A Seattle Overview

My siblings, good friend, and I found ourselves in Seattle this past week and a half. Mainly to relax and get away from Utah's heat and to get my older sister settled in with her Microsoft internship. So here's a quick overview of what happened while we were down there that could be easily explained with a cinematic vlog but isn't.

Day one: We land in Seattle; arrive at the hotel with some complications that were quickly taken care of; then we go have dinner
at a Brazillian restaurant with my family and my older sister's friends.

Day two: Today was the day that we explored Pike Place Market, which was busy because it was the weekend, and it was pretty warm and sunny out (that's rare for Seattle). There we witnessed the throwing fish event (a bit overhyped in my opinion); eat lunch at the Athenian Seafood Restaurant; and grab some delicious caramel coffee not at Starbucks (though we did see a pretty old Starbucks café). Then we left Pike Place Market to go find a grassy patch nearby and nap for a bit (well technically my whole family but me napped because I was too hyped up on coffee). After half an hour or so, we walked down to the Waterfront Park to ride the Ferris wheel and take some more pictures by the pier. Then we grabbed some ice cream and delicious lemonade on our way to the gum wall (which was not what I expected, it should be called a gum alleyway). Then we went back to the hotel finding some artsy flowers and the Garden of Remembrance on the way there. A bit later in the day, my brother and I made a quick trip to Target, which was three stories high and it had its own escalator for carts.

Day three: We ate some brunch at 13 Coins. Afterward, we check out of the hotel and then go to an apartment complex near Pioneer Square and the International District. After settling into that place, we headed down to the Chihuly Garden and Glass and marvel at the beauty of it all before going into the Space Needle, and damn was it high. Apparently, it's going to be remodeled so that the observatory is entirely made out of glass, which seems pretty trippy in my opinion. Afterward, we end up at Capitol Hill and eat at this delicious restaurant called the Deluxe Bar and Grill.

Day four: This is the first and only day where I bother walking to a gym. It was a nice gym too, but it wasn't for me. After exercising, my family and I head to a Starbucks (when in Seattle grab as much coffee as possible because it is the coffee place in the United States) and a sandwich place which was conveniently right next door. Afterward, we head back to the apartment to rest and watch Parks and Recreation, which was the main show that we watched throughout our whole week there. A few hours later, we go to University Village to go shopping for both personal use and of course Father's Day stuff. One store that I was surprised to see was the Amazon bookstore. Yes, there is a physical building for Amazon Books, that isn't the warehouse. Apparently, there are seven other locations in the U.S. It's nice because it gives you the Goodreads rating and a customer's review of the book, plus, if you're an Amazon Prime member, you get an automatic discount. So, I was able to get a sweet deal on Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jeremy McCarter. There was also a yummy pizza place called Elemental Wood Fired Pizza that we ate at later.

 Day five: You could read in my blog post here.

Day six: My siblings and I take a bus to the Microsoft campus and meet up with another one of my older sister's friends. The Microsoft campus is like beeing at a university, except, you get paid, you need a badge to access some buildings (like the mixer aka the cafeteria), and there are more offices than big sweeping classrooms. There we shopped for more Father's Day gifts at the Microsoft store, hang out at the visitor center, before going to grab some cool plastic visitor badges at the Mixer. Also at the Mixer, we ate some lunch, grabbed some boba, and watch some people breakdancing. Then my older sister managed to get the day off from work, so we then went hiking for about three hours to see a lighthouse at Discovery Park (I wish the beaches there were better for swimming). My older sister, being her usual, eccentric self, ended up doing the hike in a dress and high heels, which worked out well for the most part, in her case. Afterward, we went to a yummy BBQ joint before going home.

Day seven: It was our lazy day, so we did nothing for the most part other than watch Parks and Recreation and The Office while listening to the classic Seattle rainfall, as well as nap a lot. Eventually, that got boring, so we went to a movie theater to watch Wonder Woman (it's a pretty good movie), and eat at Elliott's Oyster House.

Day eight: My twin and I went to explore the International District again. There, I ate some delicious green tea ice cream that melted a bit too quickly for my taste, ate some yummy poke bowls, and bought another book even though, according to my twin, "I have enough books already" (I'm a bookworm, I need books to survive). We also relaxed a bit at this courtyard and listened to a musician and watched an old Asian lady play bean bags. Afterward, we went back to the apartment and rested for a bit before my brother, twin, and I headed up to Lincoln Square in Bellvue to meet up with my older sister and our good friend. There, we ended up exploring for a bit, mainly hanging out at this furniture store, before getting some dim sum at Din Tai Fung. That was a delicious place through quite busy, so be patient because you might have to wait for an hour to get a seat.

Day nine: Our last full day in Seattle. We ended up going to the aquarium, losing my brother (who was watching the fishes in the dome get fed), see some puffin mating (or as my older sister joked puffin porn), see some cute otters get fed, and other typical aquarium stuff. After that, we ended up at the Pacific Science Center and did some sciencey stuff, as well as, go into the tropical butterfly house where three different butterflies landed on my brother, my twin, and me. It was a magical experience. Then, we got hungry and went to grab some dinner at this BBQ place that had delicious lamb.

Day ten: I tearfully hugged my older sister and my brother goodbye (not really, but it was kind of sad to separate from them), before my twin, good friend, and I head off to the airport. There we ate some okay seafood, drink some more Starbucks coffee, and of course fly back to good old Salt Lake City, Utah. And honestly, it's nice to be back, especially since I realized that I'm not a big fan of rain and cloudy days most of the time.

And now the weather:
Utah's sun and ninety-degree day and also, Calvin Harris's song Summer.
P.S. I found myself playing Pokemon Go every single day since I ended up in Seattle, which is interesting though kind of boring.

~ Stacy N.