Happy New Year, Everyone! 

We rang in the New Year in Seattle, Washington with Nisheet’s family. In fact, we were able to spend an entire week exploring the beautiful Pacific Northwest. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas morning on the beach in Florida, and then we boarded a flight to Seattle Christmas Evening. That’s the great thing about a 3 hour time difference. Our flight left at 5pm, and even with a layover, we were still able to see family on the other side of the country on Christmas night!

Seattle Space Needle

Needless to say, we waited until the following morning to start exploring Seattle. Our first attraction was the iconic Space Needle. We arrived around 10:30am and quickly moved through the short line to purchase tickets. The next tickets available were for 11am. Not bad! [General Admission = $22]

Shortly before 11am, they let us get in line. Only a small section was outside. Most of the line wrapped around inside the base of the tower. It moved very quickly, just like the ticket line, and there were all sorts of facts about the Space Needle to read. Did you know that the Space Needle was built in just 400 days? 

The next thing we knew, we were on an elevator headed to the top! And boy, what a view we had! It wasn’t a crystal clear day, but we had a spectacular view of the city and surrounding waters. In the background, you could see the snow covered Cascade Mountains and the majestic Mount Rainier. A majority of the mountains were covered in fog and clouds, but what do you expect? This was Seattle in the rainy winter after all, so I was happy with what we did get to see. 

Seattle Monorail

You can walk from the Space Needle to Pike Place Market or other attractions since it’s only 1 mile, but we opted to take the Monorail. It is only $2.25, and it is a fun (and warm) way to get around. We got off at the Westlake Center and headed towards food. [One way ticket = $2.25]

Lunch Buffet

Seattle, and the Pacific Northwest, is known for lots of scrumptious food items. Namely seafood. But sometimes you just gotta have an Indian Buffet, and that is where we headed. If you happen to be in the area and craving Indian food, check out Daawat Indian Grill & Bar. It is cheap, filling, and yummy, but, be warned, you will feel sluggish for the rest of the day. And, when you finally venture down to Pike Place Market, every piece of food you see (which is a lot) will have your stomach churning. [Lunch Buffet = $12.95]

Starbucks Roastery & Tasting Room

Since the Indian Buffet had us longing for a nap, we decided it was a good time to get our first real cup of coffee in Seattle. (We technically had coffee on the Space Needle but that doesn’t count because it was plain ordinary coffee.) We didn’t want just any cup of coffee though. We wanted something special, so we ventured to the Starbucks Roastery & Tasting Room. And luckily for us, it just happened to be near the Daawat Indian Grill & Bar. 

Starbucks tasters evaluate over 2.5 million cups of coffee every year and select only a few of the best to become Starbucks Reserve coffees. The Roastery is where these Starbucks Reserve coffees are roasted and packaged. And, you get to watch the whole process and chat with the master roasters themselves.

The green coffee arrives in large burlap bags and and are then transferred to silos for aeration. Then, the beans are roasted. This is the best part because when they dump them out of the roaster to cool down, they let you sample a freshly roasted bean! After that, they rest and de-gas for over a week until peak flavor is achieved. And then the coffee baristas handcraft a beverage for you. (Ok, maybe that last part is really the best part.)

We ordered a Cardamom Latte, and oh my goodness, it was the most delicious coffee drink that I have ever tasted. It was $7.50, but it was worth every penny! [Cardamom Latte = $7.50]

Exploring in the Rain

The coffee gave us some energy, but we still needed a long walk after all that Indian food. So, off we went to explore the city. But… it was rainy. As we all know, Seattle is in the cloudiest region of the US. And, it experiences the most rain November – January. Perfect timing for us! Despite the rain and cold though, the city was charming with the Christmas lights glowing in the reflection along the sidewalks. There was a sort of Northwest Christmas cheer for our walk down Pike Street to the famous Pike Place Market.

Pike Place Market

Pike Place Market is an absolute must on any list when visiting Seattle. People will judge you if you don’t go. (Fun fact: It is the 33rd most visited tourist attraction in the world according to Wikipedia.) The most famous merchant is the fish market with “flying fish.” It is hard to miss as it is the stall right at the entrance and there is always a crowd gathered around watching for the workers to throw fish around. There are lots of stalls selling fish and seafood, but you can also find shops selling produce and handmade crafts. And if you want to sample anything, just ask. They will probably be happy to oblige. Hint: Ask for a sample of smoked salmon anywhere and you’ll be rewarded with a generous portion! [Pike Place Market Admission = Free]

Pike Place Starbucks

Across the street from the Public Market is the Pike Place Starbucks. Most people refer to it as the original Starbucks, but actually it is the second location. The first location no longer exists. But anyways, there will be hoards of tourists here. We just snapped a few pictures and went on our merry way. We just had way better Starbucks coffee at the Roastery, and I already have a Starbucks mug from this store from a previous visit years ago.

Piroshky Piroshky Bakery

Another store in the area is Piroshky Piroshky Bakery. The bakery isn’t that old (opened in 1992), but boy is it crowded. The line will be down the street, but it is worth it. Piroshky are hand-held pies that are traditionally served in Eastern Europe and Russia. This bakery does an excellent job of blending the traditional piroshky with flavors of the Northwest (salmon for example). This was where I had originally planned on eating lunch before we ended up at the Indian buffet. I was still too full to eat anything right then, but we did end up ordering 2 pastries to try at home later. And, OMG, you must eat here if you are in Seattle. We had the smoked salmon pate piroshky and the apple cinnamon piroshky. Both came wrapped in a flaky-buttery pie crust and the flavors were the freshest that we have ever had. Yum! [Smoke Salmon Pate = $5.70, Apple = $4.50]

Sheraton Seattle Gingerbread Village

After wandering around Pike Place and the surrounding area, it was getting late in the evening so we hurried on to our next destination. Sheraton’s Gingerbread Village. Since it was still the holiday season, we figured we should try to do something holiday related! Just like everything else, there was a huge line. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to stand in the line (1 hour+) because we were meeting back up with Nisheet’s family. But, the good thing was that you could just about see most of the houses from the back and the sides. All of the “houses” were scenes from Harry Potter. There were lit-up castles, serpents, dragons, Hogwarts, and even Dobby! [Admission = Suggested donation to JDRF]

Amazon GO Beta Store

The last place on our list for the day was the Amazon GO Beta Store. If you are anything like me, you are super excited to try out this new concept. Basically, you walk into the store, pick up whatever you want, then walk out. No need to stand in a line to pay. Your phone does everything for you. So, of course, checking out the Amazon GO Beta Store in Seattle was way up on my list of things to do. But it was closed for the entire holiday week! Womp womp. Why would you close your store during the busiest part of the year?

Amazon Books Store

Our lovely hostess came to our rescue though and suggested we instead checkout the Amazon Books store as to not end the night on a low note. It was indeed fun though. It was similar to a regular bookstore but with Amazon Echo and Kindle devices on display everywhere. I got caught up thumbing through several coffee table books. My favorite? Can I Sit on Your Lap While You’re Pooping?