Over my ~1.5 years spent in Portland, I had only spent one evening enjoying Seattle. This week I decided that if I didn't make it back now, I'd never do it. I hopped a train and was in the center of downtown in 3 and a half hours. It turned out to be a fantastic decision.

Hostel Dry-Run

I stayed at an awesome place called the Green Tortoise. I had never stayed in a hostel before, so I saw it as a sort of practice for my future travels. I can only say: I hope all hostels are this awesome.

It was in the middle of everything awesome. The Public Market Center was literally across the street. Any hotel that got me that close to the action would've cost well over $150 / night. Instead I ended up paying $29 / night - and all I had to do was share a room with a few nice strangers.

A Would-Be Regular

My first night there, I came across a fantastic pub down the street called White Horse Trading Co. It reminded me of a miniature version of one of my favorite Portland pubs. Truly, I almost considered moving to Seattle just so I could become a regular at this place.

The owner, Joe, said he has been running it in that location for about 8 years. I loved it so much that I went back after dinner that first night. That's when I met some locals that gave me a list of breweries to check out that would give me a good idea of the Seattle beer scene.

Da' Beers

Their first recommendation was a place called Outlander Brewing. It's a brand new brewery (opened 2 months ago) set up in an old Victorian home. Awesome place, and good conversation. I had their barley wine "Ode to O.D.A." which was fantastic. Their pale ale ("Knokke-Heist") was decent, but I'm not typically a fan of pales.

Tourist

I did a few touristy things while in Seattle, the coolest of which was the EMP Museum. There were a lot of galleries showing off different music and movie memorabilia. Right now there's a Nirvana setup showcasing the band's history. That, along with their Icons in Science Fiction and Tornado of Guitars made for a good few hours of walking around.

Success

Overall, this trip is more confirmation on how much I'll miss the Pacific North West. Not only the beauty or the people, but even the ability to spontaneously hop a train and have a 3-day trip in another amazing city. I have a hard time convincing myself I'll never live here again.