Washington State Ferry from Seattle Waterfront

Seattle is a port city. It exists and thrives today because of its long history of maritime shipping, trade, and proximity to the natural resources of the Great Northwest. Scenically nestled at the edge of Elliot Bay on Washington’s Puget Sound, Seattle  still has a unique and intertwined relationship with the sea. If you are interested in experiencing a taste of that relationship the next time you visit, leave the high-tech, cosmopolitan atmosphere behind for a refreshing and scenic nearby side trip. No car required, just head down the hill from the heart of downtown shopping and dining, until you find yourself at the waterfront along Alaskan Way.

If you are interested in a walking tour of Seattle’s Waterfront, try starting on the southern end at Pier 52, where Washington’s famous ferries depart Seattle for Vashon and Bainbridge Islands, or Bremerton on the Olympic Peninsula. It’s enough fun to watch the big boats come and go, but if you’re feeling especially adventurous, you can walk on for a $7.00 round trip fare. It would be well worth your time, because on a clear day, the views are outstanding and the air refreshing, though cold, so dress warmly.

Walking North on along the waterfront you will shortly come to Pier 54 and another Seattle icon, Ye Olde Curiosity Shop, a store loaded with interesting artifacts, novelty items, oddities, and the main attraction a pair of actual mummies on display, as well as rice grain carvings (seriously!) and other curiousties. It’s a bit tacky, but fun, so I recommend you stop in and take a peek, so you can at least say you have been there.

Waterfront Pier

Pier 56 is home to Argosy Cruises, where you can book a sightseeing or dinner cruise, book a sailing expedition on Puget Sound, or board the Elliot Bay Water Taxi ($3.00 one way) for a 20 minute crossing to West Seattle and Alki Beach which offers abundant dining and recreational activities.  A free bus shuttle on the other side will take you to Alki Beach or the West Seattle Junction (more on this neighborhood in a future post).

Walking further north along the waterfront, you will pass several shops and restaurants, including Ivar’s Seafood Bar and Elliot’s Oyster House (where I dined on delicious fresh pacific oysters during a rare night out not long ago). Eventually, you will come to The Seattle Aquarium at Pier 59. The recently remodeled Aquarium is a world class facility with several fascinating permanent exhibits focusing on Pacific marine life, including a 360 degree glass domed room which will be a hit with the small people in attendance. I have been a member, and highly recommend the aquarium.

As you continue north along Alaskan Way, you will be treated to abundant breathtaking views of Elliot Bay, and on a clear day, the Majestic Olympic Mountains beyond. Once you reach Pier 67 you will come to an attractive lodging option for your next Seattle stay, the luxury Edgewater Inn. The Edgewater, situated right on the water and which many will remember as the place where the Beatles famously fished out of the window of their hotel room during a 1964 Seattle concert visit, offers what could very well be the most unique and scenic lodging experience in the city.

Fab 4 Fishing from Edgewater Inn

Seattle Art Museum’s Olympic Sculpture Park  (free to the public) is a wonderful outdoor space, just before the scenic and peaceful Myrtle Edwards Park. The Olympic Sculpture Park is a spectacular new waterfront park where visitors can view a variety of sculptures 365 days a year, in an outdoor setting. I have not been there yet, but my better half has, and she was duly impressed with the layout and interesting variety of the thought provoking sculpture.

You can check out nearly all these spots in a single day (with the exception of the ferry rides), but they are so nice you might want to take your time!

Too bad California will be paying tax refunds with I.O.U’s.  I was going to pay for our recent day trip to New York City with that.  Maybe theaters will start taking I.O.U.’s pretty soon?  No?

I was back in Connecticut visiting my family and a group of friends graciously moved their NYC day trip up to January so my husband and I could be included.  We were pretty terrified of going into the city and (gasp) walking from place to place when the forecast called for 20-degree weather and snow.  Turns out, it was fun and even beautiful.

Eight of us took the Metro North Railroad ($25 round trip ticket purchased at the automatic ticket machine with a credit card) to Grand Central Station, where much to the dismay of our more city-savvy friends, some of us stared up at the incredible ceiling.  Don’t miss it with its constellations and intricate art.  It’s been cleaned recently, and the cleaners left a tiny patch of dirt to show you just how dirty it once was (black).

From the station we walked to the Stage Delicatessen, home of the 4-inch pastrami sandwich.  All sandwiches were completely devoured.  Not sure how.  The place was PACKED but we managed to get in and sit at two separate tables (lunch cost about $20 per person) and then get out in time to make it to the show.

As we walked to the Gershwin Theatre, home of Wicked (tix cost $160 per person, purchased ahead of time online) it started to snow.  We were all bundled up nicely, so nobody really noticed or minded the cold.  And the snow made it all so, as my mother likes to say, romantic.

The Gershwin Theatre lobby is decked out with cool props from the set and signs that warn you about entering and exiting Oz.  Also?  Beer sippy cups.  Worth the $9 price with $5 refill for a crappy can of Bud Light.  Our seats for Wicked were almost all the way in the back, but still good.  One of those places where every seat in the house is a good seat.  During intermission the beer lines were long and the women’s bathroom lines were longer.  Don’t try to beat the lines by skipping out too early before intermission however, my friend did that and missed the best scene of the show!

After the show we all walked, in thicker snow, to Carmine’s, a family-style Italian restaurant where you basically eat like you’re at an Italian wedding.  The post-theater crowd was crushed together at the bar and in the waiting area, but thank goodness (and my friend Robert) we had reservations, so it was not a long wait for our big group.  Nine of us (Robert joined us for dinner) had several plates of appetizers, several more plates of dinner, a tiramisu, and several bottles of wine.  Final tab was about $60 per person.

Riding on the high of warm food (and wine) consumed in good company and inside a warm restaurant, we all decided to walk to a bar where the atmosphere was low-key and the music level was also low enough that we could still talk to each other.  Going by those requirements, someone had recommended Under the Volcano a tequila bar which did not disappoint.  The music was from the bartender’s iPod, there was plenty of seating at the early hour of 9PM, and nobody tried the tequila.  An unspecified bar tab later shows that we did try other things.

At some point someone realized that we’d better get back to Grand Central or we wouldn’t be making it home that night.   We made it just in time to wait 40 minutes for our train (too bad, because I had a fantasy that we’d get to stay in some kind of nice hotel, credit card bill be damned).  More staring at the ceiling ensued.  In all, despite the fat price tag, the trip was worth it, even if we never did get to stop at a Dunkin’ Donuts.

All photos by Christopher Tjaden