A Week in Seattle + The Last Goodbye

Ken and I hadn’t seen each other since March. We celebrated our four-year anniversary together during my spring break, and then thanks to my summer job and final semester of college, we did eight straight months of long distance. When it turned out he had a conference in Seattle this weekend, we decided to splurge and fly me out to see him. We’ve spent the last week in Seattle together, happy and in love!

A Week in Seattle: Our Experience

I woke up early last Saturday morning to take a cab to the airport. After putting on my makeup and doing my hair in the plane, I took an Uber to the hotel where Ken and I would be staying. It was so wonderful to be together again, and we wasted no time in going out to explore the city!

Ken and I keep an Espresso Log where we sketch, rate, and review every coffee that we have when we’re on a trip together. I always order a latte or cappuccino, and espressos are his drink of choice. The first drink we had was in Seattle Coffee Works, close to Pike Place Market. Afterwards, we explored the market and walked to the little park overlooking the water.

That night, we had dinner in a cute Mexican place, and went to bed early from jet lag!

The next day, Ken and I went to the Space Needle to have lunch in their Sky City restaurant. The food was delicious, the views were so beautiful, and because the restaurant slowly spins (one rotation every 47 minutes, the elevator operator told me), we were able to see all of Seattle!

That afternoon, we went to the Chihuly Glass and Gardens to look at Dale Chihuly’s glass art. The museum was set up really nicely, so that we could walk through, around, and under the displays to really get the whole effect. The art itself was beautiful and strange. I’ve made glass beads and vases before, so I have some minute understanding of how hard it is to make things out of glass; I can’t imagine the skill he needed to make entire glass forests. My favorite display, by far, was the glass flowers on the ceiling in the green house room.

An accidental part three in my glass flowers series, this time in Seattle! Two weeks ago I saw the glass flowers at Harvard University outside Boston; last week, the Tiffany flowers at the Met in New York, and today, the Chihuly flowers at the Chihuly Garden and Glass. The colors were so vibrant that they were almost psychedelic. Which of the three glass flowers in the series are your favorite?

A photo posted by Sara Laughed • Creative Living (@saralaughed) on Nov 14, 2016 at 2:48pm PST

The next few days are a bit of a blur. Ken and I spent a lot of time walking through the city, checking out shops and cafés, and browsing bookstores. We went to the Living Computers Museum on the grand opening of its newest floor, and I bought Ken a poster for in our apartment. We also found what I believe is the best cup of coffee I’ve had in a long time: the almond milk latte at Drip City Coffee. It was so good that Ken gave up his usual espresso to order one himself!

Seattle Favorites:

Favorite Café: Drip City Coffee, thanks to their amazing lattes

Almond milk latte at Drip City Coffee. This is my favorite coffee in Seattle so far! What’s your favorite café?

A photo posted by Sara Laughed • Creative Living (@saralaughed) on Nov 18, 2016 at 1:08pm PST

Favorite Museum: The Living Computers Museum, where Ken spent hours testing out early computers as well as learning about modern advancements

Favorite Site: Pike Place Market. All the cute little shops and cafés, as well as the quirky, eclectic feel, made it so fun!

Favorite Restaurant: The Pink Door. This restaurant has trapeze and burlesque shows in the evenings, and some of the best food I’ve had since Rome!

Favorite Tourist Attraction: Lunch in the spinning restaurant at the top of the Space Needle. So fun and unique!

Saying goodbye one week after my arrival in Seattle was really hard, but I’m happy and hopeful for one reason: this is our last goodbye. After four and a half years of long-distance, Ken and I will be together again, “for real” in his words, this January. It’s a matter of weeks until we are sharing an apartment and a life together. So while the goodbye was hard, this week is just a preview of what’s to come.