Wednesday 10th May: Seattle Day 1
If there was any part of the trip that I was a bit concerned about, it was today as we had an early train to catch from Vancouver down to Seattle. The main concern was getting a taxi at 5 am that would be large enough to take us and all of our luggage. I needn’t have worried though because the taxi turned up on time and, after a bit of planning and negotiating, Mark and the driver managed to get everything in and we made it to the train station on time. The next concern was whether there would be any problem putting the bike on the train; I had booked for a spot for the bike but wasn’t quite sure how it would all pan out but, thankfully, that went smoothly as well.
The train from Vancouver to Seattle takes about four hours and, after the first hour, the scenery became quite spectacular. The train tracked right along the waters edge, as it hugged the coastline for much of the journey, and there was the added beautiful vista of snow topped mountains in the background. At one point, we were alerted to look out because there was a pod of orca whales in the water of Pugent Sound; just off to the side of the train! I would highly recommend traveling from Vancouver to Seattle by train for the visual splendor but maybe buy a sandwich or croissant or something the day before to take with you as a snack.
The train finally pulled into Seattle’s King Street station at 11 am and we caught an Uber to our hotel. It is at this point that I need to point out to you just how lucky we have been. We had clear skies and a beautiful morning to depart Vancouver and we had arrived into Seattle on a warm and sunny morning with a clear blue sky. Those of you who might know anything about Seattle would know how rare sunshine is here. It was like winning the lottery!
We checked into our hotel, dropped our bags and headed straight back out to find a sandwich for Mark; as he had refused to eat the food on the train (it wasn’t the best). We were surprised to find the place he had chosen was right across the road from his favourite bike shop, Rapha. Mark now has one extra pair of Rapha shorts in his wardrobe.
We dropped the shorts back at the hotel and then went in search of Wholefoods, a 15 min walk away, which proved to be large and impressive. We thought we might grab dinner from there one night.
After that, we walked 30 minutes down to the lower waterfront area to take the highly regarded Underground Tour. This was a 75 min tour of the subterranean storefront area of Seattle; an area that was buried following the rebuild of the city after the Great Fire of 1889. They excavated a nearby annoying large hilltop region and used this as fill for the streets of lower Seattle so as to better bury all the sewage and utility piping. It was a fascinating look at this part of the city and I was especially intrigued with the beautiful purple glass footpath grates / light vaults that covered much of the footpaths that illuminated this vast subterranean space. The glass was originally clear but turned purple over time with the reaction of manganese in the glass to sunlight.
We were rather depleted after our tour, given our 4.40 am start to the day, so we headed to the waterfront Pike market area to find somewhere to sit and have a bite to eat. We stumbled upon Old Stove Brewing company and this ticked these boxes perfectly. The place was packed and the staff run off their feet but we enjoyed our time there with some beer paddles for Mark and a bite to eat as well. It was only 6.30 pm by the time we finished up at the brewery but we were exhausted after our long day so walked back to the hotel for an early night.
One thing we have realized early is just how hilly Seattle is compared to Vancouver. Seattle is a bit like Rome in that it is built on seven hills so, be prepared for a bit of a workout as you explore the city!
