Colleen and I just returned from a trip to the Pacific Northwest, which kicked off with a few days in Seattle. I was impressed. We went to some might great places in Seattle. I’d been there a couple of times before, but not since about 2005 and man, the city looks great. I loved it. When we went years ago, I thought, Eh. Portland’s better. This time Seattle wowed me. Portland’s no slouch either, but that’s another post.

We arrived around 6pm on a Wednesday and immediately took to a-walkin. Walking is the best way to get the feel of a place. When walking you literally feel the topography (Seattle was hillier than I’d remembered, especially out in Ballard), you really see the flora (dry spell; the lawns were camel colored), and you just notice all kinds of things you wouldn’t otherwise. We walked well over 10 miles around town while we were there and I’ll tell you a couple things:

• The air in Seattle — especially compared to New York in August — is superb. All those trees and that Puget Sound breeze surely contribute.
• There’s SO much money in Seattle. Last time I went Microsoft was the big monkey; now it’s Amazon. They’re currently “expanding their presence,” and we noticed tons of Amazonians with their little blue badges all over town. (The NY Times published their article about Amazon’s brutal work culture shortly after we returned, which was an interesting coincidence.) But back to the money: I was told there are 28 giant cranes around town (looked plausible) putting up towers like there’s no tomorrow. Not to mention all the new buildings that came online since we were there 10 years ago. There’s a noticeable, moneyed, high-tech, West Coast “newness” to the city.
• Traffic is a flippin’ NIGHTMARE. So glad I don’t drive in traffic like that, ANYwhere.

Overall, though, a peach of a town, Seattle. Helluva peach. A bit of skeeviness downtown (addicts, beggars, etc), but that’s to be expected. On the upside: killer coffee (even Starbucks surprised me with their big new roastery and tasting room), great seafood as always, and excellent Washington beer in some mighty fine bars.

To get to the point, here are five great places in Seattle that we really enjoyed visiting. In our short stay, there were plenty more, but to list some greatest hits:

• The deck of Ray’s Café, overlooking the sound (and a big tip o’ the hat to Dan Kim for making sure we got there). Sunset on the water, good people, excellent seafood, and the first fresh, local, Pacific Northwest IPA I’d had in a long, long time. Perfect way to start the trip.
•  Slate Coffee Bar, one of those fancy new third-wave joints, and I gotta say, a damn delight. Had the first coffee flight of my life. Sat at a sidewalk table and enjoyed a neighborhood morning with pleasant, relaxed service. Locals stopped by with their dogs and got their fix. We sipped and read and watched the place come to life. The coffee was top-notch, the barista/server was superb, and we even got a lagniappe (a little sumpin-sumpin on the house, as they call it in New Orleans). That fueled us for our first day of hiking around town.

3. In Fremont we Yelped up sandwiches from heaven, at a little Caribbean-inspired place called Paseo. Our timing was impeccable. We waltzed into one of the great places in Seattle just before noon, placed an order, got a table at the open window, and by the time our sandwiches came the line was over a dozen people deep. And isn’t that a gratifying feeling? But was it that good? Ohhhh, yesss.

4. Later that day we popped into the Pacific Inn Pub (also in Fremont), for a little break. I ordered a whiskey sour, she got a white russian. We took a load off, kicked up our heels, and watched the baseball game on the tube at the bar. The vibe? Friendly dive, complete with neon signs, a good happy hour and fish and chips that were turnin dames’ knees into noodles. Why the hardboiled prose? Ask someone else. I’m drinkin my whiskey sour.

5. Our last day in Seattle we trucked downtown, rode the famous Ducks (not to brag), stopped by the mega-Starbucks for a fine jolt of java, then hit the bar at Sitka & Spruce, a sleek, airy, wood-metal-tile-&-stone joint where a favorite bartender of ours (Zac Overman, formerly of Brooklyn) mixes up the goods. And what a civilized way to break up our day in the thick of the city. Thank you, Zac, for the oasis of tranquility and quality, in spite of the shirt.

Great places in Seattle addendum:

Those are five great places in Seattle that really stuck out, but other solid Seattly joints I’d recommend are Fremont Brewing (classic NW IPA brewers with outdoor seating), The Walrus and the Carpenter (good spot for happy hour oysters), and Hashtag (or any other legal cannabis shops that abound in Seattle), for a peek at the future of America’s next favorite legal drug. It reminded me of an Apple store, but somehow more normal.