Visiting the Emerald City
Headed to Seattle for Presidents’ Day weekend. Since I don’t have unlimited PTO i really do try to take advantage of the long weekends. I know it isn’t always easy because it can be a bit more expensive because everyone else will be traveling on those weekends too. But I take what I can get haha. This trip was planned for my mum and I to have a girls weekend the perfect excuse to escape together for the weekend. We get on really well and its been a long time since her and I have traveled together. Plus neither of us have been to Seattle before so what better excuse to visit than this.
We’re both planners so it was really great to have her and I both give input into the itinerary for the trip. Since she lives in North Lake Tahoe there aren’t as many good restaurants to visit so she really wanted to explore the foodie scene and well any excuse to eat a lot I’ll take! Haha.
Anyway here are some of the things we did and I’m for sure looking forward to coming back again but hopefully when it isn’t so cold or wet as it was this trip. Seriously I don’t know what i was thinking coming at this time because it was in the 30’s most of the time and well i’m not built for the cold!
Day 1:
Headed to brunch at Portages Cafe highly recommend making a reservation if you do want to eat here otherwise expect to wait probably 30-45 mins. This was actually a recommendation from a friend that lives here. I will say if i went back I’d try the breakfast bar because it really did look amazing. But I got the Benedict sampler mostly because, well, I’m terrible and making decisions so this was the perfect way to try 3 different Benedict’s :D. We paired our meal with the blood orange mimosa and omg soooo good!
After a good meal we wandered around the neighborhood and headed over to Chihuly Glass Garden, MoPoP & the Space Needle. Our first stop was Chihuly Glass Garden and wow it is incredible what he’s done with the glass.
I think my favorite pieces are in the Glasshouse which has these gorgeous orange flowers dangling from the ceiling with the space needle above.
To be honest the art is seriously incredible and we spend about 1 and a half hours here but you can spend as little or as much as you want. Only downside is we went on a weekend and it’s of course super super busy.
Then we headed over to MoPop which again was super busy but really intersting to see. One thing to keep in mind is if you go in February it is museum month so if you stay at a participating hotel then you get half off any museum entrance. I’m honestly not a museum person and this museum was unlike anything I’ve been too. Filled with all this amazing pop culture from musicians like Jimmy Hendrix to a whole exhibit on Marvel Comics. Seriously recommend visiting.
Also expect to spend a few hours here all depends how much you want to read because there is so much to look at.
After we headed over the space needle for our 4:00 scheduled ticket. I highly recommend you purchase tickets in advance either with the CityPass or the two for one entrance with Chihuly. Both are great offers and can be purchased in advance.
Even with the rain coming down the view of the city was still beautiful and worth a visit. Since they just redid the Space Needle the sides of the exterior are all glass and they have a glass bottom on the bottom floor of the top area that moves super slowly.
Then head back to your hotel for a nice cat nap or just continue the night to some of the many bars that are in Seattle. We headed to Bathtub & Gin before our dinner reservation at Local 360.
Bathtub & Gin is a super small speakeasies located in the alley way of a parking lot and to be honest it did look a bit sketchy haha but once inside it’s nice and warm. It’s was an original speakeasies back in the day so it can get super crowded especially since it’s a very small space. So if you get there too late you might have to wait a little bit before getting in.
As for our dinner at Local 360 it was delicious and all produce/meat are grown organically and from farms located about 360 miles from Seattle. So everything is very fresh and delicious. I would also recommend the brunch which could be a really good option if you can’t make dinner.
Day 2:
We headed to Pike Place Market to grab some breakfast and found a super small crepe place inside the market where we ate. We then did a quick wander around pikes market before heading to Pioneer Square & Smiths tower & Sky View Observatory. Pioneer Square is super cute and has lots of wineries, restaurants and a really nice courtyard area. Walk through and head over to Sky View observatory which in my opinion has a way better view then the Smiths Tower which was originally where we were going to go but it was closed. It was so quiet and no line which was amazing! We even got a Groupon for a cheaper entrance.
Don’t forget to book a cruise around the bay of Seattle. We booked a Argosy locks cruise which lasts about 2 hours and it took us around the top of Discovery Park and through the Locks that ended up in Lake Union. A really intersting tour with lots of history and information to take in. Again make sure you book in advance because it does fill up quickly.
Once back on shore hop on the bus you paid for or what my mum and I did was walk back towards our hotel to check out some more bars. Barolo Restaurant has a great happy hour every Sunday from 3 to closing on all wines, beers and light bites! I’d honestly love to check this place out for dinner one day!
After grabbing some snacks there and a drink we meander towards the Amazon Spheres which are two green house domes. But honestly the real reason we headed this way was to check out the speakeasy at the bottom of the Spheres called Deep Dive. Super trendy and filled with so many amazing drink options. Again this can get super busy so get there early and/or expect to wait to get a table.
Then the best part of the evening was dinner. Booked a reservation at Staple & Fancy one of the many restaurants created by the well renowned Seattle chef, Ethan Stowel. We did the chef’s choice so it made picking our food super easy and everything was amazing!
Day 3:
Alright the final day of the fun weekend in Seattle! Since we didn’t really spend enough time the first day we went to Pike Place we knew we wanted to come back and see more. So we grabbed breakfast at Cafe Campagne a super cute little french brasserie right infront of Pike Place Market. Considering it started to rain while we were inside we took our time and enjoyed our food and tea before going back out to Pike Place.
Winding our way through all the levels of Pike Place we saw some cute stores to all the amazing fresh produce. There is even a couple breweries that are worth checking out. We ended up decided to head back to Pioneer Square to check out a few of the wineries that are over there. We enjoyed wandering more around the square and all the cute restaurants and bars but ended up at The Estates Wineroom.
After enjoying our wine we headed back to our hotel and packed up to get to the airport intime for our flight.
Obviously there are so many things to do and to see that this is only a small portion of it so I’ve listed a few other recommendations that you can choose between
Hotels:
The Charter Hotel [This is where we stayed and it was amazing. Great location, convenient & clean]
Restaurants: Seattle Eater
The London Plane (cute brunch spot)
