Honeymoonin’ Part 1: Seattle – Newlyweds In New York

Our cruise embarked out of the Port of Seattle on an unusually toasty (by Seattle standards) Sunday afternoon. To be on the safe side we flew from Cincinnati to Seattle on Saturday to avoid any possible travel mishaps. We shared our flight to Detroit with pseudo-Celebrity Mike Wolfe, who’s on History Channel’s American Pickers. He was on his way to Detroit to film a promo with Chevy but was generous with his hand shakes, autographs, and smile to all the adoring fans on our flight. We hung out in my old monthly stomping grounds, the Detroit airport, for a few hours and survived the 5-hour flight to Seattle with a viewing of Water for Elephants, our in-flight movie. Upon our arrival in Seattle we were picked up by the shuttle car we’d scheduled to drive us downtown to the hotel. The driver informed us that it was a blistering 87 degrees, which is positively boiling if you live in Seattle and are accustomed to cool, breezy summers. Indeed, I’d been reading all about how Seattle was enjoying one of the coolest summers on record and I was psyched to partake in it. Coolest summers on record with the exception, of course, of the one day we were in town, that is. We arrived at the Mediterranean Inn on Queen Anne Avenue, the hotel I’d carefully selected for its charm and excellent location within convenient walking distance of everything we wanted to see in Seattle. I’d done my research, perused their website diligently, and had meticulously selected the nicest budget-conscious hotel in Seattle. And it was a very nice hotel with one of the best rooftop decks in the city, offering phenomenal views of downtown, the Space Needle, the upper-crust residential district, and the Puget Sound! The view didn’t disappoint. Furnished with gargantuan pots brimming with bold and fragrant blooms, cozy chairs for sightseeing, reading, chatting, and relaxing, and stunning 360 views of the city, the rooftop deck was a great place to be at sun up, midday, and midnight. However…

Travel Tip #1: When visiting Seattle you just might want to check to be sure that your chosen accommodations do, in fact, feature “air conditioning” in their list of amenities.

Apparently Seattle is located in neither Texas nor Ohio. Though it seems almost insane to me nowadays and, therefore, something I certainly didn’t think to call ahead or even consider, not all buildings are air conditioned. Our hotel room was not. Needless to say, it was a toasty night of sleeping on top of the covers with the windows flung wide open and the ceiling fan whirling on top speed. Even funnier was that the hotel building was built into a square with an outside courtyard in the middle, making it irresistibly temping to screech “cock-a-doodle-doo!” at the top of our lungs at 5 a.m. out our open window and directly into everyone else’s open windows. We didn’t, but I’m not going to say the thought didn’t cross our minds when we woke up, jetlagged, at a sunny 5:30 a.m.

After we got settled in the hotel we set out on foot to explore a bit of Seattle. We hit up the Seattle Center, which was the site of the 1962 World’s Fair and hosts the Space Needle, Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Rep Theatre, a monorail, skate park, the International Fountain, the Pacific Science Center, the Children’s Museum, the Science Fiction Museum, and some stellar modern art sculptures and architecture. We walked around for a few hours, took in the sights, hit up Saturday evening mass in a contemporary, completely beautiful (and completely un-airconditioned) church, and went for dinner at Toulouse Petite, a fancy yet hip European meet New Orleans style restaurant down the street from our hotel with an incredible and eclectic menu, great open-air atmosphere, and a $1,600 bottle of wine that we gawked at but definitely did not request. I had a difficult time selecting an entree because there were so many things I wanted to try – braised rabbit pasta with fava beans, Dungeness crab and grapefruit salad, creamy corn girts with crayfish, and artichoke and wild mushroom gnocchi. The next morning we awoke bright and early (cock-a-doodle-doo!) and walked a mile and a half through the sea-side of downtown to Pike’s Market – an exceptionally peaceful walk on a quiet Sunday morning. We walked the market past stalls of gorgeous bunches of flowers, fish stands, farm fresh produce, pastries, pastas, sweets, cheeses, meats and more. We saw the famous fish throwing display and splurged on little treats. Pike’s Market really is an incredible place to visit if you’re in Seattle! I tasted the most amazing mac n’ cheese from Beecher’s, hot old fashioned doughnuts, the nation’s best clam chowder, sweet peaches, white truffle oil, chocolate pasta, sweet orange almonds, and amaretto cherry chocolates. We walked another mile and a half back to the hotel, gathered our luggage, checked out, and began one of the most adventurous, memorable, and (in hind sight) dumb parts of our entire vacation – a nearly 2 mile walk from our hotel to the cruise ship terminal with five pieces of luggage. Do I recommend this? Hahahaha….

Travel Tip #2: Just because you can walk somewhere, doesn’t mean you should.

Two miles really isn’t all that far. We’d already walked four miles that day and we were feeling fine! The GoogleMaps view didn’t appear too treacherous and we printed the walking directions which, to me at least, means roads with sidewalks. Now, add two heavy rolling suitcases (a.k.a – “the beast”), two carry-on bags, and a purse. Not complicated enough yet? Add hills (Seattle is nearly as hilly as Cincinnati), take away the sidewalks at the intersection to a very busy multi-lane street, add an uphill gravel hiking path that the luggage must be carried up (not rolled), and a sidewalkless highway bridge that GoogleMaps seems to think is an appropriate walking path. Three separate people stopped us to ask if we were alright, needed directions, or wanted a ride. One woman drove off the side of the road, parked her car, and chased after us wearing heels carrying a Starbucks drink to ask if we needed help. Seattleites are nothing if not friendly folk! But if you’re going to the Pier 91, just call a damn taxi. The kicker was when were finally safely on cruise terminal property, about 0.2 miles from the cruise ship itself, a shuttle bus pulled up and asked if we wanted a ride. HA! No, I don’t want a damn ride!! I walked it this far so I’m going to walk the whole way. I’m not pansying out at the last minute so don’t rob me of my glory! Looking back it was fun, and it was definitely adventurous, and we got great exercise, and we felt totally triumphant as we collapsed on the bed in the our stateroom, but walking to the cruise ship with luggage was about the dumbest idea ever. At least we can say we accomplished it! It was a fun ending to our wonderful mini vacation in Seattle.

Seattle is beautiful city and a pedestrian’s paradise. We had a lovely time and would love to go back!