I went to Seattle the other weekend because F had to work at the office there, and since he already had work paying for a hotel room, it seemed like a nice mini-vacation to just take the Bolt Bus up there to visit. It’s about 3 hours from Portland to Seattle depending on if there’s traffic may be more- the times of arrival of the bus tries to account for it so often the buses arrive early. The buses are new and include a charger for every seat and wireless, and fares can range from $1-$25 each way, depending on when you buy how full the bus is. So the cost was very minimal (you can go round trip for the cost of 1 way on Amtrak) and with no trouble for me at all to travel there since the pick up and drop off are not far from where I live. As an example, I bought tickets on Fri to go Sat-Sun for this trip and it cost me $49. For my future trip in Feb, I bought 2 tickets for Sun-Mon and it was $50 (admittedly, one of them was a $1 fare!).
In fact, I find the Bolt bus much more peaceful than the Amtrak, and unlike the Amtrak I never get stuck in awkward seats of 4 that face each other… though there also is no dining car to escape to since you’re on a bus. Unlike the Amtrak the Bolt bus arrives about 15-20 minutes before departure and boards by letter (sort of like Southwest), so actually has less lead time needed than the Amtrak coach where you have to line up for your seat assignment. The bus is also direct with no stops. I can’t speak for anyone who is tall on the leg space comparison- I know there is room to put bags in the seat in front on Amtrak but not on the bus.
I was only there in Seattle for 28 hours (from Saturday to Sunday- I still had full day of work Friday and Monday before and after), so it was a very fast visit. My motivations were romantic and out of pity because he sounded pathetic about how if he had known he would have told me to come with him, and since he doesn’t plan mainly so he wouldn’t end up sitting in his hotel room watching movies the entire weekend. Instead, on Saturday we watched the sunset from the 28th floor of his hotel as I shared earlier. And ok… so maybe his legs were tired from being on them all day while at the office on Saturday, so we did just get room service and watch random movies like The Grudge (only partially- once it got scary I went up to RView instead for cocktails and the view and left F), The Big Year (which I actually really liked but never would have picked to watch- hardly any action, just about ordinary people who are dorking out on a hobby and learning a bit about why people like what appears to have so much work and little payoff as a hobby), American Reunion, and Green Lantern.
On Sunday though, I had more aspirations. We had brunch first- I had a list of options for F and then we ended up at Bacco Cafe as previously covered. Then we visited Pike Place Market where I adored one vendor with cute stuffed dolls, including squid and little chickens by Adorable Seattle (the chickens i purchased are shown posed with my kitty at home), wandered to taste some interesting vinegars at DeLaurenti Specialty Food & Wine (and was jealous over the variety of fresh pasta offerings such as raviolis of crab, lobster, beet, drunken sweet potato…, and cheeses at Beecher’s (you might even see them making the cheese) and Mt Townsend Creamery (love their truffle cheese). Next, after walking past the disgusting Gum Wall, we spent some time at the Seattle Aquarium where their exhibit lets you really see the otters, and I found a great otter wristlet for me to use during the spring/summer, before resting our feet at Pike Brewery.
My intention was to have a few small plates at Spur Gastropub and then the dessert, which I remembered as being really interesting last time I visited. However, since it took 30 minutes to even get our first small plate, and I had to catch the Bolt Bus leaving at 8pm so wanted to leave the restaurant by 7 (after getting there at 5:45), we did not have time. As it was, I only had a few bites of the entree (F skipped because he had eaten at out previous stop Pike Brewery) before I asked it to be wrapped up to go.
We started out with the Tagliatelle with duck egg,, oyster mushroom, and pine nut, which I wish the pine nut had been more mixed in because even after I broke the egg and mixed, all the pine nuts were in the slight indentation of the plate so never made it into the mix and were discovered when there was barely any pasta left. What fared better was the Baby Beets salad with chevre, flaxseed, and coriander. The entree of Mad Hatcher Chicken with pear, hedgehog mushrooms and watercress started out with the skin crispy but the actual meat dry until I dunked that chicken into the gravy. I thought it actually tasted better as a leftover the next day as the gravy had all soaked into the chicken, though the skin had lost its crispness on reheating.
