sea u later, seattle (2023 sep)
(been feeling mentally unwell recently, enough to want to skip my therapy session today, but i'm glad i finally got this behemoth of a trip recap out of the way.)
Seattle
Downtown
- â Pike Place Market
- Most places that carry the kind of touristy notoriety Pike Place Market has leave me underwhelmed (or deter me from even visiting at all, like the Space Needle or the Chihuly Garden and Glass), so I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed visiting the market. I imagined a glorified tourist trap with boutiques selling overpriced goods, but there were actually people selling fresh seafood there! Sure, I didn't find anything I wanted to buy (other than fifty postcards from the Art Stall Gallery (97 Pike Pl #2, Seattle, WA 98101) which I highly recommend), but it was fun to wander around and spend an hour.
Rachel's Ginger Beer (1530 Post Alley, Seattle, WA 98101)
- Have you ever seen a store dedicated to selling ginger beer on tap?
- The blood orange ginger beer was great, and I hope I get to try more flavors one day.
â Seattle Public Library - Central Library (1000 4th Ave, Seattle, WA 98104)
- Ten floors full of books and places to work. Highly recommend if you have some time to kill in downtown.
â The (Amazon) Spheres (2111 7th Ave, Seattle, WA 98121)
- I'm kicking myself for not getting to see this! It's free, but you have to either reserve it in advance (and spots go very quickly) or get an Amazon employee to let you in. Since I didn't plan out this trip at all, I was not able to go inside, but they looked very cool from the street.
- Robot vs Sloth (1535 1st Ave, Seattle, WA 98101)
- Wildly expensive gifts, but they'll appeal to a certain audience.
- â Left Bank Books Collective (92 Pike St #B, Seattle, WA 98101)
- As the name might suggest, a very lefty/anarchist bookstore. I arrived minutes before closing and although the store was small, I wish I could have spent more time browsing.
- Beecher's Handmade Cheese (1600 Pike Pl, Seattle, WA 98101)
- I'm a big fan of the whole made-in-house, local farms, and traditional preservative-free approach, but sadly I wasn't crazy about the cheese (though my friends were). I bought the flagship for them, and it was too salty for me. I didn't try the grilled cheese or the mac&cheese but my friends say they're amazing.
- Pendleton (117 Pine St, Seattle, WA 98101)
- Never seen one of these stores before! I was surprised to learn that neither of my friends had heard of Pendleton or seen their designs but I like the history & the aesthetic. Not a huge selection here and not much for me but was cool to see nonetheless.
- Mee Sum Pastry (1526 Pike Pl, Seattle, WA 98101)
- Right across from Pike Place Market. I thought the pastries was okay, but very pricey. If you come at the end of the day you won't have much to pick from other than chasiu baos and leftovers.
- Space Needle (400 Broad St, Seattle, WA 98109)
- I really did not understand why I needed to pay $40 to go up this not so tall building, so skipped it and explored the Uptown area around it instead. There's not really much to see here... The only museum that caught my eye was the Museum of Pop Culture. The only redeeming point was taking the Seattle Center Monorailâit's quite a scenic ride.
- I wish I'd done a tour of Seattle's historic underground streets.
Capitol Hill
- â Twice Sold Tales (1833 Harvard Ave, Seattle, WA 98122)
- A secondhand bookstore with cats. (I'm not sure what else I need to say...)
- â Spin Cycle Records (321 Broadway E, Seattle, WA 98102)
- Great collection with lots of secondhand records.
- Quest Bookshop (717 Broadway E, Seattle, WA 98102)
- I didn't really find much I wanted to read here, but they have a reading area in the back with lots of old religious books you can borrow to read and a tiny bamboo garden.
- Casita International (423 15th Ave E, Seattle, WA 98112)
- Kobo Shop & Gallery on Capitol Hill (814 E Roy St, Seattle, WA 98102)
- Neat place with lots of imported Japanese knickknacks and home goods and a kind staff. The outpost in International District is better though, in my opinion.
- â Dick's Drive-In (115 Broadway E, Seattle, WA 98102)
- I don't eat fast food very often but relent every once in a while for a cult classic like Dick's. I'm glad I did! It has all the hallmarks of a burger joint I like: simple menu, quick service, and fresh food.
- Ada's Technical Books (425 15th Ave E, Seattle, WA 98112)
- Neat café meets bookstore selling a small range of self-described 'geeky' books and some board games. Very limited seating area, though.
Pike/Pine
- â Elliott Bay Book Company (1521 10th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122)
- One of the best bookstores I've ever seen with an enormous collection. I spent almost two full hours here leafing through the staff picks. Open late.
- Pink Gorilla Games Capitol Hill (613 E Pike St, Seattle, WA 98122)
- Cute, small store with lots of games for old consoles.
International District / Chinatown
- Sairen (600 S Jackson St, Seattle, WA 98104)
- Small Asian boutique with a very playful dog.
- Kobo Shop & Gallery (at Higo) (604 S Jackson St, Seattle, WA 98104)
- Japanese imported gifts, clothes, home decor.
- â Arundel Books (322 1st Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104)
- Probably the second best bookstore I visited in Seattle, after Elliott Bay. I liked that they were promoting lesser-known writers from Russian literature when I went; it felt like they knew what they wanted to show me and did it well.
- Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park (319 2nd Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104)
- Surprisingly fun way to kill half an hour. Did you know Seattle, like San Francisco, owes a large part of its growth to a gold rush?
- Peter Miller Architecture and Design Books (Post Alley, 304 Alaskan Way S, Seattle, WA 98104)
- Hidden in an alleyway. No phones allowed at all inside.
- Cake House (620 S Weller St, Seattle, WA 98104)
- Stopped by here for an egg tart and a custard bun and neither was very good, unfortunately. Cash only.
Things I want to visit next time:
- Panda Yogurt çćźé žć„¶ (518 S King St, Seattle, WA 98104)
- mam's books (608 Maynard Ave S, Seattle, WA 98104)
- Not open when I visited.
- Filson (1741 1st Ave S, Seattle, WA 98134)
- This flagship store is technically in SoDo but I'm too tired to make a section for this one place I didn't actually visit.
Issaquah
- Poo Poo Point
- A nice but very challenging hike, especially in the rain.
- Lots of elevation gain for a view at the top that is not all that impressive, but the trail is enjoyable enough.
Ballard
I wish I'd got more time to explore Ballard! We were only at the farmers market and I regret not taking more time to explore the other stores. There's a KAVU store I wanted to stop by (more bags!!!!!) but maybe it's for the better I didn't go...
-
- A fantastic farmers market open every Sunday from 9-2 year-round!
- I usually don't find much to buy at farmers market but I saw lots to love at this one, like great seasonal fruit (blueberries & blackberries), baked goods, pickles, mushrooms, raclette (yes, melted on the spot), fresh seafood, stationery, artisan goods, honey, candy, writers selling poems, and even street musicians.
Ballard Locks, in particular the salmon ladder
- It was cool to see boats raised and lowered in the locks, but I thought the salmon ladder was the star of the show. We eat them so much that I think sometimes people forget just how big and beautiful salmon are. It's incredible to me that they just know to return to the very rivers where they spawned, even if it means swimming upstream and sitting and waiting in a man-made salmon ladder.
Fremont
I'm told Fremont is the bohemian neighborhood, and I can kind of see it. It feels like an underdogâit's got the thriving cool stores but it's not fully gentrified yet. I could probably spend about half a day exploring here, but I was itching to get out because the name kept reminding me of painful memories1.
- Theo Chocolate (3400 Phinney Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103)
- Sadly I think this place is closing soon?
- Jive Time Records (3506 Fremont Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103)
- I bought a record here! The staff was very nice and they have a nice diverse used collection that's not too overwhelming.
- Fremont Troll (North 36th Street, Troll Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103)
- It's kind of hilarious to me that Fremont just has this huge stone troll sculpture under a bridge? Either way, very cool.
- Ophelia's Books (3504 Fremont Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103)
- A small but welcoming bookstore with a great selection of titles. The guy who works there loves his job!!
Kirkland
- Isarn Thai Kitchen (170 Lake St S, Kirkland, WA 98033)
- Very busy, even on weeknights! Food was great but it's hard for me to eat much Thai food cause it skews so sweet.
- Sirena Gelato (109 Park Ln, Kirkland, WA 98033)
- We came here while waiting for a table at Isarn and subsequently missed the text telling us our table was ready (oops!). Flavors are hit or miss but this is a decent place for gelato with a helpful staff. I was happy to see that the pistachio flavor was a dull yellow rather than the typical NEON GREEN that is a dead-giveaway for added food coloring. (I'm starting to think I have really high standards for ice cream...)
Bellevue
- Supreme Dumplings (14603 NE 20th St #4B, Bellevue, WA 98007)
- I was a little underwhelmed by the size of their xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) especially given the price, but the food was good! We also got the mochi and the Japanese milk tea (which I can both recommend).
- Stone Korean Restaurant (15015 Main St #114, Bellevue, WA 98007)
- I have high standards for Korean food, and everything we got here was delicious! If you don't like soondubu jjigae, you need to try it on a cold, wet day in the Pacific Northwest.
- Desi Tadka (304 105th Ave NE, Bellevue, WA 98004)
- Great Indian food. The special thali is a treat.
- Enkore Bellevue Karaoke (13500 Bel-Red Rd #5, Bellevue, WA 98005)
- No, you don't need to call to reserve a room (seems like they're rarely very busy), and yes, you can spend three and a half hours singing there if you want. (Trust me, we tried for you.)