There's something about taking a trip with someone you love that is just so special. I'm a sucker for romance and cute things and also a sucker for airports and traveling, so my recent trip to Seattle was all my favorite things in one!
I had been to Seattle a couple years ago, but it was just for part of a day because we were taking a cruise to Alaska out of there. I don't remember much about what we saw other than Pike Place, because Pride was going on that day so we watched the parade (which Macklemore was in) and that was pretty much it. My boyfriend lived there for about 6 years and went to school at the University of Washington, so we went for a long weekend to watch a Huskies game, visit his brother and explore his favorite place.
We started off on a great foot because I have a Priority Pass, which means I can get into airport lounges and get free snacks and drinks. I'm enjoying this perk so much and I tell anyone who will listen to me they should get a Chase Sapphire Reserve because of this. Even better, my boyfriend has Alaskan Airlines perks so we got free drinks. I've recently become obsessed with travel perks, cards and points so this stuff is so fun for me!
We got in fairly late on Thursday so we had a quick dinner and got to bed. Friday was a jam-packed day of exploring, even though I feel like I didn't even see a fraction of Seattle! We started out with brunch at Hi-Life which was so good. I'm also a sucker for seasonal things, so their autumnal specials really spoke my love language.
From there, we headed to the Ballard Locks to watch them raise and lower the boats, which seems like something my grandpa would love but it was surprisingly fascinating to watch. I always love being on the waterfront in different places because it's always so different when you're not in a beach town like mine.
From there, we searched for coffee and ended up at Slate Coffee Roasters. I love finding good coffee shops everywhere I go, and this was simple and good. I usually like to find places with unique flavors and whatnot so I was a little bummed we didn't have more time to explore but a good latte is a good latte!
After that, we went to Hogwarts. I'm not even joking, the University of Washington literally looks like it's straight out of Harry Potter. The Suzzallo Library looked like the Great Hall and the stairs made me feel like I was running to Potions class! It was a stunning campus and I got to see all the spots where my boyfriend lived, took classes and spent his time. My college campus was really cool in the sense that we are literally in the middle of the forest, but it didn't really look like a college campus. I love seeing other campuses, especially older ones, because some are so big and grand and impressive. This reminded me of the beautiful east coast campuses and it was well worth the nearly 20,000 steps it took to get around.
On our way home we took a detour to Gasworks, which is a really cool park right on the water that's an old gas refinery. We didn't walk around too much but we sat and looked out on the water and watched the seaplanes and boats for a little bit.
Our next stop was to Paseo, where my life changed. My boyfriend had told me about their Cuban sandwiches so many times and even recreated them one time and once I tasted it, I got the hype. It was seriously one of the best sandwiches I ever had! I fell into quite the food coma after that.
So the obvious next step was to go eat more food. My stomach seriously turned into a bottomless pit this weekend! We went to Molly Moon for some pre-drinks and dinner ice cream, and obviously a double scoop on a waffle cone was the way to go. It was so worth it and so good!
We followed that up with some beers at Redhook Brewlab, which was actually a really cool space. I wish I got more pictures on this trip but I didn't want to stop and do that every few minutes and annoy everyone haha.
We ended the day with sushi and another round of ice cream! This time it was vegan ice cream at Frankie & Jo's which was delicious and super cute. Again, I wish I got more pics!
Saturday was all about football after the most delicious breakfast. We went to Biscuit & Bean and holy shit, that was the greatest breakfast sandwich I've ever eaten. It was a maple bacon biscuit with chicken apple sausage, a poached egg, greens, apple butter and aioili and I'm going to be dreaming about it until I can eat it again. This entire trip basically centered around food.
The rest of the day was entirely focused on football! I had never been to a game and honestly don't know anything about football, aside from fumbles which I called "Finders Keepers." It was my first real tailgate which meant more food, including a Seattle dog (cream cheese and caramelized onions) which was surprisingly good. I couldn't believe the level of theatrics for a college game but it was super fun!
Sunday was our last day and we did something shocking –– went out for more delicious food. Rock Creek was also extremely delicious, and I want vanilla bean beignets for every meal I have from now on. Hopping onto the plane in a food coma was the perfect way to end the trip!
I love getting to see new places, especially with someone I love so much! We stuck mainly to Fremont, Ballard and Capitol Hill so I'm excited to get back and explore the rest of Seattle!