A Weekend in Seattle

They say the journey of 1,000 blog posts begins with a single sentence. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get into it. Something you’ll learn about me is that I keep things fast-paced. So I’m not going to waste your time with a long backstory. We’ve got things to eat and places to be. And we only have a weekend to do it. 

This little adventure called A Brief Getaway starts in Seattle. Why Seattle? For starters, I had never been there before. And it was my first trip planned for 2023, and this site is one of my 2023 resolutions, so the stars just aligned on that front. I can tell you this won’t be my last trip to Seattle. But more on that later. 

When I plan a weekend trip, I only put things in the order I want to do them, grouping things that are nearby and making sure I keep in mind when places close and what days of the week they are open. Since my flight landed at about 11:30 a.m., I knew my first stop needed to be a place downtown that closed at 1:00 p.m.: Biscuit Bitch. Can I say that on here? I guess I make the rules, so I’ll let it slide for now, but I promise to keep the profanity down to a minimum.

To keep my trips affordable, I rely on public transit whenever possible. I took the light rail from the airport, and it was smooth and seamless. I also took buses throughout the weekend that were quick and reliable. And a day pass was only $8. I loved it. 

Back to Biscuit Bitch. I arrived just in the nick of time at about 12:30 p.m. I got in what I thought was the line to order, but then I second-guessed myself and convinced myself that it was actually a line of people waiting for their orders. I was too nervous to look dumb and ask someone if they were in line so instead I just put in an online order on my phone. The wait was about 45 minutes since they make everything to order so I took the opportunity to walk around and explore the city for a few minutes. 

I stopped by Anchorhead Coffee and picked up a Honey Bunches of Cold Brew, which is cold brew mixed with burnt honey, cinnamon, maple syrup and oat milk, to enjoy with my breakfast. I loved this drink and thought all the flavors went together perfectly. My only wish was that the coffee flavor stood out a little bit more. 

I also walked around the famous Pike Place Market, which was extremely crowded. I didn’t care about seeing the original Starbucks, and I also knew that some stalls in the market threw fish around. I didn’t really want to take my chances and get hit with a fish so I dipped pretty quickly. But it was still fun to look around at all the vendors. And by then my breakfast was ready. 

I got a biscuit sandwich with egg, cheddar cheese, a spicy grilled Louisiana hot link, and a sauce that was a play on a remoulade. This sandwich was a great way to start the trip. The cheese pulls from the cheddar were insane. And I would definitely get this with extra sauce next time. 

The savory sandwich definitely put me in the mood for something sweet, so I decided to walk a few miles northwest to get a doughnut from General Porpoise. When I checked the menu online, I saw they only had one type of doughnut left. It was the kind I was going to order anyway, filled with a Frutti di Bosco (berry) jam. I decided to play it safe and order it to pick up. 

When I got there, a note on the door said: “Sold Out of Doughnuts.” My heart sank. I was really looking forward to that doughnut! Never fear! They had mine set aside. The barista asked: “So, are you the person who ordered 40 doughnuts or the person who ordered one doughnut?” I almost lied and said I ordered 40 doughnuts but what am I going to do with 40 doughnuts when I am only here for the weekend? He said I actually got the last doughnut. I love it when the world revolves around me. 

For $5.50, this was a pretty small doughnut. But the brioche exterior was fluffy and the jam was delicious so I had no complaints. I am trying to eat less sugar anyway. 

General Porpoise is located in Capitol Hill, which is probably the neighborhood I would live in if I lived in Seattle. It’s the center of the city’s LGBTQ+ scene and an all-around hip and happening part of town. After sitting in the doughnut shop for a few minutes to work on this site and take a breather, I headed toward my next stop: Espresso Vivace.

My research before the trip told me that this place had some of the best coffee in Seattle. I got an iced mocha with oat milk that was one of the best I’ve ever had. It was so creamy, rich, and decadent! 

I drank a little of it and then took the rest to go. I felt like such a local walking around with my coffee. Look at me! I know where to get the best iced mocha in Seattle! But Seattle can be very hilly. Walking down the hills with such purpose led to my straw flying out of my drink, and I went from looking like a local to looking like a fool in about five seconds. But life goes on. 

In addition to coffee, you have to have your fair share of seafood while in Seattle. I went to Local Tide for an early dinner and splurged on a crab roll, which was amazing. I was nervous that the crab was going to be too fishy for my liking, but it was very light. The brioche bun was nicely toasted, and everything came together with a little bit of lemon squeezed on top. Perfection. 

Local Tide was within walking distance of Gas Works Park, so I went there next. It’s a park that used to be an old gas power plant or something like that, so it’s an interesting juxtaposition of the industrial and the natural (former English major here, for what it’s worth). I’d go out on a limb to say this is the best view of the Seattle skyline, kind of like how Ping Tom Memorial Park is the best view of the Chicago skyline. There were a bunch of tourists doing the Titanic pose right on the lake, and I wanted to run up and push them into the water. But I refrained. 

I had been walking around for a while at this point so I decided it was time to take a break and check into my hotel. I ended up staying inside for a few hours, watching a bit of basketball and checking on my fantasy basketball team. Props to Julius Randle for being the hero of the weekend. My team was behind all week because I forgot to set my lineup one day but he had a great game and put me back in the lead. Thus, I maintained my undefeated record and am now 13-0 for the season. I love breaking down stereotypes for gay people everywhere. We can enjoy fantasy sports and be very good at them! 

I went to Dough Zone for dinner in Seattle’s Chinatown. But not before making one of the biggest blunders of my entire life. Let me set the scene for you. I am tired, very hungry, and slightly lost. My phone tells me I am getting close to Dough Zone and I see a shop on the corner that seems to have the same color scheme and a name that is two words. Must be Dough Zone. 

I get seated and pull up the menu using a QR code. It doesn’t seem quite right. Where are all the things I was planning to order? Turns out I am at Chengdu Taste. I embarrassingly explain that I entered the wrong restaurant and find Dough Zone, which is half a block further down the street. I promise I did not do this on purpose to be funny. This was even worse than my straw flying out of my drink.

I order a bunch of things from the menu and start by enjoying a sweet and refreshing passionfruit green tea. Then the food comes. I love Dan Dan noodles (my personal favorites are at Pine & Crane in Los Angeles). These had good flavor but were too salty for my liking, so salty that they made my tongue tingle which I did not enjoy. I also got green onion pancakes, which were fine, but I prefer mine to be a little thicker.  

At this point, I was thinking about everything that had transpired on my journey to get this food. Maybe I should have just stayed at Chengdu Taste. Was the universe trying to tell me something? Then the pan-fried pork and shrimp dumplings arrived. They were incredible! They were so juicy and flavorful that I had to move my phone off the table so the screen wouldn’t get covered in the juice. I would definitely return to Dough Zone but would stick to the dumplings next time. 

I started my second and final day in Seattle by walking near the Seattle Space Needle, which was close to where I was staying. I wasn’t planning to share a picture of that because I am not typically about the touristy stuff, but I changed my mind after finding a great vantage point to capture it in its true glory. That image will now forever be the first picture on this site. And I also found a really cool mural of the Seattle Storm. I am sort of a brand ambassador for the WNBA so I knew I had to share that as well. Invest in women’s sports! Watch women’s sports! They’re great!

I went and got breakfast at The Fat Hen, which was a quaint and tiny breakfast place north of the Space Needle and Downtown Seattle. I got a European-style smoked salmon eggs Benedict with a side salad. I loved everything about this plate. The eggs were perfectly poached. The hollandaise sauce had the right consistency and tang. And the salad had just enough dressing. A great start to the day on every level. 

I then walked over to ROOT, which is part plant shop and part coffee shop. I ordered an iced candied pear latte, which included notes of pear, walnut, and caramel. I’m not going to lie; I couldn’t really taste any of those things. It just tasted like a solid standard latte. But I absolutely loved ROOT’s ambiance. It was a great place to sit for a few minutes and watch the Northwestern men’s basketball team lose, something I am quite used to at this point. I would definitely go back to ROOT but probably would get something more standard rather than a specialty drink next time.

I walked further north toward the beach and Golden Gardens Park. I wasn’t actually planning to spend too much time there, but it ended up being one of my favorite stops of the entire weekend. Even though it was gray and rainy the entire day, the scenery was beautiful. If I lived in Seattle, I think I would come here all the time to hike. 

All the walking made me hungry again, so I turned around and picked up lunch at Un Bien, which specializes in Caribbean sandwiches. Apparently there’s some drama about how this place came to be. The Infatuation touches on that here. Anyway, I don’t really care about the drama as long as the food is good. And the roast pork sandwich was the best thing I ate all weekend. 

It had pork shoulder, caramelized onions, jalapenos, romaine lettuce, and aioli on a toasted baguette. The flavors in this sandwich were unreal. Every ingredient worked together perfectly. This will be my first stop on all future trips to Seattle. 

More scenery! How do you become successful enough to own a big house right on the water like this? Does Jeff Bezos own all these houses? Please let me know. 

After lunch, I popped into the library in Ballard for a few hours to get some work done and charge my devices for the rest of the day. Pro tip: If you’re going to plan a fast-paced weekend trip like this one, make sure you have at least two points throughout the day to charge your devices and use the bathroom. In my opinion, a library is the perfect place for a rest stop because there’s no expectation there to spend money or talk to people. My naturally introverted self felt right at home. 

While at the library, I discovered my only mistake that actually ended up impacting my itinerary. I had plans to get an early dinner at The Chicken Supply and knew that I would have to order in advance because they sell out quickly. So, I checked the website a few hours before opening to see if I could place an order. That’s when I realized that “in advance” actually meant the night before, so they were already sold out of chicken and sides for the day, even though they weren’t even open yet. 

So, no Chicken Supply on this weekend’s trip. I will definitely have to make eating there a priority for the next time I’m in Seattle, now that I know the tricks of the trade! 

It wasn’t all bad news though, because reducing my plan from two dinners to one meant that I could order a little bit extra at Delancey, which is known for having some of the best wood-fired pizza in Seattle. It’s actually on the same strip as The Fat Hen from earlier in the day, so, if you’re in Seattle and want to knock out a few awesome places by only walking mere steps, you’re in luck. 

I started with burrata which came with flatbread, pesto, and pepitas. Burrata is one of those dishes that I will like regardless of how it’s prepared, and this version did not disappoint. I loved having it with flatbread instead of the traditional crostini, and the pesto was bright and fresh. I didn’t really get the point of the pepitas since they were overpowered by the pesto, so I moved them to the side and ate them on their own. Yum! 

I also ordered a white pie, which had ricotta, mozzarella, and garlic, and I added housemade fennel sausage on top. I added some red pepper flakes as well. This pizza was in the top five percent of pizzas I’ve ever eaten. It was cooked perfectly and the sausage had a great flavor. The bites that were heavier on the ricotta were the best. I sat at the counter, so I got a great view of the meticulous process of making each pizza in the wood-fired oven. This place really knows what it is doing. And the last two slices were the perfect snack to eat at the airport before going through security. 

Next door to Delancey is Frankie and Jo’s, which is a completely vegan and gluten-free ice cream shop. I think vegan food is typically perfectly okay. It’s never incredible, but never horrible. I actually always think about ASKfm when I think about vegan food. Remember ASKfm? It was this “social media” where people could ask you anonymous questions. It was essentially like asking people to cyberbully you.

Each day, ASKfm would have a new suggested question on its home page to inspire its users to ask something new. One day, the suggested question was: “Do you have a lot of respect for vegetarians?” I remember seeing that and laughing out loud because what kind of question is that? I waited a few weeks and then went on the ASKfm profile of someone I really hated while in high school and asked them if they had a lot of respect for vegetarians. 

I expected them to respond with a confused answer or not respond at all, but they said: “Absolutely! Nothing wrong with it in my opinion.” Good answer, I guess. 

I have a newfound respect for vegan ice cream because my chocolate tahini supercookie ice cream was great. I feel like the texture of vegan ice cream can sometimes be an issue, but this was perfectly creamy. It was too cold to walk around outside with a cone, so I loved having the option to top my ice cream with crumbled waffle cone pieces for just $1.50. 

At this point, I still had a few hours before I needed to get to the airport (and a few leftover pieces of pizza) so I decided to go to a bar as my final stop on my Seattle food tour. Going to bars while traveling alone tend to make me nervous because I typically do not want to socialize with strangers, but I decided to suck it up and go to Stampede Cocktail Club.

I’m not drinking this year, so I ordered one of their mocktails, the Crystalline Dreams, which was a combination of house-made fig vanilla balsamic reduction, grapefruit juice, maple, Seedlip Spice honey, all clarified with goat’s milk. $13 was a little steep for a mocktail, but it seemed fair for the quality of those ingredients. The drink itself was good, but the other details are what really stood out. The menu was a comic book and I loved taking my BeReal in the bathroom with its flamingo print wallpaper. 

Here’s a tip for a weekend trip: Always save a few touristy things for the very end, especially if you have a late flight. My flight was a red-eye that left at around midnight, and, by this point, it was about 8:00 p.m. So I still had some time to kill. 

I started by heading over to the Olympic Sculpture Park, which was already closed because its hours of operation are “30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset.” I didn’t see the sun once that day so I’m not sure how that works. Plus, I feel like it’d be really fun at night. Some of the sculptures are visible from the periphery of the park, so I checked those out. The photo I took above of the neon ampersand sculpture ended up being one of my favorite pictures of the trip. Seattle, open the Sculpture Park at night! Give the people what they want! 

I also saved the famous Gum Wall for the end of the trip. It was a wall covered in gum. I have no further comments, other than I thought about crashing the guided tour that happened to be there at the same time, but then I concluded that was boring and I had better things to do. 

This brought me back to Pike Place Market for my final photo of the weekend, which is right where I started the day before. It was eerie how empty it was when it had been so crowded on Saturday afternoon. The fun thing about taking public transit to and from the airport is that you often head back in the same direction that you came, allowing yourself to reflect on everything you accomplished that weekend. 

I had an amazing time in Seattle and cannot wait to go back to try some new spots, redeem myself from my Chicken Supply mishap, and eat another Un Bien sandwich. Have you been to Seattle? What are some of your favorite spots? Let me know in the comments. 

And, of course, safe travels.