I love museums! I really am a museum junkie and February in Seattle is Museum Month. This means that if I stay at one of the participating downtown hotels, I get a 50% off museum pass card. Well, since I am out of town I would have to stay at a hotel anyways and a discount to one of my favorite things? That’s a no-brainer for me! Guess I am doing a Seattle Museum Trip! Okay sure, it’s still not the cheapest trip with food costs, I am not a cheap date, but I save a little money with the museum pass and getting to my favorite things. For my hotel, I went back to Warwick Hotel. I’ve stayed here several times as I like the location and they have a parking garage on-site. Okay, in reality, the parking isn’t cheap and the garage is small and the corners are blind, but it’s on-site and only a 10-minute walk from Pike’s Place. Now usually I would travel with Love or Miss GoGo, but for this trip though, I traveled alone.
Why did I end up alone? Love couldn’t get the time off; yeah retail hours and just getting back from Paris. If I can’t travel with Love I usually travel with Miss GoGo but she was with her dad, so I took the chance to do a little Solo Girl travel which is something I haven’t done in recent memory. I now remember why I don’t travel alone very often, for me it’s not so much fun.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved it! No one to argue with you about leaving the hotel, Miss GoGo, and no one to worry about if they want to go somewhere or if it’s the best option, either of them!, and complete TV control! But, you also don’t get to share in the memories with anyone either. It’s the give and the take of traveling alone vs traveling with friends or family. Both have value! Personally, solo is best for places you’ve been to before and just need to wrap up a few things and have a little You time; not sure I would ever travel somewhere exotic if I couldn’t find a friend to go with me. So what did I do in my alone time? I museum-hopped and hit up a few lingering food spots!
I drove up from Portland Friday late afternoon and hit Seattle at about 6:30 pm. My first stop was Smith Tower for an after-dark view of the city skyline and a little speakeasy feels. Such an amazing view of the city lights! Sure the safety railing totally bit into the photos, but safety first! While there I took the time to enjoy an amazing Yuzu Kuyshiki and No Bake Yuzu cheesecake; yes I enjoy yuzu and it’s harder to find in my home area. Both were very enjoyable and paired really nicely together. Saturday I happily spent the day coffee shop and museum hopping!
Even on the weekends, my internal alarm clock goes off at 4 am-ish, so I was up way early with lots of time to kill before the museums opened. After a leisurely morning in the hotel room, I started my morning at Armistice Coffee with a cortado and a quiet moment to review the day’s thoughts and plans, and drink my coffee without interruption! It was still early in the morning and the city was still fairly quiet, so I took a leisurely stroll through a nearly empty Pikes Place; even the vendors weren’t quite set up for the day’s business as I strolled through. I wound my way through the area and found myself at Freya Bakery. The amazing smells coming from it lured me in, and OMG how are you supposed to choose one to eat?!? All the options looked amazing and oh so very very tempting! With the help of one of the girls working I settled on the Churro Cruffin and was not disappointed at all! So amazing and will have to revisit them with someone else so we can divide and conquer a few more pastries! I wandered back through Pike’s Place and a few of the shops before heading to Fonte for one last cup of coffee and to kill a few minutes before the Seattle Art Museum opened.
The Seattle Art Museum was honestly kind of disappointing. Maybe it has to do with just coming back from Paris and the art museum hoping there? Either way, this museum seemed a little disorganized in its displays and how it was laid out. Mixing older art and statues right next to modern art from different regions of the world. It was fun to go, don’t get me wrong! I just won’t be going back unless there is a specific exhibit to draw me in. The most memorable of the displays were the Inari foxes from Japan; which Love says has probably cursed the museum due to lack of attention towards their mythical status and needs. They also had a car coffin from Ghana which was really cool! Apparently, some small coffin designer in Ghana decided that the dead should be laid to rest in something that represents them and not just a wooden box. It’s a really cool idea and very personable to the living. Upon leaving the Art Museum I walked over to the Space Needle complex for lunch and more fun!
No, I did not go up the Space Needle and I’ve actually never been up the Space Needle. I’m honestly not sure why I’ve never gone up. Cost, Time, and how packed it usually is are all probably contributing factors. I did however go to the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum. The Chihuly Garden and Glass is amazing! Granted it should be as Chihuly is the artist responsible for the Bellagio glass art ceiling, and that is beautiful. The Garden and Glass talks about his process and displays more of his work even doing a live glass-blowing demo! Totally worth the stop if you love colorful artistic hand-blown glass. It was a very enjoyable Saturday and I was happily tired from all the walking I did!
Sunday I had breakfast at Lola’s and thoroughly enjoyed their Shakshuka before heading out to hit two more spots and heading home. My first stop was the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) on the bank of Lake Union. I had no idea that Ford had a factory in Seattle! It was a really fun museum and a great representation of the history of the area. I learned several things that I didn’t know about beforehand like Ford having a factory or how much Seattle had redefined the landscape to fit its needs. Will I go back… probably to take my daughter through it and teach her some of the history. My next stop after MOHAI was the Seattle Asian Art Museum.
Sadly the Seattle Asian Art Museum suffers from the same vibes as the Seattle Art Museum. The halls had very little theme holding them together and modern art was displayed next to more aged art. Don’t get me wrong it was still great to go and see! I was just expecting it to be more fluid in flow. It was amazing to see silk Japanese panels, as those are something I hadn’t seen before at other museums. Will I go back… Maybe depending on the rotating exhibit.
After the Seattle Asian Art Museum, I head home. There were so many other museums that I just couldn’t hit, but those will have to be a different trip, or maybe 2024! It had been a great solo Seattle Museum weekend but I missed my own bed and space.
My next trip will be to San Francisco with my baby!