Frasier, Sleepless in Seattle, Ten Things I Hate About You. Some of my favorite media to continuously watch and rewatch. Plus, it's kind of fun to watch media that you have a connection to and can understand geographical references. I go to Seattle pretty frequently. I  want to be able to say I know the city pretty well, but I might know Chicago a little bit better. Seattle is just a little more spread out. 

Anyway, I write this on Pacific Coast Time in Seattle. I always come home from Seattle a little more granola than when I left but it's best that way. My preppiness could always use some granola elements: I think and hope it fits my personality. When I was here in January, I snowshoed in North Bend and hiked Discovery. Now due to the record breaking heatwave that has hit Washington, I have been doing a lot of water sports. (Luckily, I somehow missed the heatwave in Washington by a couple of days, and the heatwave in the other Washington) My highlights from this round in the evergreen state are paddle boarding on Green Lake, kayaking on Lake Union, a fully operational Pike Place Market, and lot's of record and book shopping. I truly was able to have the granola indie experience that comes with frequenting Seattle so often. 

This is my fifth time to this city in the last four years and I usually go for a week or two at a time and I find that there is always something new for me to see and while the list of things I have not seen gets smaller every time, I never seem to get bored.

As soon as I could, I walked down to Pike Place. I never saw it completely empty but there was something so joyous about seeing it completely full. I had seen drone footage of the empty streets of Seattle and even saw some for myself in January but this time at Pike Place was incredible in reflection of the past year. 

There are so many things I recommend in Pike Place. Beechers Cheese, the French Bakery (my mom is obsessed with this one), the chowder in post alley, the GUM WALL, watching the fishermen sing. But there are a couple of staples that I never pass up while I'm in Pike Place. It's a short list: Rachel's Ginger Beer (not exclusive to Pike!). Dozen a Day Donuts, and walking around the flower stands (I'm obsessed with peonies, and Washington has the most beautiful ones I've ever seen). I did not go to Shug's Ice Cream Parlor but I usually do! It's such a sweet retro ice cream parlor which such fun and simple flavors! 

I recommend the Blood Orange flavor, but the seasonal flavors are always fantastic! This one was Raspberry and Hibiscus.

The next day, we went paddle boarding on Green Lake! The current was quite strong and I kept getting pushed toward the bushes but I did not fall in! I could hear the Chiquitita music playing as I rowed myself out there. 

And later that night, I headed to the Mariners game! They played the Angels and so we got to see Shohei in action. The Mariners got a homer and the fireworks went off -- it was incredible considering how the Mariners are not the best team in the league. If you ever have a chance to go to T-Mobile Stadium, you MUST go to the upper deck on the fourth level. It's a beautiful overlook onto the city skyline and the water. There was a group of guys and their fathers who made the trip around to all of the baseball stadiums in the country as their last hoorah after graduating from college; they were welcomed on the screen and I happened to run into them at the top of the roof. Such a fun trip and great guys! That's something I missed about traveling too: meeting and getting to know strangers and a bit of their stories. Plus, being at a baseball stadium at full capacity gave me so much affirmation that sports is something I am super passionate about. 

The next day, we made the trip out to West Seattle. It's normally not such a trek but the West Seattle bridge was going to collapse so it took a bit longer than it should have been. We went to Easy Street Records. I have a poster in my room at UVA of the Seattle ABCs. E was Easy Street Records. I was nervous heading there, that it would not be that cool and not worth putting on a poster but boy was I wrong. 

It's not humongous, but it's large enough to be in awe; especially for a record shop. It's also a restaurant, bar, and cafe. I came out with Landmark by Hippo Campus, Remote by Wallows, a Beach Boys album, some Beatles Rarities, and a Debussy recording. West Seattle was also having a bit of a flee market. We then went to Alki Beach for lunch at Harry's Beach Pub. 

In Seattle, there are not that many actual beaches. They often look like this, and yes people still treat it like an actual beach. Sure, the water is a little too cold to actually swim in, but that does not bother the children. I then had a night to read and relax. On Sunday, I kayaked across Lake Union. I started on South East Lake and kayaked all the way to Gas Works Park. I even passed by the house boats (the very same that Tom Hank's character lived in in Sleepless in Seattle). It was a tough work out but really fun and peaceful. You can see the entire Seattle Skyline and suddenly, Seattle seems so big and so small at the exact same time. 

I spent some time at the University toward the end of my trip. My Seattle staples are Rachel's Ginger Beer and Molly Moon's Ice Cream; two things I got on my last full day in the city. I also got to try Salt and Straw and picked up two new books while I was here. I have millions of recommendations for Seattle and the list continues to grow every time I come back here. I used to never consider myself a West Coast person and I am not completely sure that I am, but I do know that I want to be able to know Seattle like the back of my hand and I'm getting closer and closer with each visit.