Here’s Our Best & Worst Things From Washington

From early April to early May, we spent a month exploring Washington. Washington hadn’t been a state that was on my radar as somewhere I particularly cared about visiting, but that was my mistake.

It’s amazing! From the eastern side of the state in Spokane to the western side in Seattle and Port Angeles, Shae and I had an incredible time. It’s one of the most beautiful states we’ve visited on the road trip so far, there’s all kinds of interesting things to do, excellent breweries, wineries and cideries, and so much more. It’s ended up being my third favorite state we’ve visited so far (this was state 44 overall.) It’s also somewhere I’d happily move to at the end of our road trip if housing costs weren’t as high as they are.

Whenever we finish up in a state we share our favorite and not-so-favorite things from there, so here’s the latest edition for Washington. With so many amazing things to do there, I think it’s going to be hard to pick our favorites.

Favorite Accommodation We Stayed At

Stephen – I loved The Historic Davenport in Spokane and any other time that would’ve won. However, it was beaten out by the wonderful Vacasa rental we stayed at in Port Angeles. Unbelievable views, fantastic home – we missed it as soon as we checked out.

Shae – Oh man, how to pick!? It has to be the place near Port Angeles for me too, but The Historic Davenport moves up the list, to almost tied, since it had elevators!

Favorite Meal

Stephen – This is incredibly hard. I had great fish & chips at Seabolt’s, several great German sausages in Leavenworth, BBQ nachos that hit the spot after several drinks in Spokane, as well as other restaurants. I think the winner for me though was the chipotle meatloaf dinner at Heritage Kitchen Bar in Spokane – another meal that really hit the spot after some drinks at Whistle Punk Brewing.

Shae – Oh gosh, why do we have to choose!? But I think, my favorite was the bison burger from Heritage Kitchen Bar followed closely by the BBQ nachos.

Most Disappointing Meal

Stephen – We didn’t have a disappointing meal that I can remember, but the beer flight I got at Bushel & Bee Taproom in Leavenworth was waaaaaaay overpriced for how little beverage they give you.

Shae – I didn’t love my beef frank or pretzel in Leavenworth at Rhein Haus which supposedly had “the best pretzel in leavenworth”)

Favorite Free Activity

Stephen – Probably walking around Spokane and checking out the waterfalls there.

Shae – Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge was probably my favorite since it was free and there were animals to see. But it was followed closely by the Hall of Mosses in Olympic National Park.

Favorite Paid Activity

Stephen – Once again, too many to choose from. The Alpine Coaster in Leavenworth was a thrill, as was feeding animals like bison, yaks and llamas from our car at Olympic Game Farm. However, I’m going to give this award to Chihuly Garden and Glass in Seattle; it’s such a stunning art museum and I say that as someone who generally doesn’t have much appreciation for art.

Shae – Ugh… how can I choose!? For me? It’s probably the Leavenworth Reindeer Farm tied with Olympic Game Farm but only just… The Chihuly Garden was amazing and the Numerica SkyRide gondola across the falls in Spokane was incredible.

Favorite Pet-Friendly Activity

Stephen – All the pet-friendly breweries, wineries and cideries in Spokane.

Shae – It wouldn’t have been her favorite, but I loved that the Olympic Game Farm was pet-friendly so we could do it. I think she’d pick seeing Chris four times at Whistle Punk Brewing.

Least Favorite Activity

Stephen – The Twilight stuff in Forks and La Push, simply because I’m not a big Twilight fan. I was happy for Shae getting to be able to do it though.

Shae – Boo, Stephen! My least favorite was even thinking about trying the Alpine Coaster. It was stressful enough watching Stephen do it.

Favorite Hike

Stephen – I’m going to make this a tie between Riverside State Park in Spokane and the Hall of Mosses in Hoh Rainforest in Olympic National Park.

Shae – The hike (walk) to the Marymere Falls in Olympic National Park was my favorite.

Favorite Quirky Thing We Did

Stephen – Ordinarily I’d pick visiting some of Thomas Dambo’s trolls for this. However, Olympic Game Farm felt pretty quirky and was a real highlight.

Shae – I got bison boogers on me. That has to be the most quirky thing and my favorite because… BISON were close enough to get BOOGERS on me!

Favorite Memory

Stephen – Hanging out at Whistle Punk Brewing in Spokane. Chris who works there was incredibly friendly and we got chatting to lots of other patrons who were all very nice. We enjoyed it so much there that we visited four times during our time in Spokane.

Shae – Aw I LOVED hanging out in Whistle Punk too. But my favorite memories include seeing friends – new and old. We met Wanda, a pup that Truffles follows on IG, and her parents Brian and Jenn for a walk while we were all on the Olympic Peninsula.

Then we spent the afternoon with a friend from high school, Valerie, and her fantastic family. We had such a wonderful time catching up. It meant a lot to me that she was able to make the time to hang out with us and Truffles loved having the kids to play with her too.

Funniest Moment

Stephen – Shae feeding bread to bison from her mouth at Olympic Game Farm.

Shae – Oh, definitely all things related to feeding the animals at Olympic Game Farm, particularly the “Lady and the Tramp” style feeding I did with a bison. But, getting boogered was also pretty funny.

Thing We Most Regretted

Stephen – Not having more time to spend in Washington – I loved it.

Shae – Not seeing Mount St. Helens or the other major National Parks like North Cascades and Mt. Rainier.

Something We Missed And Want To See

Stephen – There’s all kinds of great hiking in Washington state, but the trails I was most interested in were still snowed over when we were there in April.

Shae – The National Parks, Mount St. Helens, more of the Olympic Peninsula, more of the wine region, and so much more.

Our Biggest Surprise

Stephen – How much I loved the state. It feels like Washington residents keep quiet about how amazing their state is.

Shae – How much I loved Washington. I didn’t feel that great about Oregon for a number of reasons and figured it would be the same with Washington. Nope. Washington was fantastic.

My Washington Drinking Game Would Be…

Stephen – Take a drink every time you see something with huckleberry flavor.

Shae – Take a drink every time you think “I could totally live here.”

Summary Of Washington In 10 Words Or Less

Stephen – Everyone should visit as it has so much to offer.

Shae – It’s a large version of Vermont – in the best ways.

Washington Cities We Visited In Order From Favorite To Least Favorite

Stephen – Spokane, Port Angeles, Seattle, Leavenworth. There’s not much between the four of them though – they were all fantastic.

Shae – Uh…. Spokane, Leavenworth… no wait, Port Angeles, then Leavenworth… no… no… Spokane, Leavenworth, Port Ange… nope. I can’t pick. Ok. I’ll try. Nope. I can’t.

Spokane, Port Angeles and Leavenworth are all tied for 1st with Seattle a very close 2nd.