Seattle

The Boston of the west coast is what I now call Seattle.  Both my brother and I fell in love with Seattle. Unlike Portland, this is a city I really want to see again.  We definitely didn't get enough time here.  The vibe was extremely different here from what it was in Portland.  Very lively city with a lot to do.  I didn't see anything closed and didn't feel like an after war zone.  Again the weather was perfect and the food was great.  A highlight for me was renting the electric scooters in downtown to get around the city.  I know these have been around for awhile now and they are in most major cities now but this was the first time I have been able to use one and we had the best time with them.  Also our hotel was amazing.  We stayed just blocks from the waterfront and the market.  We did the typical touristy things like Pike Place Market, which is huge by the way, and the Space Needle.  I didn't know that one of the observation decks at the top revolves.  That was a nice surprise.  What wasn't a nice surprise was realizing how bad my fear of heights has gotten.  We also visited Kerry Park but Gas Works Park was by far the best.  This park is gorgeous and has the best views of the city and a must if you're in the area.  I could have done without seeing Kerry Park in my opinion.  My brother and I had dinner one night in the Capital Hill area which is apparently where the main nightlife of the city happens.  We did not get to explore that area as much as we would have liked so that's our first stop next time.  We also took the scooters down to Chinatown one day because they were having a food walk.  I honestly didn't fully understand the "walk" because it looked like a normal day but we went to a restaurant that had a line out the door so we figured must be good.  We ordered whatever the meal of the day was because we couldn't read anything else.  We also stopped by an Amazon Go store which I still do not understand how that store works.  Later that night we found a speakeasy style bar called Bathtub & Gin I believe.  This was a real treat.  Also a must see if you're in the downtown area.  Overall this trip ties with my 27th birthday trip that was the Northeast roadtrip and Canada as the second best trip I've ever taken.  The people were so incredibly friendly and made us not want to return to Florida.  I could even see myself moving out there for a while.  Also please forgive the amount of grain in the night shots as I did not have a tripod with me :( 

Cannon Beach and Astoria

One of the main things I wanted see while visiting the Pacific Northwest is the coast.  Having been to most of the coasts here in the States, this was the last area I hadn't seen before.  And I must say it did not disappoint.  We rented a car for the day to drive out to the coast from Portland then over to Seattle.  While driving out, the weather started to change as we got closer to the beach.  Driving through the mountains was beautiful and it went from 75 and sunny to in the 60s and very gray.  This made me more excited to photograph the area.  Our first stop was Cannon Beach which is where part of the Goonies was filmed.  The beach was gorgeous.  Then we drove over to the small town of Astoria which is also where some of the Goonies was filmed.  After walking around the town for a few, we drove over the state line and started heading towards Seattle.  Once we got closer to the city, the weather cleared and we returned the rental with one minute to spare.  I was super proud of this.  I was also able to use my pinhole cap for a few photos so enjoy...

29th Birthday Trip

My wish of being able to have my 29th birthday trip came true.  Last month my brother and I made it out to Portland and Seattle as well as the coast.  I have to say this ties as my second favorite trip I've ever taken.  I have zero negatives about this trip, everything worked out as close to perfect as it could have.  One of the main reasons being because my brother was able to join me and we travel very well together.  Another reason was the weather.  End of August was a great time to visit the Pacific Northwest.  In the 70s and sunny the entire time except when we drove out to the coast.  It was a bit chiller with some fog and mist which made for great photos.  It was so nice to escape the Florida heat and humidity for a week.  Another highlight for me was the amount of gluten free food they have on the west coast.  We had some great food throughout the week.

My first round of photos is from Portland, OR.  One of the reasons this trip got pushed back wasn't just due to covid but also due to the amount of riots and protests that have been going on in the Portland area.  I'm so so glad we went when we did because getting to witness and photograph a city that is trying to rebuild from what felt like a former war zone was quite the experience.  Majority of downtown is still boarded up and most businesses are still closed.  And the few places that are open had limited hours.  Not very many people were on the streets either.  I don't even have that many final shots from Portland because of this.  We still were able to do most of the things we wanted to though.  One being the food truck scene.  We had some Korean tacos and they were delicious.  We also were able to take the lightrail around the city for free to see Washington Park, the waterfront, the walking bridge over the river and to Powell's Bookstore.  One of my favorite meals was from a restaurant in downtown Portland called Hubbards and the salmon was amazing.  Overall, we really enjoyed the couple days we spent there but this was a one and done for me.  Here are the photos...