Seattle Travel Diary

Hey y'all! In my last post I shared the most adorable dress that I wore for my day in Seattle, but today I want to share all the details about everything I did in the city. This was my first time in Seattle, and to be honest my only preconceptions about the city came from what I saw on Grey's Anatomy... but I'm happy to report that it was much better than I expected, so much so that Seattle may be tied with San Francisco for my favorite city that I visited last month! 

We rolled into Seattle late Sunday night and checked into The Maxwell Hotel, a Staypineapple hotel, and it was the funkiest hotel I've ever seen! The walls in our room were neon green, and the furniture in the lobby was full of hot pinks, neon greens and yellows. The beds were one of the best parts because each bed had two mini comforters so you didn't have to share one with the person you were sleeping next to. It was so nice for my sister and I! 

When I woke up Monday morning, the gloomy, chilly weather was no surprise to me (that's what Seattle is known for right?), but I was surprised by how refreshing it felt compared to the Kansas heat and humidity. I am not a cold weather person by any means; anything under 60 degrees in unacceptable in my book, and while I probably couldn't tolerate the Seattle weather year-round, the morning and early afternoon chill made the experience all the better. 

After rising bright and early our first stop of the day was the Space Needle. We pre-bought tickets online for 9:00 a.m. and then quickly saw our way to the top. 

The inside of the Space Needle left much to be desired, but once you step foot outside, the views of the city from the top are truly unbeatable. The overcast skies set a refreshingly peaceful mood for the Monday morning as well. 

After soaking in the city from above we hit the streets and walked to the Pike Place Market. Even at 11 a.m. on a Monday this place was packed, so I can't imagine how busy it must be on the weekends. Although, despite the crowds, it was fun to stroll along the fresh fish, flowers and food. 

We got to the market right around lunchtime, so after strolling along the tables for a bit we snagged a table at Athenian for what ended up being our only meal of the day. We also sat by the window which had the most beautiful view of the pier. I ordered the NW salmon fish and chips which was yummy, and my mom ordered the Alaskan king crab legs, which she very kindly shared because let me tell y'all...they were SO.GOOD. I thought I didn't like crab prior to that day, but these crab legs are easily in my top three favorite foods now!  

After one of my favorite meals of the entire trip we walked down to the alleyways under the market where literally everyone was "doing it for the 'gram!" 

This is also where we found the beloved gum wall. Theater patrons first started sticking gum to the wall, which is near the box office for the Market Theater, in 1993. After a couple attempts of cleaning the wall, it was declared a tourist attraction. Although, it was recently cleaned in 2015, removing 20 year's worth of gum, but as you can see from my pictures below people quickly began to stick their gum to the wall again! 

Once we left our mark on the wall the sun started to peek out, so we decided to walk up to the pier where we found the cutest lemonade stand! 

As we sipped on our delicious lemonade, we took a minute to decompress and admire the water and Seattle skyline.

Once our lemonade was empty and we felt like we had soaked up enough sunshine for the time being we started our walk to the Olympic Sculpture Park. Although, halfway there we were already craving another sugar fix. We stopped by The Yellow Leaf Cupcake Co. for cupcakes and milk. This place was the cutest, their cups included! 

By mid-afternoon we made it to the sculpture park. There was a nice view of the water and watching the sailboats was relaxing while we took a quick break. Have I ever mentioned I really want to go sailing one day? I feel like it would be such a fun experience! 

I wouldn't say there was very much to the park, especially for how out of the way it seemed for us, but it was fun nonetheless since we didn't have anything else planned for the rest of the day. 

On our way back to the hotel we ran into the coolest fountain ever! It's called the International Fountain and is located on the Seattle Center grounds. We sat there and watched kids run and splash around in the water for so long; it looked like a blast for younger families! 

We also got the best view of the Space Needle from the fountain! 

Our last stop on our way back to our hotel was the Pacific Northwest Ballet. The glass exterior was so pretty, and there was also some water features on the ground outside that my siblings had fun with.

I'm a little embarrassed to say that once we got back to the hotel everyone was passed out by 5 p.m. Luckily we had seen everything we wanted to that morning and afternoon because we slept right through dinner and didn't wake up until the next morning. Although, I feel like our 20 hour drive the day before fully justified our extended nap. 

On our way out of town Tuesday morning we stopped by Starbucks because how can you not go in the city where it all started? Then the very last thing we did was take a quick look at the Fremont Troll. It was massive and kind of gave me the creeps, but it was a fun photo op! 

As y'all can see, Seattle treated me well! The city was much more impressive than I ever expected and don't even get me started on those Alaskan king crab legs again...to.die.for! Have any of y'all ever been to Seattle? What did you think, is there anything else I should see if I go again?