Seattle is one of my favorite places to explore. It’s been a few years since my last visit, so I couldn’t think of a better place to spend time with good friends & ring in the new year.
Seattle is one of those cities I really just like to walk around and see what all I can get into. Each neighborhood has it’s own flair and personality with great food, great bars, & great artwork around every turn. Here are my top 3 highlights from this trip:
Pike Place Market
Pike Place Market is a large farmers market in downtown Seattle, right on Elliot Bay. You can find pretty much anything you’re looking for here, plus quite a few things you weren’t. 😀 Imagine walking around and amongst stalls loaded down with fresh fruits and veggies that look as though they’ve been plucked fresh from the garden that morning. I only hate I didn’t plan a meal out in advance so I’d have an excuse to just grab grab stuff & make dinner that night (next time though-lol). Then move on to all the little shops selling all the fresh baked goods you could want, or shrimp, or burgers, or ice cream or–you get the idea. There are also local artisans selling their wares. Pike Place Market is a great place to pick up lotions, salves, or any other little notion that strikes your fancy. I scored a set of Scrappy’s Bitters, that I’ve been eyeing for a while, from the lavender stall.
After you’ve walked around and sampled to your hearts content, there are several restaurants and bars offering great views of the bay. Order a pint or a cocktail, and sit down and enjoy the view. Oh, and as far as I’m concerned, it’s not a completed trip to the market without a visit to Rachel’s Ginger Beer. Words can’t do it justice. Just trust me on this one, if you are able to stop in and sample the wares, please do. I had the hot toddy this time, which was made with the blood orange ginger beer. It was so good, I had two.
Le Faux at Julia’s on Broadway
We were sitting around Saturday morning and my friend goes “Hey, you wanna grab brunch at a drag show?” Why, of course I do! We got tickets to Le Faux’s Queen of the Brunch show and settled in for about 2 hours of entertainment.
IT WAS AWESOME!! The food was delicious, the drinks were superb, the service was great, and the show was entertaining. Side note: I ordered a Bloody Mary, and just let me tell you, this was THE Bloody Mary of ALL Bloody Marys!
I mean, look at this! It comes fully loaded with not one, but two tasty & well cooked chicken wings, smoked bacon, an olive, a celery stalk, a pepper, AND a pickle! I’m very picky about my Bloody Marys. I like a tasty base full of flavor and nuance, perfectly balanced with spice & gusto, and just the right amount of vodka. This is probably the only drink that I will not finish if there is too much liquor in it, as I find it disrupts the flavor balance. I almost always have to sample the mix first. But not this time, I threw caution to the wind (which ended up being the unofficial motto for this trip 🙂 ) and ordered one based solely on presentation.
I did not regret it.
Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture
The New Years Eve party I attended was at the Museum of Pop Culture, or MoPop as it’s called. Ok, first off, this building is unlike anything I’ve seen. It was designed by Frank Gehry, the same Frank Gehry who design the Dancing House in Prague (also known as Fred and Ginger). I don’t know much about architectural styles, but I’ll say his style is definitely unique. He wanted the building to be evocative of the rock and roll experience, he even used electric guitars as a source of inspiration. So needless to say, I think it’s a super cool building.
And I LOVE the exhibits they feature. At the time of my visit, I saw the Fantasy exhibit which featured props from several of my all time favorite movies, including:
*Lord of the Rings
*Harry Potter
*Wizard of Oz
*The Princess Bride
Their main exhibit, the “Marvel Universe of Super Heroes” is truly epic for a geek like myself. It covers Marvel’s 80 year history and is full of props, costumes, & just about anything Marvel related. I was so caught up in this exhibit that I had to be reminded (more than once I think-lol) that we were actually there for a party. 🙂
Now, the party was AWESOME, the music and food was point, the energy was high all night, and the vibe was perfect. If you happen to find yourself in Seattle, get over to MoPop for a visit.
Taylor Shellfish Farms
Now, I know I said I’d only cover 3 highlights from the trip, but I’d be remise if I did not at least give an honorable mention shout out to probably the best seafood meal I’ve had since my trip to the Dominican Republic. We were wondering around downtown one night when my friend remembers her favorite spot for oysters is right around the corner, so off we go.
When you walk in, you are meet with two water tables full of all sorts of deliciousness. We ordered up a plate of oysters to share and I went with the Dungeness Crab. It was served up with this delicious crab butter sauce concoction thingy and it was soooooooooooooo delicious. Seriously, you’d probably slap your mama over it. Well, I’m not slapping my mother (if you know her then you know why-lol), but I’m just saying. It’s just that good.
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