By Derek Topper
I recently took a road trip to Seattle. Here are my top five things to do and see in Seattle:
1. Pikes Place Market
While a little touristy, this interesting market is open every day. Vendors sell fish, honey, candles, fruit, handmade cheese, and more. I loved Beecher’s Handmade Cheese. I also enjoyed seeing the original Starbucks. This was a lot of fun and you can spend a half day here!
2. Walk around the University of Washington
This school is an architectural marvel. It was built in 1861 and was later used for the World’s Fair. The red brick style campus has some amazing Hogwarts looking buildings. The library is magnificent. It looks like a European cathedral.
3. Gasworks Park
This is a quirky park on Lake Union in North of Downtown Seattle. The park looks like it used to be a gas refinery, with random remnants of the refinery around. It has a beautiful playground and place to spot dogs. The real reason to go to Gasworks Park is the view of the city and the space needle.
4. Restaurant Scene
Seattle has some great restaurants. Since it’s a hipster town, a lot of the restaurants are unique. One place we went to was called Nue. It serves an eclectic range of foods from around the world. Each item is from a different country, which becomes a unique dining experience. We had Ecuadorian fish soup, Burmese tea leaf salad, Chen Gdu style chicken wings, and Ethiopian style rabbit.
Another interesting restaurant, Morsel, an amazing biscuit shop in Washington. Seattle is known for its biscuits. We ordered bacon egg and cheese, which came with Spanish ham, manchego cheese, and a buttermilk biscuit. It was one of the best, I have ever had. For seafood, I recommend the Walrus and the Carpenter an Oyster Bar in the Ballard district. They had seven different types of oysters, as well as delectable beef tartar. They also served us savory asparagus salad and very fresh geoduck crudo. In the city known for seafood, this was best we tried. For dessert, I recommend Hot Cakes, a Moulton chocolate lava cake shop. They had six different types as well as other delicious desserts. I had a smores cake topped with marshmallows and homemade ice cream. My friend had a chocolate peanut butter cake filled with a moulton peanut butter center.
5. Ballard district
This is Seattle’s old town area. All of the buildings have a deep history. Today, the area is a great mix of shopping and dinning options, ranging from upscale stores like Patagonia to small boutique shops. It is a great place to shop, walk around and explore.
