“Damn girl, you FAAAANCY!”
When one of my work besties invited me to a one day trip to Seattle to fulfill her craving of caviar, I could not help but think this. Jessica, is a little spontaneous and a little over-the-top sometimes but only in the best way. My thought after her invitation made my mind wander and reminisce about all the yummy food that would soon be awaiting me. There was no way I could turn this offer down and so, I packed my bags and we hopped on a 24 hour round trip flight to Seattle!
Our flight was scheduled to depart Tuesday at 9 am and return Wednesday 9 am. I booked my ticket about a month in advance with Alaska Airlines and got a great deal. Using part of the 50,000 bonus points (worth $625) I got from my Chase Sapphire credit card, this trip was pretty much free! I saved myself $116 and all I paid for was some taxes and fees, Booyah! If you are a frequent traveler like myself and many of my other travel-hungry friends, you should definitely check this card out for yourself! Chase had a killer initial sign-up offer of 50,000 bonus points in Chase Sapphire rewards which is equal to $625 that can be used for travel and/or gift cards from major retailers. It sounds too good to be true, but it really is true!
The morning of my flight, I hurriedly packed the essentials for my one day trip: my Sony ALPHA A6000, an extra t-shirt, and my wallet into my good ‘ol lucky and reliable Nike Sb travel backpack and I was set to go!
Once we got to the airport (OAK) we had time to spare and we waited at The Escape Lounge. With Jessica’s American Express Card, one of the perks is access to premium airport lounges with 2 additional guests to accompany her. I was her lucky +1. There was a 55 minute delay due to inclement weather in Washington so access to the lounge was really convenient.
I brought some light reading material along for the short flight. I just recently signed up for my first ever public library card and have been excited about all the books I get to borrow. Here are the books I’m currently reading now: 1) “The Small Talk Handbook” by Melissa Wadsworth. You never know who you’ll come across and what may come of with a simple “Hi” or “Hello.” Hopefully that small talk can go a long way to opening up the doors to a new friendship or opportunity! 2) “The Goat” by Annie Fleming. I honestly just like reading children’s books, hehe.
We landed in Seattle and now we’re ready to explore and stuff our faces! Since we were only staying for 24 hours we did not bother to rent a car. The ride share service, Lyft, was our primary means of transportation for this trip. Lyft is super easy , super convenient. Just download and pop open the Lyft app , request a ride, and moments later your driver is at your door. It’s like your own personal chauffer to take you wherever you need to go! If you’re still using regular, over-priced taxis or Uber, give Lyft a try for yourself! https://www.lyft.com/invite/ORANGEAPPEALZ )
Our one night stay was at the Residence Inn Marriott with a beautiful lake view. After dropping off our bags at the hotel, our first stop was to the Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room.
I’ve been obsessed with coffee as of late and I wanted to buy some freshly roasted, quality beans to take home to use with my Hario V60, french press, and Gaggia Classic espresso maker (my baby)! The Starbucks reserve was crazy busy! The loud noises, hustle-and-bustle, people chattering, and the constant brewing and grinding of beans was a little overwhelming. There is so much to see and you can observe what the actual roasting process of coffee beans looks like. I ordered the coffee flight of the Paridisi, Congo, and Hawaiian Kau.
After a few hot cups of coffee, we balanced it out with some cold, creamy ice cream. Conveniently just a few blocks up the street from the Starbucks Reserve was…
SALT AND STRAW
Salt and Straw is a popular ice cream chain I have seen in other major cities such as San Diego and Portland but have not tried until now. It is FAR from your traditional ice cream shop. They have a lot of unique ice cream flavors you probably have never seen before. I had one scoop of a strawberry honey balsamic with black pepper and another scoop of a radicchio jam and soft cheese flavored ice cream.
ice cream dripping
After already having eaten quite a bit of food we wanted a light lunch. The next stop on our 24 hour foodie trip was the SEATTLE CAVIAR COMPANY. THIS is what Jessica flew all the way to Seattle for. She loves this stuff so much, lol. This was my second time trying caviar but it was more interesting this time because I was treated to a tasting flight. The owner educated me a little bit on this delicacy. I learned sturgeon is the gold standard and is better eaten with natural spoons either made of mother-of-pearl or gold. I found this to be true when I tasted it for myself. Initially I was afraid to try as I thought it would just be very fishy but surprisingly, it was actually very delicious. I was also taught to taste the berries most effectively by rolling the beads on the roof of the mouth. I found as I progressed from left to right or to the more expensive caviars, the taste became less fishy and it even had a little bit of an umami, yummm 😛
PIKE’S PLACE MARKET
You can’t say you’ve visited Seattle until you have visited Pike’s Place Market. There were many wonderful little food stalls and shops selling hand-made bags and scarves, artisanal honey and jams, jewelry, and other specialty goods. The one thing I love most about the market are the flower stalls.
Within Pike’s Place Market you MUST also stop by the following:
Ellenos
THE PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE BEST EVER GREEK YOGURT…EVER ! Why isn’t Ellenos available in stores all over the county yet?!
Marionberry and mango flavored greek yogurt
Piroshki Piroshki
Piroshki translates to “small pie ” and Piroshki Piroshki is a Russian bakery selling breads filled with various meats, fruits, vegetables, cheese, and chocolates to create a variety sweet or savory options. I prefer sweet piroshki’s so I tried the cinnamon cardamon braid, cherry white chocolate, rhubarb, and poppy cinnamon roll pirshoski’s.
The First Starbucks
It’s probably fact but this is birthplace of the biggest coffee chain in the world. As you can see from the picture below, it was pretty busy with a long line of people. It was interesting to see the small, humble beginnings of Starbucks and to see it’s immense growth it has experienced over the last decade: now it’s on every corner of your neighborhood shopping mall!
THE GUM WALL
You’ll have to walk down a small dark stair underneath and just left of the big market sign to find Gum Wall Alley. It’s so iconically disgusting! I wonder if they periodically clean and scrape off the old gum, hrm.
Das little ‘ol me , I’m a little camera shy.
At the far end of the Gum Wall Alley and just around the corner is the Central Waterfront.
After some walking around at the Waterfront we crossed over to the north shore of Lake Union. Just about a 10-15 minute drive away, we visited The Fremont Troll and Gas Works Park.
THE FREMONT TROLL
An IG worthy photo-op with the Fremont Troll or also known as the troll under the bridge.
Also a short 10 minute walk from the Fremont Troll was GAS WORKS PARK, our last location. Gas Works Park is the former site for the Seattle Gas Light Company gasification plant. Industrial structures are scattered throughout the park and provide more great photo opportunities! We ended our day here by watching the sunset and overlooking the Seattle skyline 🙂
I hope you enjoyed my 24 hour Seattle foody adventure blog and hope you find it useful in planning your next trip to Seattle!
-Stay Curious
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