Courtney FossWe decided to jet off to Seattle for a long birthday weekend for Austin…and I loved it so much. Everyone has always told me that I should move to the Pacific Northwest because I hate sunlight and that area typically is gray and rainy throughout the year – so I wanted to see for myself. Of course while we were there, the sun decided to shine bright. I digress.
Day 1
We landed at the Seattle-Tacoma (Sea-Tac) airport at midnight and after picking up our rental car (which took 45 minutes…thanks, Budget) we made it to our hotel by about 1:30 a.m.
The hotel we stayed out was, I thought, perfect for this trip. It was the Courtyard Pioneer Square. It’s located on 2nd avenue, right next to Pioneer Square. I must say, the population of homeless people there was pretty high, as they typically tend to stay in the park area and a few of the surrounding streets. But we enjoyed it and felt safe most of the time!
Once we woke up, we asked the front desk person if he had any suggestions for what to do or what to eat and he recommended Lowell’s at Pike Place. It was a perfect breakfast spot and had a view of the bay. Everyone recommended this place. Pike Place was about a 10 minute walk from the hotel, so it was really convenient. We also visited (twice) a little french bakery there, La Panier. It was SO good. SO good. Absolutely a must in my book. It’s three doors down from the original Starbucks, something we actually didn’t go to. We just did not think the line was worth it at all. If you need a Starbs fix, there is a huge one literally right outside Pike Place….so we did that.
We really wanted to be on the water, so we decided to take a ferry over to Bainbridge Island. This was probably my favorite thing we did during the trip! It was $9 per person, so for less than 20 bucks, I think it’s a great half day or full day activity. It’s about a 30 minute ride on the ferry, which was just beautiful in itself. Great views of the skyline on one side, and then the water and mountains on the other. This town feels secluded and is very quiet. Again, I saw it and immediately thought it was like the town on Hallmark’s Cedar Cove. I can’t help it. We walked around the main street area and grabbed lunch at a restaurant on the water. A few things were still closed due to the pandemic but a lot was open! We kept thinking “I wonder if we should just go back there” if we had any other free time throughout the trip because it was just such a lovely place.
We then decided to ride the iconic Great Wheel. This was $15 bucks per person but we figured it was worth it. They said we would go around 3 times, so we figured it would be about 15 minutes. But be prepared that they might lose track. We went around 7 times and were up there for almost an hour. The long travel night we had before was hitting us so we grabbed Starbucks on the walk back to the hotel and were back there and getting ready for bed by 6:55 p.m. Heaven.
One takeaway from walking around the first day was just how hilly the downtown area was. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but just thought it would be another normal downtown with a bunch of flat streets. The hills were unbelievable. Every time we walked anywhere, I checked my watch to see how much my heart rate went up from walking on such an incline. If you’re thinking of traveling to the downtown area with anyone who is older or has any issues getting around easily, I think it would be pretty hard to navigate the area.
Day 2
We again asked the new front desk person for their recommendations, and he suggested we walk one block up to a different cafe. So we did and again, were very pleased. We love Starbucks, but we also really love finding local coffee shops too. Talking to the locals is absolutely the way to go when thinking about food and activities.
I love doing anything nature related during vacations, so I found a hike for us to do in Discovery Park. It took about 15 minutes to drive up there from the hotel. We were out there for over an hour and were able to take in the beauty of the bay from up there. I would highly recommend it because it’s a really scenic walk and great exercise!
We then drove over to the Washington Arboretum, but unfortunately a lot of the flowers were not in bloom yet. We only stayed about 20 minutes, but if everything had been in peak season, I know it would have been breathtaking. We also passed the University of Washington, and I’m that person that loves to see college campuses…so I made us drive on there so I could see the football field, basketball arena, and specifically the softball field. Austin puts up with a lot.
We then drove up about 30 minutes to Woodinville, where the Chateau Ste MIchelle winery is located. We grabbed lunch at a great spot two minutes from the winery at Purple Cafe and then went over. I had reserved a wine tasting, but when we got there they let us just order whatever we wanted. I absolutely loved it there and would say it’s a must do if you like wine or just the experience of going to a stately winery. The buildings were lovely and you even get to keep the glasses (which were hard to transport home, but we made it). We got back to downtown around 4:30 p.m. and decided we needed to go back to the french bakery at Pike Place…so we made that walk and grabbed Chipotle on the way back. Again, we were back at the hotel before sun down, but we were very happy with that schedule.
Day 3
We left the hotel around 7:45 a.m. because we had a full day planned with a two hour drive to Leavenworth.
My Hallmark Christmas movie loving heart decided that I really wanted to make the trip 2 hours east to this picturesque town. And all the locals that we asked also agreed. They all said it was the cutest little Bavarian town and that the drive over to it was really pretty as well. It’s supposed to be absolutely amazing during Oktoberfest and also during the Christmas holidays, but I wanted to see it regardless.
I also really wanted to see a popular landmark along the way. Snoqualmie falls is just about 30 minutes from downtown Seattle, so I wanted to work it into our schedule if we could. We got there and it had already started to snow, which I thought was just amazing. It was easy to find, and there is a free parking lot just across the street. There is an adjoining bridge from there that leads directly to the path that overlooks the falls. It was extremely foggy that day, but it was still amazing. It is 269 feet high (for comparison, Niagara Falls is just 170 feet high) and the setting is magnificent. I kept saying I wish I had brought a chair to sit there and enjoy it.
We wanted coffee so just googled it and found the best little coffee shop. It was so dreamy because it was snowing, and the coffee and food was so so good. Huxdotter Coffee if you’re ever in the area.
We were planning on then continuing our drive over to Leavenworth, however, the weather had different plans. The highway at Snoqualmie Pass was completely shut down because of unexpected snow and increased chance of an avalanche. So, sadly, we reversed course and went the other way, back up the western coast. We were able to drive up to Chuckanut Drive, one of the most scenic drives in Washington. It spans several bays on one side and hills/mountainside on the other. We didn’t get to stop, but locals told us to go to Taylor’s restaurant. This one is located right on the water so you can see the workers bring in all the fresh oysters that also supplies several of its other Washington locations. Doesn’t get any fresher than that. We ended up in Bellingham, which is such a charming little town. The main streets have adorable restaurants and quaint shops. We also got to park and walk down to the walkway that runs over Bellingham Bay. This was about an hour and 5 minutes from Seattle, so we thought it was worth the drive!
We got back to the hotel around 3 p.m., so we changed and walked down for a late lunch/early dinner. We went to a restaurant that was one block from the Seahawks’ field so that was fun to see up close. I will say, I didn’t love the walk through Pioneer Square. It felt a bit deserted – there were barely any people around, so I didn’t feel quite as safe as I had felt over by the hotel. We got back to the hotel, packed our stuff, and got to bed at a decent hour before flying out early the next morning.
Day 4
This was just a travel day. If you know me, you know I hate crowds and refuse to really do anything on weekends. But with how everything worked out, we ended up flying back on Sunday. Never again. There was an extremely long line for security at the Seattle Airport at 6 a.m., even for PreCheck. We were able to get to the gate with about 2 minutes to spare. The flight was completely packed. We landed for our layover in Denver, and all lines for any food options had at least 20 people in them – Starbucks had about 40. It was insane, and there were people everywhere. Seems like now that things have started to go a bit back to normal, people are ready to get out and use up those travel credits they’ve got! Thursday night when we flew out of San Antonio, there were probably 6 people total in the security line. It was a delight.
If you’re traveling right now, definitely look to do it at an off time, because the airports are extremely lively again and some are still operating with limited services and food options…which makes it even worse.
Overall, we had a really great long weekend in Washington and absolutely plan to go back again in the future – next time to hopefully do more of a road trip in the area including all through Oregon. We’ll probably be planning for 8+ days there next time!
Thanks for reading!
Courtney
