Traveling Archives - Page 7 of 10

Sleeping In Seattle: To Market We Go

August 8, 2012August 23, 2017Jeromey Balderrama

Our last two days spent in Seattle gave us the opportunity to explore Pike Place Market. For my birthday, Bethany’s mom gave me a card with a list of their favorite activities in Seattle and some money for each, so we used that as our guide to explore the market. Our trip started off at the very first Starbucks, which opened in 1971. Given the explosion in popularity, this location is basically a tourist trap and pilgrimage destination for serious coffee drinkers. There’s a line that leads down the street, and once you get in you can pick our some merchandise or order a cup of coffee. I decided to simply do the latter. It’s definitely worth the experience of going, especially if you put a Starbucks barista through college.

After getting caffeinated up we headed down a block to Beechers, which boasts the best Mac & Cheese in the world. After eating the bowl that Bethany and I split, I would have to agree that it’s definitely up there. I’m not sure what criteria you use to judge Mac & Cheese: whether you prefer the soft and cheesy Mac, or if you’d prefer the cheese to be baked on and crisp at the top. I’m more of a “crisp at the top” kind of guy, but either way – if you’re a Mac & Cheese fan, this is worth a stop as well.

When you walk down the Market, you’re treated to various samples: smoke salmon, jams and fruits. One of the items we got money for was for peaches, and we samples some ones that were incredibly juicy. They made for an awesome breakfast the next day.

The next day when Bethany’s family game in, we scratched another item off the list: Clam at Pike Place Chowder. Seattle has no shortage of the stuff, but in terms of richness and flavor, we definitely got our money’s worth. They actually had a sampler platter, which I used to try four different types. Their New England style clam is excellent, but my favorite one is the bisque.

Rewind back to Friday night: We decided to split from the craziness that was downtown and headed north west to a recommended restaurant called Ray’s Café. There are actually three locations in Ray’s: a fancy restaurant, a boathouse event center (which was actually hosting a wedding at the time), and an upstairs café with an awesome patio. All of them had an awesome view of the shore. We spent the rest of the evening ordering seafood appetizers and soups while taking in the spectacular view.

One of the final sights we took in before leaving Seattle was a wall along the ally behind the Pike Place Market known as the “gum wall”, where you guessed it – people stuck their chewed gum to decorate everything. You might not want to stand too close to this attraction.

Next up: Alaska!

Sleeping in Seattle: Underground and Bainbridge Island

August 8, 2012August 23, 2017Jeromey Balderrama

On Thursday we journeyed back into downtown Seattle to go see an attraction that was recommended by many locals: The Underground Tour. Located in Pioneer’s Square, this fascinating tour covered the underground in two ways: the structures that the current city was built above, as well as the way these structures also housed activities that were considered less-than-decent – it’s Red Light District.

We were told stories of how the city was originally constructed as a logging community, built on mud slabs that were supplemented with sawdust to firm out the ground. Being a port city, Seattle was where loggers and sailors would come together to unwind, drink themselves silly and indulge themselves.

It’s crazy seeing the original structures that now sit beside the foundations of sidewalk and street. We were told stories of when the streets came up and built to the current height they are today, the sidewalk passages were still at the ground level. People would have to climb ladders in order to cross the street. We heard tales of drunk loggers stumbling out of the bar, climbing the ladder to cross the street, then taking the “one step to sobriety” by forgetting about the ladder back down.

Later on, when the city was erected on top of the underground structures, we were told the structures were used as a series of underground tunnels for smuggling. They claim this was evidenced by the fact that skylights was built into the sidewalks to allow for natural light to shine through.

You can see the under-ground view, and then the above-ground view.

I’d say the Underground Tour was worth it. The price was pretty reasonable for a history buff like me. I’m not sure what was truth and what is urban legend. It was still worthwhile to see though.

We departed Pioneer Square and headed straight to Bainbridge Island: the other gem recommended to us. We made our way out there by ferry and were told to go to this pub for fish & chips. We made a small detour for some wine tasting, topped off by a Port in chocolate glass.

After dinner we walked along the shoreline walk, which featured these cool statues made out of rock and wire.

On the ferry ride back to Seattle, we were treated to both a beautiful sunset over the island, as well as a full moon rising over the city, revealing a beautiful cityscape.

Sleeping in Seattle: Wedding Wednesday

August 8, 2012August 23, 2017Jeromey Balderrama

Seattle was actually a work-cation for me, where I would work during the day and have some time at night to explore. This left Bethany with some time to kill on her hands, and one of those ways in doing so was visiting the University of Washington. Bethany found the campus to be very pretty, saying that the buildings looked aged, but well-maintained. She actually mistook the library for a church.

In the later afternoon we made the trek by bus to southwest Seattle, where we watched our friends Rachel and Ken renew their vows to have their marriage blessed by the Church. The ceremony is a little more low-key, but was just as beautiful.

After their reception we started to make our way back to the northern part of Seattle, stopping downtown to run some errands. We ended up over by the shoreline to have some chowder over at Ivar’s, where the seagulls would come and beg for scraps. At some point, it seemed like a scene from Birds, but the ‘gulls behaved themselves. However, we did contribute in the disruption of the ecosystem.

The rest of our evening was pretty uneventful. We spent the rest of it walking back to our bus and heading home. We did manage to stumble into a seven-foot tall Otter named Elliot.

Sleeping in Seattle: Take Me Out to the Ballgame

August 4, 2012January 30, 2023Jeromey Balderrama

After our nice time in Whidbey Island, we set back onto the mainland to begin our week of my work-cation: where I would still be working during the day, but would have evenings free to explore the city. We went through AirBnB to find a nice basement studio apartment that features a full kitchen for our breakfasts and lunches. The apartment is located about 6 miles north-west of downtown Seattle, in a nice area that features restaurants, a grocery store, coffee shops and even an ice cream parlor. We rented a car for our island adventure, but still had enough time on Sunday to make a grocery run to Trader Joe’s to get items for the week. We then dropped the car off at the airport and have been bussing it the rest of the week. Sunday was also Bethany’s birthday and we celebrated it with a nice dinner by Pike Place Market.

Monday turned out to be a long day at work, so we stuck around the are by our apartment and had dinner and ice cream close by. Bethany ventured into downtown on Tuesday and got some goodies at the market and we cooked a great lunch of fresh salmon back at our place. After work on Tuesday, we headed down to the International District before we took in a Mariners game. Unfortunately we didn’t have as much time to explore as we had hoped, but did get in a walk through the grocery market to pick up some snacks for the game, including my favorite gummy candy. Luckily I was able to have a fun time with the strawberry gummy handy.

We then made our way over to SafeCo field, which is a parking garage away from CenturyLink Field, where the Seahawks play.

SafeCo is a great open ball-park that features a retractable roof. Apparently we are in Seattle on one of the nicest weeks of the year, so the roof was very open to let all the sunshine in.

The game was between two last-place teams: The Mariners and the Toronto Blue Jays. The Mariners haven’t been very good lately, so support was pretty sparse, however it was astonishing to see all of the Blue Jay fans over-take the ballpark. I snapped this picture behind home plate, and you can see the sea of Toronto Blue. They really made it feel like a home game.

SafeCo is also known for it’s wide variety of food, of which many people were eating these garlic fries. We found them too tempting to resist and ended up having a great ballpark snack! Safeco also right in the path of planes taking off to the northwest, creating these awesome shots of commercial fly-overs on the stadium. This was the best picture I could take, always missing that crucial shot over home plate.

We ended up leaving after the Mariners scored 2 runs in the 5h, increasing their lead to 7-2 – at which point the beleaguered Mariners fans tried to get their own revenge by chanting “U-S-A! U-S-A!” angering the Canadians. We felt that was our cue to leave.

Sleeping In Seattle: Wedding Weekend

August 4, 2012August 23, 2017Jeromey Balderrama

It’s been a busy month since I last posted. During that time, we have successfully moved along the process of selling and buying our new homes, and currently have moved all of our possessions out of home in hopes that we’ll be moving them into our new home later this month. After the frantic pace of the last few weeks, the time has finally arrived for us to embark on our travels and find some relaxation in some other parts of the country. Our first stop and the end of last week: Seattle!

Note: I’m catching up on posts that should have been written earlier this week, so you’ll see a series of posts about what we’ve been up to in Seattle.

We actually flew into Seattle last Friday to attend the wedding of our Rachel and Ken. The wedding was actually outside of Seattle on Whidbey Island, a quaint place that you get to by ferry. We made a small mistake in the amount of time that we took to make our way up to the ferry, and by the time we arrived at the ferry pick-up in Mukilteo, the waiting line was almost 2 miles long and a 2 hour wait – and here I thought ski traffic was bad! The time went by quickly though, and we were able to board the ferry and arrive on the island before 5:30. We were lucky enough to get one of the front spots in he ferry, which gave us this view right from our car:

For our lodging, we ended up going into a VRBO with some friends and ended up with a beautiful beach house on the southeast part of the island. We were delighted to open the back door to this wonderful view:

One of the benefits of staying at a house like this is that we could make a great dinner at home – which consisted of crab and a awesome shrimp pasta that Bethany had made. We also treated ourselves to something I never experienced before: a beach-side campfire, which I would say seriously rivals mountain camping fires.

On Saturday morning Joel and I joined other wedding guests in some sea kayaking, which made me once again fall in love with the activity and exploring the feasibility of owning my own. Unfortunately I didn’t get any pictures there, as I didn’t want to chance a water accident with the camera.

Rachel & Ken’s wedding was held at a place called Rhythm Waters, which easily goes on my top 5 list of wedding venues out there. It was nestled meadow at the top of a very steep hill. We actually got a sneak peak of it earlier in the day when we ran a wedding-prep errand. Pulling up I saw a big open meadow to my left and thought that the wedding simply hadn’t set up yet. I was also fearful of where all the guests would be parking. However, I quickly realized that the meadow was simply the parking lot, and that there was a small path that lead you to a 2nd, bigger and more beautiful meadow.

The wedding itself was a total blast! During the reception there was actually a wedding triathlon, where Bethany and I emerged as winners of the knot-tying contest. We even got medals to show for it! Rachel and Ken also had an awesome first dance as well:

Because the wedding was being held at a hidden meadow, there was the challenge of how people were going to be able to use the bathroom. The problem was solved by putting outhouses – but not just any outhouses! These “Royal Restrooms” was a motor trailer with flushable toilets, plush carpeting and running water. All of the guests were fascinated by these futuristic remote bathrooms. The insides were spacious and I’d imagine they’d be what airplane bathrooms would be if the airlines gave a damn about comfort. If you have to pee in the woods, this is the way to do it.

We ended our Whidbey Island adventure by heading home and taking in one last shot of the sunset.

Next up: Our week-long time pretending to be Seattle’ites.