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Published: September 11th 2010
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Seattle is chic, trendy, hippy, hipster and funky all rolled into one city. When most of us think of Seattle we think of the Space Needle, the famous flying fish at Pike Place Market and the waterfront. The Space Needle is kinda cool to see. I wouldn’t suggest going up in it. It is $16 to take the elevator to the observation deck, but the Space Needle is only 30 stories high and isn’t even the tallest building in Seattle. It always looks like the tallest building because its location places it in the foreground of most pictures. It is also built on higher elevation than most of the downtown buildings.
Due to the hilly geography of Seattle there are plenty of great viewpoints from which to see the city. If you really want to see the city from inside a tall building I would suggest taking the elevator in the Columbia Center building to the 40th floor where you’ll find the second highest Starbucks in the world. On the 40th floor you can get a cup of coffee and see great views of the city. For other great views of the city you can travel to
Gas Works Park
This goes to show how "green" the city of Seattle is. They decided to turn an old oil manufacturing plant into a park. Kinnear Park, Queen Anne Hill (this is where most of the famous Seattle skyline pictures are taken from), Gas Works Park on Lake Union, or West Seattle. This website gives a list of great viewpoints and how to get there: http://www.gonorthwest.com/Washington/seattle/viewpoints/views.htm. If you opt to see the city from West Seattle I would suggest driving a little further to Alki Beach. Alki Beach is Seattle’s only beach and on a warm weekend I imagine it would get quite crowded. There are several restaurants with outdoor seating for great views of the Sound. There are also public barbeques and benches to have picnics. It is a pretty relaxing place even if the weather is quite cool.
As far as food goes, Vietnamese seems to be the most ubiquitous, so if you enjoy pho there is definitely no shortage in Seattle. Of all the restaurants I went to there were two definite stand-outs. The first was a fine dining restaurant with a casual atmosphere. Named for the restaurant’s address, 94 Stewart has amazing food and you can always find something different every time you go because the menu changes regularly. One dish that is a mainstay on the menu
is the Fried Avocado. It is a whole avocado that is lightly fried in panko served with crab meat, corn relish and tomatoes. Although, it sounds unusual I had to try it because I LOVE avocadoes. It was so much more than I expected. The avocado with its perfect ripe texture went so well with the light, crunchy panko, the plump crab mean and delicious corn relish. The rest of our food was fantastic as well. I had smoked salmon paella and my friend had a hangar steak with potatoes. These dishes may not be on the menu now, but were cooked so perfectly I have no doubt that any other dish on their menu wouldn’t be just as delicious. Another great restaurant I visited is Glo’s. Glo’s is located in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. It is only open for breakfast, and is open from midnight to 4pm only on the weekends I believe. Capitol Hill has tons of bars so if you’re out late on the weekend and want some great food Glo’s is definitely the place to go. The California Eggs Benedict is their signature dish. The dish consists of avocado spread on English muffins. On top of
that are tomatoes and perfectly poached eggs with hollandaise sauce to top. I am not usually a fan of English muffins or hollandaise sauce but I found both to be delicious at Glo’s. My friend had the heuvos rancheros, which were the most beautiful and creative heuvos rancheros I have ever seen. This dish consisted of a crunchy corn tortilla, delicious black bean chili, a fried egg, sour cream, cheddar cheese, olives, salsa, jalapenos and scallion onions. All the egg dishes are served with hash browns, which aren’t necessarily needed however I do love potatoes.
If you are looking to cook your own food you must visit the famous Pike Place Market. It was the best farmer’s market I have ever been to and probably will ever go to again. There are so many produce stalls with beautiful looking fruits and vegetables. There are many other stalls with other kinds of food and products, as well. And, of course, there is the famous fish stall where they throw the fish while an anxious audience looks on. Several vendors pass out pieces of fresh fruit and at the fish market I was able to get a taste of
wonderful smoked salmon.
Across the street from Pike Place Market is the world’s first Starbucks. I would suggest going to this area during the week, since both tourists and locals visit the Starbucks and Public Market, it is less likely to be crowded on a weekday.
Another tourist favorite is the Underground Tour located in Pioneer Square less than a mile from Pike Place Market. The tour is an unusual look at Seattle and it’s history, and something definitely unique to the city.
If you’re visiting Seattle but want a taste of nature you can visit Snoqualmie Falls, which is just 30 minutes outside of Seattle. The drive takes you toward the beautiful Cascades to a waterfall that doesn’t rival any in Yosemite but is nice to look at nonetheless. You can also take a ferry to other parts of Puget Sound to get away from the city and into nature.
Getting around the city seemed to be pretty easy whether by car or public transportation, so I would definitely recommend exploring Seattle and see where you end up!
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