My Wanderlust: May 2015

A few years back, I went to Seattle, Washington to visit one of my best friends, Isabela. Every couple of years at the most, we like to go on vacations with each other, so this time, I decided to go visit her home this time. It was my first time to Seattle, and you bet I had her take me everywhere worth going up there. And we even got to visit some surrounding places too. First off, the best time to is during the summer. You have a better chance of getting some sunshine that way, and the weather is nice and warm when the sun is out. During the winter, it’s freezing, snowy, and extra rainy. It’s hard to go anywhere or do anything in that kind of weather. Since Seattle is constantly rainy, it’s worth it to check the weather before you book your flight. Try to catch the sunniest week of the summer, because it is so worth it to do that. I happened to go during an entire week of sunshine, and it was just gorgeous. Mt. Ranier is gorgeous, and you can see it from anywhere in the Seattle/Tacoma area, but it’s about 2 hours away. It’s covered in snow, even in the summer, but I’m not sure how much snow entertainment goes on there during the summer. But the only real reason I can think of to go to Seattle during the winter is to go skiing and snowboarding at Mt. Ranier. I didn’t get to do that, since I went during the summer, but I might do it the next time I visit! Also, for all you environmentalists like me, you will love Seattle, because it is the norm to recycle out there. It is actually required that people recycle, and everyone is more than willing to do it, because they care about the environment. It’s a much different culture than what I’m used to. If you recycle in the south, you’re considered a liberal hippie, and a lot of people look down on you. Not only do they not care or see a point in recycling, but some people are even strongly against it, for whatever reason. So Seattle is definitely a nature-lover’s dream, and if you’re a good ol’ southern bell inside and out, it might take you a bit to get used to such a different culture when visiting Seattle. Also, don’t be confused by all the wires you see in Seattle, Vancouver, or Portland should you visit any of these places. A lot of their bus and train systems are electrically run. I told you these people care about the environment! All of the wires make for some bizarre sights on the streets, but they are efficient and environmentally friendly. Make sure to utilize the readily available public transportation in this area, as it is much more developed than in other parts of the country, such as Atlanta. However, I don’t have much information to offer on this, since we always used Isabela’s car to get around. The only time we used public transportation was when we took some buses around Vancouver, Canada one night. I can definitely tell you that was very simple and efficient public transit.

There are definitely some places that are worth visiting while you’re in the Seattle area. We started out in Tacoma, which is the city next to Seattle. I loved the Glass Museum. It looks like a silver cone sticking out of the ground, and even if you don’t go inside the museum, there are all kinds of really neat stain glass art pieces outside of the museum. There’s a stained glass-filled walkway leading up to the museum that you can walk under, and there’s stained glass art all over the entire Seattle area. There’s even a bridge leading up to the museum that has these enormous blue stained glass pieces lining the bridge. There are tons of beautiful parks to visit in Tacoma too. Again, this place is great for nature lovers. My friend and I spent a bit of time in Wright Park. Point Defiance is a state park that is gorgeous too. I met a very friendly raccoon there. Of course, it’s probably not safe to get too close, so be careful, but this little guy was so adorable and sweet! Puget Sound is a beautiful area to hang around. A lot of the buildings have some really neat architecture – like the University of Puget Sound, which looks like a bunch of castles, as well as a lot of churches. Definitely take a look at Stadium High School. It totally looks like Hogwarts! Back when I visited her, Isabela lived in the same neighborhood as the house where “Ten Things I Hate About You” was filmed, so I got to see that. The bars in Tacoma are pretty cool too. Isabela took me to one with live music and another one with karaoke, where her boyfriend and I sang a song together! Who doesn’t love karaoke? Fremont is another city not too far from Seattle and Tacoma, and there’s a troll that lives under the Fremont bridge that you have to see! Yes, I said a troll. Go check it out to see exactly what I’m talking about. In another city in the Seattle/Washington area, there was an AMC theater with couch seats. That was the most comfortable movie I’ve ever watched, even over watching a movie in my own home in pajamas. We also visited an alpaca farm in the area. Not that alpacas are meant for that kind of climate, but they were sure fun to play with. We sprayed them with water, and they jumped and played and had a grand ol’ time being sprayed. It was adorable! I’m not really sure if I should have mentioned that at all, though, since you probably wouldn’t be able to visit that farm. I got to go because the farm was owned by one of Isabela’s professors who invited us over.

Now, for the actual city of Seattle, get ready, because there’s a lot to see and do. I got to see the Space Needle. It might be worth it to go to the top, which I didn’t do, but at least I got to see it. The reason I didn’t go to the top is because I got to do something similar – The Seattle Great Wheel (an observation wheel) had literally just opened when I visited, so I rode that and got to overlook Seattle from way up high. It was pretty neat, although sometimes large ferris wheels freak me out a little bit. Right across from the Space Needle is the hospital where some of Grey’s Anatomy was filmed, which is way cool. Also, Pike’s Place Market is huge and amazing. There are all kinds of vendors there, which sell all kinds of amazing things, including fresh foods. It’s an outdoor market, but it’s HUGE! There’s a vendor at the market that sells the most delicious peaches ever – and that’s coming from a Georgian! Right across from the market is the world’s first Starbucks, which always has an extremely long line, of course. But I had plenty of time when I went, so I got a cup of coffee there. I’m sure you’ve heard of the gum wall in Seattle. And that wall is COVERED in gum. It’s pretty gross, but the pictures that artists make on the wall, completely made with gum, are pretty incredible. And don’t worry about spending tons of money on buses and taxis to get to all these places. They are all within walking distance from each other. Now, for food, stick to seafood while you’re in Seattle. It is so good! And I guess that makes sense, as there’s water all over that area of the country. Themes you will see all over Seattle and the surrounding cities: totem poles, Super Mario Bros, stained glass (as I mentioned previously,) and Asian-themed buildings/towns/arches.

Now, Portland, Oregon was a cool city. The entire city is full of hipsters who love classic and 80s rock. Band t-shirts are a huge thing there, and everyone loves rock music. I fit in pretty well there in my Nirvana and Led Zeppelin t-shirts. I also got to visit some really cool bars while I was there. One of the bars was a gamer bar – tons of arcade games, but inside a bar. Way cool. The women’s bathroom had a Pacman theme and flashing light-up sinks. I was way too impressed with this bar. I also got to see my very first Chinatown, which was really neat. It was like stepping into Asia for a night. While all of these things are really cool, the reason we went to Portland was to see the Vans Warped Tour. Honestly, personally, I wasn’t too impressed with the bands that were there. The only ones I had any interest in seeing were the Lostprophets, We the Kings, and Yellowcard, and the only one I actually got to see was Yellowcard. Maybe I’m not as into that kind of rock music as everyone else in Portland is, but I hadn’t even heard of most of the bands that were there. And it was a little difficult finding the right stages to hear the right bands at the right times. I completely missed the Lostprophets, due to not timing things correctly. And I mostly missed We the Kings, because we got there a few minutes before they started playing, and since the place was so crowded, the guards would only let people in when other people left first. So we waited outside for way too long before being able to enter, so I had to listen to We the Kings as best as I could from over the fence. They were finished with their portion of the concert by the time I actually entered the festival. Then, once I was inside, all hell broke loose. I am only 5’1, so I got trampled constantly. It was so crowded and hot outside that I was covered in sweat, and other people who were also covered in sweat got all their nastiness all over me as well, because we were packed in so tightly. One giant beast of a man was shirtless, and his back was covered in sweat, and he fell right on top of me. That was probably the nastiest thing that happened there. And since the ground was all gravel, there was dirt flying everywhere, and I was covered in it. There was nowhere to sit or rest, so it was hard to find a shaded place to sit, and it was really difficult to find level ground to sit on. People were so disgusting there. This one guy had a tent, so I asked if I could take refuge there for a minute, and he told me I could as long as I would shake my butt for him. Ummm, not worth it. There were porta-potties that, of course, did not have any soap, and they were probably about 130 degrees on the inside and weren’t ventilated. When I was listening to one band, some guys tried to push me into a mosh pit until I swung around and pushed them off of me. Then, while I was listening to Yellowcard, one guy I had never even seen before literally picked me up and threw me. Obviously, he was attempting to make me crowd surf, but he didn’t make sure anyone was looking, so he when he threw me, no one caught me, and I fell smack onto the ground. What was the purpose of that? I’ll never know. And then, as I was making my way through the crowd to find Isabela, I guess one girl didn’t like me pushing my way through, so she dumped her entire cup of beer on my head. Obviously this music festival did not have the classiest of attendees. I thoroughly hated the festival, and I would never recommend it to anyone. It was a waste of $40. And the people I purchased my ticket from were super shady. It was more difficult than pulling teeth to get them to send me a rebate that I was told I would receive upon purchasing the tickets. It took about 6 months to receive it, and the company seemed to jerk me around all over the place. But really I don’t think Warped Tour had much, if any, bearing on the actual city of Portland. It was a neat city, and I had fun while I was there. The night life was definitely worth the trip out there. Plus, I got to see Mt. St. Helen on the roadtrip there, which was pretty cool.

While we were in the area, Isabela and I visited Vancouver, Canada. It's pretty easy to access, although there's a bit of traffic at the border. You need a passport to cross from the USA into Canada, but you don't need a visa. It was nice to leave the country for a day, but there wasn’t a whole lot that I saw to do in Vancouver, but maybe we just didn’t have enough time there. We stayed in an inexpensive dorm for the night at the University of British Columbia. I’m telling you, always stay in a hostel or dorm! They are cheap. The reason we stayed in this dorm is because we felt like it would be safer than a hostel, as it is on a university campus. I think we paid $40 for the dorm for one night. It is a beautiful campus too. If you don't drive there, you can always travel by electric bus. They're all over the place. We came across a gay pride festival while we were in Vancouver at night, and that seemed pretty neat. It was literally held in the middle of a street, so that street was blocked off. There is some awesome night life in Vancouver on the weekends for sure. Some things to see while in Vancouver include the Vancouver Skyline (another observation tower) and Canada Place (which looks strikingly like the Sydney Opera House.) I didn’t really find Vancouver too terribly interesting to visit, but I didn’t even have 24 hours there, so I’m sure that had something to do with it.

The northwest area of the U.S. is a really cool area. During the summer, it can be very beautiful, and for the most part, it’s usually not too hot outside. The nature is gorgeous, and people care a lot more about the environment up there. The cities are packed with things to do. I’d recommend almost all of the things I did (apart from Warped Tour.) And maybe I’d say don’t waste time going to Vancouver. The only reason I wanted to go was because I had never been to Canada before, and I thought that was weird, since Canada is a bordering country to my country! Lots of people in the U.S. have been to Canada. I have been to all kinds of countries around the world, and I’ve even lived in two countries outside of the U.S, and I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t even been to Canada. So really, if you want to go to Canada, I think I’d recommend spending time in Toronto over Vancouver, but I’ve never been to Toronto. I’ll write about that after I do visit Toronto one day! Anyway, Seattle in particular is a really neat city, and I think that’s definitely worth a trip out there. The next time I go out there, I think I’ll go during the winter, so as to experience the skiing and snowboarding that you can do at Mt. Ranier!