(scroll to the end for our itinerary)
Seattle Public Library
Shrouded Building
Downtown Seattle
Space Needle
View from Space Needle
Pretty sure this is the area around Lake Union.
The Hills are Alive
I love the fog looming over the city in this one. Taken again from the Space Needle.
Spiders!!!
Giant spiders are attacking the Seattle Center.
Downtown Seattle
Facing southeast from the Space Needle.
Experience Music Project
The Famous Code
As soon as you enter the EMP, you’re confronted with this bit of nostalgia …
Posters for Sale @ EMP
Guitar Sculpture, EMP
Lauren @ Guitar Sculpture, EMP
Super NES Booth, EMP
Part of the Video Game Art exhibit. The console is displayed in glass, and you could press the buttons on the video monitor (to the left) to hear narration about any of the four games displayed.
Lauren Getting Her Retro Game On @ EMP
Front Piece to Nirvana Exhibit
Mannequin used for In Utero tour/album
Entry to Black Leather Jacket Exhibit, EMP
Keyboard Tutorial
On the top floor of the EMP is a learning studio where you can go through tutorials on playing many kinds of instruments. Here, the keyboard lights up to show me what notes to play.
Black Leather Jacket, EMP
Black Leather Jacket Fashion, EMP
EMP Badge Podium
Entry into the EMP is given by a sticker … and on the way out, you are encouraged to add yours to the collection of those who have come before you.
Seattle Monorail
“…but Main Street’s still all cracked and broken!”
Lauren Drinking Coffee
You thought this day would never come …
Decoration @ Wedding Brunch
The day after Steve’s wedding, we all had brunch at Hilliard’s Beer in Ballard.
Steve & His Father
Lauren Playing Pool
John Placing the Cue Ball
If I recall, he scratched like four times. This must have been one of the only times where I did.
Christy Lining Up Her Shot
Keith & Kara
Kara & John
A moment of some kind of hilarity.
Brunch @ Hilliard’s Beer
Steve & Lauren
Steve & Shab
The newlyweds discuss something on a phone.
Crammed in the Back of a Car
Pretty sure this is illegal.
Seattle Waterfront
Lauren and the Pig
Thousands of dollars are collected for charity every year in these giant piggy banks outside Pike Place Market.
The Gum Wall
The pink blob is Lauren’s gum & mine joined together. Awww.
That’s a lot of gum
Just to make one message.
Restroom Sign, Pike Place Market
Coffee & Cream
@ Emmett Watson’s Oyster Bar, Pike Place Market
Pike Place Market Entrance
Boat, Pierce County WA
As seen from the train running from Seattle to Portland.
View from the Train
Jailed
The elevator in our Airbnb apartment is old-school.
Cool Architecture
Downtown Portland.
Deli!!!
A Portland favorite.
Bagel with Lox Cream Cheese
So good.
Stumptown
The coffee mecca of the Pacific NW.
It’s True
Wall art on Sizzle Pizza.
Park, Portland
Right outside the Museum of Contemporary Craft.
Powell’s!!!
I bought six books, natch.
Modern Buildings
Downtown Portland
Cherry Blossom Tree
I like how it has a little skirt of leaves/ivy.
Office Building
Downtown Portland
Pioneer Square
Spicy Chicken
From one of Portland’s many food carts.
Craft
The sticker that allows you in to the Museum of Contemporary Craft.
Downtown Portland Architecture
Armchair Family Bookstore
South Waterfront, Portland
Oregon Museum of Science & Industry
They have an awesome Mythbusters exhibit.
Avian Shrubbery
In the Buckman neighborhood of Portland.
Voodoo Doughnut
Don’t worry … I ended his torment pretty soon after I took this picture.
Lauren Enjoying Voodoo Doughnuts
She’s waited her whole life to come here.
+++
My girlfriend and I just returned from an awesome trip to Seattle and Portland. I’d wanted to go to these cities for a long time — both have outstanding reputations as places where cool young people congregate and have fun. So when my girlfriend’s friend invited us to his wedding in Seattle, we both jumped at the chance to not only attend, but to take a few days in Portland as a side trip.
We flew out to Seattle on March 8th, took the train to Portland on March 11th, and flew from Portland back to Austin on March 15th.
Here’s a list of what we did:
Friday 3/8
- Fly to Seattle (via Dallas and Albuquerque)
- Check into the Executive Hotel Pacific
- Cocktails with other wedding guests at the Boka Bar (attached to Hotel 1000)
Saturday 3/9
- Breakfast at Cherry Street Coffee House
- Took the Monorail to the Space Needle
- Visited the Experience Music Project — which had some amazing exhibits (Nirvana, video game art, Jimi Hendrix’s career start in London, the history of the black leather jacket, etc)
- Wedding & Reception at Hotel 1000
Sunday 3/10
- Brunch w/wedding guests at Hilliard’s Beer
- A brief trip to Pike Place Market (with lunch at Emmett Watson’s Oyster Bar)
- R&R at the hotel
- Dinner at Rock Bottom Brewery
Monday 3/11
- 3.5-hour train ride to Portland
- “Check in” to our “hotel“
- Meet up with a friend of mine from college and his girlfriend; they took us to Saburo’s, which has the most enormous pieces of sushi I’ve ever seen
Tuesday 3/12
- Breakfast at Kenny & Zuke’s
- Coffee at Stumptown
- Visit the Museum of Contemporary Craft
- Visit Powell’s City of Books (and buy six books!)
- Dinner with a co-worker and his wife at Pok Pok
Wednesday 3/13
- Breakfast at Sanborn’s
- Visit to OMSI – Oregon Museum of Science & Industry, which had a sweet Mythbusters exhibit
- Coffee at Coava (on recommendation of a barista at Stumptown)
- Relax at Nirvana Cafe & Juice Bar
- Walk through Buckman neighborhood
- Dinner with friends at Navarre
Thursday 3/14
- “Breakfast” (if you can call it that 😉 at Voodoo Doughnuts
- Relax at some cafe I can’t remember the name of
- Late lunch at Jake’s Grill
- Attend Trail Blazers/Knicks game (Portland won, 105-90)
Friday 3/15
Super-ass early flight to Austin via LAX
I”m just now catching up with your blog, R. I love the photos…and the 2 of you are ADORABLE! (sorry to be so mushy, I just had to say it).
love…aunt i.