Kait's Rad Summer: Seattle

My Calgary-dwelling pal Kait of Yuppie Love made her way to the West Coast this summer with her husband, Byron. Jeff and I were lucky enough to meet up with them in Seattle for a bit during their visit. I'll let Kait tell you more about that amazing city and her summer adventures...

A roadtrip is one of the best possible things to happen to you during the summer months and I was lucky to have it happen it to me this summer. We planned a roadtrip to Seattle in celebration of our first anniversary. We had to do something adventurous to rival our honeymoon, which was a two-week jaunt to Las Vegas, LA, and San Francisco.

Seattle was absolutely breathtaking. From Pike Place to the Space Needle to the beautiful last-minute harbour cruise we took – everything took our breath away.

I spent most of the trip completely jealous of the fresh produce. Well, actually I spent most of the trip sampling all of the fresh produce. We picked up tons of fruit over the six days we were in Seattle. Pike Place Market was a beautiful haven for vendors of such wares and we even snagged a personal fruit shopper at one booth. Check out this bag of incredible black berries and cherry tomatoes!

As part of work research and for personal interest, we checked out the Experience Music Project. A very cool museum with some super interesting exhibits including a very well-done chronology of Nirvana. Our favourite part was the guitar room. So much history behind the evolution of the infamous stringed instrument. Here is Byron in front of the epic funnel of guitars and banjos in the centre of the museum. So cool!

Pike Place Market was definitely one of my favourite spots in Seattle and I think if I was a local I would still frequent this tourist-hot-spot. Massive $5 bouquets of flowers, gluten-free bakeries, and an endless amount of seafood vendors = heaven.

We stumbled across a Wednesday Farmers Market while wandering the neighbourhoods of Fremont and Wallingford. It is based in the field of a beautiful old elementary school. The grounds of this school are magical and so so green and lush. I am so jealous of the children who get to play here on a daily basis.

We took a spontaneous harbour cruise after we found that they were selling tickets for half-price to fill up the evening cruise. I am so glad we made this part of our trip. It was so gorgeous touring the harbour and being able to see the entire Seattle skyline from the water.

This trip seemed to be all about spontaneity! I was so lucky to find out that Sarah & Co. were in Seattle at the exact same time as us so we planned to meet for a little picnic and walk down at Pike Place Market. We got to meet Jeff and Lola which was very exciting and talked about food, drinks, and wedding stuff. I bought this massive sunflower for $2 for Sarah. I couldn’t resist -- it was stunning.

Look at the adorable Lola lounging in the sun. What a cute puppy.

Molly Moon Ice Cream was my main indulgence of this vacation. I think I ate ice cream nearly everyday and compensated for it by walking 10 hours per day. I had amazing flavours including Maple Walnut, Scout Mint, Balsamic Strawberry, and Carmelized Peaches & Cream. It even inspired me to buy a book about ice cream and micro-creameries at Powells Books in Portland. Though now that I am back to sitting in a chair for 8 hours a day instead of adventuring and walking the streets, I have severely cut back on the ice cream (ie. none at all) but will definitely trying out some recipes soon with friends and family!

The Mono-Rail was so modern and fast that I had to make this ridiculous face. Really though, while I thought $2 for a one-way 3 minute ride was a bit pricey -- it DID get us downtown in no time. What a great modern invention.

Oysters, oh oysters. My favourite thing about coastal cities is the sheer abundance of seafood and sushi. And mostly just the oysters. We sat down to an amazing dinner of coca-cola, fish & chips and 12 luscious fresh oysters at Jack’s Fish Spot at Pike Place Market. They were the most intoxicating, mind-blowing oysters I have eaten to date, and the biggest as well. Wow. The memories are still so strong. Wish I was still there slurpin’ oysters....

Just me spending MORE time in PPM. I love it here. Note the $2 Sunflower. It is only fitting that I also became addicted to The Beach Boys 1971 album Sunflower during this trip as well.

Coffee. This has got to be my favourite coffee shop I have ever visited. Everything about it, to the storefront, to the bags of beans, to the wonderful staff who crafted the best iced coffee I have had in a long time. Just perfected our whole Seattle experience.

I hope you enjoyed my rad summer vacation. It was such a treat and I wish I was still there! Until next time.... kait

Thanks so much for sharing your summer adventure, Kait. Love that you represented the Pacific Northwest and that we managed to finally meet up for a picnic (mmmmm...Beecher's grilled cheese) and a chat. And just so you know, that sunflower brightened our kitchen for many days. Thanks for that and the wedding real talk! Be sure to check out and say hi over at Kait's fun blog, Yuppie Love, too!