Seattle: Part One

Well friends, I was all set to link-up with some fabulous ladies and blog "What's Up Wednesday" yesterday, but my world looks a bit like this right now...

See that potty in the background? Yep, we are on the front porch with the little potty outside, because we are in full potty training mode right now! We started on Monday and are doing the Three Day Method, so technically today is our last day of "training." Being on the front porch is how I am keeping my sanity since we have not left the house. I would say that things are going really well, but when I started to blog yesterday, my one track mind couldn't really come up with anything else going on other than potty training.

So there's your small update with what's going on with us, now let's look back at our kid-free Spring Break trip to Seattle! 

Seattle in March...yes, we know, so many people told is that is not the best time to go, but we figured...why not? We'll just get to experience the real Seattle! 

In January, Ben and I talked about going on a trip together without Henley before baby George gets here in July, and when we were out to dinner with friends one night, it happened to come up and we said the more the merrier! Both of our friends happen to be in education, so Spring Break was really our only option. Yes, it was rainy and dreary, but we still had a great time! 

We flew separately, and Ben and I got to Seattle around 1 o'clock on Monday. If there is one pointer I could give y'all for this trip it is...if you can, Uber to the airport! We dropped Henley off at Ben's parent's house early in the morning and Ubered to DFW for only $35 (we live in Denton). That sounded so much better to me than leaving our car at the airport for $25/day. Anyway...

We should have gotten to Seattle at about the same time as our friends, but their layover got delayed, so after Ben and I got our luggage and the car, we headed out in search of food. There was a place called 13 Coins near the airport that came highly recommended, and it did not disappoint two hungry travelers. We were both so hungry that I didn't take a picture of our food, but we both got a sandwich and they were huge and yummy! After a quick lunch, we headed to a Best Buy, because we had the bright idea to buy a Roku for the apartment we were staying in! After that, we just drove around until we needed to be back at the airport to pick-up our friends. Holy moly, I was so amazed by the houses on the edge of the water. They were so high up and gorgeous! We loved just driving around to see the houses and the scenery and were even amazed at how the people in Seattle don't even have umbrellas in the pouring rain! We saw a group of school kids running and I was amazed that they were totally unphased. We definitely would have pulled athletics inside for the day in Texas! 

Once we picked up our friends, we headed to the apartment we rented through Airbnb. We stayed in a complex called the Harbor Steps and it was in the middle of downtown, just about a block for Pike's Place...perfect! Once we got settled, our friends wanted a little snack, so they found something to eat while we unpacked and then met up with them for a drink. We then all went to the grocery store for breakfast and lunch items before heading to a late dinner at the Crab Pot. 

The Crab Pot came highly recommended to us and had super high ratings on Open Table, Yelp, etc. It was also about a block from where we were staying and looked super casual, so we figured it was perfect for the night. Here's the thing...I wouldn't recommend it. I don't know if it was just that we ate there around 9 o'clock at night, so things weren't as fresh, or what, but coming from someone who LOVES seafood...like could live off of seafood...it would not be the restaurant that I would recommend. 

We ordered what it seemed like everyone else was ordering and it was just ok. It definitely did the trick for the night, but the crab legs and the rest of the seafood didn't seem super fresh. Of course, we enjoyed the company and just needed something to fill our bellies before bed, so I'm glad we got The Crab Pot out of the way on day 1. 

We started day 2 off nice and early at Pike's Place! I am in love with this place and could probably walk around it all day long! 

One of my friends told us to look for a neat little donut place that we had to try before we really started walking around. We found it pretty quickly! We actually got there a little early for the vendors, so not a ton was set up on one side, but the normal market was already bustling. These little donuts are a MUST! They are pretty tiny, but OMG so good! We got some maple and cinnamon ones as a breakfast appetizer and oh how I wish I would have gotten one every day! 

Now, I am more of a walk around and taste everything kind of girl, but my company was not, so while they went and had a full breakfast at Lowell's, I walked around and saw the sites. I grabbed a biscuit at Honest Biscuits and made a mental note that I would for sure go back there. 

Y'all, I could not get over the flowers! I so wish we had a market here like this where I could buy fresh flowers once a week. They were gorgeous and so dang cheap! 

Of course, we saw the famous Fish Co. that throws fish and was on the Bachelor (Sean and Catherine's season). All the guys that work there seem so nice and really interact with everyone that walks by. There seemed to be a field trip of kids there every day. 

After everyone finished breakfast, we continued walking around. These are from Beecher's, the cheese company. Holy moly, they make the cheese behind a window, so you get to see the process and they have little tasters in the store which are beyond amazing! We put this place on our list to come back to for lunch. They have a small menu of sandwiches and such, and nothing sounded better than a grilled cheese from Beecher's! 

We obviously had to stop at the original Starbucks! I am actually the only one who ordered anything, but I couldn't deny myself the experience. Everyone told us the line would be out the door and crazy, but on a Tuesday morning, I could walk right in. The people were all so nice! 

We then headed to the gum wall equipped with our own chewing gum! Apparently, this wasn't so bad...someone told us that they had cleaned off the walls in the past couple of years. I joked that my pre-Henley self (when I chewed gum like an addict) could probably have filled these walls all by myself...no really! 

For the rest of the morning we just walked around and saw the sites of Pike's Place Market. We tried a few different little treats along the way and I made a mental note to come back and get Henley something one day. 

Since it was a rainy, dreary day, we decided to get in the car instead of on the ferry later in the day and drove to Alki Beach. 

We pulled into the parking lot at Salty's and the views were amazing! There were a few places recommended to us to try for lunch on Alki Beach, and one of them happened to be Salty's, so after taking some pictures outside, we headed in for a late lunch. 

We were able to sit by a window so we could enjoy the view! After we all looked at the menu, we decided to indulge in a bigger lunch and enjoy a later, relaxed dinner. I got the salmon salad and it was delicious and so fresh! Exactly what I look for in my seafood! I waffled between it and the open-faced crab sandwich, so Ben got that and OH MY WORD! He let me have a few bites and it was beyond amazing! I kept thinking that I needed to ship one back for myself and my dad...we LOVE crab! I HIGHLY recommend Salty's on Alki Beach. 

Once we finished lunch we drove around for a little while, stopped to get some coffee (for everyone else, not me, I already had my caffeine intake for the day), and then headed back to our place. The boys wanted to enjoy the hot tub, and since that wasn't something I could partake in, I headed to the gym. A good workout was exactly what I needed! I love working out on vacation and enjoying a good book on the elliptical! 

We were all pretty beat from traveling and walking around, so we decided to walk a few blocks and pick up personal pizzas before watching a movie at our place! I mean, it's not often we get to do those sorts of things with kiddos at home. We were all pretty dang ready for our pizza when we got back, because Seattle is like San Francisco. Man, I did not know this! The hills in Seattle are NO JOKE! 

Since I'm a bit of a talker, I will stop Part One right there and probably break this up into three parts! Whoops...sidenote: I once had to eat dinner with our cat in the bathroom because I couldn't stop talking at our dinner table. :) 

See you soon for Part Two!