Seattle is an amazing city that is beautiful year round, and a nature lover’s paradise! If you were as confused as I was when I heard Seattle referred to as The Emerald City, and immediately thought about gems, the “gems” people are speaking of are the evergreen trees that are seen throughout the area year round. While the city is known for its plush greenery, it is also known for rainy, dreary weather which had deterred me from visiting for many years. That shouldn’t stop anyone from visiting because the rain isn’t as bad as its made out to be. Seattle actually gets less than 40 inches of rain over just 150+ days throughout the year.

In this blog post, I’m going to share with you my quick 2-day itinerary for safely traveling through Seattle during Covid-19 for a #covidcation without a car.

Because of Covid-19, traveling internationally is pretty much out of the question for Americans, so a road trip through the U.S. was my best chance of traveling for the latter part of 2020. Seattle was my first stop on my west coast road trip.

Seattle is a great city to visit sans a car. Their public transportation is top tier and gives you access to the entire city. I flew in to SEA-TAC airport and took the 45 minute Link Light Rail ride towards University of Seattle station. The ride is $3 from the airport towards the city, and you can purchase tickets directly from the kiosk at the airport. During Covid, local buses in the city are free, and guests must enter through the back doors to protect the drivers.

We stayed at the Motif Seattle in downtown Seattle on Fifth Ave, and it is conveniently located with access to everything. All of the amenities are closed during Covid, but there’s an outdoor patio with fire pits on the 5th floor with a full bar and food service from The Frolik. We were upgraded to the 18th floor with a view of the water, which was great to wake up to daily.

Day 1

Get Coffee

After you get to the city and check in to your accommodations, you have to start your day off with a trip to the second Starbucks location, which is known as the Original Starbucks in Pike Place Market. Located at 1912 Pike Place, this Starbucks location remains relatively untouched by remodels and store design updates, and boasts the original Starbucks logo, and hand written chalk menu board. There’s often a line to get inside, but once in you’ll see the gold “First Starbucks Store” seal as well as boxes of inventory marked The First Store.

Have Breakfast

Think you can only find flaky buttermilk biscuits in the South? Think again. Biscuit Bitch has two locations: one on 3rd Ave, and the other on 1st Ave at Cafe Lieto, which is closest to Pike Place. Due to Covid-19, they are only offering delivery through third parties and take out with a limited menu of Bitchy Biscuit sandwiches and coffees. You can order online, pick up and go about your day. Just don’t forget your mask!

Explore Pike Place Market

Pike Place Market is an open air public farmer’s market selling fresh fish, produce, flowers, as well as stalls and independent restaurants serving prepared meals. Pike Place Market spans from Alaskan Way on the water to 2nd Ave, so it’s best to explore on foot. Some of the most prominent restaurants are found on Pike Place and Post Alley. You can spend hours going from stall to stall and window shopping, picking up fresh and local goodies along the way.

Enjoy the views of Seattle Waterfront

Seattle’s waterfront is absolutely breathtaking! The Seattle Great Wheel provides a 360° view of the city and surrounding area on a 12 - 20 minute ride. There are social distancing practices in place with only one party per cabin.
If heights aren’t your thing, you can simply take a stroll to the water and pop in to more shops and food stalls along Miner’s Landing.
There are a few boating companies that offer sailing and yacht cruises at Pier 55 and 56. The cruises will set you back ~$45 for 1 - 1.5 hours, and tickets can be purchased same day.

Visit the Gum Wall

There’s a gum wall (yes, literally a wall with people’s used gum on it) in Pike Place Market, that’s so gross, you have to see it in person. Located just under the Public Market Center sign on Pike Street, head towards the bronze pig, and take the stairs down. Take a right turn and once you smell bubblegum and that’s when you know you’ve arrived. Ever so often, city workers come to scrape some of the gum off of the wall because the sugar from the gum starts to erode the brick. It depends on how you look at it because you can fortunately or unfortunately view a sparsely gum filled wall.

Lunch

You’ve probably worked up an appetite from the sightseeing by now, so head to Post Alley for lunch.

The renowned Pike Place Chowder makes some of the creamiest and hearty seafood chowders I’ve ever had. While you can order their chowders in a bread bowl, I recommend skipping the bread bowl and ordering a sampler so you can taste 4 or 8 5-oz servings of chowder that you can also share. During COVID-19, inside dining is not available, so your order is packed up in a brown paper to-go bag. There is outdoor seating in the alley.

Rachel’s Ginger Beer is also in Post Alley, and it is a refreshing treat to enjoy on a warm Seattle day. There are at least one dozen ginger beer flavors at any given time with an always rotating seasonal flavor. The handcrafted ginger beer is served several ways, including on tap over ice, in growlers to go, with soft serve, cocktails on tap, or a build your own Moscow Mule.

Beecher’s Handmade Cheese, here is where you can watch artisanal cheese being made throughout the day, order hot mac & cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, hot soups, or head straight to the counter to purchase grab and go cheese.

Take a hike

Seattle is not without amazing scenic trails for every hiking level. There are a few hiking trails that are easily accessible without the use of a car. We headed to Discovery Park via bus, which was about a 30 minute ride from downtown. The park is great for beginners and is bike friendly. It is also dog friendly as long as the dogs are leashed. The main trail is a 2.8 mile round trip hike, with several short pathways throughout. There’s even a restroom in the park. You have to check out the cliffs and enjoy the views overlooking the water. Although the park is heavily forested, we never lost cell service. We got off the main trail and were lost a few times, but we were always able to open the Maps app to get back on the trail.

The majority of parking lots were closed to limit the number of people in the park and enforce social distancing. Not to worry, there is street parking shortly before you enter the park, and almost everyone at the park was wearing a mask.

Dinner

Wine down for dinner at the full service restaurant, Plum Bistro in the Capital Hill area. Plum Bistro is 100% vegan, and serves meat substitutes like seitan and tempeh so it doesn’t really feel like you’re missing anything if you’re accustomed to an omnivorous diet. The portions are so filling, and hearty. They are offering dine in service with tables inside and outside on the patio. This black owned restaurant boasts a full dessert menu by their subsidiary, Sugar Plum Desserts. Another subsidiary, located next door to Plum Bistro, Plum Chopped is a salad shop, also vegan. Just make sure you don’t plan to visit Chopped on a weekend because they’re closed on Saturdays and Sundays.

Day 2

Breakfast

It’s a must that you visit Ellenos Greek Yogurt in Pike Place for thick and authentic yogurt. When I received recommendations on where to eat in Seattle, everyone kept mentioning Ellenos, and I was confused as to why people said I had to try the yogurt. Now, I can totally understand receiving recommendations for frozen yogurt, but Greek yogurt??? Well, after seeing over 1,800 5-star reviews on Yelp, I understand why Ellenos is so highly rated! Ellenos Greek Yogurt is so thick and creamy, and decadent I promise you’ll fall in love with it, even if you don’t normally enjoy yogurt. Ellenos offers many fresh and unique flavors of Greek yogurt such as orange, lemon churd, lemon cheesecake, marionberry, passionfruit and over a dozen other fruit combos. They are still providing Covid safe samples to customers, so if you’re unsure of a flavor, feel free to ask to taste one, or several. I ordered a small Chai for $5.25 and it was so delicious, I did not expect to enjoy it as much as I did. I was happy to learn that Ellenos is sold retail across the country at many Whole Foods Markets, so I definitely plan to look for it at my local Whole Foods in New Orleans.

Take another hike

If you choose not to visit Discovery Park or just need more time outdoors, kill two birds with one stone and hop on the ferry to Bainbridge Island. The ferry is for pedestrians as well as cars. The ride is only 35 minutes from Seattle to Bainbridge Island, and leaves Seattle roughly every 50 minutes. For the full and updated schedule, be sure to visit their website, here. The ride costs $9.05 per pedestrian, $16 per car, and $1 per bicycle and the return fee is free for pedestrians and cyclists. Bainbridge Island houses one dozen hiking trails and paths for all levels. Once you’re on the island, make sure to visit the downtown area and Winslow Way E where you can find cute cafes and boutiques. The views on the water alone are worth the trek.

Visit Iconic Seattle Sites

Seattle Space Needle

Back in Seattle, visiting The Seattle Space Needle is an absolute must visit! Open daily from 11am - 8pm you can even enjoy sunset from 600 feet in the air. The cost of admission is $35 and absolutely worth it. You can purchase tickets online in advance, or same day via a kiosk onsite. It’s best to book tickets in advance because some days or time slots may sell out. The tickets are sold for 15 minute time slots, but once you’re at the top, you can stay for as long as you’d like. There are two levels of the Space Needle. From the ground floor, you walk through a hallway to understand how the Space Needle was built in the early 1960s ahead of the World’s Fair. Before heading to the top, you can take free photos and choose your own Seattle-esque background. Take the elevator to the top level and marvel at the city view in the glass enclosed elevators. The top level wraps around the entire building for a 360° views of the city. Light bites, drinks and alcohol are available for purchase on the top level, and there is also seating available. Take the stairs or elevator one level down and you’re on the glass bottom revolving floor.

The Space Needle is situated between the Chihuly Garden & Glass and Museum of Pop Culture. Purchase a CityPass to visit multiple attractions, at a discounted price.

Grey’s Anatomy Intern House

If Shondaland or Seattle-Grace Memorial Hospital means anything to you, you are quite familiar with the home that interns Meredith Grey, Izzie Stevens and George O’Malley originally lived in. While Grey’s Anatomy is filmed in Los Angeles, there are a few landmarks shot in Seattle. The exterior shots of the home that Meredith Grey owns is actually in Seattle at 303 Comstock St located in the Queen Ann neighborhood. The house is an actual private residence with a family that lives there. So, if you do decide to stop by for pictures, please remain respectful of someone’s home, and do not walk up the stairs, or trespass.

Freemont Troll

Take a trek cross town to the Freemont neighborhood. Freemont is now home to tech giant Google, local chocolatier Theo’s, along with hundreds of eclectic cafes, indie boutiques and shops. In the early 1990s, the Arts Council launched a contest to revitalize the once drug ridden area under the Aurora bridge. The Freemont Troll won the contest, and has been under the bridge ever since. You can find the sculpture located at the intersection of N. 36th Street at Troll Avenue N. You’ll often find people climbing the massive 18 ft tall sculpture and exploring around it. If you look closely, you can see the troll holding an actual VW Beetle with a California license plate.

“Up” House

Located at 1438 N.W. 46th Street in Seattle, a one and a half story home sits nestled amid a Ross discount clothing store, a UPS store, a self defense studio, and a Trader Joe’s within walking distance. The home was originally owned and occupied by Edith Macefield and she lived there until her death. Her home and story has similarities to the home from the Pixar movie, Up. Edith refused to sell her home to developers in 2006 for reportedly $1 million, so the developers built a strip mall around her home. Pixar has denied that they drew inspiration from her story, so this technically isn’t the house from the movie Up. However, that doesn’t stop visitors from going to the house and leaving balloons on the gate.

After Edith passed away, she left the house to her caregiver, and the home is now owned by a non profit and remains unlivable because building permits are not being granted.

Dinner

Make sure you make reservations for The Pink Door in advance! It’s probably one of the top 5 restaurants you must visit in Seattle. During social distancing, their indoor dining room is closed, and are only seating guests on the outside patio, which means less capacity. They’re closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, so luckily when I made my reservation two weeks in advance, there was one slot open for dinner at 9 pm. Dinner reservations can be made easily on OpenTable. The Pink Door is an Italian restaurant, and I’d be remised if I didn’t recommend their lasagna. It’s vegetarian, but not vegan. They are pretty accommodating with menu substitutions for dietary restrictions, and the wait staff is very knowledgeable. No paper menus are provided, (unless requested) so you have to scan the menu via QR code and pay online as well.

Dessert

For a sweet tooth craving, you absolutely have to visit a Molly Moon location. There are 8 locations throughout Seattle and they’re sold retail in the local grocery stores by the pint, and even at The Space Needle. I had two flavors, the rose milk tea + sweet cream, and I have to say that Molly Moon’s has some of the creamiest and flavorful parlor ice cream I’ve ever eaten.

Due to Covid-19, no samples are provided, but the employee perfectly explained the flavor profiles of all of the flavors we inquired about. They’re not accepting cash right now, so come with your card, or contactless payment. Also, forget about tipping. There’s signage throughout the ice cream shop that they do not accept tips because they pay their employees a fair living wage.

Throughout my time in Seattle, I was floored by how progressive the city was. After the anger from the George Floyd murder, by late May businesses in Seattle began to board up their windows and doors because of fear of destruction to property. Citizens began creating art on the boarded buildings and the art highlighted the injustices faced by the African American community across the U.S. Driving throughout Seattle, it was rare that we’d travel down a street that didn’t have a Black Lives Matter flag or sign in the window or on the porch.