Last week, Eric and I went to Seattle to celebrate his birthday and to visit our friends, Mike and Katie, who recently moved to the city. I had never been to Seattle before and, in the weeks leading up to the trip, everyone I talked to to about it kept telling me how much I was going to love it there and how I might never want to come back. My expectations were sky high by the time we boarded the plane. But, let me tell you…I was given a completely accurate representation. I LOVED our time there and felt like I was sort of living in a dream. Our days were spent walking around interesting places, visiting farmers markets, hiking, kayaking, biking, and so much more. Let me share with you just a peek of the seven days we spent in the Emerald City…and if you have trouble finding me, use some of these photos as your clues to come find me!
Our plane landed in Seattle just before midnight on a Friday night and Mike and Katie met us at the airport. As we headed back to their apartment, they stopped to let the wonder begin. This is the very first view we had of the Seattle skyline:
On Saturday, we walked around their Queen Anne neighborhood and then walked over to Fremont to take in the parade the neighborhood was having to celebrate the summer solstice. It was quite a sight to see and I’ll just leave it at that because, well, as it turns out, lots of people were celebrating with no clothes on and I’d like to keep this post family-friendly. So, just another cool view for you:
For years, in celebration of Eric’s birthday, we’ve gone to a baseball game in a new city so – technically speaking – that’s what this trip was all about. So, later that same evening, we took in a Mariners game and found out we were good luck when they won. I took this photo just moments before it started sprinkling and they closed the roof. It was pretty neat to be there to see the roof close and it took about 15 minutes to complete.
The next day, Sunday, we set out for some hiking which I was SUPER excited about. The only place out west I’ve ever hiked is Arizona so I felt like this scenery was going to be all new to me. We picked a ten mile trail and, even though it was drizzling and even though I admit I’m a fair-weather hiker, this was a dreamy hike. The trail was super easy and I was actually really surprised anything like that existed out west. After about five miles, we were rewarded with a gorgeous pond and, though much of it was socked in with fog, it still looked amazing.
On Monday, we had plans to meet Sean for the very first time in person. It’s so cool to finally meet people that you’ve only ever spoken with online – and a little surreal too! Before we headed into the city though, we took another stroll around Queen Anne:
And then we were off to meet Sean who I’d been corresponding with through our blogs and email for some time. He’s from Vancouver of all places so I really never thought we’d meet in real life. Well, not this easily at least. But, just like magic, it all came together and I’m so glad it did. Sean, it was SO great to finally meet you, even though I felt like I already knew you from the internets. Thank you so much for making the voyage from Vancouver and taking a whole day just to explore Seattle with Eric and I. It was incredibly cool to see that the person behind all of the inspiring photos on your blog is just as inspiring. I feel so lucky that we were able to arrange such a meeting and hang out for a day!
We all headed over to Pike Place Market and grabbed some lunch. Yes, we ate crepes. Yes, I ate crepes three times while I was in Seattle. Yes, I love crepes. Yes, I was in heaven. Take a look at all of the gloriousness that is contained inside the walls of the market:
Peonies are my absolute favorite flower. And that’s all you need to know about how long it took me to select just these few peony photos to share with you.
Did I mention that we also ate doughnuts? With cinnamon and sugar. They were warm. They were to-die-for. Is it time to go back to Seattle yet?
After Sean left to head back to meet his bus, Mike and Katie met up with us and we had some wine on a roof nearby. As the sun started to go elsewhere for the night, it made for some pretty cool market photos:
Tuesday. Where do I even start with Tuesday? Much like Seattle had been painted grandly to me before I arrived, Tuesday was a day full of big plans and adventures. And, much like Seattle was even better than I expected, Tuesday was a definite highlight of the trip for me. By the end of the day, we were all referring to Tuesday as “best day ever.” We started Best Day Ever by kayaking on Lake Washington:
After our paddle, we had some lunch overlooking the lake and sped on over to Redmond to rent a few bikes. We were on a mission to take the Sammamish River Trail to a local brewery and a few wineries that were along the way. The trail was gorgeous and picturesque and you’ll have to take my word on that because I was apparently too busy enjoying it to pull over and take photos. What I can share with you, however, is how we carried our new finds back with us. Just before I took this photograph, we realized we had about 18 minutes until the store from which we rented our bikes would close and we were still several miles away. We raced back to town in what felt like we were cartoon characters in warp speed…eat my dust, Lance Armstrong. Riiight.
Bikes returned, we raced out to Snoqualmie Falls and then did a bit of off-road driving to see some sights nearby. Forty-five minutes outside the city of Seattle, this is what we found. And, as we drove home that night, Mike declared that our day was a little like a sunny Super Bowl Sunday.
The sun setting on Best Day Ever:
Then came Wednesday and we knew we probably couldn’t top Tuesday (not to be confused with Sunday) but our hike of the Little Si Trail definitely gave it a run for the money. It was only five miles roundtrip but it packed in some amazing scenery and a fun, challenging trail. Loved it!
We were lucky enough to get a view of the Skyline with Mount Rainier in the background that day. The weather was totally perfect!
And a sunset from Ballard that night. Second Best Day Ever.
To Mike and Katie, if you’re reading: Thank you SO much for hosting us all week and for being the absolute best tour guides ever. I’m so glad we were able to come visit and get to know Seattle a bit with you guys! Eric and I both had a blast and we hope each of your Saturdays continue to feel like the best day ever. :D
VISIT ME ON FACEBOOK — EMAIL ME — FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER
This post will be featured on the popular travel website, Dwellable. Click the icon below to check it out!
