Seeing Seattle
Oh Seattle, you're just lovely. I think I like you very much. Last month I was fortunate to visit Seattle and Anchorage for work. (More on Anchorage later I mean, come on, Alaska deserves it's own post.) My work responsibilities began Monday, I flew out early to take advantage of the weekend with my colleague Dan. And I'm so glad we did, but this city needed much more time.
Dan and I decided you can't go all the way to Seattle without driving down to Mount Rainier. Right?! The first day out in Seattle was a road trip down to Mount Rainier. Waking up early, checking out of our one night, fancy hotel, we picked up our car and hit the road south.
A quick stop for coffee, windy roads and we were there. The mountain was shrouded in fog, but what we did see was wonderful.
Arriving at the Visitor center we asked about what we could do on such a cloudy day. One thing was walking across the way and meandering through the lobby of the historic Paradise Inn. The vaulted rafters, and log made furniture makes you feel as though you've stepped back in time.
Not prepared for any sort of actual hike, one simple stop for a breathtaking view was at Christine Falls (right). There are so many scenic pull offs while driving on the main road. There is loads to do in the park.
Arriving back to town we checked into the hotel and quickly went off to explore. While we had a car we wanted to make the most of it. Setting off to Ballard, a neighborhood of Seattle about 20 minutes away from downtown. This fun and funky neighborhood was a great place to kill time. Dan had a plan for an epic bar crawl, with some keen insight from the doorman at the hotel, a quality, walkable, Seattle not-to-be-missed nightlife event.
Dan's Epic Bar Crawl
- Unicorn Get the mermaid drink, it's a delicious take on a Dark and Stormy, also check out the B&W photo booth!
- Cha Cha Lounge Go down stairs, this is very important. (This was stressed over and over again by the doorman) Drink suggestion: the Jamison Arnold Palmers slushie.
- The Comet Tavern Don't be fooled by the crowd, there a bar in the back, just head straight there.
- Sam's Tavern If you're lucky, you too can crash someone's birthday party by going up to the loft, sneaking pieces of Domino's cookie cake and order drinks next to the leg lamp replica from a Christmas Story.
The rest of our time was spent exploring the city, walking through the market, seeing some Seattle classics- the gum wall in Post Alley, the Space Needle and so much more! The city is pretty walkable and you can get to the main sights easily.
Places I went and ate: