Caffeine Mothership - Seattle, WA - July 2008

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So - for our honeymoon we wanted to do something exotic and romantic (Thailand, French Polynesia, etc), but due to certain things it just did not work out. So we were limited to Continental US. We decided to do highway 101 from Washington to California.

We flew into Portland, rented a car and drove up to SEATTLE. Nikkie has been with Starbucks for 7 years now and had not been to the "Starbucks Mothership" so we decided to do a couple days in Seattle. We got a hotel in Bellevue. Don't stay there. Stay in Seattle if possible. The traffic is a pain in the butt and in general it is just not that much fun to drive 25 miles each time to and from Seattle. We loved Seattle. We can totally see ourselves living there. Finding the ORIGINAL STARBUCKS was on top of the priority list. Nikkie loved it. We walked around PIKE PLACE MARKET for SHOPPING and did a lot of spice shopping. We loved the fresh produce at absolutely ridiculous prices. Flowers for $4-5. Fresh seafood. Go and watch the "fish throwing". Definitely worth it and get some smoked salmon. Our first seafood experience was utterly disappointing (McCormick & Schmick's). I don't know if we were just tired, but it was just not a good experience.

We also did the SEATTLE AQUARIUM. This was also a pretty big disappointment. The SPACE NEEDLE was nice. Going to the top you have an incredible 360 degree view from the OBSERVATION DECK. We were in Seattle during the "TASTE OF SEATTLE". It was a blast. Food everywhere with live performers. Definitely one of the highlights of our visit. We also recommend taking the monorail from the Needle to the Westlake shopping center for some shopping. That evening we took a drive through all the neighborhoods and found a pretty cool view of SEATTLE CENTER all lit up.

THE SEATTLE COFFEE CULTURE WAS AT THE TOP OF OUR LIST. Of course we had Starbucks about 5 times a day. We also made time to try some local coffee "breweries". The coffee competition in Seattle is stiff so you are pretty unlikely to drink a bad cup of coffee. We tried ESPRESSO VIVACE ROASTERIA before we left and we loved it. Local coffee shop where they know their regulars and they are into the whole "coffee art" thing where they shape your foam into something. It is a place we highly recommend.

We spend a couple hours in Olympia (50-miles south of Seattle) and really liked it. There is a outdoor market that we absolutely loved. Like a mini Pike's Place it has everything (as long as it is fresh). We could not get enough of the cherries. Anyway you can't go wrong with anything you buy. From here we took highway 101 south to the Oregon border.

We loved Seattle and Olympia. We will definately be back. For our books we crossed off 4 things including Pike's Place Market, Seattle City Center and experiencing Seattle's Coffee Culture. 15 down and 3,029 to go.

Till next time

N & D

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Photos

Seattle
Espresso Vivaci Roasteria

Seattle
There's that glasses thing again

Pikes Place
We loved the spices

Seattle
The "Mothership"

Seattle Aquarium
Salmon galore!!

Seattle
Top of the Space Needle

Seattle Aquarium
What the...?