Every time I take a new travel assignment or relocate myself more “permanently”, I have a goal and a purpose in mind. As previously featured on my social media sites, I have a map of the United States on my wall at home and every time I visit a new state, I get to scratch it off and reveal the beautiful design underneath. While sitting on my couch relaxing one afternoon, I happened to notice how un-explored the West side of the country was for me, specifically the Pacific North West. I started my paperwork to get licensed in both Oregon and Washington right away.

Lucky for me, I was able to snag a great assignment in Oregon and have been able to explore lots of gorgeous places, but sitting just a short [yeah, right.] 5 hour drive north of my current home is an untapped city bustling with exciting sights, rich history and the origins of some of my absolute favorite musical artists. It was a short trip, however, per my usual style, it was jam packed with all kinds of touristy fun! Come with me as I map out the most epic itinerary to get the most out of a weekend trip to Seattle, Washington!

Where to Stay:

Lodging of any kind in Seattle is EXPENSIVE!! A 2-star hotel will run you around $200+ per night so instead we decided to book through AirBnb [click here to book an AirBnb property for your next adventure!]. We stayed in a modest studio apartment a 10 minute drive away from the downtown area. It was super convenient and ran us about $120 per night; plus parking was free [not the case for most hotels here!].

Day 1:

Breakfast: We started out our first morning in Seattle with a highly recommended breakfast joint with a super sassy name: Biscuit Bitch in Belltown! This place has 3 locations and their menu centers around, you guessed it, BISCUITS! If you want to drool over their sweet and savory menu, click on the link. I treated myself to the Gritty Scrambled Cheese Bitch and it was exactly what I wanted to start my morning with; I stayed full all the way through lunch. This is for sure a do-not-miss place!

Next up we headed over to Fremont to check out the giant troll living under the Aurora Avenue Bridge! This is literally in the middle of a residential neighborhood so parking can be a bit sketchy since it’s almost all permit parking on the street. This statue was built based on Scandinavian folklore and was erected in 1990. Such a fun photo op and a unique sighting to check out!

Living in the Pacific North West would not be complete without an expensive and severe addiction to REI so we rounded out the morning checking out the REI Seattle Flagship Store which is 2 stories tall and surrounded by an outdoor oasis in the middle of the city. They offer tons of awesome classes from Intro to Map Reading to Into to Stand Up Paddle Boarding. They also offer kayaking trips from the store all the way to the Salish Sea so customers can test out new equipment. Freaking epic. Plus I found a pair of pants that are my new favorites and I am SO excited to wear them on repeat this fall.

After a quick power nap at our AirBnb we headed to Pioneer Square for an underground tour of Seattle! This sounds just as awesome as it actually was. We arrived to the meeting spot at Doc Maynard’s Public House early so grabbed Starbucks at a nearby store [like in most major cities, they are everywhere] and sat in Pioneer Square Park people watching. There’s also a cool totem pole you can check out and a giant chess game you can challenge someone too.

The Bill Speidel Underground Tour also came very highly rated online and was no disappointment. Our guide Xan was hilarious, vivacious and very knowledgeable! Another guide Rose did a great job introducing us to the tour prior to splitting off into several smaller groups. I learned so much about Seattle that I previously had no idea about! Xan expertly talked about the beginning of Seattle and how an entire underground area of the city came to be.

After the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, big structural changes came about and forever altered the way the citizens of Seattle lived. We listened to story after story about the history of the city we were literally walking under while checking out old artifacts left behind and sky lights that showed through to the sidewalks above us. This 75 minute walking tour was wildly informative and an absolute can’t miss for a short visit to Seattle. At $22 for an adult ticket, you can’t beat the price and the knowledge you will gain all while being highly entertained! On the weekends, haunted tours are also offered.

Late lunch: By the time we were done with our tour, we were STARVING and tacos sounded amazing. We drove ourselves to Tacos Chukis in Capitol Hill (other locations in: South Lake Union, Beacon Hill and the Central District) where we indulged in tiny but tasty tacos! I loved my order of beef tacos and the house specialty taco which features a pork base. There’s a small patio area to dine at if the weather is great and lots of cheap street meter parking.

That evening we headed over to the iconic Space Needle where we had previously pre-bought our tickets ($35 per ticket) to avoid long lines and potential sold-out tours. We planned our trip so that we could see everything in the daylight, during sunset AND once it got dark! The views from the top were breath-taking and the sunset was exactly what we’d hoped it would be. It was very crowded but that was to be expected. As of 2017, the super fancy rotating restaurant up top has been MIA but a small food counter, cafe, and bar are still available for snacks and drinks. Everything is STUPID expensive here so we just stuck to a bottle of water and planned to get dinner after.

When we were leaving, there was a fun virtual reality bungee simulator we both got to enjoy for free and a lovely gift shop for all your gift-giving needs. This was definitely the most touristy thing we did but it was fantastic and I would highly recommend doing it once! PS: There is super expensive parking right next to the Space Needle, however, if you branch out even one block you will find MUCH cheaper parking [I’m talking like $3/hr or less!]

Late dinner: After the Space Needle we took a short walk down the street to a trendy brewery/pizza place called Zeek’s Pizza Belltown which has many locations all over Seattle. Over a shared flight of beer [with our favorite being the Reuben’s Hop Tropic Northwest IPA which is Zeek’s exclusive house brew], we decided to split the Dragon pizza and the Weekend Hippie pizza. The Dragon was 100% the winner but both were very enjoyable and the perfect ending to a busy day in the city!

Day 2:

Breakfast: Meet the Moon is a super cute breakfast spot right on the water in the residential neighborhood of Leschi. It looks like a great place to post up with your laptop and get some serious work done while taking in the adorable ambiance and strong coffee. My biscuits and gravy with scrambled eggs and hot sauce were SO delicious and my boyfriend loved his giant cinnamon roll. The coffee is STRONG, ya’ll so be prepared. There is a tempting brunch, lunch and dinner menu as well as lots of specialty drinks so a visit any time of the day would be perfect. After eating we sat on a bench looking out into the marina for a bit and let our food digest.

Next on the list of things to do for the day was a visit to Pike’s Place Market in downtown Seattle [their website is GREAT and super helpful to plan your trip!]. This place is AMAZING and filled with everything you could ever dream of. They sell every type of food item possible including a huge fish market where you can see the men tossing fish, preparing seafood and chucking buckets of ice onto their displays. This market includes tons of odd little shops filled with antiques, art and home-made goods. The most gorgeous flowers are sold in HUGE bouquets that are only $10!! If I lived in Seattle, a trip here weekly to get new fresh flowers would be a must!

This awesome market includes Bubblegum alley where people stick their chewed up gum on the walls, sometimes using it to post up notes and other papers. The original Starbucks is located in this market where the original mermaid logo is featured, boobies out in all her glory. Some really great live music can be found up and down the market which is multiple levels and spans several blocks. This place is an absolute must-go if you’re ever in Seattle!!

Lunch: Normally on vacation I try to avoid chain restaurants so I can experience places unique to the area I’m visiting. Since we were in the birthplace of grunge rock, a trip to the Hard Rock Cafe was going to be an exception. The food is never great and always overpriced at Hard Rock Cafe but it was fun to see all the memorabilia on the walls and be surrounded by nostalgic rock music while we had our lunch. We even ended up getting a shirt to commemorate our visit!

Snack: Since the Hard Rock Cafe is right next to the market, we headed back to search out an incredible dessert. We decided to head into the CUTEST ice cream shop called Shugs! This place is the most adorable photogenic place I’ve ever seen and, miraculously, we walked in at a time there wasn’t a huge line. I loved every second of my cookies ‘n cream shake that came in a fancy glass with whipped cream, chocolate shavings and a cherry on top! They also included a huge cup of the “extra” shake so my $8 was VERY well spent.

After our bellies were sufficiently stuffed, our day continued on to the Museum of Pop Culture [tickets $30 each–save $2/ticket and avoid a line when you buy online ahead of time!] where we spent the afternoon/evening looking at some AWESOME and very interesting exhibits. I was PSYCHED to see the line-up of current exhibits. There was one full of custom made guitars, most owned or previously owned by very well known artists; one dedicated to Nirvana; a two-story exhibit celebrating Pearl Jam; an intricate tribute to Prince; a creepy Horror Film exhibit; a delightfully nerdy Fantasy genre exhibit; and an interactive sound lab where you can learn to play multiple instruments, mix music or scratch records. There’s even the option to record your own song here! There was a great selection of merchandise in their various gift shops, a HUGE playground for kiddos outside and many food trucks where you can get all kinds of delicious snacks.

Dinner: By this time, we are ready to EAT! We walked on over to The 5-Point Cafe nearby where they are open and serve breakfast 24 hours a day. This place has a major dive-bar feel which I LOVE and comes with some outdoor seating if you don’t want to hang in the dimly lit bar area. They boast themselves as the “Longest run Family Eatery in Seattle” AND “Belltown’s Oldest Bar.” Overall, our food was enjoyable [I had a French dip with onion rings and B had breakfast food] and our server was PHENOMENAL [hey, Shaun!]! This was a fun Seattle gem that comes with very high reviews.

Night Life: For a little night-time entertainment, we headed over the The Crocodile, a bar very well-known for hosting some extremely well-known bands before they made it big. Pearl Jam, Nirvana, R.E.M., and Cheap Trick…just to name a few. This place still serves as a venue many upcoming artists strive to have on their resume and plays host to various acts of all different genres most of the week. Karaoke is also a big draw and pizza can be ordered on the weekend to satisfy your late-night munchies. Tickets are required for nights there is a show [and can sometimes be bought at the door], but the Back Bar Pizzeria is open until 2am every night even when there isn’t a show and happy hour is from 4pm-7pm daily. This historical place is a must visit with some BA merchandise available for purchase.

My first visit to Washington was nothing short of spectacular and I would love to spend more time here! Our time in the Emerald City was the perfect mix of food, culture and history so THANK YOU to everyone who offered up their suggestions of must-see places/experiences! I can’t wait to keep exploring the Pacific North West and all the incredible sites yet to be explored! Something tells me our next trip to Washington will involve hiking boots and be much more physically challenging…stay tuned!

Rockin’ Travels <3