PNW- TAKE 3

This is the third and final leg of our awesome trip to the Pacific Northwest!

I'll actually be back with a Food Guide sometime next week- so for all of you with future plans to visit the areas I mentioned here and here, be sure to come back!

When we got back from Washington we stayed with our friend Scott, who played tour guide for us the remainder of our trip. We brunched, we shopped, we explored. I was a little Instagrammed-out by the end of the trip, but I have to call out the AWESOME ice cream we had at Salt & Straw. Coffee & Bourbon? Yes.

What I did snag pictures of was our trip to Seaside, OR for a morning while Scott was at work. It's a small town on the Pacific that is full of charm and, most importantly, salt water taffy shops.  It was hazy-cloudy while we were there, which was kind of a welcome break from the crazy sun we'd been getting:

I mean, how cool are the clouds hanging over the bluffs? 

We grabbed some food and wandered in and out of tacky tourist traps before heading back to Portland.

Scott brought us up to an overlook of the city- and told us we needed to stop taking couple selfies (his words, not mine)- and snapped this perfect picture of us. I love that it's not overly posed or anything!

After a quick drive around town it was time to catch our 8 pm flight, so we said goodbye to this awesome town!

Thanks to Elliott & Scott for being amazing hosts, and thanks to all of YOU who gave us great suggestion on sights to see and places to try!

We need a new state to visit next-

Anyone have any great ideas??

xo, lp

PNW - TAKE 2

So as you saw Monday, the first leg of our trip in Portland was success!

We headed off to Washington next...

1. We stopped in Olympia first to check out the State Capitol Building. Nothin' compared to Wisconsin's cap building...but I'm pretty biased.

2-4 Turns out Sea Fair was going on in Seattle which meant every hotel on earth was booked, so we ended up staying in Tacoma. I'm glad we did too, because while searching for a hotel we got to see a lot of awesome things around town! We explored the waterfront & the Tacoma Glass Museum, and had a great date night at Dirty Oscar's Annex. Diner's Driveins and Dives was right- it was delicious!

5. The next morning REALLY early we headed downtown Seattle. First stop? The Original Starbucks! 

6. We spent a ton of time walking around Pike Place and watching the guys throw fish around. I wish we lived in Seattle and had access to that amazing market daily!

7. The Post Alley Gum Wall- we just had to do it. We just HAD to.

8. Rock Bottom Brewery beer tasting. Totally sucked. Don't go there. For realz.

9. Fremont Troll- you just have to Google it, such a crazy cool "statue".

10. Oh come on, you didn't really think we wouldn't do the Space Needle, did you??

11-12. After one of our days in Seattle we headed to Woodinville, WA to do a little wine tasting and brewery touring. Chateau Ste Michelle had great wine- but the chick serving us clearly thought that because we are young we didn't know wine and pretty much ignored us. Major bummer. To forget her, we went to Red Hook Brewery where we had the most fantastic tour guide. The beer was DELICIOUS, we learned a ton, and we ate&drank at their brewpub afterwards. I may have gotten tipsy. Oops. Sorry Michael!

13&14. The next morning we headed to Gig Harbor, WA- cute little sea town on the Puget Sound. I bought even more taffy and we checked out yet another brewery (seeing a theme?). By far best beer of the trip.

15-16.  Finally, we spent our last day in Washington visiting Mt. Rainier. Holy shit it's gorgeous up there. The trees, the waterfalls, the mountain- completely stunning. I now see why crappy scent companies try to create the smell "mountain air". Ahhhhh.

17. Our car for the trip? A Chevy Spark. Aka the clown car. Aka the worst car ever.

18. Just kind of a pretty drive back to Portland... these PNW states love their bridges, I tell ya.

So that's the second leg! We packed a ton of stuff in, and Washington was a stunning state...I already want to go back!

Have you ever been to Washington? What was your favorite part?

If you're planning a trip please email me, I'd love to give more details!

xo, lp