Hey guys and hello March! We’re just inching our way through the year and getting closer to the warmer seasons #yessssss. February was a super fun month full of weekend travels – I literally went somewhere every single weekend. I’m definitely not complaining about this because I love visiting brand new places! In my first travel post ever, I figured I’d recap my Seattle trip because I was actually there all weekend long and there’s so much to cover! First of all, The Emerald City is GORGEOUS. Not sure if I could entirely live there because I’m a sun child and I don’t think I could take a year of gloomy weather haha. Anyway, in this recap, I just wanted to share some spots I visited in Seattle to hopefully help any of you that may be planning a trip there in the future!
Where We Stayed
We stayed at the SpringHill Suites in Downtown Seattle (this one) and couldn’t have picked a better location. We were pretty close to just about everything and to top things off, they offer complimentary breakfast…like not bagel breakfast, I’m talking about eggs, bacon, oatmeal, toast, etc. It definitely came in clutch! We were so close to popular Seattle attractions that on our first day there, we ended up just walking to the Pike Place Market without realizing it was only about a mile away. This was definitely an awesome choice!
Pike Place Market
This is obviously a place to head to if you're visiting Seattle. There is so much diversity and is overall an awesome market for random goods. We didn't purchase anything at the market, but if I lived in Seattle, I would definitely pick up all my groceries there! I did think of purchasing a bouquet of flowers since they were literally all over the place, but given my traveling circumstances, I wouldn't of had a vase to put them in haha.
El Borracho Bar
This is the first bar we visited in Seattle and actually found it on the second floor of the Pike Place Market. It was honestly just our luck to have found this spot because we were FREEZING and were in need of something warm *cough cough tequila*. Martin tried a local beer, that I don't remember the name of, and I had a good old coconut margarita. Aside from drinks, this bar also serves Mexican food, which we were too full to try, but I did have chips and salsa to munch on and the salsa was BOMB.COM. I love spicy salsa and this one definitely turned up the heat.
The Gum Wall
Also within the Pike Place Market area is the famous Gum Wall in Post Alley. I had previously seen pictures of this wall but never imagined it to be a full on gum oasis! Martin and I obviously chewed our gum to make our mark and got a chance to snap a few photos as well. There's not much to see here other than gum, so we didn't stick around for too long. Nonetheless, it's a super cool spot to visit!
Ristorante Machiavelli
If you're looking for a quiet and low-key dinner, head here! For some reason, Martin and I developed this huge craving for Italian food so we immediately searched for the best restaurant in the area. We found this spot and even if the wait was 45 minutes long, it was completely worth it. This place is teeny tiny and has a total mom and pop type of feel to it. We ordered the Bresaola alla Valtinellese as an appetizer, Chicken Parmesan as our main course and topped it off with a slice of cheesecake and coffee to go. We were in such a huge food coma after our time here, but we had zero regrets. Also, this restaurant resides in the Capitol Hill vicinity, which is very close to other nightlife hangout spots.
The Space Needle
I mean if you don't visit The Space Needle did you even go to Seattle? When we arrived, we spoke to a tour guide who directed us to the ticket booth to purchase our Observation Deck passes. If I remember correctly, they were only about $20 a person, so it wasn't too bad. This was quite the adventure and I'll never forget that nervous feeling I got when our journey up began! The view up top was incredible. I can't even believe how beautiful Seattle is you guys! We definitely soaked it all in and completely forgot about how chilly it was up there. Needless to say, you guys HAVE to visit the needle.
Bathtub Gin & Co.
If someone told me I would be hanging out inside the basement boiler room of a former hotel I would have said no way. Bathtub Gin is a speakeasy style bar that I highly recommend if you're into trying something new, but definitely wouldn't recommend if you're slightly claustrophobic. This place is super tiny and you almost feel like you're trapped because of how secretive it is haha. I literally felt like I was hiding from the law in the prohibition era! The music Saturday night was super fun because it was mainly hip hop and I feel like we stayed an extra long time because of the music haha. If you can't find it, search it through Google Maps and then ask someone in the area where this bar is at. Here's a hint: The entrance is in an ally.
Bill Speidel's Underground Tour
Again, this is something that I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend if you don't mind an adventure, but would never recommend if you can't take the feeling of being closed in. This is a guided tour that takes you under a few buildings to learn a little about how Seattle was re-built post the Great Fire of 1889. We were able to see pictures of where we were, where our location used to be, spot some historic pieces that were still underground and just soak in all the history. Learning about how Seattle is entirely built over the original first floor was MIND BLOWING. If you're into something spookier, this company also provides a Ghost Hunter's Underground Tour where you basically go underground with no lights and well, you hunt for ghosts with equipment. Yeah, we were good with the regular tour haha.
Anyway, I hope this review gets you guys super excited for a potential trip to Seattle! Don't hesitate to email me if you have any questions at all. I didn't include every single spot we visited so if you need any other recommendations just reach out to your girl!
Xo.. Melissa Victoria
