Remember When We Had That Solar Eclipse??

Frisco Melt Combo at Steak 'n Shake in Downtown Seattle.

So, I know I’m over a month behind, but life has gotten away from me. I wanted to tell you about my trip to Seattle for my birthday weekend, and the solar eclipse!

We booked a room at W Seattle for Saturday and Sunday night, which was amazing. We got into town a little early, but the hotel was able to get us checked in. For a small fee, they even upgraded our room to having a Space Needle view (they call the room a Mega Room), which was totally worth it.

The hotel definitely has a young and hip vibe about it, which I thought was fitting for us. I will say, the parking prices there were outrageous, so that’s something to keep in mind. We were lucky enough to have someone (shoutout to my mom) willing to drop us off and pick us up, so we didn’t have to shell out the $40 per night for parking near the hotel.
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Once we got settled into our room, we were starving. My first stop was to visit the Steak ‘n Shake that opened last year in Seattle. I was so excited to have some food from my time living in the South. The restaurant was a short walk from the hotel, but definitely not in the greatest part of downtown. When we walked in, I was so confused by the entire layout of the place. You walk directly up to a counter, place your order, and then take a seat in their modern looking dining room. The menu was super limited, so I order a Frisco Melt combo, and we shared it.
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The place didn’t have the Steak ‘n Shake feel that I know and love, but the food tasted spot on. I found it interesting that the prices were so high, although the $7.99 for my melt did include fries. Another interesting thing about this location is that it was one of the first to sell alcohol. All in all, I’m glad I’ve got a location nearby, but I don’t think I’ll be making it a regular stop when I’m in Seattle.

After we were done at Steak ‘n Shake, we headed back to the hotel to meet up with my mom and her best friend. They wanted to see what our room was like before they headed back down south. I loved the aesthetic of the room and the view. Everyone’s favorite thing about the room though was the size. For a standard hotel room, the place was a lot bigger than we had expected.

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Panorama of W Seattle Mega Room.

Once we were done giving Mom an Tracy a tour, we decided to go have second lunch. Tracy had specific dietary restrictions, so we ended up at Yard House because they would fit her needs. We only really snacked, since we had eaten the Frisco Melt about an hour prior. We both got a beer, and I enjoyed the overall atmosphere of the place. It's hard to believe that the location used to be a Borders bookstore!

After our Yardhouse stop, we headed towards Seattle Center. Our end game was A Pizza Mart, but we had a few hours to kill, so we stopped at a few different places along the way.
We happened to end up walking past Dahlia Lounge during their happy hour, so we stopped in and enjoyed the ambiance. Their dinner menu is something that has never appealed to me, but their drinks and bar snacks were delicious. Their happy hour cocktails are seasonal, so definitely check out their current happy hour menu before you head over!

After Dahlia Lounge, we stopped at a place that had been on my list of places to check out! Navy Strength is a tiki bar that pours strong drinks and has awesome bartenders! We didn’t have anything to eat, but we got a few drinks and talked with the bartenders for awhile. The place had some really interesting concoctions and we thoroughly enjoyed them. We wanted to come back on Sunday, but they’re unfortunately closed on Sundays. We will definitely be making a stop back up there sometime soon though!

After we finished up at Navy Strength, we finally made our way to A Pizza Mart. A friend of mine from college is a bartender and wanted me to stop by to celebrate my birthday. When we arrived, there had been a kitchen mishap and they were temporarily closed. It was suggested that we check out the Five-Point Cafe down the street while we wait for the place to reopen. I’d never even heard of Five-Point before, but the place has a really interesting vibe to it! It’s a 24 hour diner that is also a 21+ establishment. We got some chili cheese tots while we waited, and they were delicious.

We finally made it back to A Pizza Mart and ordered a delicious pizza while we were there. We’ve actually been to another location since that visit and gotten the same pizza. It was just as delicious! We had a great time hanging out and catching up with my friend, and actually saw our bartender from Dahlia Lounge, who happens to be a regular at that particular A Pizza Mart location! What are the odds of that??

After A Pizza Mart, we had to make the long trek back to the hotel, and ended up sleeping in until almost noon the next day! Once we were up and ready to go, we headed down to the waterfront to find ourselves some lunch. We went to Elliott’s Oyster House and each had their caesar salad and clam chowder combination plate. It was delicious and the perfect way to start our day!

After lunch, we wandered around the waterfront for a while since the weather was so great. The next stop was Pike Place Market, and then we took a look at some of the shops up and down 1st Avenue. We had tickets for the Underworld Tour that night, so we headed over to Pioneer Square. The tour is part of Bill Speidel’s Underground Tour, but this one is adults only. It goes to the same places as the regular tour, but discusses much more adult aspects of Seattle’s past. It was a great tour, and I learned a lot of new things. Even if you’ve done the Underground Tour, I’d suggest going on the Underworld Tour (if you’re into that sort of thing).

We decided to get Chinese food to eat after the tour, so we headed over to Genghis Khan for dinner. There were good reviews online, so we grabbed some food to go and headed back to our hotel to call it a night. There’s something about eating take-out Chinese food in a hotel room that just makes it taste so much better to me! We ended up ordering way too much food, but it was pretty good! I’m not a huge chow mein fan, but their special chow mein was actually pretty good! We also got chicken wings, which were delicious.

Monday was my actual birthday, and also the solar eclipse! Seattle wasn’t in the path of totality, but we got pretty close! When we woke up, we realized we didn’t have any ideas for where to actually go to see the eclipse. I bought us tickets to go to Smith Tower, since neither of us had ever been. We were really excited, so we headed out to grab breakfast on our way.

For breakfast we went to Biscuit Bitch, since I had heard so many great things about the place. I had a biscuit sandwich, and it was amazing! I also tried the biscuits and gravy, which were really good. They were playing 90s pop music the entire time we were there, and I loved it! The entire vibe of the place was awesome, and their coffee was pretty good too!

After breakfast it was time to head to Smith Tower! At this point, we were about an hour out from the eclipse passing over us, which we thought meant we’d have plenty of time. Boy were we wrong. We got our passes and headed up to the elevators, where we got into line behind about 50 other people. The elevator can only take a few people at a time, and after a half hour of not moving, we realized it was a bad idea. We were told that the observation deck had reached capacity and there was no way they could let any more people up. I was a little disappointed, and also concerned because we were about 15 minutes from go time! They told us all that we would be refunded and that we could come back after the eclipse to take care of the refund.

Needless to say, we had no idea where to go! We walked and walked, hoping to find a good spot. While we were walking, I actually ran into a friend’s husband, which was a nice surprise! He was working at an office near Smith Tower and happened to be outside, trying to catch the eclipse. We chatted for a few minutes, and then continued on our journey.

Luckily, we ended up wandering right into CenturyLink Field’s parking lot! Not only did we find a great, open space but the field itself was open, too! We walked into the plaza at the bottom of the stairs, where there were a few other people, and enjoyed the eclipse from such a perfect spot! It honestly all worked out so well, and we were able to get our refund and a discount on the next time we come to visit. We would have been allowed up for free, but we had to get back to our hotel room for check out!

Overall, the trip was great, and I saw a lot of new things in downtown Seattle. I’ve lived here for a majority of my 28 years, and I still find new and exciting things every time I visit Seattle! It’s a wonderful city and if you’ve never been, I highly suggest a visit!