A Weekend Getaway to the Pacific Northwest – Part 1

Last weekend, we hopped a plane for a quick getaway to Seattle for the wedding of our friends, Megan and Kristen Lambertz-Berndt.  The wedding itself was absolutely gorgeous, and we were so honored to be invited guests to share in the special day of these beautiful ladies.  Below, the weekend unfolds:

Since the wedding was on Friday, we caught a flight to Seattle Thursday afternoon, heading out around 2:30 or so.  Phoenix SkyHarbor has always been a pretty great airport, but they’ve really done an excellent job adding in local dining options over the past year or two.  Behold what we found, a recent arrival since our last time in Terminal 4:

We didn’t stop here, as we’d already eaten lunch at home.

Next time!

We made it to Seattle around 5:45pm, grabbed a cab, and then checked into our home for the next two evenings, the Courtyard Marriott at Lake Union.  It ended up being a good location – 3 miles from the boat where the wedding was held, and 2 walkable miles from Pike Place Market.

Pretty nice view, right?

I’d scoped out our dining options before we left home* and made us a reservation at the Jewel Box at Mistral Kitchen, about .8 miles away from our hotel.  After getting settled and fancied up a bit, we headed down that way to make our 7:30 dinner time.  We decided to splurge and go for the six course tasting menu with a short flight of wine pairings, and the overall experience was excellent.  It may not have been the best value we’ve ever experienced (particularly with the wine), but everything tasted wonderful, and the ambiance was delightful.  A few of the prettier courses:

Our amuse bouche –

Tomato water with heirloom tomatoes, croutons, and flowers.

Our pre-dessert** -

Key lime panna cotta with graham cracker crumbles, blueberries, and more flowers.

After dinner, we stumbled back to the hotel, full of delicious food, and headed to bed.  Of course, I woke up far too early, and amused myself logging into class and reading in the bathtub until it was no longer inappropriately early to wake Chris up as well.  We did a short two-mile jog on the banks of the lake, then headed back to the hotel to clean up and head out to see the city.

We breakfasted at the Portage Bay Café and each enjoyed an omelet of our choosing.  I had a very Breaking Bad moment when I searched through the plastic bin on the table to find sweetener for my iced tea:

I’m all Lydia up over here.

Just watch out for Creepy Todd!

After breakfast, we attempted to stroll off breakfast by heading down to Pike Place Market.  A few shots from the Market:

Chris with the piggy bank

Gorgeous produce

The flowers smelled heavenly

The line to buy coffee at the original Starbucks

After shopping for a few hours, we split a Rachel’s ginger beer (the N/A version) and chilled for a few moments away from the hustle and bustle of the crowd.

Nom!

We checked the game plan and the time, then decided some beer tasting and snacking was in order.  As we approached our first stop, I saw a familiar looking head of curly blond hair in front of me.  After a quick confirmation that it was indeed Megan,*** we exchanged hugs and had a quick chat with her and her lovely Mom, Mary.  They were heading out of the market after buying fresh flowers for Megan’s hair and were on their way to various and sundry wedding day appointments.  We wished them well and promised to see them later that day, then we headed our separate ways.

One of the brides and mother-of-the-brides!

Our first tasting location was Pike Brewing Company, located very close to Pike Place Market itself.  We had a taster of their normal group of brews and later, expanded out to try their current seasonal, a Session IPA, and their cask offering, a mosaic-hopped version of their Space Needle Golden IPA.  We also ordered some of their Dungeness crab and artichoke dip.

We drank this entire flight, and boy, were our arms tired!

Tanks a lot!

Woah!  That’s a lotta beer!

Overall, the food was decent, and most of the beers were solid as well.  The Space Needle Golden IPA on cask was excellent, and both their tripel (Monk’s Uncle) and Scottish ale (called Kilt Lifter – that sounds familiar) were a few steps above average.  We settled up, then headed onward.

A few blocks away, we found the Pike Market location of Elysian Brewing, a Seattle mainstay.  We spent a bit more time here than at Pike, as we found their beer and food to be of a slightly higher quality.  We ended up ordering several smaller appetizers, including a meat and cheese plate, baguette basket, ahi poke, and heirloom tomato salad; all of the food was delicious.  We also sampled several of their brews**** including their pumpkin ale (Night Owl), a vanilla porter (Swashbuckler), a maibock (Ambrosia), a peppercorn witbier (Witticism), a jasmine IPA (Avatar), and a porter (Perseus).  Everything was great, but the standouts for us were the Night Owl, the Swashbuckler, and the Ambrosia. 

Artsy beer shot

Trollop baggin’ time!

There’s a spider web in my beer!

After finishing at Elysian, we decided a nap was in order before the wedding, so we headed back to the hotel.  Since we didn’t want to walk the whole way, we decided to hop on the monorail that runs between the Westlake Center (the mall) near Pike Place to the Seattle Center, home to the Space Needle, Experience Music Project, and the Sci-Fi and Fantasy Museum.

“Monorail!”

Of course, there was a Chihuly glass exhibit in one of the locations near the Seattle Center.

That dude is everywhere!*****

The Space Needle!

Look!  A picture of Chris taking a picture of the Space Needle!

On our walk from the Seattle Center to the hotel, we ran across some road construction, and, somewhat tipsy by that point, we decided it needed to be further explored.

Ooh!  There must be good things in there with a name like that!

Woah! That’s a big pipe!

Coming soon!  Part 2 of the trip, in which Megan and Kristen get married!  Stay tuned!

Later,

Amy

* You’re shocked, I can tell.

** Yup!  The six course menu included pre-dessert AND dessert courses.  This needs to be a thing, like, everywhere.

*** And not some totally random stranger I was about to completely terrify.

**** Although Elysian didn’t offer a flight, they would pour you 4 ounce samplers for a reduced price, and this allowed us to try several different brews.

***** Yes, I know that this is actually his home turf.