Alaskan Cruise: Part 1 (Seattle, WA)

Space Needle

A brief background: Brittany's family had been planning this Alaskan cruise for the better part of a year. Britt's father was turning 60 this year, and we all decided to take a family trip! It started as a surprise but no one could keep it secret and Ray found out by January.  

I'm going to start this series of blog posts about our most recent Alaskan cruise in, you guessed it, chronological order starting with our first stop on our adventures, beautiful Seattle, WA. Neither Brittany or I had ever made our way to Seattle before, so we were more than excited to check out this city, even if for a morning!

We caught a flight leaving Texas around 3 pm last Saturday, but adding in the 4 hour flight and time change, we did not land until after the sun went down. Catching an Uber into town, I was rather surprised at just how bright and beautiful Seattle appeared at night! Our goal was to get to our hotel and crash so we had lots of energy to start our trip in the morning. We decided the first day was strictly a travel day. We checked into an inn we found through Booking.com which put us close to Pier 66 for the following day's cruise disembarkment. The inn had alright reviews but the location was excellent compared to the price. Kings Inn is a relic of Seattle past. I am not sure what year it was built, but the city of Seattle has grown around it with high rises and sky scrappers. It is quite an odd sense of old and new when you stand on your balcony and look up to the massive structures blocking out the sky. The rooms were small and cold but against all odds, we slept fairly well anyways. The elevator had a nice note with instructions on what to do if the doors wouldn't open. Excellent! Fortunately, we did not get stuck this time. Britt's Grandpa and Aunt had arrived earlier on Saturday and checked into the same inn, but had gone to bed by the time we arrived. The next morning, while standing on the balcony, we got our first glimpse of Papa and Aunt Ruth. The vacation was starting to feel real. 

I am not sure how we heard about Biscuit Bitch but it was only a few short blocks away, we were hungry, and it had great reviews. It was staffed by an eclectic group and had a very fun, alt-punk atmosphere. I found it quite amusing when Papa ordered a "Hot Mess Bitch" for breakfast. It is the simple things in the life, you know? The vacay had officially kicked off now. By the way, the food was amazing. It was our first detour from keto in months and those biscuits were delicious! While walking around downtown, we came across an Amazon Go and Amazon's Headquarters in the wild. If you haven't heard about Amazon Go. It is a brick 'n mortar building with no cashiers. You pick up your items and walk out. Somehow amazon charges the items to your account. Very futuristic. I loved it. 

Biscuit Bitch

Biscuit Bitch

Amazon's Headquarters

Amazon Go

Next stop was the cruise Pier 66! We grabbed our bags and headed over to see our ship, the Norwegian Pearl. The rest of Britt's family flew in very early that morning from Dallas. We all met up at the pier and on the boat we went! Seeing as this entire trip was set up around Britt's father, Ray, 60th birthday, so we had a little surprise for him waiting in his room. Birthday decorations! Norwegian Cruise Lines decorated his room, at our request, and made the day that much more special for Ray. 

Birthday decorations! Thank you Norwegian!

A few hours later, we were through the safety program, settled into our rooms and setting sail into the Pacific Ocean. A year of planning complete, and it was time to let the celebrations began!

Next stop, Juneau, Alaska!