtedly bring up several “Troll” results. The Troll under the bridge is quite a unique sight to behold. It was created by 4 local art students back in 1990 as apart of a competition by Freemont Art Council to do something with the bridge which had become a breeding ground for drug dealers. Spoiler alert, the troll won the competition and is now dubbed the “Freemont Troll”. Fun Fact, the troll is clutching an actual Volkswagon Beetle in it’s hand. Check out the troll on your visit, it is random and just a unique thing to see. You’ll learn I love random quirky attractions when I travel!

Fun Fact – If you watch Once Upon a Time season 7, this is the Troll in the show! Totally added a geek out moment for me! 

Address: Troll Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103

Gasworks Park:

Another hot area on Pintrest. When we went the park was being set up for the 4th festivities so I did not get to fully experience its grandeur. It is a quirky area that use to be a gaslight company but has since been abandoned and was donated to the city. If you go down to the water in the park you can get a gorgeous view of the city skyline.

Address: 2101 N Northlake Way, Seattle, WA 98103

Pioneer Square:

An adorable area with outdoor sitting, life-size chess and other park games. I will warn you, this area was heavily populated with homeless people. The city has more homeless than your average big city and I felt most of them congregated in Pioneer Square when we were there.

Address: Pioneer Square, Seattle, WA 98104

Ballard Locks:

The “locks” as the locals call them are work checking out! I love harbor areas and then the concept of the locks are just fascinating. They line boats up in a channel and then they will raise the water level to where the boats can enter the sound from Lake Washington. The locks also have a fish ladder that is a fascinating site.

Address: 3015 NW 54th St, Seattle, WA 98107

Space Needle:

So I’m 99.9% sure this doesn’t even need to be mentioned as a must see place since it is so iconic but I’ll put my plugin it anyways. The newly renovated observation deck is quite fascinating with it’s all glass out leaning walls and glass benches. Order your tickets in advance to guarantee entry. I loved seeing the city from the Needle. Spend the money, it’s worth it!

Address: 400 Broad St, Seattle, WA 98109

Starbucks Roastery: 

No trip to Seattle is complete without coffee. The “original” Starbucks is down by Pike’s Place but spoiler alert per the locals that is the true original Starbucks. Once I learned that it lost all of its luster for me.

So instead of standing in the insane line to go in the “original” Starbucks go visit the roastery. The place smells amazing and has incredible nitro cold brew coffee and they have a bakery that looks to have incredible food. I did not get to try the food but it looked incredible. You can also buy epic souvenirs there!

Address: 1124 Pike St, Seattle, WA 98101

Pike’s Place Public Market: 

Another classic, you have to go check out the fish throwing vendor, fresh flowers and try the habanero jams (sounds strange but they are incredible).

Address: Pike Place Market, Seattle, WA

INSIDER TIP

Seattle offers bikes you can pick up and drop off anywhere in the city. You rent them with your card directly from the bike then you can dump them anywhere in the city which is epic. You can use the Ofo Bikes, Lime Bikes or Spin Bikes.

Disclaimer: there are a few “no drop” zones. Be sure and check the app. 

Underground Tour: 

Locals and tourists alike highly recommended the underground tour and I will echo that sentiment. I had no idea there was a second city under the streets of Seattle. Our tour guide was knowledgeable, informative and very entertaining! I went through Bill Speidel’s Underground Tour. 

Address: 614 1st Ave, Seattle, WA 98104

Seattle Mariner’s Game at SafeCo Field 

I can see you rolling your eyes now, STOP! Yes, I realize you can see a pro-baseball game in any state but you aren’t going to this one for just the game. The Stadium has incredible views of the city and the staple garlic parmesan fries are to die for! If you go with a date you should consider a toothbrush after you eat these ;). We honestly didn’t want much of the game but enjoyed incredible views of the city and watched a gorgeous sunset, see the image above. Also, for all my fellow single lades…who doesn’t appreciate a guy in baseball pants?! Okay, okay, moving ON!  

Address: 1250 1st Ave S, Seattle, WA 98134

Local Find

So my local tour guide wanted to try a small little bakery downtown. We rode up a lot of hills to get there but the coconut cream pie was with it! When you are in Seattle if you love delicious heavily deserts hit up Dahali’s Bakery at 2001 4th Ave, Seattle, WA 98121. Seriously try the coconut pie, it will change your life…FOREVER! I really could go for a slice right now… Also if you like ice cream, check out Molly Moon’s, they have some crazy combinations but they are amazing.

 

Okay so we have been all through the city but what about the wilderness?! Seattle has INCREDIBLE hikes and mountain views! I mean hello Mt. Rainer is there, which I highly recommend hiking….once you have properly prepared and trained for it. Which I have not…yet. 😉

Rattlesnake Ridge

So my trusty tour guide was familiar with the hiking scene and took us to Rattlesnake Ridge, daunting name, I know. I highly recommend this hike, it was an easy hike, yes there was incline but not terrible, and the view was gorgeous. The trail is heavily trafficked so if you want solo views at the top I recommend going early if you can.

Address: Snoqualmie Region — North Bend Area

Directions from Washington Trail Association: From Seattle, drive east on I-90 to exit 32 for 436th Avenue SE. Turn right onto 436th Avenue SE, also signed as Cedar Falls Road SE. Proceed about four miles down the road to the Rattlesnake Lake parking lot on the right.

Insider Tip

So if you want to do a dinner cruise but do not want to pay an arm and a leg for one do what we did. Go grab some food to-go, we had this incredible for this pizza place that made me feel like a straight up mobster bad A, then go buy an $8 ferry ticket. We had our dinner on the ferry while enjoying beautiful views of the city and a relaxing time. The ferry we took was about an hour each way so basically you get an $8 dinner cruise. There is a cafe on the ferry you can get food from if you prefer, I’d just check the cafe hours before hand.

My trip to Seattle will not soon be forgotten! So many incredible sights and experiences. I hope this post has convinced you that you too need to experience the amazing city! Go forget about all your stress temporarily and then send me some of your must see locations. I plan to visit again and hope to find some more local treasures to share with you!

Until our next adventure…FLY ON!

Ang