It’s really hard for me to pick which neighborhood of Seattle was my favorite. I think Jeff loved Capitol Hill the most with its urban grunge, tattoo shops, and hip bars and restaurants frequented by the young 20’s crowd. I liked Ballard, a seemingly upscale and trendy area with tons of eating and shopping that manages to come to life at night.

From our hotel we could see the downtown area only a few blocks away. Seattle as a whole was very walkable, and anywhere you couldn’t walk you could take a bus. And the buses are much nicer and cleaner than Atlanta’s Marta system, which frankly scares me.

We definitely spent the most time in Belltown though, being that our hotel was there and we wanted to be able to walk to most of the things we did. From what I understand, Belltown used to be a bit seedier and industrial but has recently boomed with tons of bars and restaurants aimed at roping in the happy hour crowd and holding onto them for the night.

We were just 2 blocks from the Space Needle, though we decided not to go up it (Jeff and I both don’t like heights.) But just under the Space Needle was another attraction that did sound interesting – The Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum.  Yes, a music and sci-fi museum, together!

They were showing exhibits on the life of Jimi Hendrix, the story of Nirvana as a band and as the influence of an era, and even….Battlestar Galactica! I’m really showing my nerd colors now!

Jeff thought it was hilarious how excited I was about this. He probably had the most fun in the sound lab playing around with all the instruments. Isn’t my guitar-god husband so sexy? 😉

Sadly, we were too early for a huge Avatar exhibit that is coming to the museum soon. That would have been pretty cool.

One other neat attraction just a few blocks from us was the Olympic Sculpture Park, an outdoor extension of the Seattle Art Museum.

It was so cool! A beautiful waterfront park with huge modern art sculptures and amazing concrete architecture…

This picture doesn’t do that metal tree sculpture justice, it was enormous and far below the balcony we were standing on.

I called this one the “red elephant.” I don’t know why but it just reminded me of an elephant somehow.

And there were amazing views everywhere you looked.

My husband emits rainbows…

Eye see you!

We weren’t sure what to expect from the sculpture park, but it ended up making for a great date, along with a stroll along the piers with a view of Mt. Rainier in the distance.

Next time: Pike Place Market and the Chittenden Loch.

May 12, 2011 Alayna Discussion 8 comments

Finally getting around to writing about our recent Seattle vacation. Jeff and I have both been really jet-lagged and not sleeping well because we got a little spoiled by the super-comfy hotel bed! It’s safe to say a new mattress is in our future.

So anyway — general attitude towards the city of Seattle: I LOVED IT.

The whole frickin’ city felt like it was personally hand-crafted with me in mind. Everywhere we went we were completely blown away by how good the food was, how the vibe was just right, how polite and friendly the people were, how clean the air smelled, how interesting the trees were, how easy it was to get around, how distinct the neighborhoods were, how fresh the fish was, how beautiful the mountains were……..I could go on and on.

I mean, I wasn’t even off the plane before I was in awe of the landscape. Check out this view of Mount Rainier peeking up over the clouds from our plane window.

And beneath us rolled more blue-colored mountains with white-capped peaks covering the landscape like a wrinkled satin bedsheet. It was an amazing welcome.

We spent our first full day walking through literally miles of nature paths. Our first stop was the Japanese Gardens, approximately 3 acres of minutely manicured traditional gardens surrounding a lake full of enormous glittering koi.

I could have watched those koi for hours….if not for being distracted by this little guy….

And these guys…

Apparently there was a steampunk convention going on that day and there were around 20+ people in full garb. Awesome.

After the Japanese Gardens we took a break for lunch and then headed back to the Arboretum. An arboretum is essentially a “tree garden.” This one was over a mile wide and absolutely covered in trails that lead you through many different species of local foliage.

I was so inspired by all the beautiful things around me that I even started putting together an art project! I took a bunch of photos from around the park to include in a “texture study.”

I haven’t felt inspired to create art in a long time. I can’t wait to use those images in a real-life piece!

The arboretum was really amazing. It was a very relaxing way to spend our first full day in Seattle. Touring gardens is probably one of our very favorite things to do on vacations for just that reason.

Tomorrow: The Olympic Sculpture Gardens and the Music and Sci-fi Museum!

May 11, 2011 Alayna Discussion 7 comments

Thanks everybody for all your praise over the wedding cake!

It was really weird to get up every day this week and not start doing something cake related. I found myself pacing around a few times feeling like I was supposed to be frantically baking something.

Thankfully those anxious feelings have subsided…………….to be replaced by new ones! 😉

Jeff and I are approaching our first wedding anniversary on May 1st and we’ve been talking about taking a vacation around that time for months. The problem has been that we don’t have the budget to blow like we did on Japan, there aren’t too many places we’re interested in right now that aren’t on the other side of the planet, and I can’t get my passport renewed before we need to go so we can’t leave the country easily.

So, we’ve been trying to decide where we could have fun within the U.S. for a whole week.

Answer:  Seattle!

(source)

Seattle has been on our minds for a couple of reasons, it’s hard to explain why without this turning into a lengthy essay. So basically it’s that: we like the landscape of the Pacific Northwest, we like the culinary scene there, we like the eco-consciousness, we align more with the political and cultural viewpoints of the majority there, we like the public transportation and bike culture, we like the higher asian population than other parts of the U.S. which means lots of multiethnic food options and cultural experiences, we like the access to fresh sushi-grade fish, and we like that it’s a whole 5 and a half hours closer to Japan – you know, should we ever find ourselves living there and vacationing in Kyoto regularly. 😉

Also, we spent a week in Portland, OR two years ago thinking that we might want to relocate there someday for the same reasons listed above. We didn’t fall in love with it like we thought we would though. I felt so tragically uncool there all the time. So, we’re kind of auditioning Seattle in the same way, as a possible home for the far future when we don’t have kids anymore and want to travel to Asia a lot.

Maybe that sounds crazy, but I have never felt that in love with or attached to Georgia in any way. That, and my wanderlust has exploded in the last few years. I now feel like I could pack up my life and start over anywhere (with Jeff of course!) and adjust easily.

Anyway, we’re excited to spend time getting to know Seattle. I’ve started to put together a list of places we’re interested in and later I’ll form them into an itenerary.

Getting everything together

We leave April 30th!

If any of you guys have been to Seattle and have recommendations for where to go, we’d love to hear em’!

April 22, 2011 Alayna Discussion 12 comments