Franeks Take the West Coast: Seattle, WA

Hey everyone!

We are currently on the trip of a lifetime, our two week west coast adventure! I’m going to break it down into each stop that we are making and share with you pieces at a time! These posts will let you know what our MUST dos were in each city we stopped in, as well as some tips/tricks to make your stay there easier if you ever decide to travel to the west coast! Let me start off by saying, this trip was YEARS of saving. Like after we came back from our honeymoon in Bora Bora, I started saving. I will write a Wifey Wednesday on how I saved big money on this trip in many ways once we get back, but it was an expensive trip. However, we felt like this was our last big hoorah before Madi was tied down to a job. 

So how was Seattle you ask? It was pretty darn cool. Here is what we did:

Day One:

We flew from RDU to SEA on a direct flight. It was not terribly long, a little over five hours, which is NOTHING compared to our adventure over to Bora Bora. To get into the city we took the Light Link Rail which is a train that goes from the airport, all the way up to University of Washington, with little stops in between. This was MUCH cheaper than Uber. We stopped by our hotel, Courtyard by Marriott Pioneer Square, and had planned to drop our bags, but they had our room ready for us (SCORE!) so we got to go upstairs and take a minute to change and stuff before heading out on our first day adventures. 

We headed out toward the monorail, which was about a fifteen minute walk from our hotel and brought us directly to the Space Needle and Glass Garden, Our first stop was lunch, Skillet Counter in the Seattle Center. It was DELICIOUS. I got a burger and fries and Madi got a Cobb salad. We both loved our food! Next we headed over to the Chihuly Glass Gardens. We had bought a combo ticket for this and the Space Needle, which was the cheaper way to do things. The glass garden was for sure beautiful, and was not terribly expensive, but was partially closed off for a private event so we didn’t get to see EVERYTHING which was a little disappointing. Next we went back to the hotel to get some rest. This was a must for us because between the time change, long plane ride and Madi feeling under the weather, we were pretty wiped. 

After resting for a bit we went out and got some dinner at Tap Room Grill, which was yummy! Smaller portions, but it was filling! The restaurant was set up kind of cool too. And if you like to drink they had like over 100+ beers on tap. I sampled a Washington made cider and it was pretty tasty! Madi and I both got pan seared chicken with mashed sweet potatoes but I got asparagus and he got Brussels sprouts. (I can’t eat Brussels Sprouts due to PTSD from my BCS 5th grade Tallahassee trip where I was dared to eat a soggy one from a golden coral and wanted to throw up so badly afterwards, yuck). Last stop of the night was the infamous Space Needle. I wasn’t really sold on doing this because it’s SO expensive and was partially under construction (there are lots of other places you can see the city from a high point too) but for Madi it was a must do. So we did it right around sunset and stayed until it was dark to see the city lights. It was pretty darn beautiful. 

Day Two

Woke up and skipped over to Bacco Cafe which was on my list of things wanted to try, and I loved my food! Madi thought it was par for the course. Then we took a free walking tour where you pay what you feel. It lasted about two hours and covered a two mile loop. Our tour guide Jake was great! We definitely leaned a lot about Seattle that we didn’t know. We stopped by to explore Pike Place Market where we saw all of the classics, including the original Starbucks. The flowers were AMAZING. It smelled so good in there! Until you got to the fish market section lol. Then we decided to brave the two mile hike to Kerry Park. About half a mile of this hike was up a steep hill. Our calves and thighs were on fire, but this was probably my favorite part of our entire trip. I mean come on, that view is INCREDIBLE!! God blessed us with perfect weather for the park, as it was 68 degrees and sunny when we got up there. We spent some time chilling and letting our legs recover before heading the two miles back to our hotel. Who needs Uber? Not the Franeks! At least not yet. The last stop of the trip was an underground tour. Now, we didn’t understand the history of Seattle prior to going on this tour, so it was informative for us. But in ways was a little too informative. Like how the word “crapper” came from a dude who’s last name was Crapper and made toilets.... no joke. I mean yeah totally interesting to learn history of things but wow some bad puns were thrown around. Overall Madi and I chalked it up to part of the Seattle experience.

Now we are headed over to Portland, Oregon for more fun and adventures! We won’t be there long though, so we have a jam packed twenty four hours!! I will put up more pictures of each place at the end of our trip! Trust me, we have lots!!

Overall Must Dos for Seattle:

- Eat at Skillet or Skillet Counter

- Walk to Kerry Park

- Visit Pike Place Market 

- Do the Space Needle at Sunset 

- Grab Dinner at Tap Room Grill

Tips and Tricks:
- Buy a package deal if you want to see a lot of the major museums or iconic places in the city. 
- Take the ferry to Bainbridge at sunset instead of paying for a sunset tour. Then to get info on Seattle, take a Free Walking Tour and pay what you feel. 

Thanks for keeping up,

- Olivia :)