A Weekend in Seattle

Get ready for a picture-heavy trip through Seattle! 

I would share details of THIS weekend, but I was moving and it was over 100 degrees F outside…so it wasn’t pretty AT ALL. But, we got into our house (our first house!) got almost all the way unpacked (no joke, I unpacked boxes for 14 hours straight on Sunday), and illegally dumped most of our boxes into the construction site dumpster down the road. Point: us.

Instead, I wanted to share with you the amazing weekend my husband and I spent in Seattle the weekend before! [a lot of these pictures are from my Instagram, so sorryimnotsorry if you’ve already seen a few of them]

It was an incredibly quick weekend, so we didn’t get to see a fraction of the things we wished to, but we will definitely be going back. I had never been, but my husband has taken business trips there every month for the last 2 years, so he knew the area well. I was blown away by just how beautiful the area was, and I never wanted our weekend to end.

Thursday morning we caught a 6am flight (ummmm, I know) and got to Seattle early in the afternoon. I spent the plane flight listening to a playlist of all of the songs we danced to at our wedding. I’m a sentimental sucker.

We drove out to Mount Rainier, and stayed with one of Steve’s friends in the area. They lived near the mountain, in a beautiful estate covered in every fruit tree you could have imagined! Fig (FIG!), peach, apple, pear, blackberry brambles, golden plum, and a vineyard to boot.

These people had hospitality DOWN. Seriously, we arrived and there was a platter of gluten-free blueberry banana muffins waiting for us on the counter, a frittata placed in our fridge later for the next morning’s breakfast, and a garden-fresh “snack” of stuffed zucchinis and tomato-feta salad waiting on the table.  I die.

We drove around the Mountain for the afternoon and hopped out to hike around and take pictures of the beautiful waterfalls. It was rainy and foggy (go figure) so I didn’t actually see the Mountain, but what we did see was beautiful!

For dinner, there was a big grilled dinner of plank salmon, steaks, asparagus and garlic roasted potatoes, and grilled pineapple. Dessert was a blackberry-pear oat crumble (fruit picked right from the yard).

 

Friday:

I woke up early and got some yoga in outside, enjoying the view (ok ok, I actually did yoga, scarfed breakfast and coffee, then foraged their yard).

Steve and I hit the road and went straight to the Pike Market!

It was…busy! Y’all probably know all about it, so I’ll spare you, but I did have some killer tacos there, the meat being pork braised in banana leaves with pickled onions (El Buracho).

We stayed with some of Steve’s family closer to the city, so we all went out for sushi that night at Ohana and then Steve and I went for gelato. Go figure.

Saturday:

We woke up and went to Portage Bay for breakfast. The menu is farm-to-table and there are SO many gluten free options, I was in heaven. I went with the Swedish pancakes with lingonberries! Annnnddd then I hit the fruit bar and piled on the berries.

I grabbed a rice milk latte at Fremont Coffee (we are in Seattle, coffee is mandatory) then we went and saw the Locks. Watching the boats and the waterways was really interesting, and because it was breezy out, it was a perfect way to wrap up the morning.

We drove from there to Lake Sandwich. Cough cough. I mean, Lake Sammamish.

We hiked Snoqualmie Falls! I can’t believe I got my husband up it after we took the steep trail down. The map says it’s like hiking up a 30 story building…so  you can imagine how killer it is. The falls were BEAUTIFUL though. Worth it.

We rested the afternoon away, then headed to dinner at E Pu Lo.

Steve knows the owner of the restaurant, so we were treated to one of the most amazing dinners I’ve had in my entire life.

We started with house-made burrata and a charcuterie platter. Next was seared scallops with fresh corn polenta (me) and port braised short ribs with garlic mash and arugula (him). We finished it with the most rich, decadent Theo’s chocolate torte, all while drowning in some wine. I’m pretty sure I got drunk off of the torte alone. I ate it so slowly that I practically go dizzy! Let me tell you, this place is the place to go when you’re in the Seattle area. You HAVE to.  So fresh, so decadent. And now I’m spoiled for life and can never settle for scallops anywhere else, because these were fresh off the boat and cooked so perfectly. I die. Again.

And, then we caught another 6am flight home.

Best birthday trip ever. I’m so lucky.