Jump to a section:
•• Day 1 - Pike Place Market, Seattle Aquarium & Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum ••
•• Day 2 - Museum of Pop Culture & Mariners baseball game ••
•• Day 3 - Lake Talapus Hike in Snohomish ••
•• Day 4 - UW campus, Seattle Monorail & Westlake Center ••
•• Day 2 - Museum of Pop Culture & Mariners baseball game ••
•• Day 3 - Lake Talapus Hike in Snohomish ••
•• Day 4 - UW campus, Seattle Monorail & Westlake Center ••
Day 0 - Thursday, September 27, 2018
We did a half day at work and then went straight to the airport and got on a 13:00 Hawaiian Airlines flight from HNL to SEA. It was actually a little delayed because we were waiting for other passengers' bags to be loaded on to the plane that needed to make a transfer, but other than that, it went quite smoothly!
Rearranged our Zippys' Zip Pac and Surf Pac to our own liking.
We landed just after 22:00 and then needed to make our way to our accommodations. We booked an Airbnb in Belltown/downtown Seattle which is around 15 miles away from the airport. Instead of taking an Uber directly there which would have cost around $50, we opted to use the light rail system which only cost us $3 each to get to the closest station (Westlake). The ride took around 50 minutes.
We did end up using Uber to get us to the exact Airbnb location since it was pretty late at night by that time and we'd never been to it before. Once arriving, we followed the check-in procedure and called it a night!
It's been a while since I've been to the west coast of the US and the flight was much more pleasant than flying internationally or to the east coast! SEA also seems like a really reasonably organized airport, and I liked that we had different options to get into downtown Seattle even late at night.
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Day 1 - Friday, September 28, 2018
We had initially intended on waking up pretty early and starting our day, but thanks to the late night before and the jet lag (thanks 3 hour time difference), we didn't end up making our way to Pike Place Market until about 10:00. It was about a 15-20 minute walk from our apartment, but thanks to the nice, cool autumn weather, it was actually really pleasant and I got to look around for the first time as we slowly made our way there.
We essentially just browsed and I took in all the sights in the area. Aside from food/snacks, we didn't end up buying much but the market area is a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be! It's very extensive and has so much to offer. I understand why it's such a popular destination for locals and tourists.
Stopped for Beecher's mac n cheese -
And a photo op!
Also stopped at the gum wall which apparently usually has more gum, but all you really need is some appropriate cropping to make it seem full!
After we stopped for a drink from Starbucks, next up was the Seattle Aquarium!
My dad loves fish so I grew up going to tons of aquariums. Although some can get a little repetitive, I think the most interesting part is seeing the local variances. For example, this tank had only fish/creatures that you could find in the Seattle/Washington area, and it's certainly different than what we have in Hawaii or what I typically see in Japan.
One of the first few exhibits has several touch tanks with lots of invertebrate that are available to interact with! I was surprised to see so many in this green color.
We continued to make our way around the aquarium, looking at all the different exhibits.
They also had some marine mammals and even some birds (which were hard to capture) in bigger, outdoor exhibits.
We were getting hungry so it was time for lunch! We walked to Westlake because my bf specifically wanted to eat Pike Place Chowder in the Pacific Place Shopping Center which is much less crowded than the actual Pike Place Market location.
Idk ootd selfie in the bathroom because the Airbnb doesn't have the best mirror.
Then we opted to walk back to the apartment (about 20 minutes) which again was nice because I got to do a little more casual sightseeing!
After a brief rest and shoe change (for me!), we walked to the Seattle Center which is super close to the Airbnb - about 5 minutes.
First try to get a selfie with the Space Needle while being way too close to it.
Then, Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum! I snapped quite a few photos that I'm just going to dump here, but unfortunately I didn't take any of the info boards/placards for each exhibit. I feel like those really made some of the pieces stand out (when you understood the background a bit more), so I would highly encourage you to go for yourself if you get the opportunity and take the time to read them and have your own experience if you're intrigued at all!
In addition to the fantastic indoor exhibits which are showcased in dark rooms with black walls, there's also the garden portion of the museum which is a nice contrast and shows how the pieces can work more organically with nature.
We took a break to just relax after the glass museum by finding a place to sit in one of the green areas between the museums. As we were discussing what we'd get for dinner, we looked up one of the restaurants and realized they were having a happy hour special right then and decided to head over immediately!
Along the walk, I took a picture of this purple cabbage looking plant flower thing that was just in some of the landscaping along the street. It was one of my favorite things!
We reached our destination about a 15 minute walk later. Serious Pie! This was a must-do/eat restaurant for my boyfriend and because we made it before happy hour ended, it became practical to try a few more things than we would have at full price.
After eating, we stopped at CVS on the way back to the Airbnb to pick up a few snacks and then just relaxed until evening. We ended up meeting with my bf's college friends at one of their apartments and finished the day there. (No pictures for privacy reasons + I didn't take any tbh.)
Looking back at this, I can tell I/we didn't take advantage of Pike Place as much as we should have. I think I often have trouble spending money right off the bat when I first start my trips (unless there's something specific I knew ahead of time I wanted to buy), plus I always feel uneasy in a market with stalls because I feel like if I just walk a little more, maybe there's another vendor with the same item but cheaper which is a terrible mindset to have and not very productive. It was still great to visit and experience, but if I ever go again, I definitely want to BUY something, at least as omiyage.
Although I didn't have many expectations for the Seattle Aquarium and the Chihuly Glass Museum, I think both were really interesting to me because they highlight the local area specifically which is totally new to me. Chihuly has a Native American background and was born in Tacoma and studied at the University of Washington, so it's really nice to see a whole museum dedicated to his iconic work.
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Day 2 - Saturday, September 29, 2018
After coming back from his friend's house pretty late the night before, we had another later than usual start, but as it happens, there's nothing really particularly pressing for us to do in the 08:00 -10:00 hours anyway, so it's really just as well that we got a nice night's sleep, especially when we're on vacation with a schedule that allowed for it!
Breakfast was first on the agenda. Bf had looked up places the day before and The 5 Point Cafe was just down the street from our Airbnb and seemed pretty popular for breakfast. There was a small wait to be seated when we signed in at around 11:15, but the weather was very pleasant outside at least.
We were seated at the bar next to the kitchen where there was a TV that was playing a DVD of Catch Me If You Can on a loop. I'm not much of a breakfast foods person but I do like to have something in my stomach, so I just ordered a side of bacon. Bf ordered chicken fried steak.
After our disappointing late breakfast, we took a short walk to the Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP). There's a lot of stuff going on in there right away when you enter, but we made our way to the ticket counter and ended up purchasing 2 regular adult admissions ($28 each) + entry to the special MARVEL exhibition ($8 additional each).
Our first stop right next to the ticket counter was "Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame".
Then we continued upstairs to the "MARVEL:Universe of Super Heroes" exhibition where we had to present our extra ticket and could only enter once.
"Nivana: Taking Punk to the Masses"
"Indie Game Revolution"
"Hendrix: Wild Blue Angel"
"Pearl Jam: Home and Away"
"Fantasy: Worlds of Myth and Magic"
"Scared to Death: The Thrill of Horror Film"
"Infinite Worlds of Science Fiction"
Going through the exhibitions after the MARVEL one took about 1.5 hours, and we were pretty much ready to go after that.
The last stop was "Sound Lab" where there are sound booths and other interactive displays/exhibits that basically include instruments or music related tools.
The only thing we didn't end up doing was "Holodome" which I think is some sort of interactive hologram experience but you can only do it during certain time slots, requires a reservation (which can be made at the museum same day) and does have an additional cost associated with it. Because there seemed to be at least an hour wait associated with it + $$, we opted out.
Then the only thing left to do was take pictures with the outside of the building!
It had been a handful of hours since breakfast, so we stopped at a nearby food stand for a snack - corn and pink lemonade.
And when I realized it was actually almost dinner time, we stopped at Zeek's Pizza which is between the Seattle Center and our Airbnb. We had passed it a couple times already and the restaurant looked really nice. We ended up ordering 1 medium pizza for take out and my bf had to wait outside because something in the restaurant ended up really making his nose run wtf.
We ate and rested at the Airbnb for just under an hour before getting ready to go out again to Safeco Field for a Mariners game! We caught an Uber straight there which took about 12 minutes with a bit of traffic.
We were about 40 minutes early before the first pitch, so we took our time looking around the venue. There's so many eating options, even a Din Tai Fung!
There's also a exhibition explaining the history of the Mariners and highlights for some of the memorable players. My favorite Mariner has always been Ichiro Suzuki, but it was interesting to read and learn about others as well.
For a game snack, Bf chose to eat from Sausage Company and we also got a bottomless drink (with souvenir cup) and garlic fries later on as well!
Our seats were in the highest section along the 3rd base line which were the most reasonable cheapest tickets we could find lol. I think it wasn't too bad for the price we paid, and we had a great overview of the whole field.
It turned out to be such a mess leaving even at that point because other people had the same idea about leaving early and there must have been a rave about to start somewhere nearby. There were tons of Ubers and Lyfts in the street aside from the usual traffic trying to pick up and drop people off. We finally got in one probably about 15 minutes later and made it back to the Airbnb shortly after.
Even though we got off to a bit of a slow start and it wasn't the best day in terms of meals, MoPOP was definitely a highlight this day and had so much to offer. I also really enjoyed the Mariners game for the part that we stayed for because in general, I don't have a hard time sitting and just watching sports or things like that. The stadium itself is massive and seemed really well designed. We don't have any pro sports teams in Hawaii, so seeing a major league game is definitely a treat!
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Day 3 - Sunday, September 30, 2018
This was the day we planned to go hiking with my bf's friend from college, Z. We were ready for him and his girlfriend to pick us up at around 08:00.
We had initially planned on going on a pretty long (11 mi??) hike, but with the slightly later start, decided on something a little closer, less strenuous and time consuming - the Talapus/Olallie Lake Trail in Snohomish. Z is an experienced hiker and we were happy to go with what he recommended.
We started hiking after about a 45 minute drive.
There is a parking lot at the base of the hike, but it was full when we got there, so we had to park along the road. There's also a bathroom/toilet hut at the start of the trail but I wouldn't recommend it if you're queasy for toilet odors because there isn't running water in there, and you may need to bring your own toilet paper!
The trail is reasonably wide and defined so it's good for beginner hikers. It's easy to know where you're supposed to go, and there's also a lot of tree cover. It was a bit chilly when we started and it took my body at least 20-30 minutes to warm up even with the constant walking!
There's actually 2 different lakes along this trail - Talapus Lake which is a bit closer, and then Olallie Lake which takes about 20 minutes more walking.
We finally made it to Olallie Lake about 2 hours after we first started out. This is moving at a pretty casual pace and stopping a lot along the way for photos and observing nature. The time passed by really quickly imo!
And then we started on our way back out! The trail is the same way in and out, so we were basically retracing our steps and going downhill instead of up.
We hadn't really stopped at Talapus Lake along the way earlier because we saw a few signs that said there were restricted areas for conservation, but on the way back, we noticed other hikers right along the banks of the lake in a different area. We took that as a sign that maybe only certain parts were restricted and took in the view and snapped a few photos of our own. It was still lightly drizzling at that time and there were many others waiting to take pictures, so we couldn't hang out as long as we liked, but it was still a really magical view!
We made it back to the car safely and started heading back to Seattle. Z and G were making decisions about lunch while my bf and I ended up taking a nap in the back of the car lol. We first tried to go to the Capitol Hill area for pizza, but after 10 of driving around and not finding parking, we gave up and redirected to Frelard Pizza in Fremont. My bf's other friend and his fiance joined us for lunch even though they couldn't make it on the hike.
For dessert, we went to Salt & Straw Ballard location which was a short drive away. They had some interesting seasonal flavors like Bone Marrow & Smoked Cherries and Hey Boo Coconut Jam & Rice Crispy Treats that we sampled, but ultimately, my bf ended up with the Vanilla and I ended up with the Chocolate lol.
After ice cream, we were dropped back off at our Airbnb and essentially ended up calling it a day! The hike was a good length - not extremely tiring but still felt like a physical activity and we spent it in great company as well. It was great to meet my bf's friends and to sit down and have a meal with them as well.
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Day 4 - Monday, October 1, 2018
This was our first day of actual rain while in Seattle!
Another day of sleeping in (despite even going to sleep early the night before! haha) led us to leaving for the UW campus at around 09:30. We had a couple options to get there, but chose to catch an Uber to Husky Stadium and walk onto campus.
I could tell it would have been a really nice walk with clear weather, but honestly I don't feel like the weather was a downer. If anything, it made the experience seem a little more authentic lol.
It did put a bit of a damper on my ability to take pictures though because my phone isn't waterproof and also I was (hopelessly) trying to protect my hair because I didn't have a hood. This is what I get for spending 30 minutes that morning curling and styling my hair lol.
I didn't have a lot of expectations for the campus, but I did know it would be big! It's definitely much better maintained (or so it seems from the outside) compared to UH. I guess I think the school I went to for my freshman year of college in CA compares a bit, but that was a small university and I can't imagine them having kept up with the grounds maintenance on this scale. It really is expansive.
Looking at the map, you can tell that it's quite a trek from one side to the other. I can't imagine doing that everyday in the rain.
There is some amazing landscaping though. I really have to love the PNW greenery.
We took a quick look through some of the buildings that my bf wanted to share with me which was only just a small selection of the campus, and it already seemed like we had been walking for awhile. We ended by going to the bigger campus bookstore so we could look for some gifts.
For lunch, we went to U:don which is a short walk away from the bookstore and where my bf used to eat sometimes while he was in school. Since it was still a little bleak and rainy, it was perfect udon weather. They actually have a lot of choices in a "made to order" style that's kind of like Marukame Udon here in Hawaii.
I hadn't bought much as omiyage at that point, so I asked if we could go to Trader Joe's. This is a pretty common place to bring back stuff from when you go to mainland and I had a few things in mind for my workplace.
And then dropped off our purchases and walked over to Dahlia Bakery.
We took a break for a little while once getting back to the apartment and then made our way over to the Seattle Center Monorail. A one way ticket is $2.50 for adults.
We missed getting on the soonest monorail by less than a minute (we were paying at the time), but they leave every 10 min, so we just had to kill a bit of time until the next one.
And then easily got a seat once it arrived.
We disembarked at Westlake Center a handful of minutes later and decided to look around in the mall for a little bit. I was surprised to see a Daiso store!
We also stopped at Lolli & Pops because the displays caught my eye as something that might be nice to give away as well. Apparently it had just opened in the mall at the beginning of September so it was reasonably new although the chain has many different locations.
Finally, for dinner, we made it to Din Tai Fung! It's actually right next to the Pike Place Chowder that we ate at on Day 1, but since chowder was priority #1 at the time, dim sum took a backseat. There was a short wait, but we were able to be seated at a small table next to the floor to ceiling windows after about 5 minutes.
I'm not really a stranger to eating at Chinese restaurants, but I don't think we have too many like this on Oahu. I guess I'm more used to the old school, family run ones that aren't so slightly upscale. \
The waiter explained the menu to us in detail after learning I hadn't been there before and also made some recommendations. Ordering is done on a memo pad with a list of items.
We ended up getting 1 order of the pork xiaolongbao (10 pieces), 1 order of the shrimp & pork shao mai (10 pieces), 1 order of the pork bun (2 pieces), and 1 order of the braised beef soup. The waiter had mentioned that 3 items would likely be enough for 2 people but because we wanted to try a bit more of an assortment, we went with 4.
Originally, we planned to walk back to the Airbnb since we had stuffed ourselves with food, but because of the rain + bf's impending cold, we decided to just catch a $6 Uber back. It's definitely not worth it to be sick to just save $6 when you're traveling.
We spent the rest of the night in, with mostly me trying to shove all of our layers of clothes and hiking gear back into the suitcases. Although we really didn't buy very much, it still was a bit of a challenge to make sure the luggage weighed the right amount and balanced correctly.
Despite the gloomy weather, the day was a really great experience and made the noodles/soups we consumed that much better. I really feel like a trip to Seattle wouldn't have been complete without one gray, rainy day, so I can't complain. It was a pleasant conclusion to a low key trip.
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Leaving Seattle - Tuesday, October 2, 2018
We woke up early in the morning (for once!), got ready and then checked out of our Airbnb. The process was pretty simple and mainly just included putting the key back into the lock box after making sure the apartment was clear.
We caught an Uber to Westlake station and then used the light rail to get to SEA-TAC airport.
The ride took just under 50 minutes. I believe we caught the 06:09 train and got to the Hawaiian Airlines check-in gate just before 07:00 (which includes a pretty long walk from the rail station).
After about a 6 hour flight, we landed back on Oahu. The flight actually landed about 45 minutes earlier than scheduled which was great, but then we were stuck taxing for about 1/2 at least because another plane was at our gate (I guess bc we were so early). The luggage also took forever to arrive at the baggage claim, so we didn't even leave the airport until over 1 hour after we landed, but it was good to be home!...and go back to work that afternoon lol.
It was a short trip, but we had something fun to do every day, so it filled the time well. I didn't feel rushed or that we had to stick to a super strict schedule which was really relaxing. I really enjoyed walking to and around the downtown area which isn't something I do a lot of at home. It was also my first time ever catching an Uber (for the places that were a little farther) and it was actually pretty convenient. The big downer was that the Childish Gambino concert was cancelled, but aside from that, I'd say it was a successful introduction to Seattle for me.
