48 Hours in Seattle
- Lucy and the lens
- Sep 29, 2019
- 4 min read
Seattle is one of my favourite American cities. There, I said it. We only managed to squeeze two days in the city into our loop of the Pacific Northwest, but we managed to cram quite a lot into those 48 hours! In no particular order, here's how we spent our time in a city with something for everyone! And for a city with one of the rainiest reputations in the country, we were lucky enough to have nothing but sun!
1. Chihuly Garden and Glass
We're officially fans of prolific glassblowing artist Dale Chihuly, after seeing his work this year at Kew Gardens in London UK, the roof of the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, and finally at his flagship exhibition gallery, Chihuly Garden and Glass. Walk through rooms decorated with glass sculptures, some big, some small, some larger than life, and finish up in the beautiful glass conservatory that leads to the gardens and even more sculptures inspired by plants and flowers. It's impossible to describe the beauty and uniqueness of Chihuly's art, so I won't even try. Just know this is my number one absolutely essential stop for the itinerary when in Seattle.
2. The view from Kerry Park
My second non-negotiable stop on the itinerary was the view from Kerry Park - rain or shine, I was determined to go and try to catch a glimpse of Mount Rainier hovering in the distance to the right of the Space Needle. Luckily, the weather couldn't have been better and we were treated to a perfect view of the city and the mountain as the sun set. If going for sunset, I'd recommend arriving at the little park at least 30-40 minutes before sunset itself, as the sun lit the city's skyscrapers and the mountain a beautiful gold before it sank and cast a shadow over the city about 20 minutes before actual sunset. We also stayed until the sky turned dark and the city lights blinked on.
3. Pike Place Market
The third and final absolute must on my Seattle itinerary was Pike Place Market. As a foodie, this was an obvious one, but even if I wasn't, I'd still have gone to see its iconic red neon sign and to try and catch a glimpse of the famous spectacle that is fish-throwing. You can find the fish stall right by the main entrance to the market, but know that no matter how big the crowd of spectators gets, they only throw a fish if someone actually buys one!
We were less interested in buying fish and more interested in getting our hands on arguably the best mac and cheese we'll ever eat in our entire lives, from Beecher's Handmade Cheese. This place sees queues around the block at peak times, but when we arrived around 11am we got our hands on our heavenly mac and cheese without any issues!
4. The Fremont Troll
This one is kind of a personal thing. If you were a teenager in the noughties watching the movie '10 Things I Hate About You' and wishing you were even close to being as cool as Kat Stratford, you might appreciate this stop as much as I did! Hidden under a highway in the Fremont district lurks a hideous, concrete troll clutching a VW beetle in its claws. When we arrived in the morning, it was already crawling with children - I mean literally, they were crawling all over it - but we hung around for ten minutes and eventually we were the only ones there and I was able to go into full nostalgia mode in peace!
5. Museum of Pop Culture
This museum is a mishmash of everything pop culture: film, TV, literature, and most of all, music. We happen to like all of those things, so we gave it a go! The museum has a strong emphasis on music- when we were there they were exhibiting on Prince, Nirvana, and Pearl Jam. We were, however, more interested in their exhibits that explored the evolution of certain genres throughout the history of literature, film and TV. We began with Horror, before moving on to Science Fiction and then Fantasy. Alongside the information were hundreds of props and costumes from movies such as The Walking Dead, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings.
6. Starbucks Roastery
Look, I don't even like coffee. But when in Seattle, the birthplace of Starbucks.... We unintentionally found ourselves at the Starbucks Roastery, an enormous place that roasts its coffee beans in house and has a full-on bar serving every type of coffee you can possibly imagine. We sat at the vintage-style bar and tried whiskey-infused cold brew and a malt coffee shake. Both amazing. And I don't even like coffee.
7. Salt and Straw ice cream
Salt and Straw is the gold standard of artisanal ice cream. They have branches in Portland and San Francisco among others, but the draw of trying the one in Seattle is the Beecher's Cheese flavoured ice cream! It tasted a little like cheesecake with the added bonus of chunky honey brittle hidden inside it. Perfection.
8. Pioneer Square
There's not all that much to do in historic Pioneer Square except enjoy this old canopy with a history behind it (in the photo below),but it's a relaxing place to sit - there's usually a low-key live music session going on - and its also the starting point for tours of Seattle's underground. Because beneath Seattle's modern sidewalks lies a much older network of streets that were once at ground level in the 19th century. Following a devastating fire and constant flooding, the city was forced to rebuild the area one to two stories higher than it had been before. You can still explore this underground network of streets today.
9. Japanese omakase meal at Adana
'Omakase' means 'chef's choice', and at Adana you get to enjoy mystery plate after mystery plate of Japanese food with a modern twist. This meal was so delicious that I've written a separate post about it here!
10. Views across the bay from Marination Ma Kai
Marination Ma Kai serves Hawaiian food in a low-key setting: you order at the bar and then go and grab a seat on the patio overlooking the water, and collect your food when it's ready. The food was decent, but the view of the skyline across the sea is the real selling point! Parking is a hot commodity so getting there early is probably wise!
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