We just returned from a lightning-fast vacation in Seattle, over Labor Day Weekend. We managed to pack into just two days some delightful meals and fascinating sight-seeing, all enhanced by some beautiful late-summer weather. Read on!
On Saturday the weather was a bit hazy but sunny and warm, so we hopped on the ferry for a ride over to Bainbridge Island. It involves a 45-minute cruise across Puget Sound, with views of the Olympics in the haze to the west. From the island terminal it is a brief walk to the short Main Street, dotted with pretty cafés and interesting shops. I could see returning here, someday, to stay in one of the neighboring B&Bs and explore further the island’s coves and trails.
We were hungry when we arrived back in Seattle, so we walked a few steps to the neighboring pier and lucked into a waterfront table at Ivar’s Acres of Clams, a portside mainstay of the Seattle dining scene for nearly a century. Sitting in the sunshine, with a cool breeze off the bay, we were able to sample the freshest seafood while watching the ferries and private crafts coming and going.
From there we walked up the steep streets into the center of the downtown district, catching the Monorail to the World’s Fair park. It dropped us right next to the famous Space Needle, so we bought tickets for a later entry time and went in to visit the neighboring Chihuly garden and glass museum. Chihuly is an artist world-renowned for his blown-glass artwork, and this museum celebrates his incredible bowls, chandeliers, towers, and garden art. It is truly spectacular! I was glad to return here with time to see the whole museum; on my prior visit (last December) I was here to attend a private dinner celebration in the greenhouse only.
We wrapped up the museum in time for our 3:15 entry to the Space Needle. It’s a good thing they sell timed-entry tickets, because there were throngs of tourists here this weekend, all wanting to ride to the top of this famous tower and enjoy its rotating 360º view of Seattle and Puget Sound. We joined the line at 3:15, and slowly, slowly, made our way inside. Finally, an hour later, we reached the elevators and were zipping to the top.
The observation station at the top is actually rotating, about once an hour, allowing a visitor with time to sit and enjoy a drink in a window seat and see all the scenery without getting up. We were short on time, so we walked around the outside ring, looking down past our feet through the glass floor to Chihuly and the park below, and looking out past the safety barrier to the city skyline beyond. Sadly, the air was too hazy to see Mount Rainier.
Our next stop was an early dinner at one of Seattle’s renowned fine-dining restaurants, Canlis. We were treated to a seven-course tasting menu, each course more delectable than the last. It was difficult to pin down the cuisine – this family-run restaurant was founded by Palestinians but many of the dishes had east-Asian influences. We also were lucky to be seated beside a window overlooking Westlake and the plains behind, right up to the Cascades.
On Sunday we spent the morning at the Connections Museum, a curious little museum in a non-descript building on the outskirts of the city. Run entirely by volunteers and open only on Sundays, it celebrates the history of telecommunications… from the era of the telegraph through telephony of the twentieth century. Incredibly, they not only collect the telephones and switching systems from the past century, they keep them working. As a docent walked us through the highlights of the museum, he would often pick up a telephone handset, dial the phone, and point out the electromechanical relays and switches as they clicked and clattered into place, connecting the call to another telephone in the room. Groups of other volunteers – whose ages ranged from their 20s to their 80s, from what I could tell – pored over dusty old manuals and dug through the wiring of equipment still under repair. Truly a great place to visit for anyone with a nerdy bent – like me!
From here we zipped back into the city to settle in at Mint Progressive, an Indian restaurant we’d noticed in passing the day before. (I always hunt down good Indian food when I’m in a big city!) We filled ourselves on Dal Makhni, naan, a seafood curry, and a chili chicken fry, each garnished with curry leaves.
Stuffed, we needed a walk. We walked up the slope of Pike Street to Pike Place Market, where all the tourists (those who were not at the Space Needle) were to be found. With the interior filled with wall-to-wall people, we squeezed our way through to explore the famous fish vendors and flower stalls. Many of the tourists were thronged around the central fish vendor, which has a reputation for tossing fish and crabs from worker to worker as they serve customers. And, on request, repeating the stunt for the Instagram-hungry crowd.
After visiting the gum wall – really, an alley whose walls are literally covered in used chewing gum(!) – and stopping into a store that specializes in Ginger Beer, about which Andy raved, we went to the Seattle Art Museum so we could spend a couple of hours indoors during a forecasted drizzle. Its roomy galleries were filled with a fascinating collection; I particularly enjoyed one extensive exhibit that explored what it means to be “an American,” reflecting on the many backgrounds and cultures that have blended (and sometimes clashed) to form our union.
We had another early dinner reservation, so we continued onward without quite finishing the museum (or quite avoiding all the drizzle). This night we were at Umi Sake House, a few blocks walk away from our hotel. This restaurant offered an incredible variety of super-fresh sushi, all super fresh. I consider myself still a novice at all things sushi, so this was a great learning experience!
There you have it, two days in Seattle. Check out the photo gallery! I hope to return with more time – and to have the opportunity to get over to the Olympics, up to the Cascades, and out to the islands.
David Kotz 