Seattle, Washington was my 2nd solo trip, and my first trip “post pandemic.” I put that in quotes, because we thought that the pandemic was mostly over, but had no idea at the time that it would continue to drag out for much longer. I chose Seattle on a whim. Honestly, it was another place that had never been on my radar, until it just was. I don’t know how else to explain it. I was initially thinking Portland, but when I contacted a friend who has done much more solo traveling, she suggested I would feel safer in Seattle, and that was that. My second reason for choosing Seattle was that my husband had already been there a couple of times, and so I felt that it would be nice to choose a place that wouldn’t make him feel left out.
This is how naive I still was about the world at this time: I had no idea that Seattle was home to the space needle, or the Puget Sound, and had only recently heard of Mount Rainier because of my husband’s travels. The only things I knew were that it rained a lot, and they had a market place that was apparently well known. Eye roll.
Needless to say, when I started doing my research, I was pleasantly surprised, and quickly grew excited. This time I was nervous, but in a different way from my San Diego solo trip. I knew I wouldn’t be scared to go places on my own, but was more worried about what it would be like in this post pandemic world. At the time, Seattle was still requiring face masks everywhere, and having my vaccine card handy was a must.
This trip started out in much the same fashion as my first trip when it comes to airport woes. This time, my flight out of Madison, WI was just plain canceled. Our airport is tiny enough that when they don’t get enough passengers on one flight, they cancel it and combine it with the next day’s flight to get a full plane. I wasn’t having it. I immediately got on the phone with Expedia, and with American Airlines and insisted on a flight out of Milwaukee. I talked to the most incredible woman at American who booked me on a flight, but warned me I had to get on the road to Milwaukee ASAP, which I did.
Lessons learned from this trip: It is way way WAY easier to book your plane tickets directly through the airline than to go through a 3rd party site like Expedia. Expedia is great when your trip goes off without a hitch, but don’t expect much guidance when things go wrong. It’ll take 3 hours just for them to call you back, whereas I had someone from American return my call within 10 minutes.
Anyway, so I got to Seattle, checked into my hotel (I still feel that hotels are safer for solo travel than Airbnbs, from the standpoint that there are other people in the building and you don’t feel so isolated) and immediately began walking around. I was a mere 2 blocks from the Seattle Public Market, a place that I thought I would check out once and be done with, but I ended up going there just about every day. I did a quick walk around, and then grabbed dinner and some beers to go at Old Stove Brewery. It was going on 9 pm when I got back to my hotel, and I try not to be out after dark.
The next morning, I got up and explored the Public Market and surrounding area for real, found a book store, posed by the infamous Gum Wall, and grabbed chowder and a lobster roll at Pike Place Chowder, which I highly recommend you eat at even though you’ll be waiting in a line all the way down the street. Get there before it opens and start waiting in line, or order food for pick up if you don’t have time to wait. I ate my lunch at a table that overlooked the Puget Sound and enjoyed people watching.
After lunch, I hopped on a ferry to Bainbridge Island and spent my afternoon there. Bainbridge Island was full of lush greenery, and many shops worth exploring. I even found the cutest shop that looked exactly like Rose Apothecary from Schitt’s Creek. There was both a winery and a brewery that I wanted to check out, and I was able to ship wine home to enjoy with my husband. I also learned after I had left the island, that the famous author, Kristin Hannah, lives on Bainbridge. Had I known, I’d have purchased a book from there! I ate a pizza at a delicious Neapolitan restaurant called Bruciato, where they gave me a scissors to cut up my pizza. The pizza was great, but I ended up dropping my scissors on the floor, and ultimately just did my best to eat a whole pizza without looking like a fool.
The following day, I ate lunch at Pike Brewing Company, then checked out the view of Seattle from the Ferris wheel. Even though it was raining, I definitely recommend the Ferris wheel. After wandering through many of the shops along the shore, I went back to Old Stove Brewing for dinner, and then had a beer at nearby Cloudburst Brewing. It doesn’t sound like that much of a day when I write it down, but just wandering around kind of aimlessly was actually a lot of fun.
On June 7th, I found Storyville Coffee Co, an adorable coffee shop that I highly recommend. I could have gone to the Original Starbucks, but the line was so long, and Seattle Coffee Works had apparently shut down during the pandemic. I was not disappointed with my choice, and even got a mug and some coffee beans to bring home.
Once caffeinated, I was on my way to check out the Space Needle. I originally intended to catch an Uber, but decided at the last second to walk instead. I was nervous about walking in a city I knew nothing about, and in fact did feel a bit scared at one point when I tried to walk through a sculpture garden, only to realize I was very isolated and that there were homeless people sleeping amongst the sculptures. However, after backtracking out of the garden and sticking to the main roads, my decision to walk turned out to be a good one, because I stumbled upon one of my favorite street murals to date. Like the unexpected murals in my San Diego post, this one also spoke to me. It summed up my love of solo traveling so well. I mean, isn’t it all about growth and getting out there? I got a little choked up looking at this. And, that tree! The way it matches the mural so beautifully…yeah I’m a dork.
The Space Needle, while touristy, was a great way to check out more city views, and I especially loved the glass floor that allowed you to look down onto the ground. Following the Space Needle, I went next door to the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum, saw some beautiful glass work, and then sat in their garden area with a beer while watching a demonstration on glass blowing.
Afterward, I took an Uber to Elysian Brewing Company, and to Optimism Brewing to enjoy a couple more beers. From there I walked to a Starbucks Reserve to try their whiskey barrel aged cold brew (not my thing, as it turns out) and then went back to the hotel for another night.
My last day in Seattle was just a travel day with an early morning flight. I had planned on taking a train back to the airport, but when I inquired at the hotel desk, the concierge informed me that it would not be safe to do so, so I took an Uber instead—yet another reason that I prefer hotel stays over Airbnbs on solo trips! Seattle was a great trip, and I left once again feeling proud of how much I’d grown as a person. I think that the length of time I spent there was the perfect amount, as any more would have left me wondering what to do with myself.
If I went back to Seattle again someday, I would want to check out Mount Rainier and do some hiking, as well as maybe catch an MLB game, and explore some of the other nearby islands on the Puget Sound.
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