Seattle Travel Story

Hey all! Happy Travel Tuesday! Hopefully you all had a great Easter weekend full of candy, family, and Christ! We had a pretty full weekend actually. The first in a very long time! Friday evening we took Kai to the mall to do a little bit of shopping. It was his first trip out of the house besides going to the doctor or my parent's house! He did so well, too. We got Shake Shack for dinner and popped in to a couple of our favorite stores, and he was an angel the entire time. On Saturday, we got to visit with some friends of ours who also just had a baby! It was so fun to catch up and swap baby stories. Easter Sunday was so wonderful for us. I put together Easter baskets for Kai and Wrigley and had so much fun doing it. I got Kai Sebastian the lamb from Cuddle + Kind, and I can tell he just loves him! We did our annual Easter egg hunt for Wrigley where we put a treat in little plastic eggs and hide them all over the house. He's so smart and finds all of them by himself and pops them all open to get the treat! It's so impressive. My parents came over late in the morning to also give Kai an Easter basket and spend some time with us. For Easter dinner, we went to my aunt's house and spent the afternoon with our big family. It was everyone's first time meeting Kai and it was so fun to see him interact with everyone. I hope you all had a great Easter weekend, too!

So I know we took our trip to Seattle awhile ago, but like I said in my Portland Travel Story post, I really wanted to share this trip with all of you. We went to some amazing places while visiting Seattle and it is honestly my favorite city in the US.

We drove up to Seattle from Portland and went straight to Pike Place Market. Like I said, Seattle is my favorite city in the US and Pike Place Market is my favorite place in Seattle. So basically my favorite place ever. We walked around a little bit and smelled the flowers and grabbed some fruit from a farmers stand when we first got there. Then it was time for lunch. One of my favorite places at Pike Place is Beecher's Handmade Cheese. You can see them actually making the cheese there in the shop! It is the original cheese shop and they have a nice selection of cheeses to choose from. They also have a cafe menu, so we love going here for lunch. I always get the mac and cheese. It is so creamy and rich. Caleb got a smoked turkey sandwich that was also delicious! Next on the list to visit was a French bakery called Le Panier. They have amazing macarons and other French pastries there. We stopped in and grabbed some treats to have for later at our Airbnb that we were staying at. Next to Le Panier is Turkish Delight where you guessed it...you can get Turkish delights and Turkish coffee. We of course got both! After our food spree, we went to a couple of shops like Sur la Table and Made in Washington. I love the Made in Washington store. I'm not usually a big gift shop person but this shop has the most amazing huckleberry salt water taffies. They are probably my favorite candy ever! So if you're ever at Pike Place make sure you grab a bag for yourself and me ;). We didn't make it to  Starbucks this time but I'm a huge fan and think it's just so cool that the first Starbucks location is right there in Pike Place. A lot of people will tell you it's not worth it to wait in the long line to get a drink there and you can just walk a block and go to the location there to grab your coffee, but I think it's worth doing at least once. It's not just about getting a drink, it's the experience of being in their first shop!

After our afternoon at the market we made our way over to the Freemont area to check in to our Airbnb. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing there because #pregnancytales. For dinner that night, we went to my favorite food spot in Seattle, the Walrus and the Carpenter. They have the best oysters I've ever tried, and I was so sad I couldn't indulge in them this time around. All the more reason to go back again soon though! We still had a delicious dinner and then walked around the Ballard neighborhood afterwards.

Our second day in Seattle we actually spent hiking in Mount Rainier National Park, and I'm going to save that adventure for another post because with pictures alone it deserves it's own post! Before we headed out to the mountains though we stopped in at General Porpoise Doughnuts for breakfast. This was my favorite doughnut shop of our whole trip to the PNW! I loved everything about it from the doughnuts to the decor inside the shop. All their doughnuts are sugar coated and filled with cream or jelly. I got a strawberry cream filled doughnut that was seasonal and Caleb got the lemon curd doughnut. Both we're out of this world delicious! Their coffee was awesome, too. It was the perfect start to a very memorable day.

Our next day in Seattle was a full day of exploring. We had a quick breakfast at Cederberg Tea House in the Queen Anne area. It is a traditional South African tea house. Ashlyn and I found it on a list of the best bakeries in the USA and it was listed as the best one in the whole state of Washington, so we decided to check it out. It definitely didn't disappoint! My favorite thing we got was the Malva Pudding. Their big thing with it being a tea house though is Rooibos tea, which is caffeine free tea that is ground very fine and pulled through an espresso machine. I did not try the tea for a couple of reasons being I need caffeine in the morning and also I tried to stay clear of most teas while I was pregnant. Ashlyn tried it though and said it was really good!

Since we were in the area, we went over to Kerry Park for an amazing view of Seattle and the sound. You can see the entire Seattle skyline as well as Mount Rainier off in the distance on a clear day. We relaxed there for a bit then headed over to Salty's for their brunch buffet. We met up with some friends from California at Salty's and it was a very cool experience. They have a huge breakfast buffet and their restaurant sits right on the water. You can see seals flopping around the water from your table!

Our afternoon was really enjoyable, too. We did the espresso tasting at the famous Starbuck's Reserve Roastery. We also all tried their coffee cocktails, too, and I personally liked Caleb's the most. He got a play off of a Manhattan and it was so good! My favorite espresso was both the ones from the Congo. The Roastery is honestly one of my favorite spots in Seattle. They always have new things to try, and I love going back every time were out there. I can't wait till the Chicago one opens up!

We went to another favorite spot of mine for pre-dinner drinks at Needle & Thread. I was so sad that I couldn't order a cocktail with Caleb and Ashlyn, but the bartender graciously made me an amazing mocktail. The great thing about this bar is there is no menu. The bartender asks you a series of questions about what you like to drink and then crafts your perfect cocktail. Ashlyn and I discovered this place on our first trip to Seattle and we loved our drinks so much we just knew we had to take Caleb here. They both loved the drinks they got this time, too. The other cool thing about Needle & Thread is it is a speakeasy style bar. It's located on top of another bar called Tavern Law. You have to make reservations to get in to Needle & Thread and when it's your reservation time you enter Tavern Law, pick up a phone in the back of the bar and when your reservation is confirmed, you get buzzed in to a secret door where you can enter. I love bars like this because it's not just about the drinks but also the experience you get to have while enjoying a drink. After our time there, we walked over to Bar Melusine for dinner. This is a sister restaurant to Walrus and the Carpenter, so we knew it was going to be great, and we were right! I was boring and stuck with a burger and frites due to being pregnant but all the seafood looked delicious. I definitely plan on going back here next time so I can try the oysters and steak tartare!

Our last day we only spent the morning in Seattle and with it being a Sunday, we of course had to get brunch! We chose Westward for our last meal in Seattle and it definitely didn't disappoint. The restaurant is also located on the water (we have a thing for views ;) ) and the food was great. We got lucky and got to sit on the patio to enjoy the water and sun before getting back in the car for a long drive back to Portland. I got the Dutch Baby pancake and Caleb got the lamb shoulder hash. We recommend both! Both dishes were delicious and their lattes were awesome, as well. We stopped off at Pike Place Market one last time to walk through the fish market part of Pike Place since we didn't get to walk through it on our first day. We grabbed some snacks for our road trip and started our long trek back to Portland.

Instead of heading straight down Interstate 5 to get back, we got off once we hit US RT 12 and took it all the way to the coast. From there we drove down US RT 101 and stopped off at Cannon Beach. I'll share this part of our trip in another post, as well, as it was a full day worth of adventures!

Have you ever been Seattle? If so, I'd love to hear what your favorite places are in this beautiful city! Leave me a comment below and let me know!