The first time I visited Seattle was nearly five years ago. I spent the first half of the trip with my best cousin and the second half with the Blogger Family. It was the first time I met Natalie and Dillon (or any of the bloggers on the trip, for that matter), and five years later we're fortunate enough to still be traveling together. The three of us decided to take advantage of Natalie's spring break from med school and spend the week together in Seattle at the beginning of March (with a quick jaunt to Vancouver, but more on that later).
Natalie arrived later in the day (much later), so Dillon and I had some time to kill while we waited for her flight to land. We wandered the Henry Art Gallery on the University of Washington campus and went for an early happy hour at Saint Helens Cafe, which is very cute and serves great Old Fashioneds and literal mounds of fries. Dillon and I were so tired by the time we went for a late dinner at Ba Bar that we spent much of the meal in silence, mesmerized by the bartender mixing drinks. I couldn't even tell you what I ordered, but I do remember it was all excellent.
The next day, we started with brunch at Tallulah's, a restaurant in Capitol Hill with an aesthetic that can only be described as "on point." (With its mid-century modern furniture, brass accents, and tattooed waiters with deep, reassuring voices, it was like walking into Dillon's brain.) I got the breakfast bowl with carnitas, which was also on point. Afterwards, we explored the Volunteer Park Conservatory, ate vegan donuts at Mighty-O (where I got to hold a tiny, red poodle puppy for fifteen seconds and nearly cried), browsed the Elliott Bay Book Company, and walked all the way to the central branch of the Seattle Public Library (which is #careergoals for me, personally).
We also stopped for ice cream at Frankie & Jo's, and we're just going to talk about that for a second because it was honest-to-God that best ice cream I've ever had in my life. I'm just going to say it–it's better than Salt & Straw. (You can try to fight me on this, but I'm standing my ground.) I got a scoop of Brown Sugar Vanilla and the seasonal special New Roots with their Moon Goo sauce on top, and it was all amazing and all vegan! I still think about it a lot.
Later that night, the three of us went dancing (which I think has become a bit of a tradition now and I love it). We started at Chop Suey for their Dance Yourself Clean night, which was so fun. At one point they played "All These Things That I've Done," and I swear I came out of my body and floated above the dance floor. From there we walked to Neighbours where we danced even more, and I was reminded once again how much better "Dancing On My Own" is when you're with your best friends.
The rest of our time in Seattle was less packed than that first day, but still just as fun. We got back from our short trip to Canada early in the afternoon, so we spent a couple of hours wandering Ballard in the rain. We stopped in at the Secret Garden Bookshop, which I was so enchanted by and had a difficult time leaving (Dillon nearly had to physically drag me from the building), and Ballyhoo Curiosity Shop where Natalie and I failed to convince Dillon to buy a small taxidermic duckling.
We made dinner for ourselves that evening–and by "we," I mean Natalie and Dillon made dinner and I took pictures and was generally useless–before heading to Percy's & Co. to meet my friend Eric. Eric and I found each other on Tumblr six or seven years ago, and I was so excited we could finally meet! We all talked, had a couple of drinks, and then walked down to Hot Cakes for some very good (albeit slightly overpriced) molten chocolate cakes.
We started our last day in Seattle with brunch at The Fat Hen (where I ate an amazing smoked salmon Benedict with avocado and roasted potatoes and Natalie had a whole baguette to herself) before we headed out to Gas Works Park (very cold) and did some general wandering in downtown Seattle, including Pike Place Market, of course. (I also made Dillon and Natalie climb the playground at the Seattle Center, which I know they loved despite the looks on their faces.)
Later that night we dressed up and went out for our traditional "fancy dinner" at Manolin and spent way too much money, but it was totally worth it. We had the plantain chips for starters, and Dillon and I split the rockfish ceviche, mussels (my personal favorite), and the black rice with squid. I also tried scotch for the first time, which was interesting. I love that you can feel it in your face as soon as you take a sip, all warm and tingly. Our bartender was super nice and explained the differences between each scotch on the menu and even gave us small sips of their more expensive scotches. We sat there for a couple of hours, talking and drinking and pretending like we didn't have to leave early the next morning.
It was so fun to visit Seattle again, and I'm so happy I got to spend the week with two of my favorite people. I know I say this a lot, but it will never stop being crazy to me that this silly little blog brought so many wonderful people into my life. See you next time, guys.
-Maggie
Natalie arrived later in the day (much later), so Dillon and I had some time to kill while we waited for her flight to land. We wandered the Henry Art Gallery on the University of Washington campus and went for an early happy hour at Saint Helens Cafe, which is very cute and serves great Old Fashioneds and literal mounds of fries. Dillon and I were so tired by the time we went for a late dinner at Ba Bar that we spent much of the meal in silence, mesmerized by the bartender mixing drinks. I couldn't even tell you what I ordered, but I do remember it was all excellent.
The next day, we started with brunch at Tallulah's, a restaurant in Capitol Hill with an aesthetic that can only be described as "on point." (With its mid-century modern furniture, brass accents, and tattooed waiters with deep, reassuring voices, it was like walking into Dillon's brain.) I got the breakfast bowl with carnitas, which was also on point. Afterwards, we explored the Volunteer Park Conservatory, ate vegan donuts at Mighty-O (where I got to hold a tiny, red poodle puppy for fifteen seconds and nearly cried), browsed the Elliott Bay Book Company, and walked all the way to the central branch of the Seattle Public Library (which is #careergoals for me, personally).
We also stopped for ice cream at Frankie & Jo's, and we're just going to talk about that for a second because it was honest-to-God that best ice cream I've ever had in my life. I'm just going to say it–it's better than Salt & Straw. (You can try to fight me on this, but I'm standing my ground.) I got a scoop of Brown Sugar Vanilla and the seasonal special New Roots with their Moon Goo sauce on top, and it was all amazing and all vegan! I still think about it a lot.
Later that night, the three of us went dancing (which I think has become a bit of a tradition now and I love it). We started at Chop Suey for their Dance Yourself Clean night, which was so fun. At one point they played "All These Things That I've Done," and I swear I came out of my body and floated above the dance floor. From there we walked to Neighbours where we danced even more, and I was reminded once again how much better "Dancing On My Own" is when you're with your best friends.
The rest of our time in Seattle was less packed than that first day, but still just as fun. We got back from our short trip to Canada early in the afternoon, so we spent a couple of hours wandering Ballard in the rain. We stopped in at the Secret Garden Bookshop, which I was so enchanted by and had a difficult time leaving (Dillon nearly had to physically drag me from the building), and Ballyhoo Curiosity Shop where Natalie and I failed to convince Dillon to buy a small taxidermic duckling.
We made dinner for ourselves that evening–and by "we," I mean Natalie and Dillon made dinner and I took pictures and was generally useless–before heading to Percy's & Co. to meet my friend Eric. Eric and I found each other on Tumblr six or seven years ago, and I was so excited we could finally meet! We all talked, had a couple of drinks, and then walked down to Hot Cakes for some very good (albeit slightly overpriced) molten chocolate cakes.
We started our last day in Seattle with brunch at The Fat Hen (where I ate an amazing smoked salmon Benedict with avocado and roasted potatoes and Natalie had a whole baguette to herself) before we headed out to Gas Works Park (very cold) and did some general wandering in downtown Seattle, including Pike Place Market, of course. (I also made Dillon and Natalie climb the playground at the Seattle Center, which I know they loved despite the looks on their faces.)
Later that night we dressed up and went out for our traditional "fancy dinner" at Manolin and spent way too much money, but it was totally worth it. We had the plantain chips for starters, and Dillon and I split the rockfish ceviche, mussels (my personal favorite), and the black rice with squid. I also tried scotch for the first time, which was interesting. I love that you can feel it in your face as soon as you take a sip, all warm and tingly. Our bartender was super nice and explained the differences between each scotch on the menu and even gave us small sips of their more expensive scotches. We sat there for a couple of hours, talking and drinking and pretending like we didn't have to leave early the next morning.
It was so fun to visit Seattle again, and I'm so happy I got to spend the week with two of my favorite people. I know I say this a lot, but it will never stop being crazy to me that this silly little blog brought so many wonderful people into my life. See you next time, guys.
-Maggie
2 comments :
Maggie, I love and miss you. And am so damn excited to see you again in, like, a month!! I love adventuring with you guys so much.
I'M NOT CRYING YOU'RE CRYING
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