2012 was a good year for me in terms of travels. I did a 10-days trip to Peru and then a trip to Bahamas on the Labor's Day weekend. After that, I did not really take any long and far trips due to a recent new job. After a whirlwind 2013, I decided to give myself a break and did a week long trip.
I wanted to go somewhere far and somewhere new. I was debating between Hawaii, Alaska(Yes, Alaska) and Seattle, and settled on Seattle. Since I'll be in West Coast and I didn't think I will need more than 3 days in Seattle, I decided to make another stop at my second most favorite city in the States, San Francisco, to see some friends and families that I haven't seen for a long time.
San Francisco
I've been to SF before. So, I do not have to do any tourist stuffs this time around. SF is more for seeing friends and families. However, I have always ended up skipping Alcatraz every time I visited SF. So, this time around, I was set on seeing Alcatraz. Even if you are not an history buff, I will definitely recommend you to visit it, as the panoramic view of SF from the island is amazing. And if the view from the following picture does not convince you, then you should watch this cancelled show called
Alcatraz.
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| View of SF from Alcatraz Island |
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| Inside Alcatraz prison where inmates lived |
Another of my favorite spot in SF is Twin Peak, which is actually in Daly City. This part of the trip wasn't originally planned. But somehow, we drove right by it and we decided to make a stop. It is the same breathtaking view as I remembered it 8 years ago.
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| Twin Peak |
Two other new places that we visited this time is Mystery Spot and Sausalito. I've seen pictures of Mystery Spot, and have been wanting to visit it. $5 entrance fee surprised me and later on I realized that the whole tour took no more than 45 minutes. I think if you are in the Bay Area, and have a few extra time to spare, you should do it. But it's not a must-see.
We were staying at San Carlos, which is about 1 hr south of San Francisco. We took a road trip from San Carlos to Half Moon Bay. From Half Moon Bay, we drove North, past the Daly City, San Francisco, drove through the Golden Gate Bridge and into Sausalito. Sausalito was highly recommended by our local friends. Everybody told me it was a beautiful seaside town. Unfortunately, we were there on a weekday and it was raining. However, we did make a stop at the famous local restaurant called
Fish. Their oyster BBQs were highly recommended by Yelpers, and it surely did not disappoint me! From there, we drove north to Tiburon to see the famous Redwood trees. As it was drizzling the whole day, I did not end up taking any pictures.
Seattle
Somehow, my infatuation with Seattle had nothing to do with Starbucks or Space Needle. It was because of 'Sleepless in Seattle'. Honestly, I did not even like the movie that much. And, I personally think that the movie title is very misleading, as it did not talk much about Seattle. But, somehow, it managed to portrayed Seattle as a romantic city. If you see the view from Kerry Park, I think people will understand why.
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| View from Kerry Park - Seattle Downtown with Mt. Rainier |
I was a bit uncertain about dining at
SkyCity restaurant, the rotating restaurant inside the Space Needle. Of course, the prices were expected to justify the unique setting and I just wasn't sure if it's worth trying. Then from Yelp reviews, I read that you actually get free admission to the observation deck, if you dine there. And since dining at a spinning restaurant is on my to-do list, and I think SkyCity is a better experience than the Time Square's Marriott in terms of location and price points, I decided to make a reservation there.
And I was very glad that I did. Food there is overpriced and portion sizes were tiny. However, the service was impeccable. For two entrees with wine, the bill came out about $180 including tips. Considering that the general admission to the observation deck is $19, I still think it's pretty worth it. Plus, they even had the photographer came around to the table and took complimentary pictures.
I had another goal in mind while visiting Seattle; pigging out on seafood. A trip to Seattle is incomplete if you did not stop at Pike Place Market. Thanks to all Yelpers, I stopped by at the following places:
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Pike Place Chowder - I was pleasantly surprised to find out the huge selections of chowders they have. I ended up ordering a sampler(against my better judgement). The sample allows you to get 4 chowders of your choice. I got the classic New England Chowder, Smoke Salmon Chowder, Seafood Bisque and a 4th one that I can't seem to remember now. I did not like the Seafood Bisque due to its intense smell of shrimp. But if you are a chowder fan like I am, you will not be disappointed.
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Jack's Fish Spot - if you like picking out seafood from tanks and have them prepared for you right on the spot, you will like this place. I tried their crab cocktail, which had very generous amount of crabmeat, and the oysters.
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Beecher's - I used to work in Flatiron area, where they have their NYC based store, for 4 years. And yet, I came to find out about this place in Seattle. Their freshly made cheese are amazing. Just stop by inside the store even if you are not going to shop for cheese, as they have plenty of samples.
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Le Panier - after pigging out, and walking around Pike Place, I very much needed coffee. So we stopped by at this french bakery place and I decided to get macaroons. They taste more like traditional macaroons, and much better than those macaroons from Dahilia bakery by Tom Douglas
And of course, you cannot and must not miss the original Starbuck....
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| Original Starbuck, very similar to regular Starbuck. The store was packed with people trying to take pictures. |
Seattle itself has limited thing to do. If you are into art, there are a couple of museums. I allocated 3 full days in Seattle and found that it was more than enough. On our last day, we decided to take a drive out and see the famous Mt. Rainier.
We did not rent a car in Seattle as our hotel was in downtown. We were walking to everywhere. In order to go to Mt. Rainier, you do need a car. Luckily, there was Enterprise 3 blocks away from our hotel, and the rate was very decent.
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| Add the top of Mt. Rainier |
The drive to Mt. Rainier was 2-3 hours, and since it is during winter time, some of the roads were closed. I was so eager to see
Reflection Lake, but that part of the road was closed. Somehow, the glaciers on the mountains reminded me of the Swiss Alps. If you happen to visit Mt. Rainier during warmer seasons,
here're a list of driving tours recommended.
We befriended a family of four who were there to take X'mas pictures. The father informed us of a all you can eat seafood buffet at
Red Wind Casino near Tacoma. I was skeptical at first, but the quantity and selection of seafood there pleasantly surprised me. And it was only $25. Only drawbacks is that you have to walk through the casino to enter the restaurant, and the cigarette smell was horrible.
Overall, Seattle was a pretty and romantic city. Seattle's skyline is nothing comparable to NYC's. However, it has an advantage of being nested among snow-capped mountains and reminded me of a hidden sleeping city hiding among the mountains.
Three full days is more than enough for Seattle. People have recommended me the boat tours to the nearby San Juan Islands, but the weather was too cold for such a trip. If you happen to be in Seattle, and you have extra time, Vancouver and Portland are two nearby cities. When I was planning for this trip, I did consider visiting Portland instead of SF. But Portland is a 3-hour drive from Seattle, which we were not keen on doing. Also, there was nothing really much to do in Portland for me, except shopping (Portland is tax-free).
I wish I watched a movie at Cinerama, which was right across from our hotel. The theater is known for its enormous screen and awesome sound system and they were showing Hunger Games - Catching Fire.
Here's our itineraries of our Seattle trip:
Day 1 - Landed in Seattle. We took Light Rail from the airport to our hotel in Downtown. Visited Space Needle and Sky City
Day 2 - Pike Place Market. From Pike Place Market, we hiked to Kerry Park. It was a solid 50 mins hike and a lot of hill climbings.
Day 3 - Mt. Rainier
Day 4 - Fly out of Seattle.
And like that, I checked Seattle off my list.
