Seattle (Summer 2023)
This was an unintended stop. When you are in Sea-Tac in the morning waiting on a connecting flight with no obligations to get home and Delta offers you $’s for your seat on an overbooked flight, you wind up with a free day in Seattle.
Cost of getting into town from the airport: $14 per carry on bag to store at baggage claim and $7 each for a round trip ticket on the train.
Pretty straightforward to get into town
It was a decent walk from the terminal to the station and then a half hour ride to get to the city center
As far as I could tell - this was an honor system thing
I asked a local if anyone ever checks to see if you have a ticket and he said that he’s never seen it done but everyone is cool and buys the ticket (so Seattle is apparently still a functional and civil society)
Pike Place Market
You have to come here right? Other than the Space Needle - this is what comes to mind for most people about Seattle. It was actually quite unexpectedly crowded on a gloomy weekday. Still lots of tourists here. I didn’t know what to expect. It seems like part of the market consists of the fish market with some eateries and then another part of the market was more of a farmers market with stalls.
Place Pigale
This place (no pun intended) was a great find. We were looking for place to eat around Pike Place and the other seafood places were very busy with lines of people waiting to order and then find a seat.
This restaurant is literally just around the corner from the fish throwing location and it was this calm oasis in the middle of the tourist mayhem. We walked right in and got a window seat with a view of the water.
Food was excellent as well. Could these be the best mussels ever? They have bacon on them so maybe.
Central Saloon (Oldest Bar in Seattle)
In the ongoing quest to find the oldest bar in each town, an internet search turned up this place. The Central is located in the Pioneer Square area south of Pike Place. The vibe is very punk rock and they have a stage for live music in the back. It seems like a lot of locals drink here. Note - there is a 3% surcharge if you pay with credit.
Also important note: Dog Friendly!
There is dispute about what is technically the oldest bar as everything around this neighborhood seems to have been built around the same time.
Merchants Cafe (The Other Oldest Bar in Seattle)
Not too far away from the Central, the Merchant’s Cafe also claims to the the oldest bar (it may come down to technicalities like “cafe” vs “saloon”). The bar area itself seems like it has had more renovation than the Central so it doesn’t feel as old.
They do however claim to have a haunted downstairs area. They even have a book of testimonials from people who have experienced something weird. I went downstairs to use the bathroom and when I was alone down there I can attest that at the very least the place felt creepy AF. I decided not to linger down there by myself too long.
Note - there was an auto 20% tip included in the bill (probably one too many foreign tourist not tipping).
Joe’s Bar & Grill
I asked the bartender at Central for a locals dive bar and she directed me here. Joe’s is definitely a working class blue collar kind of place. This might be the most midwestern bar on the west coast.
They even have pull tabs but unlike the Michigan ones, these only have on tab (and thus far cheaper - like 25 cents each for some) and they tell you if you won or not. The bartenders toss the losing tabs on the floor.
The non-fussy older decor with portraits on the wall remind me of the Old Town Ale House in Chicago.
Just had drinks - did not evaluate the “& Grill” portion of the offerings.
Saigon Streets
Since we were not too far away at Joe’s, we ventured to the Chinatown area for some snacks before heading back to the airport. Some places were closed during the mid-afternoon but there was a food court area in an Asian food mart.
Saigon Streets had a decent banh mi. The bread wasn’t quite “Frenchy” enough but the filling was good. There was a 10 minute wait as they made it. It was also a bit pricey compared to SJ - it was more like NYC prices here.
They had a sign outside but that just went to the kitchen, you have to order inside the food court.
Sub Pop
We learned about Sub Pop at the airport and they had some displays about it’s history. I guess Sub Pop is a record label that blew up during the grunge period. We were looking for souvenir gifts so we popped in here but it turns out that the retail store in the airport was bigger than this one downtown.
Amazon HQ
This is hard to miss if you walk around the downtown area. No big deal except the spheres are unique looking. I think they have some bars and eateries in them as well.