The energy on the West Coast is something I have never experienced before. And I have to say–I really liked it. It was late at night and I’d just gotten picked up by a friend of mine. As exhausted as I was, I also was wide awake, so she took me to see Seattle at night–a panoramic view of the lights. As we sat there catching up on life, I could not believe how many people were out at midnight. There were families out for a stroll, two guys practicing their golf game on a small patch of grass bathed in a porch light glow, and young people chatting/listening to music/hanging out. Didn’t they have work in the morning? I mean. It was a Wednesday.
The next morning we stopped at this fabulous little bakery near the Seattle Greyhound station. They make all their breads in house. Only catch is you have to park on the street or pay for parking. It’s also near Starbucks headquarters.
If you haven’t read about my Greyhound trip, read it about it here.
I think maybe all the energy had to do with the little espresso bars that are tiny coffee drive-thrus scattered throughout the city. Some of them are no bigger than the shed in your backyard. For as healthy as this hipster city is, I’m pretty sure there’s a lot of caffeine addiction happening. 😉
I really loved Seattle. It helped that it was July and mostly sunny. I did a bunch of obligatory sightseeing but also got some great native Seattlite recommendations–all of which were so delicious.
Ellenos Greek Yogurt is set up like a gelato place across the street from the famous fish throwing place in Pike Place. You can sample the flavors. This was one of their smaller sizes and it was plenty of yogurt. The left is lemon meringue pie and the right was mine–mixed berry. Mmm.
In order to create a unique atmosphere, every business represented in the Pike Place Market has to have originated in at the market. The original Starbucks started at the market and branched out from there. There can be other branches around the city, country, or world, but it’s original store has to be at the market for it to be allowed there.
All the colors in the market…
Ferris Wheel, stadiums, shipping docks, and a barely visible Mt. Rainier
There were so many great things to eat so naturally I didn’t get to sample everything I wish I could have because it was all so filling and fabulous but one of my favorites was at Piroshky Piroshky.
So a piroshky is a Russian delicacy and I’m a fan. Cheese and sausage inside a flaky pastry. You won’t regret it. So filling.
People used to come out of theater and use their gum to tack their tickets to the wall. So disgusting.
There’s a city ordinance that doesn’t allow others to build buildings around the Space Needle over a certain height because they want to give the illusion that it’s the tallest in Seattle even though the Sky View Observatory in the Columbia Center is taller.
The view from west Seattle. Blue everywhere. We then ate at Salty’s. Highly recommended.