Seattle

Road Trip Days 15 - 19 (June 27 - July 1): Seattle, WA

On June 27, I reached Bellevue, a city just outside Seattle where Anish lives, around midday. The Seattle area is dominated by technology – it is the headquarters for companies such as Microsoft, Boeing, and Expedia – as well as home to the Pac 12’s University of Washington undergraduate campus and medical school, which is one of the nation’s top 10 medical schools. Despite the influx of technology, which has lured some of the nation’s top minds, the city still retains a bit of its blue collar past. Having traveled to the west coast a few times now, I have to say I find the major cities more laid back, progressive, and forward thinking than the rest of the country (besides maybe Denver). Even though I had been to Seattle to visit Anish before, it was not until this visit that I was able to see all that the area has to offer (we actually racked our brains and could hardly think of anything we actually did last visit haha). Nearby, there are mountains, lakes, beautiful hiking trails, and of course, the Puget Sound, and Pacific Ocean, not too far. Anish and I went for a seven-mile hike one day that led us to the Bridal Veil Waterfall and Lake Serene, both breathtakingly beautiful.

The city itself is comprised of vastly different neighborhoods, each with its own charm. Perhaps best of all, it has fantastic food, and Anish took me to try quite a bit of it. I sampled a “dork” (duck/pork) burger at the Lunchbox Laboratory, truffle mushroom dumplings at Din Tai Fung with Anish’s sister Ashima and Neel on my birthday (-->)

, smoked salmon crostinis at Spur, oysters at the Walrus and the Carpenter, fresh cheese at Beecher’s, and maybe the best ceviche I’ve ever had, along the Puget Sound. We sampled beer at the Red Hook Brewery one night, found our way to a disguised speakeasy another, and met up with my high school friend Trevor at Vonn Trapp’s, a local bar where patrons can actually play full games of bocce (-->)

. We also took the Boeing Future of Flight tour, where we marveled at how the company constructs the world’s commercial jets inside the largest building on the planet. Honestly, the building is so large that my own eyes betrayed me – I was not truly able to fully comprehend the vastness of the building, as odd as that sounds. You just have to see it for yourself!

Considering that Seattle loves its Seahawks (NFL) and Sounders (MLS), tolerate its Mariners (MLB), and is planning to regain an NBA team and maybe an NHL team, this northwest spot is somewhere I could see myself living someday. Oh, and one myth to dispel now that I’ve been to Seattle in the winter and the summer. In the winter, yes, Seattle is rainy and cloudy, but it basically just drizzles and even though it is cloudy, the sky is still bright. In the summer, from what I’ve been told and experienced for a few days, the sun is out on most days. And year-round highs are in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Actually, there was a major heat warning the weekend I was there because temperatures were predicted to “climb into the upper 70s and 80s.” The report advised us not to jump into cold rivers or lakes to “escape the heat, which could result in death.” Moreover, Seattle is a three-hour drive from Vancouver, Portland, and Eastern Washington, which can be much warmer and boasts lakes that are not "potentially fatal."


Seattle on Dwellable