March 12, 2025

Sunny days for sightSEAing

Chiara Di NORTH AMERICA, TRAVEL Pike Place Market, Seattle, Space Needle, Starbucks, Travel, Wanderlust, Washington 0 Comments

The only thing keeping me sleepless in Seattle was how much I wanted to see, but it was made breezy by some stunning winter weather.

It was also made easy by no line-ups or large crowds – I was told on numerous occasions I was visiting outside of ‘tourist season’. Fine by me.

On my way to Seattle, I travelled through Los Angeles to spend a couple of days with one of my best friends from home. My visit was during the LA fires so we stayed near Venice Beach and had more of a coastal experience than the Hollywood one of previous.

I went straight into a group dinner at Wabi on Rose in Venice Beach with a stunt man, producer and even Channing Tatum’s personal trainer – maybe it was a little Hollywood after all. There was plenty of edamame, ceviche, sashimi and sushi to go around, as well as a fancy cookie dessert with shaved gold and silver garnish.

The next day we explored the beaches of Hermosa and Manhattan, about 30-minutes south of Venice, both of which felt like quiet holiday towns. We enjoyed a lazy Sunday lunch at Martha’s Hermosa Beach and went for a walk along the esplanade passing many joggers, skaters and beach volleyball goers.

We moved onto Manhattan Beach and failed to find a quiet bar for a wine as the NFL play-offs were on, so we settled for a very satisfying ice-cream from Manhattan Beach Creamery instead. I’d never seen so many cone choices, it became a bit overwhelming so I settled for the simplest of all.

Then I was onto Seattle, after a 90-minute delay and almost three-hour flight. It was a short, easy drive to downtown, but ride share was quite expensive especially with our current Aussie dollar – US$70 with an Uber. The light rail is a great alternative from the airport.

It was nice to arrive to the friendly faces and cosy feel of the Mayflower Park Hotel. The historic hotel felt a touch royal with its European elegance. After dropping my bags, I was straight back down to the lobby bar, Oliver’s, for a tomato soup and grilled cheese while I mapped out the next couple of days, aided by the dining and nightlife suggestions from my lovely server.

I found Seattle to be quite a sweet city, surrounded by the beauty of mountains and sea. I’d love to return in warmer weather to enjoy some hiking. This trip was very much a city experience and I was definitely able to make the most of my two days with some gorgeous sunny weather. This made the mornings quite frosty, so I opted for the monorail to Seattle Center rather than walking the 20 or so minutes. The monorail travels from Westlake Center and is US$4 one-way. The Seattle Center is full of many attractions and museums including the Space Needle, Museum of Pop Culture, Chihuly Garden and Glass, Pacific Science Center, Seattle Children’s Museum and more.

First stop was the Museum of Pop Culture where I paid an additional US$7 to explore the visiting Keith Haring exhibition, who used his contemporary art to represent his views in bold, fun and vibrant displays.

The Museum of Pop Culture itself was quite cool with a sound lab where you could play a range of instruments and different rooms focused on pop over eras, including a guitar gallery, Nirvana and Jimi Hendrix galleries, science-fiction, fantasy, horror and gaming galleries. I spent a good couple of hours there, but it could have easily been half a day.

I took a local bus along 7th Avenue to Fremont to visit the famous Fremont Troll which has featured in movies such as 10 Things I Hate About You. Once at the closest stop, it was a short walk under the highway to locate the troll, passing a small garden. Troll’s Knoll is huge and definitely a bit of an eyesore; it would be quite spooky at night!

I took the same bus back down Aurora Avenue to almost parallel with Kerry Park and walked uphill for what felt like kilometres of suburban streets to the park offering spectacular views over Seattle – some of the best on a clear day I was told. Lucky for me, I had a beautiful day and could see over the city skyline, harbour and Mt Rainier. This was my alternative to going up the Space Needle and for me it was a better viewpoint as the iconic Space Needle was part of it.

I walked back to the Seattle Center, downhill thank goodness, and treated myself to lunch at Taylor Shellfish Farms, after all Seattle is renowned for its seafood. Taylor Shellfish Farms’ farm all their own fish and have a few restaurants around Seattle. I enjoyed three very different oysters (the fat bastard, a saltier Virginica, and a Japanese style Kumamoto) and a classic steamer with mussels and clams in a white wine broth. It was all very delicious, but the experience was kind of dampened with me being the only person dining. I was told it was due to January not being a popular month for visitors and seafood being more associated with warmer weather.

I wandered through the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum and WOW were there some amazing pieces! It was so colourful, creative and intricate with so many shapes and sizes sculpted together to form spectacular glass sculptures. You are lead through the inside gallery first with some homeware designs followed by a large blue ocean inspired glass sculpture – it was phenomenal – as well as other scenes. You’re then led to the outside garden with different colours and shapes of glass planted throughout the gardens.

It was then time for a well-deserved sunset drink at The Nest rooftop bar offering another fabulous view over the harbour and Pike Place Market. I’d also had M Bar on my list but didn’t make it as it was a little further out. Seattle was well and truly glowing for me.

I headed to the Bangrak Market in Belltown for a Thai dinner. It was very much a vibe from its colourful pillars and lanterns to strobe lights and upbeat music – would definitely recommend!

My second day was spent exploring Capitol Hill and Pike Place Market. I took the subway one stop from Westlake to Capitol Hill and wandered the main street ‘Broadway’. I enjoyed a cuppa and croissant with bagel seasoning (another great combo) at Espresso Vivace. There were signs telling me to ‘bus my own table’ which was a little shocking for a city where tips are expected.

Capitol Hill is home to Cal Anderson Park, the Jimi Hendrix statue, Starbucks Reserve Roastery and many dining and nightlife experiences – even a cat café which felt a little crazy even from the outside. I stopped into the Starbucks roastery – one of only a few in the world – which was quite experiential with coffee tours, a bar, bakery, cafe, souvenirs, merchandise and more.

I walked my way back downtown which only took 20 minutes from where I had ended up in Capitol Hill and arrived at Pike Place Market’s ‘Gum Wall’ – a laneway with walls literally covered in colours of gum. They say it’s the second germiest tourist attraction in the world! There were tourists pretending to lick it, but I was content with not getting too close.

It was then time for my Eat Seattle Tours ‘Chef Guided Tour of Pike Place Market’ experience with our tour guide, Chef Noah. The two-hour tour took us through the history of the market and nine tastings at various vendors. The market opened in the early 1900s to cut pricing and its now mainly used by locals and chefs between 8am and 11am – that’s when you can catch the fish throwing. The market has five levels of produce, artisans and boutiques from magic shops to coin shops, paper works, bags, books, comics, CDs and videos, bags, jewellery, crafts, fabric and more. It was all a bit nostalgic and novelty (like this creamery) but you also don’t know where to start so the tour was a great way to get familiar with the market.

Our tastings included Turkish pizza made of a pita dough from Miss Cafe; truffle salt, tartufo (truffle) toast and sundried tomato pesto toast from Truffle Queen; apples, grapes and mandarins from Frank’s Quality Produce; a juicy pork and pineapple taco from Los Agaves which really did get messy; the signature New England clam chowder from Pike Place Chowder; cinnamon orange tea and a dip tasting from Made in Washington where, as the name says, everything in the store was made from within Washington state; margarita pizza from Pizza and Pasta Bar; salmon candy (like jerky) from Totem Smokehouse; and choc chip cookies from Indi Chocolate.

I’d always planned to have a full serving of clam chowder for lunch, however I was definitely full by the end of this tour and the sampler was probably the perfect size for my non-lactose stomach.

After the tour I stopped into the first ever Starbucks at 1912 Pike Place which still uses the original logo, and both the logo and name pay homage to the city of Seattle. I felt it would be rude of me not to get myself an afternoon pick me up, and after all there weren’t the usual ‘tourist season’ lines.

I made my way to Argosy Cruises at Pier 55 for a one-hour harbour cruise for $US45. I had been recommended to take one of the Washington State Ferries to Bainbridge Island return for $11US instead but it was a 45-minute ferry each way plus the time to experience the island, which I didn’t have the time for. The Argosy Cruise usually seats around 400 guests, but our sailing had less than 50 so there were no issues with seats or views, and we could move from side-to-side when needed. With a fairly clear day, we could see Mt Rainier and the Cascade Mountains Harbourside and the Olympic Mountains Starwood-side (behind the city). It was nice to also have some commentary on the history and sights of Seattle.

I was back in Capitol Hill for dinner at another recommendation from my hotel – Annapurna Café – as I’d never eaten Himalayan cuisine before. After the complimentary papadum, I tried the squash tempura (the batter was a little tough) and the Annapurna curry with mixed vegetables – traditional Nepalese style curry cooked with fresh spices, sautéed onions, tomatoes and cilantro. The restaurant had a basement level and a street level bar and was a vibe with loud Bollywood music videos playing throughout.

I ended my Seattle wander at one of the live music venues – Revolver Bar – and enjoyed a couple of Spruce Springsteen cocktails to 80s, dark wave music (so I was told by the locals).

I really enjoyed wandering Seattle on my way to my Canadian snowboarding trip. It was very convenient to travel through to Canada too with a four-hour train ride to Vancouver with Amtrak.

Next up I will share all about my journey to master snowboarding in Whistler.

Until then…

LWL xxx