January 9, 2025 • 35 mins
Planning a trip to Seattle? Travel Lemming’s local Seattle creator Chelsea Booker tells us about her top Seattle travel tips + hidden gems in the city. Watch this before your first trip to Seattle.
💻 Perspectives from TravelLemming.com
-Backpacking to the most remote town in Washington: https://travellemming.com/perspectives/backpacking-to-stehekin/
-Seattle’s unfriendly reputation: https://travellemming.com/opinion/why-is-seattle-unfriendly/
📰 Seattle travel guides
-Best things to do: https://travellemming.com/things-to-do-in-seattle/
-Where to stay: https://travellemming.com/where-to-stay-in-seattle/
-Best time to visit: https://travellemming.com/best-time-to-visit-seattle/
-Pike Place Market: https://travellemming.com/pike-place-market/
-Seattle Center: https://travellemming.com/seattle-center/
-On a budget: https://travellemming.com/seattle-on-a-budget/
-Getting around: https://travellemming.com/getting-around-seattle/
-Is Seattle safe: https://travellemming.com/is-seattle-safe/
-Seattle tips: https://travellemming.com/seattle-travel-tips/
-Coffee shops: https://travellemming.com/seattle-coffee-shops/
#Seattle #SeattleTravel #WashingtonState
Segment Timestamps
00:00:00 – Intro
00:01:08 – Meet Chelsea
00:05:00 – Why Visit Seattle
00:06:54 – Where is Seattle?
00:08:08 – Getting Around
00:10:28 – Top Seattle Attractions
00:13:39 – Rainy-Day Activities
00:15:38 – When to Visit
00:16:35 – Coffee Scene
00:18:30 – Music Scene & Nightlife
00:19:30 – Affordability Tips
00:21:18 – Safety Myths & Reality
00:23:41 – Hidden Gem Neighborhoods
00:31:32 – Final Insights & Wrap-Up
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
I feel like there's a lot ofmisinformation about safety in Seattle.
In general, I really feel likesome things can be a little
bit blown out of proportion,
So would not say Seattle is thataffordable on, the outset, like you
do kind of have to make, specificdecisions to make it more affordable.
A few, neighborhoods that I think aredefinitely hidden gems that I think
(00:24):
a lot of people should explore andthat I think could get some more love.
The first one is
What comes to mind whenyou think of Seattle?
For some, Starbucks, the SpaceNeedle, and of course, rainy weather.
But there's a lot more to this PacificNorthwestern town than you might think.
Travel Lemming's own Chelsea Bookerjoins me today for a deep dive into all
things Seattle, from her favorite hiddengems to how to navigate the weather.
(00:48):
We're changing up the format ofthe show today just to give Chelsea
the full spotlight since she has somany wonderful tips about Seattle.
But after our interview, I'mgoing to be sharing with you
our biggest project of the year.
Our list of the top 50places to visit in 2025.
More on that in a bit, but fornow, let's jump right in to why
you should plan a trip to Seattle.
(01:08):
A very warm welcome to Chelsea Booker.
She's one of our amazingeditors here at Travel Living.
Chelsea's lived in Seattlefor the past almost 15 years.
And she's our experton all things, Seattle.
She's written some really greatpieces on the best things to do
in the city, the best restaurants,coffee shops, which is huge to me
because I'm a big coffee connoisseur.
She's also got some reallyawesome perspective pieces on
(01:31):
local travel and exploring thenearby Pacific Northwest areas.
So we're going to get into all ofthat as well as some of Chelsea's
favorite hidden gems in Seattle.
But first I want to just go aheadand throw it over to her and
allow her to introduce herself.
So Chelsea, thank you so much forbeing here with me today and welcome
to the Travel Loving Podcast.
Thank you.
I am so thrilled to be here.
(01:52):
, thank you so much for asking me tocome on and just to get to Geek out
about my favorite place, Washington andSeattle is just, it just has my heart.
And, yeah, like you said, I'vebeen here for about 15 years.
I came here in kind of a roundabout way.
It's funny.
I actually, my early childhood, I livedin Las Vegas, which, you know, it was
totally different desert, all of that.
(02:14):
And then my family, we moved up to.
Rochester, which is anarea in upstate New York.
And I remember getting there and seeinglike trees, like greenery and clouds and
like gray weather for the first time.
And I think it justcompletely captivated me.
And then we moved to California and Iremember just liking more of the bigger
(02:36):
city vibe because we moved to LA.
But then I guess you could say Ideveloped a taste for cloudy weather
because I came back to Seattleand I've been here ever since.
So yeah, like you said, I'man editor at Travel Lemming.
I, currently live herewith my dog and my husband.
And yeah, I'm really excited to chatabout all of my favorite places.
Yes, and I'm so glad that I havethe opportunity to talk to you about
(02:59):
this because my brother actually justmoved back to Arizona from Seattle
while he was in Gig Harbor, whichis on the outskirts of the city.
I know like an hour outside and itwas a kind of a similar thing where.
You know, he grew up in Arizona andhad always wanted like that greenery
and the trees and the clouds and therain and the just seasons, because
we don't really get that here.
And so I would go visitfor the past six years.
(03:21):
And so I thought I knew things todo in Seattle, and then I see all
the things that you've written.
I'm like, , I haven'tdone any of these things.
And for those of you who haven'tchecked it out yet, Chelsea has
a really awesome list of the 63best things to do in Seattle.
So she's obviously the expert, she talksabout things to do in the outdoors, free
things, museums, events, attractions,things to do on rainy days, as well as
(03:44):
Restaurants, and it's so informative.
I think I've done like oneof these things on this list.
And also all the times I've beento Seattle, it's been in the
summertime because it's so quiet.
My family always says,Oh, come in the summer.
So I've rarely experienced itmyself when it's rainy, which like
I have this unrealistic vision ofSeattle where it's always sunny
and beautiful, perfect weather.
And I know that's not typically the case.
(04:05):
So I'm excited.
Cause I know you said you have some reallygreat ideas about what to do during that
time, which I think is right now, right?
Like when is the rainy season?
Oh, we are fully into the rainy season.
I do often tell people that if you wantto fall in love with Seattle and just
like the surroundings definitely come.
In the summertime that is the timeto come because it is gorgeous.
(04:26):
The weather is perfect You know, it's nottoo hot, but I think that there is just
something about the rainy season that justfeels more authentically seattle and just
pacific northwestern It's funny, afterliving here for almost 15 years, I now
find myself after summer, being like,oh gosh, when is the rain gonna come?
So you really do start to adapt to it,and I think you just see, a little
(04:47):
bit more of an authentic side, whenyou come during the rainy season.
Yes.
Well, I would love to get into that.
So why don't we just go ahead anddive right into why we're here today.
Why do you think peopleshould visit Seattle?
What are the main reasonsthat make it worth exploring?
Of course, so I'm going to take ita little broad first and just talk
about Washington in general, andthen I'll narrow more in on Seattle.
(05:08):
And so one of the main reasons tocome to Washington it's absolutely
beautiful here, you know, thereare so many different landscapes.
Washington is called theevergreen state for a reason.
All of that rain makes it just glow green.
It's absolutely beautiful.
And you have the mountainsand you have the water.
you have the Cascade Mountain Range,you have the Olympic Mountain Range.
(05:29):
And beyond that, there are,volcanoes, there are islands,
there are, Lakes and waterfalls.
There are so many different opportunitiesfor, outdoor recreation like if you're
a nature lover, you will just bespoiled, in Seattle and Washington.
One thing I don't think people realizetoo is, It's not all green though,
is because if you head to easternWashington, which I will admit like
(05:53):
I want to do more exploring out east,but if you head to eastern Washington,
past the Cascades, it's actuallya totally different environment
because you have, lots of farmland.
You have these landscapes that seemalmost prehistoric, it's gorges
and coolies and things thatwere carved that way by Ice Age
So, it's really magnificent.
And the other thing I would say isthat you should come to Seattle because
(06:16):
it's situated so perfectly that youcan easily access a lot of that.
Washington has three national parks.
You can get to all of them fromSeattle within two to three hours.
So It's easy to take a lot ofday trips from Seattle to of
these different islands, you know,Bainbridge, Fashon are great places.
And I feel like a lot of peoplethink that Washington is just like,
(06:37):
they think of twilight, like it'sjust constantly in this foggy mist.
And there's so many different areas.
Yeah, yeah, I like to saywestern Washington, like, come
in the wintertime, a raincoat.
Eastern Washington, you're gonnaneed, a bigger, puffy jacket.
Something to keep you warm, becausethey do get snow over there,
so with that, like how faris Seattle from the coast?
(06:57):
Because I think a lot of people have amisconception that Seattle is located
on the ocean because they see thewater, which I think I thought when
I was a kid that it was right there.
So how far is Seattle from the ocean?
And how does that differ fromthe sound environment there?
Yeah, so if you are going to, thecoast, it'll take you, about three
plus ish hours, I would say, youcan do it in a day trip, I have
(07:19):
done that in a day trip, and I wouldsay it's nice to have the sound,
So the Puget Sound, it is technicallypart of the Pacific ocean, but it's
A series of waterways that goes down.
So you're not going to have wildcrashing waves and that kind of thing.
If you do go to the coast,that's where you get it.
And honestly, the Washingtoncoast is magnificent.
(07:40):
It's very wild, very rugged . Butit is nice that we have the sound
because whale watching as one of the,major things to do in Washington.
Sometimes you can seethem from various points.
Like I live in West Seattle and justlast week, like the J pod orcas were
cited from land, so you can see thesemagnificent, beings without having to
(08:01):
go to like the coast, and especially ifyou're going up by the San Juan Islands
there's whale watching tours over there.
That's awesome.
So back to Seattle, so getting there.
Is it pretty easy?
Like, how do you recommend gettingaround would you rent a car?
Is there good public transport?
So first of all, when you're firstlanding, the great thing about, the
SeaTac airport is that it's connectedto Seattle by the light rail.
(08:24):
If people come visit me, I don'tpick them up from the airport.
I give them directions to getonto the train and and I'll
pick you up at another stop.
It's really simple to get fromthe airport into downtown.
It takes maybe, 40 ish minutes.
And then when you are in Seattle,you don't have to rent a car.
Seattle is super walkable andpublic transit makes it really
easy to get around as well.
(08:46):
So, the light rail is a key thing thatlinks the South in the north side,
and there's a lot of expansion that'scurrently happening right now, like
the north end just opened, so it goesbeyond, Northgate all the way up to
Linwood, which is a suburb, further upWashington, and then it's eventually
gonna connect, down to Federal Way,which is just north of Tacoma, but
beyond that, Getting from SeaTac toSeattle and to all of the various
(09:08):
neighborhoods along the way in SouthSeattle and North Seattle is very easy.
You also have, the buses,which are pretty good.
There are a couple streetcarsthat run through some of the
major neighborhoods in Seattle.
And again, Seattle is very walkable.
Like it's not very sprawling.
So, you're downtown.
You can literally goto, the top attraction.
You could go to Pike Place Market,easily walk down to the waterfront,
(09:31):
walk back up to Olympic SculpturePark, and then to Seattle Center.
And then you can, take themonorail back downtown.
It's very simple to get around.
It's really nice, especially ifyou don't want to rent a car.
So I would say though, if you arecoming to Seattle and you're just like
basing yourself in Seattle and youwant to go out to explore more out
in the mountains or do lots of hikes,then you probably will want a car.
(09:54):
That's just the simplest way.
There is a, bus that will take youduring the summer months only to
some of the major hiking trails
so that's kind of one of mybudget tips too is you can save
a lot if you're just planning onusing public transit and walking.
That's a great budget tip tooabout visiting there and not
necessarily having to pay thatmassive fee every day for a car.
So back to Seattle, things to do.
(10:16):
What are your mainreasons for coming there?
Like what are the greatest things thatyou think someone, either a newcomer or
even a local who hasn't fully exploredthe city, what are those main attractions
that you think are worth visiting?
Yeah, so you definitely need tostart with Pike Place Market.
That's the number one attraction
and
it's a classic, but it's so worth it, youknow, even as a local, it's pretty much
(10:40):
always crowded and it can be overwhelmingbut I always just have so much fun.
It is partially because Iknow it really well.
But, there's alwayslots of activity there.
That's the place where you'll find,flower vendors, fruit vendors, you have
people who are just going to be plyingyou with samples as you walk through,
which is always, a nice little touch.
And then you have a lot of reallygood restaurants, whether you want
(11:02):
like a sit down, like, The Pink Door,which is a popular Italian place.
It's in Post Alley and it's onlyidentifiable by a pink door.
And that one is pretty cool because theyoften have live music or, burlesque shows
or cabaret while you're having dinner.
But, you can also just go somewherelike, Land of Origin, which is a tiny
little shop that is one of my personalfavorite hidden gems in Pike Place Market.
(11:27):
And they have, all these differentpastries from different African countries.
So, yeah.
Pike Place Market is definitely whereI think everyone should go not only
for food, souvenirs, and just liketo people watch, also for the views,
but I would also say, the other two,main attractions are the waterfront
and Seattle Center, and like I said,actually get there very easily.
(11:48):
The, Pike Place Market Overlook Walkjust opened in October, and that's
really convenient because now you can gofrom the market and you can easily walk
down to the waterfront and It has thisextra seating area, come summer, they're
probably going to have a lot of eventstoo, that they're going to put on there.
There's also like a little play areafor kids and just the views out over
(12:11):
the sound from here, like definitelygo at sunset it is so gorgeous.
And yeah, then if you're crossingthe overlook, you can go down to the
waterfront and if you head south,you'll see, the aquarium, the great
wheel, and the more touristy stuff.
You know, if you have something bookedover there, like a boat cruise, that's
where you would go and that's fine.
(12:31):
But I would say to go, head northtoward Olympic Sculpture Park.
Which is actually a free partof the Seattle Art Museum.
So it's exactly what it sounds like.
It has a bunch of, abstractsculptures and a walking path.
And as you're walking, up this way,you come to the Seattle center.
You start to see the spaceneedle and that's your little
indicator of where you're going.
And the Seattle center is great.
(12:52):
It's kind of like thecultural center of Seattle.
So you have.
The Space Needle, of course youhave the Museum of Pop Culture.
You have a lot of very kid friendly,attractions like the Children's
Museum and PCI Pacific Science Center.
also, have a lot of cultural eventsthroughout the year there too.
They have croatian Fest, they have Diwali,they have, all sorts of, different
(13:16):
cultural festivals, and if you are inthe Seattle Center, One thing that I would
do as well is go to, KEXP, which is likea local radio broadcast that actually
started at, the University of Washington,I want to say in the 70s or 80s.
And that's a really cool spot formusic lovers too, because they
have like live DJs there and alot of events that you can go to.
(13:39):
Yeah, that is exactly whatI would want to do there.
And I feel like there's just somethingfor everyone in Seattle, like everything
you're talking about it, there's culturalthings for such a diverse group, there's
a lot of indoor things, which again, ifit is raining and it's during the rainy
season, like don't want to go outsidebecause it's gray and gloomy and rainy.
It's like there's so many thingsthat you can still go out and
explore and still enjoy the city.
(14:02):
funny because I think people areunder the assumption that we don't
go out when it's rainy, but we do.
Like, you just, have a good rainjacket, because a lot of people
in Seattle don't use umbrellas.
If you do, it's fine.
It's not a big deal.
But yeah, like people still go out,people still go hiking, people still,
you know, like I went to Alki Beachlast winter and it was packed.
(14:25):
People were still out and about justbundled up and it's really nice
because you can get your hot coffee.
Hot coffee tastes better whenit's cold, in my opinion.
Very
yeah.
you just gotta, gottaadapt to the weather.
yeah, exactly.
Another misconception I think people haveis that they think of the rain here as
like really heavy pouring showers wherewe do like sometimes get that but more
(14:48):
often than not it's more drizzly for alittle bit and then it'll stop and then
the clouds are clear the sun will come outand then it'll like and the clouds will
come back and then it's drizzly again so.
You know, if you're looking at theweather forecast and it's like, oh,
it's going to be rainy all week.
It's not going to just beconstantly pouring all week.
But actually, you can check out one ofmy articles, about this, my Seattle tips.
(15:11):
Yeah, which again, we are going tobe linking all of these articles that
Chelsea has written in the show notes,so make sure to check those out later.
But yeah, I definitely do thinkthat a lot of people are kind of
dissuaded from going because of that.
But it's really manageablewhen you're there.
Oh, yeah, it's manageable as long asyou just have rain jacket waterproof
boots and You're pretty much set to go
(15:31):
And so I know that we mentionedearlier that you're in the rainy
season right now, and we'rerecording this right now in November.
This might be posted a little bit later.
but what are those exact months thatyou have the sunny summer months and
when does it start getting into therain and when does that lighten up?
If you can give us a timeline just sopeople kind of have a better idea of.
When they might want to visit.
Yeah, so, I would say the clearer noncloudy days usually start around mid May,
(15:54):
so from mid May to about mid October, youcan usually count on it being mostly dry.
And the transition is pretty stark,like mid October, and then all the
way through April, you're gonnaget some rain, for the most part.
October I think is a really goodtime to come because you have all of
(16:14):
the changing fall foliage and thenthe crowds have started to disperse.
It can be unpredictable weatherwise but I think it's still very
good, you get that crisp fall.
The rainiest months I will sayare probably between November and
February, in January or February,sometimes we end up getting snow,
so on the topic of that soundslike perfect coffee weather.
(16:35):
And I know that Seattle is thecoffee capital of the United States.
Correct.
Mm hmm.
I mean, obviously it's thebirthplace of Starbucks and I know
I've walked past that Starbucks.
I think the original one it's rightacross from Pike place market.
Right.
There's a Starbucks in Pike PlaceMarket, and a lot of people are
under the impression that that'sthe first Starbucks, and it's not.
It's, you actually said the right thing,it's called the original Starbucks,
(16:57):
and that's because the first Starbucksdoesn't exist, but they moved, a
lot of the historical information andthat kind of stuff to that Starbucks.
I would say skip that Starbucks.
There's always a long line of tourists,
Well, and that's what I was goingto say because I've never actually
gone into that one because I alwayssee a line wrapped around the whole
block to get into that Starbucks.
And it's just like, what isgoing to make this unique?
(17:20):
And the fact that I didn'trealize it wasn't the first one.
So there's so muchgreat coffee in Seattle.
I would rather go to a local storeand support local Then go into the
original Starbucks, and wait foran hour just to set foot in there
to get something I could get inArizona and anywhere else in the world.
Exactly.
If you're coming to Seattle, pleasetry, like, the local indie shops.
If you do really want Starbucks,go to the Starbucks Reserve
(17:43):
Roastery, which is, right on theedge of Capitol Hill, in downtown.
And that one's pretty cool, because,they actually have, experimental
blends, you can see them roasting it.
Yeah, not to knock
that
out there.
Yeah,
that.
it's okay.
But I really think that if youwant more of the coffee culture
you have to go to the smaller shop.
So if you're looking for like coffeebeans, like really good drip coffee
(18:04):
and single origin coffee, I wouldsay Herkimer coffee, Olympia Coffee
Roasters has really great, beans.
One of my favorites in West Seattle isC& P Coffee, and that one is really cool.
They have a lot of events, likeopen mics, they have silent
reading nights and all of that.
And, do you have a list of yourfavorite coffee shops in Seattle
on Travel Lemming's website?
(18:25):
I do, yeah,
Yeah, we'll have that in the show notes,of course, too, which I will for sure be
looking at for my next visit to Seattle.
And one other thing I really wantedto talk about is the music scene.
Because I know Seattle is the birthplaceof like quite a few really big bands.
And one of the big reasons my cousinwanted to move there is because she's
such a concert goer and she always saidI just want to live in Seattle because I
could go to a concert every single week.
(18:45):
And she basically does that.
And so what are some oflike the really cool venues?
I know that there's some reallysmall, intimate ones there
as well as really big arenas.
Where do you recommend peoplego to see some of those
really great smaller artists,
So I recently went to a show at theMoore theater, which is in Belltown.
You can usually catch somesmaller acts there.
There's also Tim's Tavern, whichis in White Center, which is a
(19:08):
hidden gem that I don't think alot of people know that much about.
They pretty much always have onlive music shows and the most I've
seen is maybe 15 bucks to get in.
I also really like, Showbox Sotowhere I saw some of my first
concerts when I moved here.
Yeah.
Well, I love it.
So Chelsea, tell me how you feelabout affordability in the city.
Is it a pretty affordable place to visit,
(19:30):
yeah, so would not say Seattle isthat affordable on, the outset, like
you do kind of have to make, specificdecisions to make it more affordable.
Like I mentioned earlier, usingpublic transit, instead of renting
a car, walking on the ferries,
I would also say, hitting up happyhours . Alibi room and Pike place
market has a really good happy hour.
(19:51):
Seattle can be pretty expensive,but it's just more that you need to
do a lot of research and then youcan find out, where are the places
that are more budget friendly.
Yeah.
So do you think like hotels orAirbnb's like, is there really a
difference do you think in the pricepoints for those or do you think
they're all pretty much the same?
(20:12):
Yeah, so there's definitely a range ofhotels and you can find some more budget
friendly hotels and also a hostel.
There's, I believe it's called the GreenTortoise Hostel in downtown Seattle.
So if you want like the cheapestoption, that one's a good choice.
But in general, in general,it's a little pricier.
One area I would recommend, that I'verecommended in my guide for Where to
(20:34):
stay is the U district and the reasonfor that is because the hotels can be a
little bit cheaper, but then you also haveeasy access to the light rail, so that
makes it so you're not staying right indowntown where it's the most expensive,
but you can easily get there to, you know,go to the attractions and also, in the U
district, there's this, strip called theAve, where they have cheaper eateries and
(20:57):
stuff, especially because the universitydistrict is what that stands for.
So, you know, you have moreof a youthful atmosphere.
You have college students and stuff thereand with that comes some cheaper food and
it's not, it's not like cheap and bad.
Like, there's a lot of really good,tasty food up that way as well.
So it's just about choosingthe right, place to stay
Right.
So they've got quite a range there.
Well, that's great.
Thank you so much for that.
(21:18):
And also how is the safetysituation in Seattle?
yeah, so I feel like there's a lot ofmisinformation about safety in Seattle.
You know, Seattle is a big city,but it kind of has the vibe of a
midsize city, but it is a big city.
So you do have to use,the same, precautions that
you would in any big city.
(21:39):
, I will say, like there are certainareas definitely where you will
see, more people experiencinghomelessness and that kind of thing.
But in general, I really feellike some things can be a little
bit blown out of proportion,
So, there are certain areaslike in downtown that, are
not necessarily dangerous.
I wouldn't go and explore them, atnight or I'd just be really cautious
(22:04):
but in general, Seattle is a verysafe area and if you want, like,
places that are considered the safest.
There's, West Seattle, certain places inNorth Seattle, like Ballard and, you know,
these places kind of on the outskirts,but it's kind of like the same things
that all big cities really struggle with.
Right.
Yeah, of course.
Yeah, I know that there have definitelybeen some things I've seen about Seattle
(22:25):
since especially like 2020 and onwardand I do think you're right I think a
lot of things like people will get hookedon one major story and then Suddenly
that becomes the personality of theentire city, which isn't necessarily
true I mean, it's rarely true.
So every time that I visited I'venever felt like unsafe, but also,
don't be running around in the streetsin the middle of the night, maybe,
going out to the bars and all that.
(22:46):
But yeah, I think for the most part,from what I've experienced, I've
always had a very pleasant time.
So you think for families, solotravelers, still a great place to visit.
Oh, for sure.
Yeah, I definitely think so.
And especially, like, if you are justhanging out at the main attractions in
those areas, they're perfectly safe.
You know, like, honestly, I've even been,through Pike Place Market and, that whole
(23:08):
area in the evening, you know, on my wayto, Go to the Moore theater recently, and
it was perfectly fine The Seattle Center,especially I often suggest like the Queen
Anne area For families, especially becausethe Seattle Center is very safe Even
in evenings, especially because there'salways lots of events like at Climate
Pledge Arena and that kind of thing.
Yeah,
thank you for that.
(23:28):
Lovely.
Well, I think that that's really allI have for you right now, Chelsea.
Are there any other thingsthat you wanted to discuss or.
Anything I might be missing aboutwhy people should visit Seattle
or anything in particular thatthey should know before they go?
Yeah.
A few, neighborhoods that I think aredefinitely hidden gems that I think
a lot of people should explore andthat I think could get some more love.
(23:50):
The first one is White Center,which technically it's an
unincorporated community.
It's not like technically part ofSeattle, but it's just south of West
Seattle and it it feels like Seattle.
And the reason I really like thisis because I think it feels like
The Capitol Hill is right now likethe most popular neighborhood.
Like everybody knows about it.
(24:10):
And when I moved here, 15 years ago,like I lived kind of in the Capitol
Hill area, it felt pretty different.
It still had a little bit of agrunge, a little bit of that, , I
guess, counterculture, feel to it.
It's still a great place to go,but it's definitely trendier.
You know, it's moreexpensive and all of that.
And so, White Center is a placethat to me, feels like Capitol
(24:30):
Hill did all those years ago.
It's definitely more up and coming.
There's a lot of new businesses, andone of the reasons I really like it
is just it feels much more communal.
More so than like, when I go out to, a barin Capitol Hill, I don't really expect,
you know, to strike up a conversationwith other people, but, pretty much every
time I go to a bar in White Center, youknow, people are, we're all chatting,
(24:53):
people are chatting together and, youknow, you're meeting people, I, I went to
this one place called Future Primitive inWhite Center, which is one of my favorite
breweries, and ran into a group justwatching, sumo wrestling, and we all just
got together for weeks after and just wentto go watch sumo wrestling together there.
it's really great, and there's so manygems there, there's Two Finger Social,
(25:14):
which is like this really cool movie bar.
My husband absolutely loves it.
He's a really big movie guy andyou go in and you see all of like
these props from, things like Alien,Caddyshack, like all over the bar
and it's just like a very, cool vibe.
They, sometimes have likeburlesque shows there.
There's also, Lariat Bar,which is a wrestling theme bar.
(25:37):
And same thing, thedecor is just very fun.
There's a giant, a life size, Iguess, Andre the Giant poster there.
And they have a little, wrestlingring where you can do, karaoke.
Plus they, during community events, theyactually host live wrestling matches.
So if you are ever in white center inthe summertime for the block party, you
(26:00):
should definitely go check that out.
It's tons of fun.
And then there's also a one lastplace there's Tomo, which was
converted into a fine diningrestaurant from an adult video store.
it's just, you Which is.
It's a very interesting,
Yeah, it sounds like it
Um, yeah, a lot of personality for sure.
And then I definitelyrecommend, West Seattle.
(26:21):
It's not like the most hidden gem, butI think West Seattle has a lot of tiny
little parks and places to do urbanhiking and that kind of thing that I
don't think a lot of people realize.
You know, there's Camp Longand a Longfellow Creek Trail
that I just stumbled upon whenI was walking my little dog.
So West Seattle if you're veryoutdoorsy and you want to go like
(26:43):
hiking without having to leave thecity I definitely recommend that.
Even just the hike along Alki will takeyou to you know, different parks like Jack
Block Park, where you can have a reallygreat view of downtown Seattle's, and,
Constellation Park, where you can go tidepooling and all of these kind of things.
So
Yeah, so it's not like you have todrive all the way to the Cascades
(27:04):
or Mount Rainier to go on a hikeor do these outdoorsy things.
It's right
No, yeah, exactly.
There's like a lot of placeslike that in the city.
And I will also mention, Beacon Hill,which I have to shout out because I used
to actually live in the neighborhood,and I think it's very underrated.
It's right on the light rail line, soit's super easy to get to, and its food
scene is actually, getting a lot of buzz.
There's Musang, which is, Filipino, Ibelieve it's Filipino fusion, and then
(27:28):
Homer is like a Mediterranean restaurantthat has the best pitas and they give
you like a bunch of dips for them.
Beacon Hill is also a really great spotfor, again, like the community of Seattle.
So there's the station and El Centralde la Raza, are two, places that do a lot
for just the community that lives there.
(27:49):
And then there's the Beacon FoodForest, which is the largest
public food forest in the nation.
It's like a seven acre,volunteer run, food forest.
And you can walk through this, you can,you know, help out at work parties,
but also you can forage for free there.
So it's open to
I've never, yeah, I've neverheard of a food forest before.
(28:10):
Yeah, it, it's so cool and it's funnyI learned about it like after I moved
away from Beacon Hill, but their wholemission is to help with food insecurity
for people in the neighborhood.
I think it's really cool that youcan just kind of go year round
like they're out there making surethe garden is thriving year round.
(28:30):
the last place I willtalk about is Georgetown.
Which is more of anindustrial, neighborhood,
It kind of reminds me of Tacoma a littlebit, like a mini Tacoma in Seattle.
It's very industrial.
, if you go down the main strip of airportway, like you'll probably see, trains
going by and have planes overhead butthere are some really cool gems there.
(28:54):
There's the Georgetown steam plant,which in the early 20th century,
that's where, all of, Seattle'sstreetcars used to get their power
from that used to power all of those.
Eventually when we switched tohydroelectric power, but it's been
designated as like a, national historic.
landmark and it's a very cool place.
I went on a tour there.
(29:15):
This had to be, this was pre pandemic.
I believe it was in, 2018.
And it's very cool.
If you kind of like the vibeof steampunk type things.
I like to say if you like, GasworksPark, which is a really cool
park in North Seattle that hasthese old gasification plants.
You can't explore them or anything, butif you want that vibe and you want to see
history as well, then go to GeorgetownSteam Plant and they do free tours.
(29:40):
I believe like twice a month.
So that's really cool.
And they're converting it intoa space for like art shows and
education and that kind of thing.
So, that's one thing in Georgetown.
And then like in complete contrastwith that, it has the Corson Building,
which is, a restaurant that Ibelieve is also early 20th century,
but it's a very beautiful building.
(30:01):
It's like these gorgeous gardens withthese antique looking statues, like red
brick building, and you can get oneof the best meals in Seattle there.
So, you have this very industrial,and then very pretty, and vintage
esque place, all in Georgetown.
Yeah, those are some of the gems.
I don't think get enoughlove, but they really should.
(30:22):
No, thank you so much for those.
And actually it's funny.
My, I used to work at a brewery in Tucsonand our brewer had moved from Seattle and
he was the brewer at Georgetown brewing.
And so the one time, yeah.
And he's amazing at what he does.
And, When I went to Seattle a fewyears back, my cousin was like, why
do you want to go to Georgetown?
And she had never reallybeen there either.
I was like, well, we got to gotry the beers at this brewery.
(30:44):
And it was fantastic.
And it was, like you said, therewere a lot of like very cool
historic buildings, but then also.
It just looked very like industrial andthis like juxtaposition of the buildings.
I really enjoyed it there.
So I'm so happy that you mentioned that.
And, and all these other hidden gems, it'sbeen so great talking to you about Seattle
today and you really are the expert.
And for all of you listening, we're goingto link all of Chelsea's amazing articles.
(31:08):
Well, not all of them, but theones that were mentioned today.
And I strongly encourage you to gocheck out her page at travelloving.
com.
She's one of my favorite writers.
You truly are.
I'm not just saying that.
I love your imagery andthe photos you post.
Chelsea's a fantastic writer.
So we are just so lucky to have you.
And I'm so glad that we got totalk all about Seattle today.
So is there anything else that you wantedto, mention before we say our goodbyes?
(31:32):
I think we covered a lot ofit, and I would just say come
to Seattle with an open mind.
You know, I think we get a lot of,representation that we're, very rude
or, we're all, You know, passiveaggressive, which that one might be
a little bit true, but I think thatDefinitely come with an open mind.
I think come seeking out nature andknowing that The people are very kind and
(31:57):
there's tons to do here, in any seasoneven if you come in the rainy season I
had a friend visit me in november andit was one of the best visits I've ever
Yes.
Don't, don't be afraid of the rain people.
And, I know we didn't really cover thingsoutside of Seattle cause we wanted to
really focus on things to do in the city.
But Chelsea again has some reallygreat articles on, some of the really
amazing places in the Pacific Northwest,especially for outdoorsy things.
(32:21):
Like your, article on backpacking toStahik in the most remote town in,
in America or the Pacific Northwest.
I can't quite
remember
The most remote town in the whole world.
Yeah,
But yeah.
And it was so great.
So again, check out Chelsea's work.
She's fantastic.
And thank you all so much for listening.
(32:42):
If you have any comments, questionsabout Seattle, let If you want to talk
about your own experiences in the city orwant to mention some of your own hidden
gems, we'd love to hear about them.
So thank you so muchfor being here, Chelsea.
It was a pleasure gettingto talk to you today.
I had so much fun.
Thank you, Betty.
Of course.
All right.
We'll see you soon.
promised our 2025 list ofthe best places to travel
(33:03):
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Dozens of us get together tomake this spectacle of a list.
It's always one of our mostpopular articles and it's a super
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To find it.
All you have to do is searchtravel ing places to travel in
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(33:24):
Now, last year our topdestination was Mexico's Yucatan.
In fact, Nate actually goes intoa deep dive on why it's the most
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In our second episode of the podcast.
In case you missed it, Istrongly suggest going back and
giving that episode a listen.
It is jam packed with amazingtips and information on the
(33:45):
best ways to visit the state.
But anyway, our list of the topplaces to visit in 2025 is announced.
And we've got some awesome podcastepisodes \ with more members of
our team discussing their picks forthe list of top 50 destinations.
So get excited.
I guarantee you, you're going to wantto add a ton of these destinations.
To your 2025 travel bucket list.
(34:06):
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(34:28):
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That's all for today.
(35:08):
We hope you enjoyed the show.
Thank you so much for tuning inand thank you to Chelsea Booker.
for your Seattle expertise.
You were a lovely podcast guest andmake sure that if you have any comments,
questions, concerns, anything that youwant to tell us about the show, please
feel free to tell us in the comments.
We really enjoy hearing from you andwe want to hear from you as always
travel safe and we'll see you next time.
I feel like there's a lot ofmisinformation about safety in Seattle.
In general, I really feel likesome things can be a little
bit blown out of proportion,
So would not say Seattle is thataffordable on, the outset, like you
do kind of have to make, specificdecisions to make it more affordable.
A few, neighborhoods that I think aredefinitely hidden gems that I think
(00:24):
a lot of people should explore andthat I think could get some more love.
The first one is
What comes to mind whenyou think of Seattle?
For some, Starbucks, the SpaceNeedle, and of course, rainy weather.
But there's a lot more to this PacificNorthwestern town than you might think.
Travel Lemming's own Chelsea Bookerjoins me today for a deep dive into all
things Seattle, from her favorite hiddengems to how to navigate the weather.
(00:48):
We're changing up the format ofthe show today just to give Chelsea
the full spotlight since she has somany wonderful tips about Seattle.
But after our interview, I'mgoing to be sharing with you
our biggest project of the year.
Our list of the top 50places to visit in 2025.
More on that in a bit, but fornow, let's jump right in to why
you should plan a trip to Seattle.
(01:08):
A very warm welcome to Chelsea Booker.
She's one of our amazingeditors here at Travel Living.
Chelsea's lived in Seattlefor the past almost 15 years.
And she's our experton all things, Seattle.
She's written some really greatpieces on the best things to do
in the city, the best restaurants,coffee shops, which is huge to me
because I'm a big coffee connoisseur.
She's also got some reallyawesome perspective pieces on
(01:31):
local travel and exploring thenearby Pacific Northwest areas.
So we're going to get into all ofthat as well as some of Chelsea's
favorite hidden gems in Seattle.
But first I want to just go aheadand throw it over to her and
allow her to introduce herself.
So Chelsea, thank you so much forbeing here with me today and welcome
to the Travel Loving Podcast.
Thank you.
I am so thrilled to be here.
(01:52):
, thank you so much for asking me tocome on and just to get to Geek out
about my favorite place, Washington andSeattle is just, it just has my heart.
And, yeah, like you said, I'vebeen here for about 15 years.
I came here in kind of a roundabout way.
It's funny.
I actually, my early childhood, I livedin Las Vegas, which, you know, it was
totally different desert, all of that.
(02:14):
And then my family, we moved up to.
Rochester, which is anarea in upstate New York.
And I remember getting there and seeinglike trees, like greenery and clouds and
like gray weather for the first time.
And I think it justcompletely captivated me.
And then we moved to California and Iremember just liking more of the bigger
(02:36):
city vibe because we moved to LA.
But then I guess you could say Ideveloped a taste for cloudy weather
because I came back to Seattleand I've been here ever since.
So yeah, like you said, I'man editor at Travel Lemming.
I, currently live herewith my dog and my husband.
And yeah, I'm really excited to chatabout all of my favorite places.
Yes, and I'm so glad that I havethe opportunity to talk to you about
(02:59):
this because my brother actually justmoved back to Arizona from Seattle
while he was in Gig Harbor, whichis on the outskirts of the city.
I know like an hour outside and itwas a kind of a similar thing where.
You know, he grew up in Arizona andhad always wanted like that greenery
and the trees and the clouds and therain and the just seasons, because
we don't really get that here.
And so I would go visitfor the past six years.
(03:21):
And so I thought I knew things todo in Seattle, and then I see all
the things that you've written.
I'm like, , I haven'tdone any of these things.
And for those of you who haven'tchecked it out yet, Chelsea has
a really awesome list of the 63best things to do in Seattle.
So she's obviously the expert, she talksabout things to do in the outdoors, free
things, museums, events, attractions,things to do on rainy days, as well as
(03:44):
Restaurants, and it's so informative.
I think I've done like oneof these things on this list.
And also all the times I've beento Seattle, it's been in the
summertime because it's so quiet.
My family always says,Oh, come in the summer.
So I've rarely experienced itmyself when it's rainy, which like
I have this unrealistic vision ofSeattle where it's always sunny
and beautiful, perfect weather.
And I know that's not typically the case.
(04:05):
So I'm excited.
Cause I know you said you have some reallygreat ideas about what to do during that
time, which I think is right now, right?
Like when is the rainy season?
Oh, we are fully into the rainy season.
I do often tell people that if you wantto fall in love with Seattle and just
like the surroundings definitely come.
In the summertime that is the timeto come because it is gorgeous.
(04:26):
The weather is perfect You know, it's nottoo hot, but I think that there is just
something about the rainy season that justfeels more authentically seattle and just
pacific northwestern It's funny, afterliving here for almost 15 years, I now
find myself after summer, being like,oh gosh, when is the rain gonna come?
So you really do start to adapt to it,and I think you just see, a little
(04:47):
bit more of an authentic side, whenyou come during the rainy season.
Yes.
Well, I would love to get into that.
So why don't we just go ahead anddive right into why we're here today.
Why do you think peopleshould visit Seattle?
What are the main reasonsthat make it worth exploring?
Of course, so I'm going to take ita little broad first and just talk
about Washington in general, andthen I'll narrow more in on Seattle.
(05:08):
And so one of the main reasons tocome to Washington it's absolutely
beautiful here, you know, thereare so many different landscapes.
Washington is called theevergreen state for a reason.
All of that rain makes it just glow green.
It's absolutely beautiful.
And you have the mountainsand you have the water.
you have the Cascade Mountain Range,you have the Olympic Mountain Range.
(05:29):
And beyond that, there are,volcanoes, there are islands,
there are, Lakes and waterfalls.
There are so many different opportunitiesfor, outdoor recreation like if you're
a nature lover, you will just bespoiled, in Seattle and Washington.
One thing I don't think people realizetoo is, It's not all green though,
is because if you head to easternWashington, which I will admit like
(05:53):
I want to do more exploring out east,but if you head to eastern Washington,
past the Cascades, it's actuallya totally different environment
because you have, lots of farmland.
You have these landscapes that seemalmost prehistoric, it's gorges
and coolies and things thatwere carved that way by Ice Age
So, it's really magnificent.
And the other thing I would say isthat you should come to Seattle because
(06:16):
it's situated so perfectly that youcan easily access a lot of that.
Washington has three national parks.
You can get to all of them fromSeattle within two to three hours.
So It's easy to take a lot ofday trips from Seattle to of
these different islands, you know,Bainbridge, Fashon are great places.
And I feel like a lot of peoplethink that Washington is just like,
(06:37):
they think of twilight, like it'sjust constantly in this foggy mist.
And there's so many different areas.
Yeah, yeah, I like to saywestern Washington, like, come
in the wintertime, a raincoat.
Eastern Washington, you're gonnaneed, a bigger, puffy jacket.
Something to keep you warm, becausethey do get snow over there,
so with that, like how faris Seattle from the coast?
(06:57):
Because I think a lot of people have amisconception that Seattle is located
on the ocean because they see thewater, which I think I thought when
I was a kid that it was right there.
So how far is Seattle from the ocean?
And how does that differ fromthe sound environment there?
Yeah, so if you are going to, thecoast, it'll take you, about three
plus ish hours, I would say, youcan do it in a day trip, I have
(07:19):
done that in a day trip, and I wouldsay it's nice to have the sound,
So the Puget Sound, it is technicallypart of the Pacific ocean, but it's
A series of waterways that goes down.
So you're not going to have wildcrashing waves and that kind of thing.
If you do go to the coast,that's where you get it.
And honestly, the Washingtoncoast is magnificent.
(07:40):
It's very wild, very rugged . Butit is nice that we have the sound
because whale watching as one of the,major things to do in Washington.
Sometimes you can seethem from various points.
Like I live in West Seattle and justlast week, like the J pod orcas were
cited from land, so you can see thesemagnificent, beings without having to
(08:01):
go to like the coast, and especially ifyou're going up by the San Juan Islands
there's whale watching tours over there.
That's awesome.
So back to Seattle, so getting there.
Is it pretty easy?
Like, how do you recommend gettingaround would you rent a car?
Is there good public transport?
So first of all, when you're firstlanding, the great thing about, the
SeaTac airport is that it's connectedto Seattle by the light rail.
(08:24):
If people come visit me, I don'tpick them up from the airport.
I give them directions to getonto the train and and I'll
pick you up at another stop.
It's really simple to get fromthe airport into downtown.
It takes maybe, 40 ish minutes.
And then when you are in Seattle,you don't have to rent a car.
Seattle is super walkable andpublic transit makes it really
easy to get around as well.
(08:46):
So, the light rail is a key thing thatlinks the South in the north side,
and there's a lot of expansion that'scurrently happening right now, like
the north end just opened, so it goesbeyond, Northgate all the way up to
Linwood, which is a suburb, further upWashington, and then it's eventually
gonna connect, down to Federal Way,which is just north of Tacoma, but
beyond that, Getting from SeaTac toSeattle and to all of the various
(09:08):
neighborhoods along the way in SouthSeattle and North Seattle is very easy.
You also have, the buses,which are pretty good.
There are a couple streetcarsthat run through some of the
major neighborhoods in Seattle.
And again, Seattle is very walkable.
Like it's not very sprawling.
So, you're downtown.
You can literally goto, the top attraction.
You could go to Pike Place Market,easily walk down to the waterfront,
(09:31):
walk back up to Olympic SculpturePark, and then to Seattle Center.
And then you can, take themonorail back downtown.
It's very simple to get around.
It's really nice, especially ifyou don't want to rent a car.
So I would say though, if you arecoming to Seattle and you're just like
basing yourself in Seattle and youwant to go out to explore more out
in the mountains or do lots of hikes,then you probably will want a car.
(09:54):
That's just the simplest way.
There is a, bus that will take youduring the summer months only to
some of the major hiking trails
so that's kind of one of mybudget tips too is you can save
a lot if you're just planning onusing public transit and walking.
That's a great budget tip tooabout visiting there and not
necessarily having to pay thatmassive fee every day for a car.
So back to Seattle, things to do.
(10:16):
What are your mainreasons for coming there?
Like what are the greatest things thatyou think someone, either a newcomer or
even a local who hasn't fully exploredthe city, what are those main attractions
that you think are worth visiting?
Yeah, so you definitely need tostart with Pike Place Market.
That's the number one attraction
and
it's a classic, but it's so worth it, youknow, even as a local, it's pretty much
(10:40):
always crowded and it can be overwhelmingbut I always just have so much fun.
It is partially because Iknow it really well.
But, there's alwayslots of activity there.
That's the place where you'll find,flower vendors, fruit vendors, you have
people who are just going to be plyingyou with samples as you walk through,
which is always, a nice little touch.
And then you have a lot of reallygood restaurants, whether you want
(11:02):
like a sit down, like, The Pink Door,which is a popular Italian place.
It's in Post Alley and it's onlyidentifiable by a pink door.
And that one is pretty cool because theyoften have live music or, burlesque shows
or cabaret while you're having dinner.
But, you can also just go somewherelike, Land of Origin, which is a tiny
little shop that is one of my personalfavorite hidden gems in Pike Place Market.
(11:27):
And they have, all these differentpastries from different African countries.
So, yeah.
Pike Place Market is definitely whereI think everyone should go not only
for food, souvenirs, and just liketo people watch, also for the views,
but I would also say, the other two,main attractions are the waterfront
and Seattle Center, and like I said,actually get there very easily.
(11:48):
The, Pike Place Market Overlook Walkjust opened in October, and that's
really convenient because now you can gofrom the market and you can easily walk
down to the waterfront and It has thisextra seating area, come summer, they're
probably going to have a lot of eventstoo, that they're going to put on there.
There's also like a little play areafor kids and just the views out over
(12:11):
the sound from here, like definitelygo at sunset it is so gorgeous.
And yeah, then if you're crossingthe overlook, you can go down to the
waterfront and if you head south,you'll see, the aquarium, the great
wheel, and the more touristy stuff.
You know, if you have something bookedover there, like a boat cruise, that's
where you would go and that's fine.
(12:31):
But I would say to go, head northtoward Olympic Sculpture Park.
Which is actually a free partof the Seattle Art Museum.
So it's exactly what it sounds like.
It has a bunch of, abstractsculptures and a walking path.
And as you're walking, up this way,you come to the Seattle center.
You start to see the spaceneedle and that's your little
indicator of where you're going.
And the Seattle center is great.
(12:52):
It's kind of like thecultural center of Seattle.
So you have.
The Space Needle, of course youhave the Museum of Pop Culture.
You have a lot of very kid friendly,attractions like the Children's
Museum and PCI Pacific Science Center.
also, have a lot of cultural eventsthroughout the year there too.
They have croatian Fest, they have Diwali,they have, all sorts of, different
(13:16):
cultural festivals, and if you are inthe Seattle Center, One thing that I would
do as well is go to, KEXP, which is likea local radio broadcast that actually
started at, the University of Washington,I want to say in the 70s or 80s.
And that's a really cool spot formusic lovers too, because they
have like live DJs there and alot of events that you can go to.
(13:39):
Yeah, that is exactly whatI would want to do there.
And I feel like there's just somethingfor everyone in Seattle, like everything
you're talking about it, there's culturalthings for such a diverse group, there's
a lot of indoor things, which again, ifit is raining and it's during the rainy
season, like don't want to go outsidebecause it's gray and gloomy and rainy.
It's like there's so many thingsthat you can still go out and
explore and still enjoy the city.
(14:02):
funny because I think people areunder the assumption that we don't
go out when it's rainy, but we do.
Like, you just, have a good rainjacket, because a lot of people
in Seattle don't use umbrellas.
If you do, it's fine.
It's not a big deal.
But yeah, like people still go out,people still go hiking, people still,
you know, like I went to Alki Beachlast winter and it was packed.
(14:25):
People were still out and about justbundled up and it's really nice
because you can get your hot coffee.
Hot coffee tastes better whenit's cold, in my opinion.
Very
yeah.
you just gotta, gottaadapt to the weather.
yeah, exactly.
Another misconception I think people haveis that they think of the rain here as
like really heavy pouring showers wherewe do like sometimes get that but more
(14:48):
often than not it's more drizzly for alittle bit and then it'll stop and then
the clouds are clear the sun will come outand then it'll like and the clouds will
come back and then it's drizzly again so.
You know, if you're looking at theweather forecast and it's like, oh,
it's going to be rainy all week.
It's not going to just beconstantly pouring all week.
But actually, you can check out one ofmy articles, about this, my Seattle tips.
(15:11):
Yeah, which again, we are going tobe linking all of these articles that
Chelsea has written in the show notes,so make sure to check those out later.
But yeah, I definitely do thinkthat a lot of people are kind of
dissuaded from going because of that.
But it's really manageablewhen you're there.
Oh, yeah, it's manageable as long asyou just have rain jacket waterproof
boots and You're pretty much set to go
(15:31):
And so I know that we mentionedearlier that you're in the rainy
season right now, and we'rerecording this right now in November.
This might be posted a little bit later.
but what are those exact months thatyou have the sunny summer months and
when does it start getting into therain and when does that lighten up?
If you can give us a timeline just sopeople kind of have a better idea of.
When they might want to visit.
Yeah, so, I would say the clearer noncloudy days usually start around mid May,
(15:54):
so from mid May to about mid October, youcan usually count on it being mostly dry.
And the transition is pretty stark,like mid October, and then all the
way through April, you're gonnaget some rain, for the most part.
October I think is a really goodtime to come because you have all of
(16:14):
the changing fall foliage and thenthe crowds have started to disperse.
It can be unpredictable weatherwise but I think it's still very
good, you get that crisp fall.
The rainiest months I will sayare probably between November and
February, in January or February,sometimes we end up getting snow,
so on the topic of that soundslike perfect coffee weather.
(16:35):
And I know that Seattle is thecoffee capital of the United States.
Correct.
Mm hmm.
I mean, obviously it's thebirthplace of Starbucks and I know
I've walked past that Starbucks.
I think the original one it's rightacross from Pike place market.
Right.
There's a Starbucks in Pike PlaceMarket, and a lot of people are
under the impression that that'sthe first Starbucks, and it's not.
It's, you actually said the right thing,it's called the original Starbucks,
(16:57):
and that's because the first Starbucksdoesn't exist, but they moved, a
lot of the historical information andthat kind of stuff to that Starbucks.
I would say skip that Starbucks.
There's always a long line of tourists,
Well, and that's what I was goingto say because I've never actually
gone into that one because I alwayssee a line wrapped around the whole
block to get into that Starbucks.
And it's just like, what isgoing to make this unique?
(17:20):
And the fact that I didn'trealize it wasn't the first one.
So there's so muchgreat coffee in Seattle.
I would rather go to a local storeand support local Then go into the
original Starbucks, and wait foran hour just to set foot in there
to get something I could get inArizona and anywhere else in the world.
Exactly.
If you're coming to Seattle, pleasetry, like, the local indie shops.
If you do really want Starbucks,go to the Starbucks Reserve
(17:43):
Roastery, which is, right on theedge of Capitol Hill, in downtown.
And that one's pretty cool, because,they actually have, experimental
blends, you can see them roasting it.
Yeah, not to knock
that
out there.
Yeah,
that.
it's okay.
But I really think that if youwant more of the coffee culture
you have to go to the smaller shop.
So if you're looking for like coffeebeans, like really good drip coffee
(18:04):
and single origin coffee, I wouldsay Herkimer coffee, Olympia Coffee
Roasters has really great, beans.
One of my favorites in West Seattle isC& P Coffee, and that one is really cool.
They have a lot of events, likeopen mics, they have silent
reading nights and all of that.
And, do you have a list of yourfavorite coffee shops in Seattle
on Travel Lemming's website?
(18:25):
I do, yeah,
Yeah, we'll have that in the show notes,of course, too, which I will for sure be
looking at for my next visit to Seattle.
And one other thing I really wantedto talk about is the music scene.
Because I know Seattle is the birthplaceof like quite a few really big bands.
And one of the big reasons my cousinwanted to move there is because she's
such a concert goer and she always saidI just want to live in Seattle because I
could go to a concert every single week.
(18:45):
And she basically does that.
And so what are some oflike the really cool venues?
I know that there's some reallysmall, intimate ones there
as well as really big arenas.
Where do you recommend peoplego to see some of those
really great smaller artists,
So I recently went to a show at theMoore theater, which is in Belltown.
You can usually catch somesmaller acts there.
There's also Tim's Tavern, whichis in White Center, which is a
(19:08):
hidden gem that I don't think alot of people know that much about.
They pretty much always have onlive music shows and the most I've
seen is maybe 15 bucks to get in.
I also really like, Showbox Sotowhere I saw some of my first
concerts when I moved here.
Yeah.
Well, I love it.
So Chelsea, tell me how you feelabout affordability in the city.
Is it a pretty affordable place to visit,
(19:30):
yeah, so would not say Seattle isthat affordable on, the outset, like
you do kind of have to make, specificdecisions to make it more affordable.
Like I mentioned earlier, usingpublic transit, instead of renting
a car, walking on the ferries,
I would also say, hitting up happyhours . Alibi room and Pike place
market has a really good happy hour.
(19:51):
Seattle can be pretty expensive,but it's just more that you need to
do a lot of research and then youcan find out, where are the places
that are more budget friendly.
Yeah.
So do you think like hotels orAirbnb's like, is there really a
difference do you think in the pricepoints for those or do you think
they're all pretty much the same?
(20:12):
Yeah, so there's definitely a range ofhotels and you can find some more budget
friendly hotels and also a hostel.
There's, I believe it's called the GreenTortoise Hostel in downtown Seattle.
So if you want like the cheapestoption, that one's a good choice.
But in general, in general,it's a little pricier.
One area I would recommend, that I'verecommended in my guide for Where to
(20:34):
stay is the U district and the reasonfor that is because the hotels can be a
little bit cheaper, but then you also haveeasy access to the light rail, so that
makes it so you're not staying right indowntown where it's the most expensive,
but you can easily get there to, you know,go to the attractions and also, in the U
district, there's this, strip called theAve, where they have cheaper eateries and
(20:57):
stuff, especially because the universitydistrict is what that stands for.
So, you know, you have moreof a youthful atmosphere.
You have college students and stuff thereand with that comes some cheaper food and
it's not, it's not like cheap and bad.
Like, there's a lot of really good,tasty food up that way as well.
So it's just about choosingthe right, place to stay
Right.
So they've got quite a range there.
Well, that's great.
Thank you so much for that.
(21:18):
And also how is the safetysituation in Seattle?
yeah, so I feel like there's a lot ofmisinformation about safety in Seattle.
You know, Seattle is a big city,but it kind of has the vibe of a
midsize city, but it is a big city.
So you do have to use,the same, precautions that
you would in any big city.
(21:39):
, I will say, like there are certainareas definitely where you will
see, more people experiencinghomelessness and that kind of thing.
But in general, I really feellike some things can be a little
bit blown out of proportion,
So, there are certain areaslike in downtown that, are
not necessarily dangerous.
I wouldn't go and explore them, atnight or I'd just be really cautious
(22:04):
but in general, Seattle is a verysafe area and if you want, like,
places that are considered the safest.
There's, West Seattle, certain places inNorth Seattle, like Ballard and, you know,
these places kind of on the outskirts,but it's kind of like the same things
that all big cities really struggle with.
Right.
Yeah, of course.
Yeah, I know that there have definitelybeen some things I've seen about Seattle
(22:25):
since especially like 2020 and onwardand I do think you're right I think a
lot of things like people will get hookedon one major story and then Suddenly
that becomes the personality of theentire city, which isn't necessarily
true I mean, it's rarely true.
So every time that I visited I'venever felt like unsafe, but also,
don't be running around in the streetsin the middle of the night, maybe,
going out to the bars and all that.
(22:46):
But yeah, I think for the most part,from what I've experienced, I've
always had a very pleasant time.
So you think for families, solotravelers, still a great place to visit.
Oh, for sure.
Yeah, I definitely think so.
And especially, like, if you are justhanging out at the main attractions in
those areas, they're perfectly safe.
You know, like, honestly, I've even been,through Pike Place Market and, that whole
(23:08):
area in the evening, you know, on my wayto, Go to the Moore theater recently, and
it was perfectly fine The Seattle Center,especially I often suggest like the Queen
Anne area For families, especially becausethe Seattle Center is very safe Even
in evenings, especially because there'salways lots of events like at Climate
Pledge Arena and that kind of thing.
Yeah,
thank you for that.
(23:28):
Lovely.
Well, I think that that's really allI have for you right now, Chelsea.
Are there any other thingsthat you wanted to discuss or.
Anything I might be missing aboutwhy people should visit Seattle
or anything in particular thatthey should know before they go?
Yeah.
A few, neighborhoods that I think aredefinitely hidden gems that I think
a lot of people should explore andthat I think could get some more love.
(23:50):
The first one is White Center,which technically it's an
unincorporated community.
It's not like technically part ofSeattle, but it's just south of West
Seattle and it it feels like Seattle.
And the reason I really like thisis because I think it feels like
The Capitol Hill is right now likethe most popular neighborhood.
Like everybody knows about it.
(24:10):
And when I moved here, 15 years ago,like I lived kind of in the Capitol
Hill area, it felt pretty different.
It still had a little bit of agrunge, a little bit of that, , I
guess, counterculture, feel to it.
It's still a great place to go,but it's definitely trendier.
You know, it's moreexpensive and all of that.
And so, White Center is a placethat to me, feels like Capitol
(24:30):
Hill did all those years ago.
It's definitely more up and coming.
There's a lot of new businesses, andone of the reasons I really like it
is just it feels much more communal.
More so than like, when I go out to, a barin Capitol Hill, I don't really expect,
you know, to strike up a conversationwith other people, but, pretty much every
time I go to a bar in White Center, youknow, people are, we're all chatting,
(24:53):
people are chatting together and, youknow, you're meeting people, I, I went to
this one place called Future Primitive inWhite Center, which is one of my favorite
breweries, and ran into a group justwatching, sumo wrestling, and we all just
got together for weeks after and just wentto go watch sumo wrestling together there.
it's really great, and there's so manygems there, there's Two Finger Social,
(25:14):
which is like this really cool movie bar.
My husband absolutely loves it.
He's a really big movie guy andyou go in and you see all of like
these props from, things like Alien,Caddyshack, like all over the bar
and it's just like a very, cool vibe.
They, sometimes have likeburlesque shows there.
There's also, Lariat Bar,which is a wrestling theme bar.
(25:37):
And same thing, thedecor is just very fun.
There's a giant, a life size, Iguess, Andre the Giant poster there.
And they have a little, wrestlingring where you can do, karaoke.
Plus they, during community events, theyactually host live wrestling matches.
So if you are ever in white center inthe summertime for the block party, you
(26:00):
should definitely go check that out.
It's tons of fun.
And then there's also a one lastplace there's Tomo, which was
converted into a fine diningrestaurant from an adult video store.
it's just, you Which is.
It's a very interesting,
Yeah, it sounds like it
Um, yeah, a lot of personality for sure.
And then I definitelyrecommend, West Seattle.
(26:21):
It's not like the most hidden gem, butI think West Seattle has a lot of tiny
little parks and places to do urbanhiking and that kind of thing that I
don't think a lot of people realize.
You know, there's Camp Longand a Longfellow Creek Trail
that I just stumbled upon whenI was walking my little dog.
So West Seattle if you're veryoutdoorsy and you want to go like
(26:43):
hiking without having to leave thecity I definitely recommend that.
Even just the hike along Alki will takeyou to you know, different parks like Jack
Block Park, where you can have a reallygreat view of downtown Seattle's, and,
Constellation Park, where you can go tidepooling and all of these kind of things.
So
Yeah, so it's not like you have todrive all the way to the Cascades
(27:04):
or Mount Rainier to go on a hikeor do these outdoorsy things.
It's right
No, yeah, exactly.
There's like a lot of placeslike that in the city.
And I will also mention, Beacon Hill,which I have to shout out because I used
to actually live in the neighborhood,and I think it's very underrated.
It's right on the light rail line, soit's super easy to get to, and its food
scene is actually, getting a lot of buzz.
There's Musang, which is, Filipino, Ibelieve it's Filipino fusion, and then
(27:28):
Homer is like a Mediterranean restaurantthat has the best pitas and they give
you like a bunch of dips for them.
Beacon Hill is also a really great spotfor, again, like the community of Seattle.
So there's the station and El Centralde la Raza, are two, places that do a lot
for just the community that lives there.
(27:49):
And then there's the Beacon FoodForest, which is the largest
public food forest in the nation.
It's like a seven acre,volunteer run, food forest.
And you can walk through this, you can,you know, help out at work parties,
but also you can forage for free there.
So it's open to
I've never, yeah, I've neverheard of a food forest before.
(28:10):
Yeah, it, it's so cool and it's funnyI learned about it like after I moved
away from Beacon Hill, but their wholemission is to help with food insecurity
for people in the neighborhood.
I think it's really cool that youcan just kind of go year round
like they're out there making surethe garden is thriving year round.
(28:30):
the last place I willtalk about is Georgetown.
Which is more of anindustrial, neighborhood,
It kind of reminds me of Tacoma a littlebit, like a mini Tacoma in Seattle.
It's very industrial.
, if you go down the main strip of airportway, like you'll probably see, trains
going by and have planes overhead butthere are some really cool gems there.
(28:54):
There's the Georgetown steam plant,which in the early 20th century,
that's where, all of, Seattle'sstreetcars used to get their power
from that used to power all of those.
Eventually when we switched tohydroelectric power, but it's been
designated as like a, national historic.
landmark and it's a very cool place.
I went on a tour there.
(29:15):
This had to be, this was pre pandemic.
I believe it was in, 2018.
And it's very cool.
If you kind of like the vibeof steampunk type things.
I like to say if you like, GasworksPark, which is a really cool
park in North Seattle that hasthese old gasification plants.
You can't explore them or anything, butif you want that vibe and you want to see
history as well, then go to GeorgetownSteam Plant and they do free tours.
(29:40):
I believe like twice a month.
So that's really cool.
And they're converting it intoa space for like art shows and
education and that kind of thing.
So, that's one thing in Georgetown.
And then like in complete contrastwith that, it has the Corson Building,
which is, a restaurant that Ibelieve is also early 20th century,
but it's a very beautiful building.
(30:01):
It's like these gorgeous gardens withthese antique looking statues, like red
brick building, and you can get oneof the best meals in Seattle there.
So, you have this very industrial,and then very pretty, and vintage
esque place, all in Georgetown.
Yeah, those are some of the gems.
I don't think get enoughlove, but they really should.
(30:22):
No, thank you so much for those.
And actually it's funny.
My, I used to work at a brewery in Tucsonand our brewer had moved from Seattle and
he was the brewer at Georgetown brewing.
And so the one time, yeah.
And he's amazing at what he does.
And, When I went to Seattle a fewyears back, my cousin was like, why
do you want to go to Georgetown?
And she had never reallybeen there either.
I was like, well, we got to gotry the beers at this brewery.
(30:44):
And it was fantastic.
And it was, like you said, therewere a lot of like very cool
historic buildings, but then also.
It just looked very like industrial andthis like juxtaposition of the buildings.
I really enjoyed it there.
So I'm so happy that you mentioned that.
And, and all these other hidden gems, it'sbeen so great talking to you about Seattle
today and you really are the expert.
And for all of you listening, we're goingto link all of Chelsea's amazing articles.
(31:08):
Well, not all of them, but theones that were mentioned today.
And I strongly encourage you to gocheck out her page at travelloving.
com.
She's one of my favorite writers.
You truly are.
I'm not just saying that.
I love your imagery andthe photos you post.
Chelsea's a fantastic writer.
So we are just so lucky to have you.
And I'm so glad that we got totalk all about Seattle today.
So is there anything else that you wantedto, mention before we say our goodbyes?
(31:32):
I think we covered a lot ofit, and I would just say come
to Seattle with an open mind.
You know, I think we get a lot of,representation that we're, very rude
or, we're all, You know, passiveaggressive, which that one might be
a little bit true, but I think thatDefinitely come with an open mind.
I think come seeking out nature andknowing that The people are very kind and
(31:57):
there's tons to do here, in any seasoneven if you come in the rainy season I
had a friend visit me in november andit was one of the best visits I've ever
Yes.
Don't, don't be afraid of the rain people.
And, I know we didn't really cover thingsoutside of Seattle cause we wanted to
really focus on things to do in the city.
But Chelsea again has some reallygreat articles on, some of the really
amazing places in the Pacific Northwest,especially for outdoorsy things.
(32:21):
Like your, article on backpacking toStahik in the most remote town in,
in America or the Pacific Northwest.
I can't quite
remember
The most remote town in the whole world.
Yeah,
But yeah.
And it was so great.
So again, check out Chelsea's work.
She's fantastic.
And thank you all so much for listening.
(32:42):
If you have any comments, questionsabout Seattle, let If you want to talk
about your own experiences in the city orwant to mention some of your own hidden
gems, we'd love to hear about them.
So thank you so muchfor being here, Chelsea.
It was a pleasure gettingto talk to you today.
I had so much fun.
Thank you, Betty.
Of course.
All right.
We'll see you soon.
promised our 2025 list ofthe best places to travel
(33:03):
every year, travel lemmingsteam of experts collaborate to
create a list of the best placesto travel in the upcoming year.
Dozens of us get together tomake this spectacle of a list.
It's always one of our mostpopular articles and it's a super
fun way to spark your wanderlust.
To find it.
All you have to do is searchtravel ing places to travel in
whatever search engine you use.
(33:24):
Now, last year our topdestination was Mexico's Yucatan.
In fact, Nate actually goes intoa deep dive on why it's the most
authentic place to visit in Mexico.
In our second episode of the podcast.
In case you missed it, Istrongly suggest going back and
giving that episode a listen.
It is jam packed with amazingtips and information on the
(33:45):
best ways to visit the state.
But anyway, our list of the topplaces to visit in 2025 is announced.
And we've got some awesome podcastepisodes \ with more members of
our team discussing their picks forthe list of top 50 destinations.
So get excited.
I guarantee you, you're going to wantto add a ton of these destinations.
To your 2025 travel bucket list.
(34:06):
And remember to find the article bysearching travel, lemming places to
travel, wherever you surf the web.
And on that note, don't forgetto check out the rest of travel.
Lemming, you can type in anydestination that you're interested
in, in the search bar on our homepage.
And chances are one of our amazingexperts from around the globe has
already written a travel guide on it.
Our library of thousandsof different guides.
(34:28):
is always human first, because after all,nobody knows real travel like real people.
We also have new perspective piecescoming out every single week, and we have
meetups in eight cities around the U.
S.
So right now we have Chicago Denver,San Juan, Nashville, San Francisco,
Vancouver, Seattle, of course.
(34:48):
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So if you live in any of these areas,we would love to meet you so you
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You can also sign up for a yearof ad free content by getting
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All you have to do is use thecode LEMMING on our website.
That's L E M M I N G.
That's all for today.
(35:08):
We hope you enjoyed the show.
Thank you so much for tuning inand thank you to Chelsea Booker.
for your Seattle expertise.
You were a lovely podcast guest andmake sure that if you have any comments,
questions, concerns, anything that youwant to tell us about the show, please
feel free to tell us in the comments.
We really enjoy hearing from you andwe want to hear from you as always
travel safe and we'll see you next time.
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