While I was surprised to be a little underwhelmed with Portland, Seattle was AMAZING. It was everything I thought Portland would be. It was clean and green and walkable and outdoorsy, and really technologically advanced. We stayed at the coolest hotel in Capitol Hill that is also long term housing (I looked it up and it’s over 2,000 a month for just a bedroom with a shared kitchen, otherwise I’d probably still be living there now). We walked basically the entire city and by the time we left we were planning our future return to buy a house in the city. I loved Seattle.

We got in a bit later than planned because of the train delay, but the day was perfect. It was LA weather, with clear blue skies and the city stretching out before us. We pulled in right next to Century Link Field, and I’m not going to lie, my love for Seattle has eased my dislike for the Seahawks (though the Super Bowl outcome probably helped with that as well). It was cool to see the stadium, and man is this town into football. I love it!

We went straight to the Link, which went from the Stadium to Capitol Hill. It was a super quick journey, and the neighborhood was amazing. So many great bars and restaurants. So many great houses. It felt a lot like the east coast, actually.

We stayed at Roy St Commons They gave us codes for the main entrance and our room, and we never had to talk to anyone else (I’m a fan of this, haha), but it still felt homey. We walked around checking out the different dinner options, before picking a random Italian place. Gareth got something delicious and I got a pasta thing and once again Gareth ordered better than me. I honestly need to start just copying his orders exactly. Then we considering doing a comedy show, but instead decided to bar hop. We went to Unicorn, which was pretty excellent. There was a wedding party there at the time, and they ordered every cocktail on the menu. I offered to help carry and they turned me down but gave me a unicorn jizz as a thank you, and that was a strong, sweet, fun drink. We took some terrible photobooth pictures (I’m really bad at photobooths!), and continued wandering around Seattle. The walk back home was really nice, and felt totally safe even though it was pretty late and we weren’t 100% sober. I love how the area felt like one big neighborhood. It felt really liveable.

We crashed pretty hard because of continued jetlag/the illness that would not end, but this room had a fan, which I have been trained since I was a baby to require for a good night’s sleep (thanks mom!).

We woke up the next morning and the clear blue skies of the first day had become gray clouds that every once in awhile let out a few drops of rain. The place had free homemade apple danishes (or some sort of apple baked good) for breakfast. Again we didn’t see another human, as we stuffed our faces and plotted where to hide my bag for the day. They didn’t have a lockbox but we didn’t want to carry our heavy bags during our hike around the city, so (thinking I was somehow doing us both a favor) I hid my bag in the main room and transported my valuables into Gareth’s bag, which he carried. I don’t know why I thought that was mutually beneficial, but Gareth never pointed out the huge flaw in my logic and quietly waited a few hours until I realized on my own. Oops. Thanks, buddy.

Then we headed out! We stopped at Portage Bay for brunch, where Gareth ate like he gave a damn, and I realized it was mother’s day and called my Momma. Then we walked over to the Center for Wooden Boats, where you can sail free every Sunday! However by the time we got there all the boats were signed up for except a canoe, and we decided that because it was freezing and we had both canoed before (I’ve never been sailing, take away any islander credibility I have right now), so we decided to skip it. That said, what a great way to spend a Sunday. And it’s all volunteer run. I’m a big fan.

From there we wandered to the Space Needle. Fun fact, I am terrified of heights. I honestly really didn’t think this would bother me much, BUT IT REALLY DID. I felt like I could really feel it swaying (though Gareth insists he couldn’t, I’m still sure I felt it!). I also hated that there was a line to get down, meaning I was temporarily trapped. So we walked/ran around the outside viewing area, took some pictures, and headed back down to the gift shop. I’m not usually about gift shops but Gareth and I are starting a magnet collection, and we needed to tick that off the list. And we got a pretty sweet one, I’m happy to report.

From there we wandered to the Pike Place Market, which was amazing. I wanted to buy everything, but mostly the gorgeous handmade notebooks. Oh my god, they were great. After that we went into the Left Bank Book Collective, which was great and super independent. What a great bookstore run we had.

From there we needed a break from all the walking, and popped into a coffee shop. This was such a nice part of the trip, because it was winding down, and we were tired and just wanted to sit and be together. Gareth got a big thing of pour over coffee, which I had never had before, and the bar area we were at was covered in a huge world map. We looked at the map and planned our future travels, and told stories about places we’ve been, and it was just a really nice moment.

After that we went on a mission to find me a bakery. We stopped into Le Panier, and a few other places, but kind of gave up and took an uber back to Capitol Hill. We finally had Dick’s Drive In burgers, and then on the way back to our place I realized we were close to Bakery Nouveau. I don’t even remember what I got, but I remember it being the most delicious thing in the entire world. It was some kind of chocolatey cake thing, and I still have dreams about it.

From there we walked back to our place, grabbed my bag (which was still there, thankfully), and took the link right from Capitol Hill all the way to the airport. SO easy. And once again, no one checked our ticket. Also, even though we didn’t HAVE to pay, it was SO cheap. It was around $2.50 to get from Capitol Hill, which is fairly north, all the way to the airport. It was just so insanely easy. And while we were waiting for a train, two of the guys who worked security there came over and chatted with us, and they were hilarious and friendly (and obviously a little bored). I can’t get over how much I loved Seattle and the people in it. That is my kind of city, for sure.

(source for feature photo)