Seattle Vacation

Day 2

Day 2 started off with Victrola Coffee, my favorite coffee joint in Seattle and Dan’s 2nd. I liked how you could see the coffee roasting in the back, similar to breweries. We then headed to Pike Place Market. I’m glad we went, but in hindsight we should have probably gone on Monday instead of Sunday. It was jam-packed full of tourists, which was such a stark contrast to Granville Island in Vancouver (which we visited on a Thursday). I also didn’t realize that since it was a Sunday, surrounding places opened later. At the market we stopped by a few stands to munch on almonds, jams, and looked at some jewelry, artists, and florists. Our first snack was at Piroshky, Piroshky where we got the beef/cheese and apple. The apple was fresh from the oven and tasted good, but nothing special. The beef/cheese grew on us and was like a super-tasty hot pocket from our childhoods. We skipped the “original” Starbucks and instead stepped inside Pear Delicatessen to get a break from the market chaos, grabbed some local Scrappy’s Bitters and peruse their interesting selection (including Hawai’ian soda!). We then went to Beecher’s Cheese to watch how their cheese was made and to get a small container of spicy/regular mixed mac n cheese penne. After mac n cheese we we stopped by The Confectional for a mini-mocha cheesecake to save for later.

We left the market to start towards another market in Ballard but stopped by The Chocolate Box first. The staff was really friendly  and willing to let me talk way too long about chocolate. I got a 5 piece assortment of banana fosters, yuzu, darjeeling tea, masala chai, and a caramel. I also got some samples of their drinking chocolate and walked away with some of that.

We snagged a cap and took the ride to Ballard, hopping out in front of Ballard Coffee Works for some refueling. They let me taste hemp milk before ordering it with my latte, which ended up being half hemp and half non-fat. This large coffee shop was Dan’s favorite coffee place in Seattle. We walked a few blocks to the Ballard Farmer’s Market, which is similar to the Dupont Circle Farmer’s Market in DC, and as you walked the perimeter of the market, you could go into local shops like Blackbird or Anchor Ship Coffee, then pop back out to continue shopping at the market. A stand out at the market was Pete’s Perfect Toffee, which really was perfect! Each flavor he let me sample tasted better, until the last which was Dark Chocolate Coconut. Sold! Another stand we stopped at was Dante’s Inferno Dogs, where we got a smoked bacon cheddar dog with some cream cheese, peppers, and mustard. The guys were really nice and friendly about recommending topping combos with the different dog flavors.

After the Ballard Farmer’s Market we still had some time to kill before our dinner reservation. We stopped in to Kukuruza Gourmet Popcorn for some Hawaii’an Sea Salt Caramel and Chicago Mix popcorn which were both crunchy without being too hard. Two other places we stopped by while waiting for our reservation were Savor Specialty Foods and Ballard Loft Sports Bar.

Finally it was time for The Walrus & The Carpenter, which I think was the best meal we had in Seattle. I was wary. They don’t take reservations and I don’t eat raw oysters (it’s an oyster place!!). But, it was worth the gamble and the wait. We had fried oysters that were so meaty, they were like chicken nuggets that took a dip in the ocean. Our house cured salmon with fennel and absinthe was also very good, and went well with the drinks we were imbibing in at the time.

After dinner, we took a cab to Canon, which was recommended by a lot of people in Vancouver, but it was a tad disappointing. The layout of the space was a bit awkward (large open area in the middle, but we weren’t allowed to “stand” next to any table, which led to us being cloistered in a tight corner spot). We got the brownie with fernet marshmallow and orange caramel, but it was a bust. Everything was just way too dry. The cheese plate we ordered was good, but as usual, we ran out of bread way too fast and the service was very slow. The drinks were alright. They sounded very good on paper, but in reality fell short of expectations.

We wandered over to Bluebird for the Phantograham ice cream we had tried the day before and had a UNO and Boggle throwdown as the sun set. We then went the roof of our borrowed condo and looked at the Seattle lights for our last night in town.