I spent a perfect weekend in Seattle recently and wanted to share some of the high points in case you plan to visit in the future.  Visiting Seattle in February is, as most locals will tell you, very risky since there’s a good possibility it will be cold and rainy.  We were in town to see our cousin sing the lead in the opera, La Boheme, so we crossed our fingers and hoped the weather would cooperate.  

We stayed at the Hotel Andra, a very chic hotel ideally located within walking distance of Belltown, retail districts and the famous Pike Place Market.   We all loved the stylish and progressive feel of the hotel which carried through to the rooms. 

As it turned out, we were in luck with the weather – it was in the 60’s with plenty of sunshine.

My sisters, niece and I strolled over to Pike Place Market our first afternoon there and took in the huge array of vendors, including artists, craftsmen, fish mongers, farmers, and flower growers.  Across the street from Pike Place Market is the original Starbucks – which was packed with tourists from all over the world, taking pictures.  The vantage point from the Pike Place Market is ideal – you can see Mount Rainier in the distance as well ferries going back and forth across Puget Sound to Bainbridge Island.

      

For dinner we ate at Etta’s, a cozy restaurant located at the edge of Pike Place Market.  Etta’s is owned by Tom Douglas, a well-known Seattle restaurateur who owns several restaurants in Seattle, has authored multiple cookbooks and hosts a culinary radio show.  I ordered crab cakes which were delicious and shared some completely decadent triple coconut cream pie for dessert. Yum!

Belltown is a good place to walk off your dinner and has plenty of restaurants, coffee shops and clubs.  You can also catch a movie at the Seattle Cinerama (known for its innovative 3 projector, wide screen format) - just one block from the hotel. 

Part of the weekend we spent at the opera, which was beautiful.  The voice talent was incredible and I loved the 1830’s Paris set design.    

For a light breakfast, try Top Pot donuts – located 1 ½ blocks from the Hotel Andra.  Their lattes are Seattle-worthy with artistic creations in the foam and their fresh “hand-forged” donuts are a perfect complement.  My favorite was the chocolate glazed cake donut, but you may want to try the “pink feather boa” donut - a pink iced cake donut with coconut flakes.

Best times to visit Seattle: June - September   |   Hotel Andra: call the hotel for best rate 

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 1st, 2008 at 7:07 am and is filed under Culture, Eats, Places, West Coast. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.