Shae and I briefly paused our road trip last month to fly out to Seattle for a few days to celebrate our friend’s birthday.
We had a great time with Mark and Megan while we were there, but there’s still so much we didn’t get to see (such as the Space Needle) and so we’re looking forward to returning to Seattle officially on the road trip in the future.
Here’s a quick review of our trip, from where we stayed to what we did to where we ate and drank.
Where We Stayed
The four of us stayed at the Hyatt Regency Seattle (see my full review here). It only opened a few years ago and so was a nice, new property with lovely staff and a great location downtown.
We arrived the day before our friends and checked into their room for them so that we could decorate it for his birthday and then surprise him when they arrived. Here’s the moment he found out what was going on:
What We Did
Grunge Tour
It was Mark’s birthday that we were there to celebrate. He was into grunge in the 90s (as was I), so Megan arranged a tour of some prominent grunge locations in Seattle.
Before that though, we had to pay our dues. While Mark and I were into Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, Nirvana, Soundgarden, etc. in the 90s, Megan and Shae had a less sophisticated taste in music 😉 We were therefore enlisted in recreating an iconic Spice Girls performance at the Brit Awards.
With our zigazig ah-ing out of the way, off we set touring various grunge locations. The highlight for me was Central Saloon which once hosted bands like Mother Love Bone, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains and more. What I would give to go back in time to experience this concert:
Next up was a visit to Viretta Park which has a bench memorial to Kurt Cobain as it’s near the house where he committed suicide.
The park also has a bench dedicated to Layne Staley of Alice In Chains.
We then drove to the Museum of Pop Culture. We didn’t visit the museum itself, but outside they have a bronze statue of Chris Cornell from Soundgarden and Audioslave which is what we were there to see.
Our final stop was Linda’s Tavern which was the last place that Kurt Cobain was seen alive.
Starbucks
Starbucks began life in Seattle and its first location was close by our hotel. There was a huge line outside (off to the left of the photo below), so we just walked by.
We first visited a Starbucks Reserve Roastery a couple of years ago in New York. There are currently only half a dozen of them worldwide, with Seattle being home to the very first one.
Pike Place Market
The four of us wandered through Pike Place Market and got to see some fish throwing going on which is what the fish market section is known for.
The Gum Wall
Below Pike Place Market is The Gum Wall which is exactly what it sounds like – a wall with gum on it.
I stuck some gum on there, but Shae found a more creative way to do the same thing.
Tattoos
Shae and Megan got tattoos together when we traveled to Ireland with them a few years ago, so they decided to get tattoos together again in Seattle at Black Sparrow Tattoo.
The design Shae went for incorporates some of her favorite things – reading, travel and photography. The GPS coordinates listed in the book are for the airport where we first met face-to-face as we first met online while living in different countries.
Whale Watching
For as much as I enjoyed visiting the various grunge locations, the highlight of the trip for me was going whale watching with Puget Sound Express. We got to see so many orcas and it was an incredibly fun experience – read more about it here.
Where We Ate & Drank
Umami Burger
On our first night we ordered dinner from Umami Burger using Uber Eats. The descriptions of their burgers sounded amazing; they ended up being good, but not as spectacular as we’d been anticipating.
Bok A Bok Chicken
Mark and Megan arrived the next night and they recommended Bok a Bok Chicken which they’d had when visiting Seattle in the past. It proved to be a fantastic choice as the chicken was delicious, especially with their 4 chili hot sauce. Their chicken strips were enormous – probably at least twice the size of chicken strips from other locations.
Salt & Straw
While Shae and Megan got their tattoos, Mark and I wandered up to Salt & Straw to get ice cream which was very good. I got a berry ice cream which was incredibly fruity.
Molly Moon’s
Salt & Straw wasn’t the only ice cream we had in Seattle. Another evening we went to Molly Moon’s which had equally good dessert.
Rom Mai Thai
After whale watching, we were all ravenous. The first restaurant we planned on eating at had a very long wait, so we went a few doors down to Rom Mai Thai. That ended up being a great choice as their som tum (spicy papaya salad) was some of the best I’ve had since we lived in Thailand.
Lowell’s
While wandering around Pike Place Market, we stopped for lunch at Lowell’s which has a menu consisting primarily of seafood. I got their fish and chips which was cooked perfectly, while Shae got clams in wine, garlic, chillis and butter with garlic bread which she very much enjoyed too.
Whiskey
I got a couple of special bottles of whiskey for Christmas last year and had been holding on to them so that I could have them with someone else who also enjoys whiskey.
The plan had been to have them with Mark when we visited Oregon this summer as he and Megan live in Portland, but our plans changed which meant we spent the summer in Colorado rather than Oregon (here’s why). It was therefore great that we still got to see them this summer as it meant we could enjoy the two bottles together.
The first one we opened was Uncle Nearest 1856. We’d discovered Uncle Nearest when visiting Tennessee back in 2019 and Shae got me a bottle signed by Fawn, the founder of the distillery. It’s caramelly, smooth and delicious.
The other bottle had a fun and unique story behind it. Jefferson’s made some small batch whiskey and sent it off to sea to age.
Each batch therefore ages differently depending on the voyage, temperatures, etc. Each bottle has a label which tells the story of how it aged in more detail. Not only is this a fun concept but the whiskey was very good too.
[…] before we flew to Seattle to surprise a friend for his birthday, we met up with some friends at Lowry Beer Garden. I had one of their beers (I forget which), while […]