We have lived near Seattle for a month and a half now but haven’t been tourists in the big city yet. Below we outline how we explored Seattle in a day!
Urban Hike
We woke up at the crack of dawn to take the foggy 7:00 a.m. morning ferry from Bainbridge to Seattle. Once we arrived at the Seattle Ferry Terminal, we walked a couple blocks NW until we hit Spring Street and took a right. We like to call this next part our “urban hike” because there was a steady incline for several blocks. Little did we know; downtown Seattle closely resembles the terrain of downtown San Francisco. As our heart rates increased mid hill, we passed the Seattle Public Library on our right. Seattle is a city filled with glass buildings and the library is one of them; it’s an interesting building that we hear has a cool interior with lots of greenery, but it wasn’t open yet when we strolled by. A few blocks later, we ran into Freeway Park on our left. We decided to meander this Freeway Park, a unique cement and plant blend in the heart of the city, on our final stretch to the Starbucks Reserve Roastery. Of note, even in broad daylight, Freeway Park had a sketchy feel, with multiple homeless people, so we wouldn’t recommend exploring here alone.
Seattle Public Library
Freeway Park
Seattle Public Library
Freeway Park
Starbucks Reserve
After our 1.8-mile urban hike, we arrived at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Capitol Hill at about 8:30 a.m. This is a relatively new (2014) establishment that we highly recommend, but just once since it’s way too expensive! They have a completely different menu than your standard Starbucks and you can watch the coffee making process from beans to a delicious drink. Our first stop was the bar; yes, you heard me correctly, we hit up a bar at 8:00 a.m. Adam ordered a delicious coffee cocktail with whiskey and cream. It was fun to watch our bartender meticulously create this delicious drink and top it with the perfect amount of foam. If you want this drink, you may ask for the “pot of gold,” a concoction they had just come up with the night before, but the actual name is TBD. Megan, on the other hand, saw an ice cream coffee drink and decided to go with that. It was quite delicious and if she was a coffee drinker, this is how she would love to have her coffee every morning. They also have an Italian pastry corner which is where we purchased some breakfast sandwiches. Due to the price of these, we would recommend just sticking with drinks at the Starbucks Reserve. If you want a starting point for your Friday or Saturday night before heading to Capitol Hill, the bar here is also open late.
Starbucks Reserve Roastery
Witnessing the coffee process
Quite the coffee bar!
Adam drinking coffee…what?!
The most delicious coffee milkshake!
Starbucks Reserve Roastery
Witnessing the coffee process
Quite the coffee bar!
Adam drinking coffee…what?!
The most delicious coffee milkshake!
Seattle Center
From the Starbucks Reserve, we walked a little over a mile to Seattle Center. This is a very touristy area containing the Space Needle, Chihuly Garden and Glass, MoPOP Museum, and more. We decided not to pay to go up to the top of the Space Needle because it was a very cloudy day, so we wouldn’t have been able to see any mountains in the distance. Of note, we’ve heard the Columbia Observation Deck is a less expensive lookout option with just as good or better views because it’s higher and you can see the iconic Space Needle from up there. We also opted out of paying to enter the Chihuly Garden and Glass, though it did look impressive from the sneak peaks we got through the bushes. Neither one of us had a great interest in MoPOP, so we didn’t go in, but we’ve heard it’s an interesting museum if you like that kind of thing.
The Space Needle: the iconic Seattle landmark built in 1962 for the World’s Fair
A sneak peek at the Chihuly Garden and Glass. The bright green plant on the far right is glass!
MoPOP Museum
The Space Needle: the iconic Seattle landmark built in 1962 for the World’s Fair
A sneak peek at the Chihuly Garden and Glass. The bright green plant on the far right is glass!
MoPOP Museum
Chittenden Locks Ballard
After our brief visit to Seattle Center, we grabbed an Uber express pool (this is a great way to save money without losing a ton of time) over to the Ballard Locks by 10:30 a.m. What an interesting contraption they have here! There’s a very well-oiled canal system implemented here that preserves the water levels of both the Puget Sound and Lake Washington. It was fun to watch the boats change levels while in the lock. Due to the time of year and tides, there was about a 20 ft drop on this August morning. Based on an educational sign we came across, the water height change can vary from about 6-26 ft. We were also able to check out the salmon ladder run, where salmon must swim up 21 steps to get to Lake Washington from Puget Sound. Each step helps them acclimate from saltwater back to freshwater. We were informed that salmon are born in the freshwater, migrate to the saltwater for several years, and then return to the freshwater to spawn. It sometimes takes the salmon five months to navigate back through the ladder. June through October is the best window of opportunity to watch the salmon migrate.
Ballard Locks
Changing the water level – so cool!
Letting the boats pass from the fresh water of Lake Washington to the salt water of Puget Sound.
The Salmon Run! (they have to go up 21 steps while acclimating back to fresh water)
Ballard Locks
Changing the water level – so cool!
Letting the boats pass from the fresh water of Lake Washington to the salt water of Puget Sound.
The Salmon Run! (they have to go up 21 steps while acclimating back to fresh water)
Salumi
After checking out the locks and salmon, it was time for some early lunch. We met up with my friend Jaci at Salumi, located in Pioneer Square. This is an awesome deli lunch spot that is only open from 11a.m.-3p.m. daily. It was our first time here, so the gentleman working the deli was very nice and let us sample each of the different types of meat! They have unique flavors incorporated into their salamis such as ginger, cinnamon, etc. Jaci and Megan decided to share a warm porchetta sandwich (which we were still barely able to finish) and Adam went with his own cold Salumi salami sandwich. Both were great, but we’d have to highly recommend a warm porchetta sandwich if you go. This must be a popular place because when we were walking out the front door, we ran into some friends from South Dakota who also learned that this was a go-to spot!
Salumi – a great spot for lunch!
This is only half of one of their huge sandwiches!
Salumi – a great spot for lunch!
This is only half of one of their huge sandwiches!
Pike Place Market
After lunch we were ready to explore the sprawled out four level Pike Place Market! We started around 12:30 p.m. at the gum wall and of course had to add our own touch. We then headed up to the fish market and got to witness the famous throwing of fresh fish as people purchase them. It is pretty hard to miss, as the workers who toss the fish become very boisterous during their pitching. We perused the remainder of the market, sampling things here and there, until we decided on getting some dessert at the mini donut stand. This was probably the longest line in the market (and you need to pay cash), but they were great donuts. We would recommend the fresh made classic warm ones over the pretty looking done-up cold ones. While we were exploring the market area, we stumbled upon the original Starbucks (which was very busy, and we think the Starbucks Reserve was a cooler experience) and by passed some other popular looking restaurants. You could honestly spend 30 minutes around the market or four hours, whichever you prefer.
The Gum Wall!
Of course, we had to add a smiley face to it 🙂
Pike Place Market
We couldn’t go to the market and not see some fish be thrown!
The original Starbucks (not as cool as Starbucks Reserve)
The Gum Wall!
Of course, we had to add a smiley face to it 🙂
Pike Place Market
We couldn’t go to the market and not see some fish be thrown!
The original Starbucks (not as cool as Starbucks Reserve)
Seattle Breweries
After getting our food fix in, we decided it was time for some good beer. Our first stop was Cloudburst Brewing, about two blocks NW of Pike Place Market. This brewery writes their menu on recycled paper and clothes pins their tap titles up because they are regularly rotating their beers. This is nice for some variety, but a bummer when you were hoping to snag a specific beer. Many of their beers are IPAs- we would recommend the Imperial Double IPA “You Can’t Fire Me I Quit”. After our Cloudburst beers, we meandered the couple blocks back toward Pike Place Market and tried Old Stove Brewing. The best part about this brewery was the back patio where you have a fantastic view of Puget Sound on a clear day. Their tap list was more common brews- we recommend the Wynona’s Brown Ale. We then made our way back to the gum wall alley via a different level of the market to stop at The Pike Brewing Company. This place has a restaurant and taproom upstairs, but we decided to check out the underground garage that is only open on the weekends, right next to the gum wall. We sat on some kegs down here while listening to some good tunes and drinking our Kilt Lifters, their signature Scotch Ale. Our last brewery stop for the afternoon was Pyramid Alehouse. This is a large venue with beer, food, and a cool outdoor beer garden right between CenturyLink Field (where the Seahawks play) and Safeco Field (where the Mariners play). On event days, you definitely need to get here early to avoid a wait. They have a ton of game options in their beer garden and like to put on a lot of events. We arrived just after 4:00 p.m. and barely made it in before a large line formed out the door. Their sandwiches are what stuck out to us here and they had great beers to compliment them. Megan enjoyed the Apricot Ale with BBQ pork sandwich. Pyramid Brewery also has a sister location in Portland.
Cloudburst Brewery
A relaxed environment with tasty rotating beers.
Old Stove Brewing Company with a view of Puget Sound
View from the back patio at Old Stove
The longest line at Pike Place Market was for these mini donuts!
The Pike Brewing Company (right next to the gum wall)
Pyramid Alehouse – a brewery with food right next to the stadiums!
The interior of the bustling Pyramid Alehouse (you’re going to want to get here early).
Tasty sandwiches with beer compliments at Pyramid
Cloudburst Brewery
A relaxed environment with tasty rotating beers.
Old Stove Brewing Company with a view of Puget Sound
View from the back patio at Old Stove
The longest line at Pike Place Market was for these mini donuts!
The Pike Brewing Company (right next to the gum wall)
Pyramid Alehouse – a brewery with food right next to the stadiums!
The interior of the bustling Pyramid Alehouse (you’re going to want to get here early).
Tasty sandwiches with beer compliments at Pyramid
CenturyLink Field
Adam got Megan tickets to the Ed Sheeran concert for her birthday, so after we filled up on food and beer, we walked two blocks over to CenturyLink for the show! CenturyLink was a cool venue because we were able to see part of the downtown Seattle skyline behind the stage. We enjoyed the two openers: Anne Marie and Snow Patrol, and then Ed Sheeran put on an impressive one man show! If you ever have a chance to see him, do it.
Snow Patrol opening for Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran crushing it at CenturyLink Field!
Snow Patrol opening for Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran crushing it at CenturyLink Field!
Flatstick Pub
After the concert, we needed to fill up some time before our next scheduled ferry back to Bainbridge, so we walked about three blocks north to Flatstick Pub in Pioneer Square. This place was awesome! It’s an underground bar with a ton of local beers on tap and tasty Mexican food. If you are looking for a heavy dark beer here, go with the “Dark Star” Imperial Oatmeal Stout by Fremont Brewing. Go further past their main bar down some stairs and arrive at a creative 9-hole mini golf course spelling out Seattle that you can play for $7 while sipping on a drink. There are also multiple other golf and arcade games scattered throughout the entire pub, but it looked as though these were usually taken by private parties. We had a blast here and totally would have stayed longer if we didn’t have a 1:00 a.m. ferry to catch!
Flat Stick Pub: mini golf + beer = a great combo!
So many obstacles on these holes!
Flat Stick Pub: mini golf + beer = a great combo!
So many obstacles on these holes!
Now that was a very full day in Seattle! Whether you’re a go-go-go person like us or you’d rather spread these activities out over several days, we hope you gathered some good ideas from us!
WOW! Did you leave anything to see for the next time? Love you.
It’s such a huge city; there’s always more to explore 🙂
Wow… drinking coffee :). Looks like you had fun! Josh and i had such a fun time at flat stick when we were in Seattle. Took us a little too long to figure out the course were letters spelling seattle. Haha. 😉
Yeah haha we’ve dabbled in the coffee scene a bit while living in PNW. And Flatstick is awesome; what a creative course! Adam beat by one stroke on that one… Have you been doing anymore blogging lately?