3 Days in Seattle: Love at First Sight

It’s exciting to plan trips to places you’ve never been to! I spent 3 days in Seattle and it was love at first sight.

One day, my ex-boyfriend, (we’ll call him “Mr. X”) thought it’d be fun to plan a Pacific Northwest trip. When he suggested Seattle, I wasn’t particularly thrilled. It’s one of those cities I’d heard a lot about but didn’t actually know anything about, except that it was notorious for rainy weather. 

Being that it was on the way to Vancouver, B.C. where we were going anyway, I went along with the plan. I’m glad I did as I ended up falling in love with the city!

Writing about it now, so many amazing memories come back to me. I’m excited to share my Seattle adventures with you!

[This post was originally posted in 2019. Updated November 2022]

Planning a trip to Seattle

After traveling 170 days+/yr. for the last few years, I’ve got a whole routine down that helps me plan for every trip ahead of time. 

For Seattle, I did my research on the city’s history as well as attractions and activities.

I learned that the city is home to the oldest Starbucks (which I’m sure coffee lovers already knew), also… Nirvana (among many other bands), quite a few major leagues, pro sports teams (including NFL’s Seahawks)… and what closeted kinky girl could forget… the setting for Fifty Shades of Grey (which we’ll get into another time). 😉

Excited for Seattle

Unfortunately, before this leg of the trip, I had ended up having a Lupus flare-up in Salt Lake City which kept me in bed most of the time. So Seattle needed to come through for me in a big way to save this trip.

I try not to beat myself up about missing out on days during a trip because flare-ups come with Lupus territory. I’m much healthier now and, knock on wood, haven’t had a flare-up in many months.

If I were to take that same trip today, I would have been a little rock star-hopping from one place to the next totally healthy. Sadly, that wasn’t the case when I took this trip. I’ve come a long way and have learned a lot. 

Check the Weather First

Does it rain a lot in Seattle?

Bring on the Rain. I’m sure you’ve heard…. Seattle is one of the most overcast and rainy cities in the U.S. with an average rainfall of 150 days every year. Not the rainiest city. Still, enough to make me question our travel choices.

After I knew what activities we were doing, I planned my wardrobe. For a rainy city, I’d pack cozy sweaters, galoshes, raincoats, and of course an umbrella… None of which I’d end up needing though, lol.

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FUN FACT

Despite its rainy image, Seattle gets less annual rainfall than New York, Houston, Boston, and Atlanta. It does, however, have quite a few cloudy days and days with light precipitation, particularly in the wintertime.

Source: Current Results

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Flying to Seattle

The Flight

We set out from Salt Lake City, which was the first leg of our trip. Our flight was pretty smooth, only took 2 hours. We flew with Delta Airlines on an 11 AM flight.

For me, plane travel is always exciting. It never gets old, I’m like a little kid… always looking out the window. I live for the butterflies at take-offs & landings.

Sometimes you fly into a city and all you see are factories or deserted fields. Not Seattle! Hello, Cascades. As we were touching down in Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, I looked out my window to see the beauty of Seattle greeting us. The love affair started.  

And just like that, my negative false impressions of Seattle fell away… Honestly, the climate was a nice relief from Salt Lake City’s dry weather and high elevation. That was good enough for me.

Where to Stay in Seattle

Downtown Seattle: Pioneer Square

From the airport, we caught a cab and headed downtown to Pioneer Square, where we’d be staying.

One thing I quickly noticed is how clean the sidewalks and streets were! Like I’m telling ya! Looked like a movie lot.

Turns out, Pioneer Square is the oldest neighborhood in Seattle. Probably explains why I instantly fell in love. I have a thing for old-fashioned things. The cobblestone streets and Romanesque Revival buildings reminiscent of the late 1800s added so much character to the city. I would explore Pioneer Square more at length later during my trip.

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FUN FACT

During the Yukon Gold Rush, Seattle was very popular due to the hordes of people heading North to try their luck at gold mining. Businesses in Pioneer Square took advantage of this and filled their shops with merchandise to sell to them, even offering classes on how to pan for gold.

Source: Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park 

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When we arrived at our room, we were pleased to find that it was a suite. I had to ask myself… is every room a suite? (Embassy Suites)

We had views of Elliott Bay, the Mountains, & the city all at once…  it was stunning. At night, it was hard not to lie in bed staring out the window, and be Sleepless in Seattle… While watching Sleepless in Seattle.

This was the right hotel choice for us!

Enjoyed our clean, spacious room w/ gorgeous city view. 

Indoor Pool, Hot tub, and showers, plus an outdoor deck w/ city views & lounge chairs.

Downtown in Pioneer Square. The location was conveniently located next to King Station where we’d be catching the train & a lot of our activities. Also, Century Link Stadium is where major league soccer & NFL play.

A very walkable neighborhood and tourist-friendly area.

As members of the Hilton Honors loyalty program, every morning, we had a complimentary full breakfast and access to hors d’oeuvres, cocktails, and beverages throughout the day. When you obtain status, you have access to the lounges which depending on the location, offers all-day lounge access & complimentary breakfast which is always a bonus.

You can become a Hilton Rewards member here.

Booking.com

Hotel Pool

After sightseeing, it was nice to go back to the hotel and relax. Mr. X & I enjoyed taking a dip in the pool or hot tub.

Tip: After checking into our hotel, we found this great oyster restaurant nearby: Taylor Shellfish Oyster Restaurant. Read more about it below.

FUN FACT

Seattle has the largest houseboat population in the country, 2nd in the world next to Asia.

In 2014, the houseboat from Sleepless in Seattle sold for more than $2 million.

Sources: Visit Seattle & Curbed Seattle

3 Days in Seattle, Washington

Why Visit Seattle

If your friend loves the atmosphere of a city, your other friend loves being on the water and you love nature, you could all get what you wanted in Seattle.

With this visit, Mr. X and I only had 3 days in Seattle to explore the city, so we had to hustle.

Sports fans are sure to find something here with their 8+ professional teams. They’ve got serious spirit, having broken the Guinness Book of World Records in 2013 for having the loudest crowd noise at a football game. They’re practically cheering for you to come on over!

Seattle Walkability

Definitely walkable. Seattle is one of my favorite cities because of how walkable it is. There’s so much to discover on foot.

What to Explore in Seattle by Day

It is a charming, historic neighborhood. It’s Seattle’s oldest actually. If you appreciate cobblestone streets & old buildings, you’ll enjoy it. You’ll find quite a bit to do there- shops, museums, restaurants, etc. View things to do here.

What a nice stroll. The park had great views of Elliott Bay, the Olympic Mountains, and the Space Needle. I liked the art installations scattered throughout.

Located outside of the Seattle Art Museum. I popped inside for a quick look. they had interesting art displays throughout the park. It’s in a very scenic area w/ great views of Elliott Bay & the Olympic Mountains. Worth a stop.

What a lovely park. Another great park with nice views. This “park” was my favorite area to walk. I liked watching the boats.

Nearby is The Great Wheel (which I went on at sunset, more on that another blog), souvenir shops (I bought my sister a stuffed otter, which the city is known for), and seafood restaurants. A bit of a touristy area.

The waterfront views & Olympic Mountains were very beautiful. 

The whole area really gives you a feel for Seattle. I would recommend this park if you only had 1 to check out. I saw Fishermen bringing in their fresh catches of the day. Lots of seafood restaurants nearby. So legit!

If you didn’t go to the Space Needle, were you even in Seattle? The views were 360 degrees and incredible!

I give it 5 stars all the way!! If I could give it 10, I would. If you can only do 1 thing in Seattle, do Space Needle. Open-air deck with 360-degree views as well as a glass floor below.

If you’re scared of heights, they have virtual reality at the base of the Needle you can do instead.

Your ticket comes with a complimentary welcome photo and skyhigh selfie.

Where to eat at Space Needle

You can purchase food & drinks on their observatory deck. They currently do not have a full service restaurant however. We grabbed some ice cream at the top. They also have a bar and lounge if that’s more your thing. 😉

Pricing & info here.

We took a fun ride through the city on the monorail near the base of Space Needle. One of the stops is the shopping plaza. I personally don’t like to spend my time shopping on vacation, unless what I’m buying is unique to that location.. but that’s just me.

A fun ride from the Space Needle. Departs approximately every 10 minutes.

Mon-Fri: 7:30am-7:00pm

Sat & Sun: 10:00am-7:00pm

Pricing & more info here.

FUN FACT

Space Needle’s design was sketched on a cocktail napkin. It is 600 feet tall and was built in just 400 days.

Source: Space Needle

Iconic! It was cool to see it in person after having just watched Sleepless in Seattle. The market has some great stuff- fresh seafood, meat, cheese & other goodies!

A must see IMO! This was one of my favorite things in the city. There’s so much to see nearby on foot- waterfront area, bookstores, restaurants & coffee shops, and unique specialty stores. I spent most of my time in this area. You could easily spend 1/2-1 day here.

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FUN FACT

After skyrocketing prices of onions, the iconic Pike Place Market opened in 1907. Buying from farmers directly was the solution to wholesalers price-gouging produce. The Market is now one of Seattle’s most popular tourist attractions and one of America’s oldest continually operating farmers markets.

Source: Pike Place Market

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They even have flower stands w/ inexpensive yet, lovely bouquets. Mr. X got me some sunflowers which I carried around the city. Even on the train up to the Canada border before I had to throw them out.😊 

Looking out over the Puget Sound in the afternoon, I’d see fishermen pulling in fresh catches of the day. I had to ask myself if they were going to sell them at the market. 😊

Lines were out the door! Guess people needed their caffeine fix. The founder signed the wall of his 1^st location, which I thought was cool.

Being that it was Fall, I ordered a Pumpkin Spice Latte.

Little known secret, this is not the 1st Starbucks in existence (original at 2000 Western Ave. in 1971 before moving to Pike Pl. 5 yrs later). Still, it’s the oldest Starbucks still in existence. What an awesome piece of history for coffee & non-coffee lovers alike to enjoy. I ordered a Pumpkin Spice Latte which was pretty good.

No place to sit & line is always out the door. If you don’t mind, it’s worth the stop for photos. 

We checked out this bookstore at Pike Place, in front of the market. I got a couple of books which I signed and dated so I remember the city I got them from. I keep all my books.

If diversity in your authors is important to you, this may be your kinda bookstore. They have new & used books & specialize in anti-authoritarian, anarchist, independent, radical, and small-press titles on anarchism, fiction, feminism, immigration, race & culture, “disability & deafness, graphic novels, science fiction, sexuality, environmentalism, & more.

Quite a small shop. Bit of a rusty, “been around forever” vibe only true book lovers can appreciate. Got myself 2 used books off the rack outside for a few bucks.

A lot of interesting art displays. We didn’t spend a whole lot of time here as we had only 72 hours in the city. If you don’t have a lot of time, I’d recommend checking out the city’s sights instead.

Pricing & info here.

Conveniently located next to my hotel, Embassy Suites in Pioneer Square, Downtown, I could see the beautiful clock tower from my window.

Something about trains and stations is so romantic to me. Right away, I noticed the station’s stylish look with its clean, white brick & granite interior. The station is historic, built in the early 1900s.

You can book tickets here.

One thing that would have made my train experience better, is not selecting passengers at random for a good view. That was actually really dumb. Wish there was an option to purchase that side separately or let passengers choose themselves.

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Where to Eat in Seattle

I love sea-to-table! They have fresh, local seafood here which was very tasty. We munched on crab and local oysters- Fat Bastards, Virginia, Totten Inlet, Shigoku, & Olympia- say that 10x fast!

We washed it down with a couple of pints while we planned our next move.

Really satisfied w/ this place. Would definitely come back.

Went to the Belltown location. We sat down for lunch before going to Space Needle which was conveniently nearby.

Located in our hotel, Embassy Suites, this restaurant was our saving grace after coming back late & starving from a day of sightseeing. They’re open 24 hours which is a huge plus. We grabbed some pub food & beers which hit the spot.

The place had a nice rustic interior which I like.

After a stroll at Waterfront Park, we went and got some seafood! Of course, a trip to Seattle is not complete without it… it’s fresh, local, & simply the best. We ordered oysters, clams, and grilled salmon. The restaurant is right on the water, we had great views from our table. 

When you walk in, there’s a lot of history to look at on the walls of Ivar’s Acre of Clams. In the dining room, (which is quite large), we got a window seat w/ views of Elliott Bay which was nice while we were enjoying our seafood.

Everything we ordered was delicious. Would definitely come back.

Seattle Cried When We Left

So, how did the weather end up being? Sunny… so not what I had expected. I didn’t need my umbrella after all. 

Because I had been preparing myself for the worst, I had very few expectations for Seattle. So it’s funny that the one thing I was afraid of (rain) never happened. Guess I over-prepared myself.

The city wouldn’t show its true colors till literally the moment we were leaving for our next leg of the trip on a train to Vancouver. Maybe it was crying at our departure. 😉 I was genuinely surprised by how sad I was to leave. Seattle has won its way to a top contender of my favorite US cities.

PLAN YOUR TRIP

Get My Seattle Google Maps Itinerary Here!

You can also copy, print, share, or download it!

Shop Seattle Style

That’s a Wrap!

Thank you for reading! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my adventures in Seattle and get inspiration for your own trip!

Have you ever been to Seattle? If not, would you go? Tell me in the comment below! 

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Fact Check:

At Real Girl Review, we value truth and always strive for accuracy. Posts are updated regularly. If you read something that still doesn’t sound right, contact me at gv@realgirlreview.com. I will investigate the facts and make changes as I deem necessary.