The cities in the Pacific Northwest region have names that I just cannot say unless I pay attention. Coir D’Alene, Missoula, and Kalispell do not just roll off the tongue. To make it even more complicated according to Erica, the locals say “Boi’C not Boise.” Truthfully, I just made up names for all these places and everyone just went along with it.
Blue and Green Seattle Autumn Weekend
In a blink of an eye, we were in Seattle and with a second blink we were gone and back in San Diego. We were very laisse-fair with this trip not having planned much besides one show and the intent to hang out with the Newmans who were also going to be there. Upon arrival, we picked up our rental car and jet-setted to our hotel – The Warwick. Grant particularly liked this hotel because it had a pool and jacuzzi. He used it multiple times so it looks like it was a wise move.
Our stomachs got the best of us before we made it to the hotel and so we decided to make a pitstop for food. The first place we attempted to go was a steakhouse called Bateau. After telling us that they had a table we were eventually told we would have to wait. A ten-minute wait was creeping on twenty-five minutes and our stomachs rather than our brains told us to move on. We ended up at this very hole in the wall place called Marjorie’s, which was a hodge-podge of southern soul, Indian, and steak. It was okay but enough to fill us up.
Finally, we made it to the hotel, checked in, and went to bed. The next morning, we got up and wanted to go exploring. Our first stop was an Amazon Go store. If you have never gone to one of these stores you will be in shock and awe. The premise is that you walk into the store, open the Amazon app, and go shopping. Anything you pick up is placed in your virtual cart and when you are done you just leave. No standing in line, no digging out credit cards, no small talk—just grab your stuff and go. Eventually, they will send you an invoice for your purchases via email. Grant picked up water and I picked up a meat pack that had steak and garlic sauce.
This was the beginning of our weird lunch that we were going to have. The next stop was for donuts at Seattle’s local donut place, Top Pot Donuts. I bought two, but a homeless man asked for food and so I gave him one. Then we scuttled our way down to Pike’s Place home of the throwing fish. While I didn’t see any flying fish this trip—I did see lot of yummy food to snack on. We stopped at Piroshky Piroshky and grabbed two pastries. We stopped at Beecher’s Handmade Cheese and ate some cheese curds. There were a few other random stops we made, but everything was small and we shared so no judgment.
The Newmans had not arrived yet so we wanted to do see some of the top tourist sites that we had not done in our previous trips. Our first stop was the Fremont Troll that resides under a bridge. It was featured in 10 Things I Hate About You and a few other movies so we thought we would check out this landmark. The troll was actually fun to check out and decorated in Seattle Sounder FC gear. This weekend was actually the championship game between Seattle and Toronto and so the whole city was showing their support for their favorite Green and Blue team. So the troll, Space Needle and anything else iconic Seattle were decked out in this gear.
Our next stop was the Starbucks Tasting Room, which is every Starbucks lover's dream. Unfortunately, Grant and I do not drink Starbucks nor like coffee. The only things we ever get our iced drinks or tea so we quickly made a loop around the place and left. It was fun though as we ran into Jason Mraz twice…both times I had to point to Grant and say…That’s Jason Mraz. To which both times, Grant shrugged and said “cool.” Haha.
Finally, the Newmans made it into the city and we met them at a brewery in Pike’s Place. We wandered around the market again and eventually convinced Emily to go to the Space Needle with us. We walked around the area, played on the swing, and took strange photos of us in a sculpture. The visibility was low and the price was high so we decided not to go up the tower as we had already done it previously. We did make our way over to the EMP museum, which is now the Museum of Pop Culture. Outside was a really terrifying jungle gym that Grant and I climbed like children. PSA to all parents: do not let your children on this playground as it’s extremely dangerous. We finished by going down the slide and dropping Emily back off at her hotel.
Grant booked us one show and it was for Teatro ZinZani his favorite dinner and a show. We had seen this rotating variety show twice before and so we had an idea of what to expect. The show was about 45 minutes outside of Seattle having to relocate due to their previously lease ran out. The new location was set in the wine country of Seattle and was very scenic to get to. Everyone down to the waiters was involved in this show and we saw a mixture of singers, dancers, jugglers, acrobats, and other performers entertain a sold-out crowd. In between acts, the food would come out in courses and in the end confetti filled the tent. Grant and I quickly left and fell asleep.
The next morning was the Sounder’s game and there was going to be a parade to the stadium. The team is partly owned by Macklemore and so he gave a free concert to those in attendance. We attempted to see the concert, but due to the crowd size, it was nearly impossible. We saw bits and pieces and heard the songs so that is all that matters. There were so many blue and green fans waving their “Scarfs Up” around it was a bit of a madhouse. They ended up winning 3-1.
Eventually, we pushed our way to the exit and made our way over to Zeke’s Pizza. There is nothing special about Zeke’s and the only reason I am even mentioning it is to serve as a reminder not to go back here again as we somehow have made it here every single time on our trip. Future Luke or Grant who reads this—DON’T GO AGAIN.
The next stop was to meet up with the Newmans on the Bainbridge Islands. For some reason, Grant thought that we could make it to the islands without having to take a ferry, but that wasn’t the case. We caught the next ferry and made our way to the islands. The ride itself was calm and really had some great views of the city. The islands were pretty with the foliage changing, but we didn’t get to explore all that much due to time constraints. No sooner than we arrived it felt like we had to hop back on the ferry and head to the airport.
We grabbed a quick bite as we made our way to the airport, returned the rental car, and boarded our flight. Seattle is a gorgeous place to visit, but we do seem to be running out of things to do and see. I think it may be a while before we come back to this city. Although, if we blink and find ourselves in Seattle somehow, I think Grant and I would find a way to entertain ourselves. Maybe when Blink 182 is in town?