We actually did sleep in Seattle, but only because we drank too much whiskey, and at some point sleep just happens...otherwise would have wanted to stay awake the whole trip as there was so much to do and see! Being a '90s kid' have always had an itch to visit the grunge capital emerald city and knew before going I'd love everything about it. Right when we walked into the hip and chic downtown Hotel Max and got the room card with Kurt Cobain's picture on it, I knew we were in the right place. Even more so being on the Sub Pop floor, with hotel doors covered in full length photos of Kurt, and my all time favorite Eddie Vedder.....whose photo, as the universe would have it, covered our door. "WHY GO HOME"! Almost cried. We also had a record player with - Bleach album included (duh!) Day 1 covered so much ground, yet nothing felt rushed....from Pike Market seafood (best salmon ever), getting local coffee,checking out the gum wall, exploring Capital Hill bars and vintage stores, to our pilgrimage to visit Bruce Lee and Brandon Lee's graves, back to Cap hill to more bars (Comet room!!) Somehow hit the hotel happy hour offering local brews, and wandered again down to the Pike Market (I think in search of food). The night gets blurry after that - but there was a cinnamon bun that traveled with us that day on our adventures and is pictured here for reasons I'm not totally sure of. Day 2 -- checked out the trendy neighborhood Ballard - visited a couple rad boutiques, and got a terrible brunch recommendation for Hatties. Worst meal of trip, but we made up for it later that day having sushi after visiting the SAM and the YSL exhibit - which worked out perfectly because this was the (only) day it rained all day. Whiskey was also consumed this night. Day 3 was my favorite -- an uber driver told us how easy it was to take the ferry to Bainbridge Island, so we decided to give it a go. I LOVED being on the boat and looking out at the Pacific Northwest coastline, and ahead at the pine trees in the distance. It was so cold and crisp and rejuvenating to breathe that fresh air. And yes, I might have pretended I was in the movie Twilight for a quick minute. When you arrive on the island you can walk to town - rather than taking the boat guides 'diner' tip for lunch, we asked the owner of a local record store his favorite place for seafood - and he called his buddy up at the Anchor Pub and sent us on our way in the direction towards the harbor. That little wooden house/pub was the favorite and best meal of the trip - fish tacos for me and clam chowder for the boy. You just can't beat it when they catch the fish right there. Ended that day with more coffee from Ghost Alley, and drinks/dinner with our friends from Seattle who showed us their fave spots that night - the morning after 'Linda's' will not be forgotten. So much of what made the trip fun was not having a 'plan' - just ideas in mind of things we wanted to check out, but going more with the flow. The locals we met along the way offered so many good tips that we got to experience 'real' Seattle aside from all the tourist traps!Our last day we only had time for a quick brunch and a swoop in of the original Starbucks (which is humongous and a circus of tourists)...caught the train to the airport as the snow started coming down and landed in LA just in time to still make it out on NYE. What a trip : )
