Don’t worry guys, you are about to read a positive post! (Sorry for leaving it on a low-note for so long, but blogs=honesty…right?!)

So I had three people in Portland and 2 people in Seattle tell me I HAD to visit the public library in Seattle. Seriously? Is this a joke?

Apparently not. Apparently in Seattle, library’s are awesome and considered a tourist attraction. I’ll let the pictures show you what I’m talking about since I took… a ton. But I’ve never seen a bigger, more inspiring public library. I’ll tell you one thing… if I lived in Seattle, I would read books. :) The architecture of the ten-story building is pretty remarkable, based off a geometric, spiral design so that when you get to the top you can look down the entire library and see the floor level. What’s with the west coast and heights? But regardless, it was prettayyyy cool.

 
 
 
 
  
Next on the list was the infamous Pike Place Market. A combination of restaurants, vendor booths, and live music, Pike’s Market is definitely the place to be during the day especially when it’s 80 degrees outside. It’s the perfect place to people watch and just stroll up and down the market to really take in the culture and listen to some great music. The band below is called Tallboys. A folk band with some pure talent. The girl on the right is also a tapper. Brilliant. I caved in and bought their CD so I would be sure to always remember this day and how cool it was to experience Seattle’s culture at its finest. (Bonus question: True or false, I joined the little girl dancing in the picture soon after the picture was taken.)

 
 
Another interesting tourist attraction in Pike’s Market was the “Gum Wall.” And that’s right folks, it’s exactly what it sounds like. Definitely one of the those attractions that doesn’t need the “Please do not touch” sign, but it also didn’t stop the few brave ones from adding their personal touch to the mural! My personal favorite was seeing a high school prom picture pinned up by a piece of gum on the guy’s face. Now that’s some creative revenge!

 
 

Next? Beecher’s Handmade Cheese. The set-up is kind of like Krispy Kreme, where you can sit and watch the cheese being made. Not as appetizing as watching donuts, but it still didn’t stop me from ordering their famous mac n cheese. And yup, famous rightfully so. Because.it.was.dank. (Dank=delicious mom and dad)

 
I decided to take a break from Pike’s Market, and cross the water on one of the ferries to West Seattle and visit Alki Beach. The ferry ride was neat and gave a great view of Seattle’s skyline. But what I didn’t know was that the walk to Alki Beach was 3.2 miles away. About a mile in I was definitely wishing I had those rollerblades on this girl below. (Sidenote: getting better on my stalker pics, don’t you think?) The flip flops were definitely a bad decision, but they did make for a better picture in the sand, so there’s that! :) It was nice to be able to take a load off and stick my toes in the sand for a while. But the water, not so much. Too cold for this gal!

 
 
I headed back on the ferry to downtown, for a quick fish n chips from Ivar’s on the water, only to jump on another ferry to go to Bainbridge Island. It was a longer ferry ride (a little over 30 min) but the ferry was pretty pimped out. I felt like I was on a cruise ship, and didn’t have trouble taking a little catnap on a recliner! I didn’t know what I was getting myself into when I got to the island, and I guess I could have done a little bit better planning for this short trip because when I got there I had no idea where to go. It’s a very spread out town with a lot of hills to walk, and I had no clue if I needed to go right, left or straight. So I picked a direction and started to find my way to the center of Bainbridge. Fun fact though, the town shuts down around 5:45pm. And I had gotten on the 6pm ferry. Womp womppppp. But I made my way around the town and was still able to get a good feel for this quaint place. I bar hopped a little to get a better feel for the people and the area, and witnessed the bartender create a homemade bloody mary with a mixture of hot sauces and no V8 juice.

The ferry on the way back was well worth the trip with the night skyline view of the city. At the end of the day, I was definitely exhausted from what seemed like a half-marathon amount of distance I covered throughout the day, but it was all worth it. I saw a lotttttt of Seattle, and I was starting to like what I was seeing!

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