Seattle 2022

In my family, we've always viewed travel as one of life's greatest joys. It's because of this that when I reached age 11, my parents decided that instead of gifting me physical objects for my birthday or Christmas, they would gift me travel experiences. This was fine with me! In late 2021, they provided me with a handful of potential destinations to choose from, as travel restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic began to ease. I decided on Seattle, Washington. Over the course of our Seattle adventure, we were able to find tons of amazing locations--so many, in fact, that we realized we needed a second visit (or more) to get to all of them! Here are some of the highlights.

Day 1 - February 13th, 2022

The day we arrived was pretty uneventful. We journeyed to Seattle and settled into the condo where we would be staying for the rest of our trip. Although day one was primarily a travel day, we still made sure to eat well! We ordered a truffle mushroom pizza delivered from Serious Pie (which we ate before I could get any photos… whoops), and then went to bed soon after to prepare for the real first day of our trip.

Day 2 - February 14th, 2022

When we woke up on day 2, we started looking around for a place to eat breakfast. Right by the building where we were staying, we found the Starbucks Reserve Roastery. Inside, we found large machines used in coffee production, as well as fresh pastries and, of course, coffee. We ordered a hazelnut latte, a dark chocolate mocha latte, and a pistachio latte. I had a Caprese sandwich to go with them. After eating at the roastery, we continued on, making a quick stop at Pike Place Market, just a few blocks away.

While we didn’t buy anything, we got to have a brief look at the various shops that can be found at the market. It was Valentine’s Day, so many of the flower vendors were doing brisk business, selling colorful bouquets. Additionally, since Seattle sits right on the water, a wide selection of delicious-looking, fresh seafood could be found throughout the market. When we were finished looking around the market, we headed over to the Old Stove Brewing Company for lunch, where we had fish and chips, fried pork belly with kimchi, and some mussels and clams, overlooking Elliott Bay. Next stop: the aquarium. The Seattle Aquarium has a wide variety of incredible sea life, with numerous species of fish, seals, sea otters, and even a giant octopus! We were also able to view some sea birds.

For dinner, we went to Tai Tung Restaurant, Seattle’s oldest Chinese restaurant and, supposedly, Bruce Lee’s favorite restaurant. We ate Chinese mushroom soup, crispy Szechuan duck, Hong Kong-style chow mein, crispy won ton, walnut shrimp, and salt and pepper pork chop. After dinner, we headed back to the condo, thus wrapping up our first full day in Seattle.

Day 3 - February 15th, 2022

On day 3, we decided to take a trip to the Space Needle. On the way there, we saw the Amazon Spheres. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to go tour them, but we were able to see their incredibly lush interiors from the outside. The Space Needle looks monumentally huge in person, and the views at the top are breathtaking. (Fun fact about the Space Needle: the rotating floor in the large room at the top, while being able to support multiple groups of people, is powered by a mere 1.5 horsepower motor!) We went to the Space Needle during the day, but we came back later during the evening to view the city at night.

Following our first visit to the Space Needle, we walked over to Chihuly Garden and Glass, where we saw colorful, intricate glass sculptures crafted by world-renowned glass artist, Dale Chihuly. We were also able to attend a short glass-blowing demonstration, in which one of the artisans crafted a glass bowl on the spot. Since the Chihuly exhibit is located right next to the Space Needle, the artisans who put on the demonstrations sell the glass creations from their shows in the gift shop at the Needle’s base. This is a non-profit endeavor, to raise funds for up and coming glass artisan education.

By the time we were finished at the Chihuly Garden and Glass, it was already dark out, so we returned to the Space Needle to catch the stunning views of the city at night.

After our return trip to the Space Needle, it was time for dinner. We went over to Kamonegi, a soba restaurant. At Kamonegi, we ate matsutake chawanmushi, rockfish katsu and an uni cappuccino for appetizers. This was followed by hand-crafted fresh soba noodles, prepared in a variety of styles: Nanban, which is hot broth and soba noodles served together in one bowl, and Seiro, or "dipping-style," where soba is served chilled on a bamboo mat with a hot broth on the side. The toppings and broth ingredients ranged from duck breast, duck tsukune meatball, leek, mitsuba, yuzu zest, oyster, gochujang, and Matsutake mushrooms--not all together, but in various immensely satisfying combinations! For dessert, we had tempura oreos (a bit of a strange concept, but surprisingly good) and purple yam mochi cakes accompanied by foie gras ice cream. When we finished our delicious meal at Kamonegi, we went back to the condo, ending yet another fantastic day in Seattle.

Day 4 - February 16th, 2022

Unlike the previous days, on day 4, we didn't have any big plans. We decided that we would spend the entire day exploring and eating around the International District. To start the day off, we enjoyed a dim-sum breakfast at the Dough Zone, where we ate dan dan noodles, spicy beef pancake rolls, xiao long bao (soup dumplings), steamed shrimp and pork dumplings, and steamed pork bao (buns).

When we finished breakfast, we headed right into the international district. The second we walked into the area, we were met with various shops to purchase food from. Minutes in, we had already purchased some lychee boba and rice yogurt (a sweet treat consisting of drinkable yogurt with chewy purple rice inside). A bit later, we found a bakery, where we bought malasadas. We stopped at a park to eat our food, and found some people playing table tennis, which happens to be one of the most popular sports in China. We passed by the Wing Luke Museum and wanted to go inside to take a look, but unfortunately, it was closed. My Seattle-based cousin later told us the museum was one of his top sightseeing recommendations in the city, for the depth and quality of its exhibits. It's on the list for next time!

At that point, we were beginning to get cold (not only is the weather in Seattle chilly--it's also humid), so we went inside Vital T Leaf, a tiny, but well-stocked tea shop near the gateway of the international district. We sat down to enjoy some black lychee and chrysanthemum tea alongside a couple pineapple cookies.

Before we left the International District, we also stopped by KOBO (at HIGO), a Japanese store selling various items including furniture, decorations, books, and clothing. We also strolled through a community park. For the next few hours, we simply rested at the condo and began preparing for dinner. That night, we ate dinner at Stateside, which serves globally influenced (but Asian-leaning) cuisine. Among the other dishes we ate, we had chili-cumin pork ribs and master-stock fried chicken. With that, we ended our fourth day of the trip.

Day 5 - February 17th, 2022

We had finally reached the last day of our trip; day 5. To finish our journey in Seattle, we decided to go on a tour of the harbor. As we walked to the harbor, we stopped by the Gum Wall. Although it was admittedly extremely gross, it certainly was a sight to behold. Click the link to read the story behind its origins.

After observing the Gum Wall, we boarded a ship and began our harbor tour with Argosy Cruises. From the ship, we could see Seattle’s skyline, and could spot many of Seattle’s greatest landmarks, including the Great Wheel, the aquarium, the Space Needle, the original headquarters of Starbucks, the (now vacant) Seattle Post-Intelligencer headquarters, and the Olympic Sculptures. We got a good view of the shipyards, and of a hotel originally built for the World’s Fair. Apparently, not only was the hotel not built in time, but its gimmick (allowing guests to fish from the windows of their rooms) also caused a mess. Lastly, we got to see massive freight barges, as well as stacks of shipping containers. We were able to capture some pictures, but they honestly don’t do justice to the sheer size of the ships. We could see workers loading cargo onto the ships with massive cranes. These crane operators are interviewed at the top of the crane, so that employers can assess how well they work under pressure. On top of that, they need to win a lottery to be interviewed for the job in the first place.

After the tour ended, we returned to Pike Place Market to look for something to eat. We ended up getting lunch at Matt's in the Market. We had oysters, pork ramen, salad, and a banh mi sandwich, and then went back to the condo to rest until it was time for dinner. For dinner, since we had been eating Asian food for the majority of the trip, we decided to switch things up a bit. We went to Café Campagne, a French restaurant. We ate classic French dishes. One of the highlights was the cassoulet, which takes days to prepare.

Before we knew it, dinner was over, and so was our Seattle adventure. We slept through the night, and departed for Denver the next day.

Summary

In all, Seattle was what I hoped it would be for a city visit. It was vibrant, filled with engaging sights, a mix of different architectural styles, and friendly people. Not only is the architecture captivating, but the city also has its own share of natural beauty with its harbor and mountain views. The city also has many great restaurants, all of which offer different culinary styles. There’s so much to see in the city, and we had so little time to see everything that we’ve thought about making a return trip to explore even more and to catch anything else we might have missed (suggestions are welcome!). Although there were many positives to the trip, we were dismayed by the large homeless population in the downtown area, and the extremely strict COVID restrictions. I wouldn’t consider these two slight downsides to be major issues, but they can be slightly disconcerting. Overall, there’s still a lot that I’d like to see from Seattle, and I look forward to returning as the world returns back to normal and things begin opening up more.