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Seattle, WA

Disclaimer - we LOVE happy hour because we can try a bunch of different things rather than just two full meals.

The weather in Seattle in June is totally bipolar.  They had a heat wave in the 90s a week before we visited, and then our weekend required some creative layering to keep out the chill.  And be prepared for rain.  At least, like Florida, you see the sheets first and can gain some advanced notice.

Hotel
Renaissance Seattle Hotel - my absolute favorite part about this hotel was the beautiful club lounge that had a Starbucks custom coffee machine available throughout the day.  Sweet!  The breakfasts were great, and the snacks in the evening were nice, too.  Great views of the city from the club floor.  The hotel sits atop a hill at the corner of 6th and Madison, so although it's not far from most places, expect to tackle some hills.  It's not as bad as San Fran, but there are some steep hills that all go down toward the water.

Restaurants
The Tasting Room - OK, so this place isn't REALLY a restaurant, but they do offer a small selection of food items to enjoy along with their wine flights or glasses.  The staff is friendly and knowledgeable, and there is a fair representation of different Washington wineries and their offerings. The Tasting Room makes for a lovely place to relax after a long morning of walking.  We visited on two different days in order to try more of the flights.

Blueacre Seafood - Based on a recommendation from our hotel concierge, we went to Blueacre, and it was quite tasty with a good happy hour selection.  Recommend.

Sazerac - Another happy hour option, and it was nice and close to our hotel, which meant we didn't get soaked by rain on our walk back to the Renaissance.  Try the pizza from the HH menu.

Market Grill (in Pike Place) - Our concierge recommended this little hole-in-the-wall sized eatery in the middle of Pike Place Market, and we are so glad we took his advice.  Copper River salmon was in season, and we had it grilled - freaking awesome! Great clam chowder, too!  Great stop for lunch.

List - This was seriously the best happy hour outside of our favorite Orlando haunts. Great wine specials, fantastic food, small atmosphere, wonderful service, and the gnocchi was absolutely the best!

Ivar's Pier 54 Fish Bar is a great place for a quick lunch. The cod used in the fish n chips was super flaky with no fishiness whatsoever. Clam chowder at Market Grill was way better, though!  Prices are good compared to some of the other places down the street (Alaskan Way), and the ordering process was more quick service than sit down - perfect when you don't want to spend a lot of time waiting.

Palomino - Palomino's happy hour is great!  The food is so yummy, and the drink specials are really good.  Would go back in a heart beat!

Things to Do
La Buona Tavola - Truffle Cafe - The hubs and I might possible be obsessed with everything truffle (the mushroom, not the chocolate), so when I saw that this was a place mentioned on Yelp, I knew we had to visit.  One of the reviewers suggested stopping by Beecher's Handmade Cheese and buying the Mac n Cheese there.  So we did.  And it was awesome.  When we arrived at the Truffle Cafe, a staff member oriented us with the store and sampling options.  There are tasting sticks available so you can try almost everything the store sells - sweet!  We ordered a wine flight and paired that with the different truffle oils and pastes over our amazingly creamy Beecher's treat!  Definitely recommend visiting the cheese place first and then the Truffle Cafe.  You can thank me later.

Beneath the Streets - This tour was recommended to us by our hotel concierge who had been pretty spot on with his restaurant recommendations, so we trusted his judgement when signing up for this tour.  The guy leading it was very knowledgeable, and the tour was truly fascinating.  You could almost picture the way things use to be before Seattle was raised up as a city away from the rising sea levels.  There is a good amount of walking and stairs, but nothing too terrible.  Glad we did this.

We could have done all the touristy stuff but just didn't feel like it on this trip.  We walked to the Space Needle but did not go up.  I also wasn't dying to see the locks or the city from the water.  We spent a lot of time eating and drinking and walking off all the food and wine:)

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