This is our second visit to the USA. We were there for our honeymoon where I wrote about our trip to Las Vegas, San Francisco and our roadtrip down Highway 1 from San Francisco to Los Angeles. It was an amazing time in our life and we loved our time here that we’re back for Round 2!
We definitely didn’t count on falling in love with Seattle. The reason why Seattle was even in our itinerary was because we’ve already driven down south of San Francisco so the no brainer thing to do if we want to go to San Francisco again (which we did) was to start up further north and Virgin Australia flies to Seattle so Seattle it is.
From what we’ve read before our trip, Seattle has a great walkability rating but it rains a lot and it has awesome seafood. We definitely wasn’t planning on being awed with Seattle as you can tell but I guess that is what happens when you’re not expecting much.
Sure, the weather up there sucks. It drizzles or pours throughout the day and because we were by the water, the wind is crazy! It’s my fault really coz my cold tolerance is zilch. Even in Sydney, I usually have to prepare myself every time we go out because our weather here can get a lil haywire too but you don’t think about these things when you go on holidays. I just assumed that the weather will be sunny and perfect. This is the second time now that I’ve freeze myself silly in a northern hemisphere summer so it’s definitely lesson learnt!
Accommodation
Urban Cabin
We found Urban Cabin on Airbnb but it doesn’t seem to be available anymore. There are a tonne of options on Airbnb and we’ve mostly had great stays booked with them.
What to Eat
How we feasted while we were on holidays. I’ve heard incredible things about the Seattle food scene and we couldn’t wait to dig in while we were in town!
Elliot’s Oyster House
We really enjoyed our food at this Elliott’s. We got the oysters and calamari and also the chowder and they were all fabulous. If we didn’t already have plans for dinner, we could have gotten a second serving of everything!
Here’s a tip for you – Get there early for happy hour as they usually have some special deals during this time.
Dahlia’s Bakery
I got their banh mi but don’t be fooled! I assumed it was going to be meat but it’s vegetarian! Interesting concept but I think I still prefer the meat version. Funny thing is some of the gourmet sandwich places in Sydney have started offering a tofu version of their banh mi. Either that or I never really noticed it before.
Piroshky Piroshky
The cheesy whiff coming out from this bakery was oh-so-tantalising, you could smell it a mile away and your nose will guide you to Piroshky Piroshky. We were a bit lost when we were in there as we didn’t know what they sold or if we were going to like it. I’m telling you, we were like little kids being led to the shop by the smell of their baking goods like in the cartoons!
A quick read of some of the articles they’ve put up on the walls and we tentatively decided to get their smoked salmon bun to share as cheese doesn’t sit too well with me usually. I had a bit and it was glorious! When we got back to our Airbnb, I did a bit of research and found out that it’s a Russian bakery and I wished we got a few others of their items to try. You have to check this place out if you’re in Seattle!
Taylor Shellfish Farms
Taylor’s Shellfish Farm was recommended in some of the magazines at our Airbnb and it was close to where we were so we decided to sneak it for a late snack before dinner one day. We couldn’t have very much as we’ve already been eating throughout the day so treated ourselves to a small selection of local oysters to try.
It’s quite interesting that oysters around the world taste quite different. The oysters in Seattle are much smaller in comparison to our oysters in Sydney too. Definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area. They also have geoduck which I have never seen before and we weren’t game enough to try this trip so definitely next time!
Tilikum Place Cafe
Tilikum Place Cafe was around the corner from our Airbnb and it came recommended by our host so we decided to check it out for dinner one night. We got there as soon as it opened and had a lovely time at the establishment. It looked to be really popular with the locals too as it filled up as the night progressed.
Fran’s Chocolates
If you love fine chocolates, you have to pop into Fran’s Chocolate. The place is lovely – it really feels like you’re in a designer chocolate shop – very smart how they’ve designed the shop to invoke that feeling.
I love fine chocolates and we got ourselves a selection to have during our trip and loved them! The guy who served us was lovely – I told him I am a praline lover and he must have picked the good ones coz every single one of them pralines were absolutely divine. Mmm, I could do with some right now!
Walrus & Carpenter
Read about our meal here.
Things to Do
Pike Place Market
Pike Place Market has to be the most iconic attraction in Seattle. Every time we googled Seattle, Pike Place Market would always come up. Oh, and the Space Needle (which I obviously took a horrible blurry photo of). Maybe because it has some connotation with food that we instantly put it on our list of places to check out and it was
Post Alley and the Gum Wall
From Pike Place Market, we headed around the corner to check out Post Alley and the Gum Wall. Wow! It’s quite a sight to behold when you first see the wall. It’s a cool yet also gross and there are a lot of gum so it’s quite a sight! Definitely one thing you should check out while in Seattle!
Olympic Sculpture Park
We also went for a walk around Olympic Sculpture Park, a cool sculpture park run by Seattle Art Museum. You walk down these walkways and there are various sculptures or art installation to enjoy as well as stunning views of Seattle in the foreground. I really like it that it’s a permanent installation out in the open – I don’t think there are many museums like that around!
Downtown Seattle
We had three days and it wasn’t enough for us so if we ever get a chance to fly across the Pacific Ocean again, we’ll have to try go back. It’s to the islands next time and maybe a day trip across the border to Canada! Next year maybe, darlin?
