Having explored around the suburbs of Seattle, it was time for our heroes to venture into the city! Our destination was the neighborhood of Ballard. Ballard is on the north side of Seattle and is full of interesting hipster restaurants and bars and interesting shops. It’s a very walkable area, which is a big reason I chose it. It was to be my home for the next five days.
Day 10 (19-Aug): Bellvue, WA to Ballard, Seattle, WA
This Monday morning started early, with a 6:00 AM conference call (the hazards for working Central Time hours while being in the Pacific Time Zone). At least the morning view of downtown Seattle was pretty!
The rest of the day was uneventful. The hotel’s breakfast was enough to carry me through the afternoon. I took advantage of the 2 PM late checkout to work until the end of the workday, then packed everything up and headed out.
Fortunately I didn’t have to go far, and the traffic wasn’t even that bad! I arrived at my AirBnB in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle just in time to check in. This turned out to be a 4th floor apartment, which…well, I had my doubts about. Fortunately, Charlie is fine with elevators. The apartment was quite nice and comfortable, and Charlie approved.
Once I was settled, Charlie and I struck out for a walking tour of the neighborhood. Naturally this meant stopping at two…no, three…no, four breweries: Stoup, Urban Family (great sours, very creative), Lucky Envelope, and Reuben’s Brews. I decided to stay thematically consistent with the brewery and got a Reuben sandwich at Reuben’s Brews. Charlie was also able to take a break and drink his fill as well!
Amusingly, a man stopped me in the taproom to ask where my Stray Dog Brewing T-shirt was from (Ottawa, Ontario). I mentioned that I was from the Chicago area, and it turns out he was from Warrenville. Illinoisans are everywhere!
Day 11 (20-Aug): Ballard, Seattle, WA
Another day of working remotely, though at least this one didn’t start with any super-early meetings. I was able to walk around the corner for a tasty breakfast biscuit sandwich from Biscuit and Bean. I noticed that they frequently set up shop at Vulpine Taproom, but I’m not sure of the furry connection!
After work Charlie and I struck out to explore the neighborhood further (read: visit more breweries). I started at Cloudburst Brewery, which like most Pacific Northwest breweries leaned heavily into IPAs. The English summer ale I had was pretty good though. The real find was the small salad I got as a snack. The Chrysantemum Salad had Thai birds-eye chilis, crushed peanuts, and a soy-vinegar dressing. The menu warned it was spicy and, well, they weren’t wrong! It was still surprisingly tasty though.
From there we walked over to Old Stove Brewing, then over to Bale Breaker and Yonder Cider Taproom. Wow, they had some great ciders, including a couple that were mixed with amaros by a local distiller for a spin on a Negroni. Dinner was Thai Crispy Garlic Chicken from the food truck there, and it was delicious!
I noticed that I had gotten into the habit of making dinner from whatever food trucks I happened to come across, and I was very OK with that!
In my walks around Ballard I came across some really nifty street art and signs that had me amused and bemused:
Day 12 (21-Aug): Ballard, Seattle, WA
After working all day, Charlie and I ventured out to look around the neighborhood once again. I spotted these nifty posters that I really liked in a shop we passed. It looks like you can order from them online; I may just do that!
Our steps took us to a place I’d spotted previously, a dog-friendly tiki bar! Little Tin Cocktails and Apothecary has a lovely patio in back where Charlie and I enjoyed a tasty Mo’o cocktail (London dry gin, pandan coconut milk, sea salt, lemon and lime shrub, and fresh citrus) and a small order of dumplings as a snack, since I’d skipped lunch. We got there right as it opened so there were only a few people there, but I got the feeling it’s the kind of place that is probably packed most any night.
By this point, Charlie had demonstrated pretty clearly that he is not a city dog. The lack of green spaces are bad enough, but the sounds and smells of a city are a lot for him. He tends to shut down a bit, resulting in me pulling him along on extended walks.
This is why I opted for car travel for much of the rest of the trip – it was just easier for Charlie. Even though driving in the city is a pain, it was worth it.
Anyway, we drove back to Bale Breaker and Yonder Cider Taproom and met up with Rain/Tannahill for an enjoyable dinner and conversation. I hadn’t had an opportunity to meet up with as many Seattle locals as I would have liked, but I was glad we could meet up. The cider was, of course, delicious and I really enjoyed by chicken souvlaki from the Greek food truck.
Day 13 (22-Aug): Ballard, Seattle, WA
My last day of working remotely in Seattle was a stressful one, unfortunately, so I was very happy for the day to end. I realized that there were a lot of notable places near me that I had not yet had a chance to visit, so this day was devoted to a last dash through the area.
First on the list was the Ballard Locks.
This was very neat! Locks appeal to the engineering nerd in me, naturally. I didn’t get a chance to see them up close, but we were able to view the salmon ladder alongside the locks, and even see the area where there are windows to see the fish swimming up the ladder. I would have liked to have gotten a photo of Charlie in front of the fish, but it was too crowded. Oh well.
Since we were in the area we drove over to Discovery Park, a huge park on the shore of Puget Sound. If I hadn’t had Charlie with me I’d have liked to visit the Daybreak Star Indian Culture Center, but we settled for a photo of Charlie by the totem pole outside.
From there it was over to Fremont! Finding parking there was a bit of a fight, but I eventually found some street parking. I of course had to document Charlie’s encounter with the fearsome Fremont Troll! (Charlie won out of sheer cuteness, of course.)
We walked from there down to Schilling Cider House, which was more of a cozy affair than I expected given their national distribution. They welcomed Charlie inside, and were still decked out in queer décor. I’m not sure if that’s leftover from the local Pride or if it’s permanent. I prefer to assume it’s permanent, but it’s appreciated regardless.
Next stop was Fremont Brewing’s Urban Beer Garden, and that place was hopping! I sampled some of the more high-gravity offerings (all excellent!), and got into a lovely conversation with a couple who were biking across the city.
Dinner was a short walk down the street to Dreamland Bar & Diner (yay dog-friendly patios!) and then got dessert from Fainting Goat Gelato. It was a lovely way to end our all-too-brief visit to Seattle.
Next up: We leave Seattle behind and head southward to Portland!