The city of Seattle is a beautiful place. Personally, I find a special place in my heart for cities that sit on a body of water. It seems you can always find more things to do in cities near the water and Seattle is no exception. Our very first day in the city we took the time to explore, a luxury we rarely indulge ourselves in during the grind of life at home. A lot of people ask me how Lee and I travel and what we’re going to see while in that location. And my answer always surprises them. You see, Lee and I are not big ticket travelers. We didn’t go to Seattle to ride the Space Needle, wonder at the Chihuly museum, or explore the Aquarium (big ticket items) we went to experience the culture, explore the neighborhoods, shop in the local boutiques, and eat at the locally recommended restaurants.
There is no right or wrong way to travel. It just so happens that we find great enjoyment in wandering.
We started our morning by heading a few blocks away to grab some shots at the famous Pike’s Place Market. It was a little after 8 when we arrived at the Market and since it doesn’t officially open until 9 am it gave us some time before the throngs of tourists started to arrive. Pike’s Place is truly a unique place. It made a name for itself as the oldest continuous operating farmers market in the US and the neon sign, animated fishmongers, and $10 bouquets have been keeping people coming back time after time.
We grab a quick bite to eat (because I get GRUMPY when we skip breakfast) at a delicious French bakery across the street called Le Panier. Ham and cheese croissants and lattes for two, please!
Coffee in hand we began our great Seattle walking tour while the city was still fairly quiet. From the Market, we headed North toward Pier 66. Happenstance brought us across the unassuming entrance to the pier and as we walked further out toward the water, we realized this may just be the best perch in Seattle. The skyline rose up behind us and the snowy peaks of Olympic National Park appeared in the distance. The pier was empty so we took our time to snap photos and enjoy the sun on our faces.
Eventually, we did pass another person on the pier, a visitor from Hawaii who was in town for the Beyonce/ Jay-Z concert that evening. All three of us ended up talking for about an hour about traveling, entrepreneurship, and camera gear and he was kind enough to grab a few rare photos of Lee and me together.
A stroll up Blanchard Street took us past the Amazon hub where we saw the Spheres, the Amazon Go store and a number of other Amazon HQ buildings. From there we turned East and started to make our way over to Capitol Hill, a famous Seattle neighborhood in search of food again.
Oddfellows Cafe has been on our Seattle wishlist for months now so after a stop into the Starbucks Reserve to see the Willy Wonka world of coffee, we made our way over to the cafe for one of the best lunches of the trip.
Capitol Coffee Works was next on our “must visit” list, but we took our sweet time getting there stopping into boutiques and bookstores along the way. If you’re looking for a low key coffee shop in Capitol Hill I cannot recommend Capitol Coffee Works enough. Compared to the mobs in the Starbucks Reserve, this place was a lovely tempo. I ordered a delicious chai latte and we enjoyed a few moments on their upstairs balcony just watching the world go by.
At this point, we had already decided Capitol Hill was our favorite and we were going to come back up for dinner since the weather was perfection (sunny and 70) and the walk wasn’t bad. So around 4, we headed back to the hotel to change and rest a bit before heading back up the hill for dinner.
We had several yummy restaurants to try but settled on the. best. restaurant. ever. called Terra Plata. Guys… I still don’t have words to describe this place. But if you’re ever in Seattle, go here for dinner. We sat on their heated rooftop looking out at the city and slowly enjoyed the best meal ever before heading back to the hotel.
And 9 miles later that was our first full day.