Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Winter Guide To Seattle

It's been awfully chilly here and yet claire and I have not been bold enough to turn the heat on. Reason number one: cash moneymoney. Reason number two: Scary floor board coils. Thank god for multiple comforters, sweats, and down. That clarifies that it is, indeed, winter in Seattle. I know the post confused you as it is December and all (it didn't confuse you at all, did it? You were really on top of things, weren't you?), now to my thinking about Seattle guides...

Over thanksgiving I took a nice, brisk stroll all around Seattle one afternoon and documented it on the twitter. Here are some of the goodies:




So i was wandering around taking pictures of things I saw and no matter how effing cold and rainy it gets i do kind of love this city. But I can understand if you're new here why you wouldn't. The thing about seattle - it has a lot of stuff going on, but it's quiet about it. There's interesting, unique bars and coffee shops to go to (like oddfellows , a nice little nook that's both cafe and bar with a nice menu and quiet, relaxed, yet still hip(ster?) ambience), great museums, even better parks, cute neighborhoods, etc. But if you weren't in the know it would be easy to get lost and feel like tehre is NOTHING , NOTHING i say, to do here. So here are five things to look forward to during a seattle winter.

1.) Coffee shops. This city is THE place for them. There are tons and tons and tons of coffee roasters here, with amazingly inviting coffee shops equipped with wooden tables, comfy chairs, and free wifi. If you want Starbucks, they are everywhere, but if you want something different, my personal favorite reading + tea spot is Victrola. The baristas can be snooty, but it's a great place to disappear amongst the other coffee-shoppers and hide behind a laptop or book and people watch the hell out of it.

2) The monorail! It's not just for tourists. It's cheap, get's you from the Seattle Center (Pacific science center? Children's theater? Giant Fountains? Carnival Rides? Science Fiction Museum? Space Needle? EMP?) to downtown in 5 minutes, it comes frequently and has amazing views of the city found no where else, from a point of view seen no where else.

3) Lincoln Park. It's so incredibly underrated. It's huge, first of all, with tons of hidden fields for random frisbee or catch with the dog, pick up soccer/football/baseball games, and some kick ass play structures with a sliding swing, wading pools, etc. Then when you walk down to the beach there are unobstructed Pacific Northwest views of tree covered islands, the cascades, kyakers, the ferry, etc etc. Not to mention whale and bald eagle spotting. Even in the winter this place is Seattle outdoors at it's finest and it's only in West Seattle.

4) Chicago and New York are known for their Pizza and these styles can be found all over the country in some bastardized form or another. But, as I was proclaiming last night at Piecora's on Madison, Seattle has a "Type" of pizza. The places I've seen it repeated and no where else: Olympia's, Pegasus, Bill's Off Broadway, and Spiros. If you haven't been there, you should. Relaxed, good food, warm and inviting. Also - the salads are amazing.

5) To escape the rain: IMAX at the Pacific Science Center. They have normal movies but also really interesting documentaries and other films not playing in your everyday Regal Entertainment theater. To see an up to date list click here: http://www.pacsci.org/imax/

Ok, ok... so this wasn't a list of awesome bars to go check out. But Seattle is about thinking outside of the box. There are a lot of nice night time places though. Maybe I'll do a bar roundup - divided by taste and style - next time I'm in the travel agent mood.

Stay warm.

3 comments:

  1. So I was thinking. Now that I'm back up North and we're approaching winter, there are all kinds of photo opportunities outside my very door that would add mood and personality to my blog. But I suck at artistic photography, and you're so so so so good at it.

    So I'll pay you $2.61/day to take pictures around here for my blog. You're the best in the business. The ball is in your court.

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  2. hm. im smelling the sweet scent of sarcasm?

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  3. What? No. At least not completely. I am impressed with the pictures you take and do wish I could take my own for my blog. Unfortunately, as the economic situation looks worse, it appears that I won't be able to pay you anything. I could pick you up from the airport, though! And give some recommendations for cheap but comfortable hotels.

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