SEATTLE | WASHINGTON

Seattle is a beautiful place to visit and an even better place to have a wedding as we recently found out. Our good friends Jake and Lena invited us to their wedding at the Hollywood Schoolhouse in the middle of the winery area which was a treat for us. It would be special since it was Amanda's first trip to Seattle and while it wasn't my first trip, I hadn't been there since 2016, but it was our first trip to Seattle together.

GETTING TO SEATTLE

We had talked in the past about taking the Amtrak Coast Starlight from LA to Seattle. However, this was a quick weekend trip so we hopped on a quick 2-hour flight to make the journey instead of the 35-hour trip it takes each way by train. I am so glad that we did because both ways we got incredible views of the Seattle area from the air. It was a bit overcast on Friday as we descended into Seattle so it afforded us a beautiful view of the waterfront out of the plane window. In contrast, the flight back on Sunday was an amazingly clear day which allowed us to check out Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Hood on the way back to LA.

EXPLORING SEATTLE

Our first stop was the famous Pike's Place Public Market to grab some lunch, enjoy a bit of chocolate at the Joe Chocolate Co. Cafe and visit the original Starbucks. No matter the time of day, the Pike's Place area is crowded but a must-see if you are visiting the Seattle area. Just below the market is a beautiful waterfront walk that includes a lot of shops, restaurants and sites to see.

As I mentioned, the wedding was over in the winery area of Seattle, in Woodinville, WA. That gave us an great opportunity to explore a new part of the city. In addition to all of the wineries, they also have their fair share of breweries. The wedding couple held a welcome reception for all of the out-of-town guests at one of these great little micro-breweries the night before. The Hollywood Schoolhouse, the actual wedding venue, is a beautiful spot for a wedding.

The day after the wedding, we joined some of the other wedding guests on a boat tour of the city. It offered a new perspective on the city, starting in Lake Union and continuing on to Lake Washington. Seeing the floating houses and learning about their history, including the Sleepless in Seattle filming location, was a highlight of the tour. However, my favorite part of the tour was that it started and finished right along the seaplane runway. We got to see a couple planes arriving and departing while we were there.

I know that we will be back to Seattle as there is so much to see and explore and we barely scratched the surface. I would love to hear some ideas for other places that we should add to the list.