The day before we had a reservation for Mt Rainier National Park but didn't wake up early enough and squandered it due forecasted cloudy skies. When we did wake up, we decided to go to Summit Lake, NEAR Mt Rainier National Park because the mountain, at least at the time, was OUT. It was fully obscured by the time we got to the Summit Lake trailhead, but so it goes. It was a BEAUTIFUL hike nonetheless.
Today we decided to take it easy and stay in the city.
Green Lake
We decided to head up to Green Lake to chill and mosey around for awhile. We took the light rail from downtown and got off at Roosevelt. If we were smart, we either would've stopped off in the U District first and grabbed some boba tea, or grabbed a coffee at all of the awesome coffee places in Roosevelt. Seriously. What's up with that. Roosevelt has some great coffee selections for such a small neighborhood. I used to live in Roosevelt before moving downtown. Shoutout: Santo Coffee Co is the real deal.
We trudged on with only water in our clutches. Don't be like us. Grab a delicious beverage for the walk. Once you get off at Roosevelt Station, go to the 65th St. entrance/exit, go right and take NE 65th for as long as you'd like, you'll eventually hit Green Lake. We spurred off and went up NE Ravenna Blvd to walk through "downtown" Greenlake and eventually picked up the Green Lake Trail, clockwise.
It was a bustling afternoon. Lot's of leisurely sports games happening, my favorite was a bunch of older dudes playing Frisbee. May it never lose popularity.
We sat on the steps of the lake and just relaxed. We don't relax enough. We're always in go mode, whether it's working or hiking, or whatever. It was nice. We watched the kayakers, the paddle boaters, and the dogs. Oh the dogs. So many dogs.
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| A beautiful day on Green Lake with muffled reflections. And a family of ducks! |
Some random dude started messing with the dog, flailing his arms around and being playful. I thought he knew the owners, but we realized he was there by himself, and he retreated to sitting up in a tree. The guy, not the dog. I love Seattle.
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| Uhh. Whose dog is this?? It keeps running around jumping in the water trying to grab at some fish and ducks. It's not mine! |
There were sounds of a beating drum and megaphone voices in the distant background. I'm assuming protests of sorts taking place. I'd love to stand up for a cause, but I just don't have the energy today. The sun...and the Green Lake water has me fixated and locked in place.
After chilling out for awhile we walked along the lake and spurred off once we neared the south end of the lake and headed towards N 45th in Wallingford.
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| So many geese. Watch out for the poop! It's all over the trail in certain spots. |
Bottleworks
We made our way to Bottleworks right on N 45th in Wallingford, placed suspiciously close...a block away...from a Molly Moons. If you're a beer nerd, beer lover, or both, Bottleworks is an excellent stop. If you remember Brouwers, even though they literally just closed forever (RIP), it's the same owners. Brouwers lives on in memory with Bottleworks.
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| Warm Day and a Oude Northwest/Stillwater/Talking Cedar -- Starcleaners barrel-aged Stout/Barleywine Blend. |
While they don't serve the delicious Belgian spirited food, (they don't serve any food), they still have an excellent beer selection. There's roughly a dozen beers on draft, and several coolers of high quality brews. They occasionally get some wild distributions too. I've had Ever Grain, which is a brewery from Central Pennsylvania , where I moved here from. They've had The Veil on draft and even Trillium recently. My East Coast Hazy hype-brewery senses are tingling.
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| BOTTLEWORKS |
Molly Moons
Yes we went. The Wallingford Molly Moons was a BLOCK away. I'm not sure who has the best ice cream in Seattle. I'm not sure if it's Molly Moons. Some say it is. Some say absolutely not. I'm not quite there with an opinion. Some days they're great. Some days I find myself wanting. Nevertheless, it's ice cream, and after a high ABV beer. Just give it to me already. I do know that Molly Moons uses Snoqualmie Ice Cream's ice cream base. I'm almost positive these dudes forcefully pump out the smell of their waffle cones to the street. Doesn't matter where you are either. The Capitol Hill location drew me in for the same reason. Can't. Resist. The. Cone. Smell. It was satisfying nonetheless.
Foolishly we decided because of the time we should probably eat soon. Like not junk food but dinner and such. Because we're responsible adults with a responsible bed time, right?
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| An empty lot in Wallingford through the fence with some Wildflowers sprucing up the place. |
Asean StrEAT Food Hall
We walked along NE 45th from Wallingford, crossed I5 into the U District and took the light rail back downtown.
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| U District Station Art |
We got off at Westlake and headed to Asean Streat Food Hall on 4th and Pine in Westlake Center. We've never been and I've been wanting to check it out, despite a lot of mixed reviews. I remember when this joint was a PF Changs man. I came there as a tourist MANY years ago and made awkward conversation with the bartender. I'm pretty sure it was so awkward it caused the entire place to go under. I also remember being able to get Lush Cosmetics here, but that's been Bellevue'd.
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| Ordering at the kiosk |
The idea for this place is pretty awesome. I've never experienced a real one in my life, but I love the idea. This was definitely interesting. There's a wide variety of different Asian cuisines represented here. Some maybe more authentic than the others. You order primarily through tablet computers that are scattered around. There's one right near the entrance that we secured. You can order from any of the different QUOTE UN-QUOTE vendors here. I truly am not sure how this place works. Is it all one entity, made to look like several street carts with different cuisines? That's what it seems like?
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| Oops. Can't even capture the entire wording. |
I was craving something Thai, but also Gua Bao, Bao Buns. So I was able to get both. The bun came out quickly. The flavors were good, but the pork was actually pretty dry. I'd probably love a fresher one. In addition, I got Pad Kee Mow or drunken noodles, one of the most ordered dishes from a Thai restaurant in the US. I do love myself some Pad See Ew though. My GF got a side of miso soup with Singaporean Noodles.
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| Soup and Bun |
The food itself, was pretty decent. Flavors there, expectations mostly met, though I set a low bar for everything so I don't get overly excited about things. I'm just a bit salty over the dry pork. The organization of the place is an absolute mess though. Your order number can be called at any a number of different stalls, depending on what you ordered. And your number can be called SEVERAL times. Our single number got called 4 times, because we ordered 4 different things. This is super confusing and we had no idea if they forgot about our main dishes.
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| The main dishes |
The main dishes took forever to come out. Being that it's supposed to be "street" food sort of gives the assumption that it will be quick and have a high turn over. Our noodles took at least 40-45 minutes to come out. I will totally cut them some slack though, it was Pride Parade Day. It just didn't seem that busy at the time. Numbers were also bouncing all over the place. They'd call 601, 602, then 520. 520. 520. 603. 535. The orders seemed to be absolute chaos.
Since I live close I'd definitely come back and try again, because I never want to make a decision on a first impression.
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