One day I will get on a plane to somewhere and when I get off I will stay put until it’s time to go home. This was not that trip. I don’t think I’d even recommend doing this trip like I did if you’re coming from the East Coast but I am notorious for trying to squeeze as much as I possibly can into long weekends so here we are.
Booking a flight to Seattle turned into “let’s go to Olympic too” turned into “we might as well go to Portland” and so that is what we did during the worst snow the PNW has seen for a decade.
We got to Seattle around 11am and immediately headed to Pike Place because we were right there and I felt we had to. I looked at the first Starbucks, it was dumb, and I did not see Future President Of The United States Of America Howie Schultz.
Hey here’s a Sarah travel philosophy:
Do the touristy stuff and look like a tourist too. Who gives a shit! You are one, after all. You’ll be disappointed by some of it, but most of the time places are touristy for a reason. Pike Place was cute, a very enthusiastic employee at the soap place in the market gave me a bunch of free stuff when she found out we were from Boston and I had an exceptionally good hot toddy. And nothing was even crowded because of the snow! I had no complaints.
Big ole s/o to my good pal Andy who moved out to Seattle a few years ago for playing tour guide for us all afternoon. We very much just followed his lead and it WORKED, especially when we escaped the snow to go to Bathtub Gin & Co, a speakeasy where we got an entire room with a fireplace to ourselves.
Day Two! Olympic National Park!
Me:
Everybody in Seattle: There’s too much snow to drive to Forks
Me: I have all wheel drive a lead foot and a wild sense of adventure lfg
I was definitely operating with a little too much of that “I’m from a snowy place” arrogance because there are two snow plows in all of Seattle and it sure seemed like there were zero people to operate them because that city does NOT know how to clean up snow. Regardless, we headed out to the the Olympic Peninsula and by the time we got to the beach the weather could not have cooperated more.
We hit up Ruby Beach which based on internet sleuthing only actually seemed slightly nicer than the other popular destination - Rialto Beach (which, surprise! Rialto was inaccessible due to a road being out anyway!)
Hey here’s another Sarah travel philosophy:
It’s not a road trip unless you have to turn around and/or are scared while driving at least once. There’s a fair amount of road closures in Olypmic right now, I * think * because of storms, trees down and the whole the park isn’t maintained during a government shutdown thing, so turn around we did, a few times.
But if you’re wondering if I had another travel philosophy I am here to tell you I sure as heck do and that is to just pull over and walk around if your original plan doesn’t pan out. Or even if it does. Just always pull over.
We spent the last two days in Portland. If you were wondering my opinion on US cities, or even if you weren’t I’m going to tell you anyway because this is my blog, they’re all bad except for Portland and also Austin but Portland has more nature. We spent most of our time around Mississippi, a nice relief from the busier/bougier Pearl District. I hate pizza twice, drank a thousand drinks and took pictures of exactly nothing.
And, if you remember, you should be doing the toursity stuff, which is why naturally we were obligated to go to Multnomah Falls on the rainest PNW-iest day we were there.
Lastly, here’s everywhere I went worth recommending!
Seattle:
Bathtub Gin & Co. - A speakeasy that actually felt like one
Rachel’s Ginger Beer - This ginger beer was GOOD. You can get it with or without the booze.
Cyclops - A bar that was actually my speed despite being downtown - p chill, p cheap, just slightly divey.
Skillet Diner - A nice diner.
Portland:
Oven & Shaker - Pizza which I didn’t eat, but the meatballs I had were A+ and I take my meatballs seriously.
Pink Rabbit - Cocktail bar. GUYS. If you’re not a fan of The National (America’s Best Band) you’ll have no idea this entire bar is a reference to their discography but if you are a fan of The National you will be geeking out about it. Between the three of us I think we got every drink on their menu. They were all delicious.
Either/Or - Coffee! Head to the SE location and give a s/o to Patrick who I finally got to meet IRL while there. He’ll be the one controlling the cool music.
Pine State Biscuits - I feel like I don’t have to tell you guys about this.
Salt and Straw - I feel like I don’t have to tell you guys about this either but if you’ve never had this ice cream you need to.
Blue Star Donuts - I….feel like I don’t have to tell you guys about this.
Psychic - This is a cool bar where my good friend and travel partner walked up to the bar and was able to order a bowl of fruit loops, a side of toast, an orange juice and a shot of vodka at 11:00 pm.
Mississippi Studios - Music venue, also bar. I wish I could have seen a show here but the bar half was cool to just hand out in regardless.
Stormbreaker Brewing - The thing that got me in to this place is they had outdoor firepits under tents so even though it was pouring rain it still sorta felt like I was camping.
That’s it! Until next time friends, I cannot promise that I’ll have any updates until I venture to somewhere else. But I am now/always taking suggestions.