Hello to you!! Happy Monday!
I went to Seattle/Vancouver with my husband last week. We had so much fun exploring together! I’ve got a bunch of pictures and coffee shops to share with you today from our two days in Seattle, and then on Wednesday I’m going to share a bunch of pictures (and more coffee shops…we have a theme in our travels) of our four days in Vancouver.
Also see: 48 Hours In Seattle (from my 2017 travels)
One of my aunts has a place in Seattle, and another aunt has  a place in Vancouver, so Nate and I thought it would be fun to visit both of them for our August trip. I’ve been to both cities several times, but it was his first time to visit Vancouver and second time to visit Seattle. So we had lots to see and eat!
DAY 1
We flew from Austin -> Seattle late Wednesday night and arrived at midnight, so we just crashed right after we got to my aunt’s place. That is, after we met her two cats, Madge and Tigger. (Madge wasn’t a big fan of us…ha! She kinda kept her distance the whole time.)
On Thursday morning, I woke up very ready to get some coffee!
First stop:Â Analog Coffee. I had a pour over and a mini donut to enjoy with my coffee.
Analog is super cute, small, and had four options for brewed coffee. I really enjoyed this cup. Analog was my favorite coffee shop we visited in Seattle!
We walked up to another part of Capitol Hill to get more coffee, and I couldn’t help but snap some pics of these gorgeous hydrangeas. I wish they grew like this in Austin!
Next coffee stop:Â Espresso Vivace Sidewalk Bar. They also have a cafe, but we opted for the sidewalk window since it was just about lunch time and we needed some real food.
Sometimes when I’m traveling and I don’t know where to eat, I just jump onto the Eater website for whatever city I’m in and see which of the Eater38 options are near me. I found Junkichi Robata Izakaya was right across the street from us, so we hopped over there for some lunch.
It was cold and a little misty on this first day (cold for me…so, about 65 degrees) and a big bowl of ramen completely hit the spot!
Post lunch: more coffee! This time we went to Victrola Coffee, a shop I’ve bene to many times in previous trips to Seattle. I love it! Nate and I shared this pour over.
After coffee, we drove to Fremont. This is considered the “hippie neighborhood” in Seattle, full of lots of artistic, free spirits. We stopped by the Fremont Troll to take some pics. It was more crowded than I’ve ever seen it, which was odd considering we visited on a Thursday.
I found out the Fremont Trolls is from 1990, just like me!
From Fremont, we got back in the car and drove over to Ballard to grab some tasters at one of my favorite Seattle breweries: Reuben’s Brews! I went here last year when I was in Seattle, and I wanted to make sure Nate could try it, too.
They were doing an IPA tap takeover on the day we visited, so it was mostly IPAs available….I’ve got no problem with that! I tasted a few hazy West Coast IPAs, an East Coast IPA, an imperial, and then some fun variations like blood orange, grape fruit, and a cereal IPA.
Yes…cereal IPA!
It was infused with Trix, and (I can’t believe I’m saying this…) it actually worked! My aunt and I finished the whole thing. Nate wasn’t a fan. 😉
After the beer tasters, we headed to Vif Wine | Coffee, an adorable coffee shop/wine store that only sells natural wines. We had fun looking around the bottle shop, eventually selecting a Spanish red to share for happy hour!
I just love vacation!
We sipped wine for a leisurely hour before heading to our dinner reservation for night one: Il Terrazzo Carmine. This is a gorgeous formal Italian restaurant that has been in Seattle since the 80’s. It was my first time eating here, and I LOVED it!
Oh my goodness…everything I tasted was so good! I ordered the special of the night, which was halibut cheeks and black risotto.
My grandfather, who lives in Dallas, happened to be vacationing in Seattle at the same time as us, so he arranged to meet up for dinner! I love this man…he’s absolutely been one of the biggest influences in my life. He’s someone who values family and friendships above anything else.
I love this guy, too! 😉 It’s been so much fun for Nate to get to know my grandfather, too, over the last few years.
Whenever creme brûlée is on the dessert menu, I have to order it… I just couldn’t resist a couple bites, even though I was stuffed from dinner. If you need a special white tablecloth restaurant in Seattle, Il Terrazzo Carmine has my stamp of approval. I’m so glad my grandfather introduced it to us – he’s been going there since the 1980s!
DAY 2
Nate and I woke up to a beautiful, cloudy morning and enjoyed a 3 mile run together. I’ve missed outdoor runs! Austin is great for running in the winter, but I just can’t handle it in the summer.
Post run and showers, we headed out around 11 am to get some coffee. By this point I was SO READY FOR CAFFEINE and I think Nate and I were just dragging a bit..ha! My aunt kept trying to talk to us, and I think neither of us could hold a conversation because we were just thinking about coffee!!
Street Bean Coffee was a sight to sore eyes! (Haha….note to self: don’t wait until noon to have your first cup of coffee.)
I had a nice shot of espresso and shared a pour-over with Nate. Street Bean is good option for a cute coffee shop near the Seattle Center (where the Space Needle is located.)
We walked around quite a bit before settling in at La Marzocca Cafe, a fun coffee shop for a few reasons:
- it shares a space with KEXP radio, so you can watch the radio hosts through a glass window. Kinda cool!
- in addition to being a coffee shop, it’s also a La Marzocca espresso machine retail shop. We had fun dreaming of the espresso machine we want to have in our kitchen some day….
- they have draft lattes! I’ve seen cold brew on tap, but I’ve never seen lattes on tap! It’s made with whole milk and espresso, just like a regular iced latte, but it has little frothy bubbles throughout making it extra light! I loved it!
- their pastries are from The London Plane, a popular little cafe/bakery/shop in Pioneer Square. I enjoyed a lovely little cookie with my latte!
Nate had a lunch date with an old buddy of his, so I had a few hours of time to myself and spent it working in the coffee shop. There are many awesome things about getting to be self-employed, but one of the negative aspects is that there are no paid vacations, so I usually have to find a few hours to sneak in some work while I travel.
Although, it’s really not such a negative side because I truly love what I get to do!
After a couple hours of work, we walked over to The Pink Door for happy hour. Cocktails + fries on the patio! The Pink Door is such an iconic restaurant, so I wanted to check it out…but I wasn’t hungry enough for a full meal. (I’ll have to go back for dinner someday.)
The fries were killer! Not kidding here…these are some of the best fries I’ve ever tasted! The texture was spot on, and the tuscan herbs and aioli were perfect. The menu stated that they don’t have ketchup, so don’t bother asking for it. Ha.
After happy hour, we wandered Pike Place Market for a while. It was late in the day on a Friday, so the place was packed! I’d definitely recommend going early in the morning, if you can. Regardless of when you go, get some Ellenos Greek Yogurt! It’s so thick, creamy, and sweet, it almost tastes like ice cream!
They were out of my favorite flavor (Marionberry), so I got a scoop of Chai instead.
We wandered over to Beecher’s and got some cheese…
And before long, it was time to pack up our stuff and drive across the border to Vancouver! We opted for a late-night drive so we could wake up the next morning in Vancouver, rather than driving in the dark morning hours.
And that’s it! It was a quick 48 hours in Seattle, but we had a blast. And we still have a list of stuff to do next time we visit…hopefully next summer!
Thanks for reading today! I’ll share the Vancouver recap on Wednesday. Until then, here are a few more of my 2018 travel recaps, in case you missed them:
