Highlights of Seattle

It is easy to pick a topic to write about when you have just come back from vacation.  You need to write about the vacation of course.  You might remember from last week’s mini-blog that I went with my husband to Seattle, WA for the week to visit his cousins.  So now without further ado, some highlights from the trip.

Best Restaurant:  Elliott’s Oyster House

Over the course of several days, we sampled many places.  Our cousins guided us to several of their favorite places, including some Seattle hotspots and some yummy local options in Bellevue.  We also ventured out on our own one night to sample the famous Sky City restaurant at the top of the Space Needle.  While the view from Sky City was definitely the best we had while eating, the food options were a bit fancy for my taste.  I actually enjoyed our final meal at the oyster house best.  It was my first time eating raw oysters, which were not my favorite (a little chewy).  However, my grilled seafood salad was amazing.  There was a decent amount of seafood on it, and it was all cooked deliciously.

Best Snack:  Rachel’s Ginger Beer

Although I had plenty of muffins, cookies, and brownies at our cousins’ house, I only have a couple places to choose between when it comes to snacks outside of the house.  I picked Rachel’s, because a) it is unique and b) it was good.  We did have cupcakes one day.  While tasty, they were no better than half the other cupcake places I have tried (and I have tried quite a few of them).  This is the first time I have ever been to a place dedicated to ginger beer though.  You could have it plain, you could have it flavored by a number of fruit or spice add-ins, you could have it mixed with alcohol, or you could have it with ice cream.  I had mine with pink guava juice, and it was quite refreshing.

Best View:  Ferry from Bainbridge Island to Seattle

As mentioned above, we did visit the Space Needle where we had the view of Seattle in the restaurant and from the observation deck above.  This gave us a wonderful view of the mountains including an amazing look at Mount Rainier and the harbor.  However, this was easily beat by the view of the city skyline coming back on the ferry from Bainbridge Island.  We timed our ferry ride so that we were headed back to Seattle right as it was getting dark.  As we got closer, the sky got darker and the city lights twinkled brighter in the twilight.  It was absolutely breathtaking.

Best Attraction:  Chihuly Garden and Glass

I might be biased because this was my only pick while there.  I was looking more for relaxation and less for running around doing things during my time off.  As a result, I failed to plan anything, and my husband and our cousins picked most of our activities for the week.  When I heard that the Chihuly gallery was literally right next to the Space Needle, I requested that we make this another stop on our solo night out.  I have seen Chihuly’s work before at an installation in Florida, so I knew it would be beautiful.  This gallery did not disappoint.  There were eight inside galleries (nine if you count the Chandelier Walkway), one glasshouse exhibit, and one outside garden.  Chihuly uses blown glass set among lights, flora, and objects to create fantastical landscapes and scenes.  Everything about it made me happy and I could not keep the smile off my face as we walked through the galleries.  My favorite room was the Sealife Room where there was a huge whirl of blue glass currents in the center with little glass sea creatures floating among the pieces.  Around the edges of the room were individual sculptures highlighting individual sea creatures.  My favorite was a piece with turtles on it.  Bonus, the gallery took a picture of us against one of the pieces which we could download for free from home.

Weirdest Attraction:  Seattle Gum Wall

I honestly do not get the allure of this attraction.  There is a wall down in Pike Place Market that is literally covered in gum and things stuck in the gum.  Although I tried politely to decline a visit to the gum wall, our cousins would not let it go and insisted on a trip to see it on our first day out there.  Apparently you cannot go to Seattle without visiting the gum wall, and therefore I figured I could not write a blog about a vacation to Seattle without mentioning it too.

Cutest Baby:  Little Baby Cousin

This was an easy contest given that we only really saw and interacted with one baby while there.  Our cousins have a son around eight months of age.  We have seen many pictures of him since he was born, but this was our first chance to see him.  He was a very calm and playful baby without a lot of fussing and tantrums (luckily we got to see him before he started teething).  He seemed to like us and had no qualms with playing with these strangers who had invaded his house.  Some baby-playing was just what I needed to relax on my vacation.

See you next week!