As you may or may not know, depending on how much you follow my posts, Josh and I are temporarily in Portland renewing our Indian visas. (A process that is taking 10 times longer than it should). We have been in Portland for over a month now, so last Friday we decided to rent a car and head to Seattle on Saturday for a night. Josh lived in Seattle for 7 years, but his last time there was in 2005. As for myself, I had never been to Washington state before, so I was very excited because I love traveling to new places and especially because Josh always said that I would love Seattle.
Getting There
We decided to drive to Bremerton and take the ferry to Seattle instead of taking the shorter route by driving straight to Seattle. Ferries are fun. We saw seven rainbows on the way to Bremerton! I think that is more than I’ve seen in my lifetime before this.
On the ferry, it was the perfect way to see Seattle for the first time, and the hour-long ferry ride was very pleasant. Even though it was chilly and windy, we spent most of the time outside on the deck. It was also surprisingly cheap. We paid $13.55 dollars to ride the ferry with our rental car.
First Day in Seattle
The first thing we did after arriving in Seattle, was head to our Airbnb booking to check in with our hosts, Maikel and Jenny. We booked a private room in their home in Admiral District only about a 10-minute drive from downtown. And we loved the simple and European feel of their home. They also had the best shower head I have ever experienced. We didn’t get to meet Jenny, but Maikel was super friendly and we would definitely stay there again.
Pike Place Market
Our next stop was Pike Place Market. This was one of the places I was most excited about visiting.
I loved every step of the way. The crafts, the flowers, the produce, the fish…
We went inside Delaurenti’s Specialty Food and Wine store. I felt like I had just walked into Disneyland. I have a small obsession with Italy, and this store was heavenly to me.
Even though I could’ve bought the whole store if I could, we left empty-handed and walked to our dinner destination while enjoying the crisp air and the glorious sunset.
Did you know Seattle is home to the first Starbucks? It’s walking distance to Pike Place, it still has the old logo and there’s always a long line. I opted to just take a photo from outside.
The only thing we bought at Pike’s Market was a 100% sheep’s wool hooded sweater from Peru at the El Gringo Imports stand inside the market. The one I am wearing in the above and below pictures. It was the only one of its kind and it happened to fit me perfectly which is rare since I am short and petite.
My fellow Hispanic Peruvians made this sweater tailored made for me. It was so warm and cozy, perfect for the weather. Josh had to convince me to get it. It’s usually how it goes since I am the frugal one in the relationship; the frugal one with the expensive taste. The more you get to know me the more you’ll find that I am a walking paradox.
Dinner
While I was happily roaming around Delaurenti’s, Josh was using his phone to find a place to go for dinner. He found a French place walking distance and called for a reservation. The woman who answered the phone told him that they were all booked but that she would try to make room for us. Why? I don’t know. She was nice.
She suggested that we have a drink at the bar next door to them and she would come get us when our table was ready. We couldn’t believe the kindness. Exactly one glass of wine later, she came to get us and we had an absolutely delicious French dinner at Le Pichet.
We shared a demi-pichet (small pitcher) of red wine, we also shared the most delicious onion soup (one of the staples of French cuisine). Josh ordered the steak frites (you can never go wrong with steak frites), and I got the duck confit. Everything sung to our taste buds. Unfortunately, they did not have chocolate souffle but they did give us a couple house-made caramels with our bill.
Drinks with Strangers
By the time I got my sweater on and grabbed my purse, Josh was already outside of the restaurant talking to a couple. (Josh will talk to any living creature, mostly humans, but he’s definitely the more talkative one in our relationship by far.) Anyway, this couple had also just had dinner and they were looking for their hotel.
They were from Spokane, in Seattle for a night to see a Seahawks game for their 19th anniversary. A simple: “do you know where this hotel is?” led to all four of us having drinks at a bar which used to be a crematorium.
Alright, let me back up for a bit. Josh did offer them to come ride the car with us and go to a place for dessert and a drink. Josh found a place through yelp but when we got there and saw it from outside, it looked like a fancy Spanish restaurant; not what we were looking for.
So, we walked further and Josh asked the first people he found if they were locals and if they knew a place where we could have a drink. One of the gals said she would take us to a place around the corner. We followed her and on the way there she said that this bar used to be a crematorium. I googled it and I couldn’t find anything about crematorium history in this place, so maybe it’s a myth, maybe not. The bar is called The Pine Box, so that may have led to some rumors or the name could be based on its history. I really don’t know, Google wouldn’t tell me.
So we had a drink with this couple that we had just met, and they turned out to be pretty cool. We enjoyed a long conversation with them. Also, I still wanted dessert, so I ordered the Big Ass Chocolate Chunk Cookie with Caramel Drizzle & Smoked Sea Salt from the menu, and I may have overlooked or underestimated the “big ass” part, because they brought me a big ass cookie. It was a cookie the size of a dinner plate. After one drink and a very long conversation, we parted ways.
Night Tour
Then, Josh took me on a Historic Josh Night Tour. He drove me by two different places he used to live at. He also drove me by the building at the University of Washington where he used to work at, and eventually took me to the bar where he used to hang out. We had one last drink before heading to our Airbnb and have a nice sleep.
We even went to bed before our carriages turned into pumpkins.
Josh was right. I loved Seattle.
A New Life Wandering 