Hidden Gems Northwest: Bastyr University + Saint Edward Park

Welcome to Bastyr

Campus details

Recently the sun has been shining more and our deprived Seattle brains have been genuinely freaking out to be outside soaking up that Vitamin D. Which leads us to exploring new things. Which lead us to Bastyr University! You may not know about this small university northeast of Seattle, but you should! It is nestled up against Lake Washington and because it is a university that educates on holistic medicine their campus is refreshing and in touch with the nature that surrounds it. 

Our recommendation is to go visit on an empty stomach, you can visit the school cafeteria (trays and all!) and get lunch. The cafeteria includes a large salad bar, hot items, baked items and packaged snacks (they also update items daily and you can see that here). The great thing about the food is that it’s all healthy and all of the dishes list out every ingredient that goes into it. Some of the food ingredients are harvested from the campus’ organic vegetable and herb garden and what isn't grown there is shown to you on a board in the cafeteria that depicts the location of the farms where all the other ingredients come from! 

A bulletin board in the cafeteria tells you what farms supplied your food.

After you are nice and full head out to the grounds. They have an incredible herb garden with over 350 herbs. This is where they grow a lot of the herbs they use to make medicines on campus. 

Bee Balm is used to treat colds, headaches, and nausea.

Along with the herb garden they also have a relaxing courtyard near the dining common where you can sit and have thoughtful thoughts about things. If you are running low on deep, life questions that day there is also a turtle pond for you to enjoy with over 20 turtles.. and who doesn't love turtles??

Bastyr's turtle pond

After you finish up on campus you can walk into Saint Edward Park, which borders the campus. This 316-acre park has a ton of walking trails (most under 1 mile in length) that lead you down to Lake Washington. What really sets this park apart from others in the area is the old Catholic Seminary that sits on the grounds. This stunning old building is surrounded by picnic tables and can also be rented out for events! Be sure to bring your Discover Pass if you want to visit the park (or you can purchase a day pass for $10 in the parking lot).

Welcome to Saint Edward Park!

The Catholic Seminary, which sits on the park grounds.

Seminary details.

Picnic tables line the grounds.

Saint Edward park walking trails.

Film Photobooths Around Seattle

Photobooths are hot right now. They are at every wedding, every street fair, and company holiday party. They are so popular they are starting to lose their luster. But there are several spots around Seattle that were doing photobooths before they were cool. And even better, they were doing photobooths before they were digital. We are sending you on a mission. Go experience at least one of these classic, film photobooths! You won't be disappointed. They are dripping with old-timey charm! 

The photobooth at Archie McPhee

Our 5 favorite Seattle film photobooth locations

Archie McPhee is one of our favorite stores in Seattle and their film photobooth is half the reason why. They let you use all their wacky props and masks in the booth so your creativity game will be on point! 

Cha Cha Lounge is a dark, slightly scary, but mostly just quirky bar in Capitol Hill with a film photobooth in an obscure back corner in the basement! It is by the bathrooms and the vending machine, go hunt it down on a Tuesday and then stay for Trivia! 

Unicorn might possibly be the most entertaining bar in Capitol Hill. If you get bored here there is something wrong with you. They have a full game room with Skee Ball (weee!) and a photobooth. The menu alone can keep you going for hours with cocktails like the Banana Hammock and Unicorn Jizz. 

Orange Dracula is located in Pike Place Market on lower level 3 and is home to a bunch of stuff you don't need but will want to buy anyways. They also have Pac-Man and pinball and most importantly, a film photobooth! 

Montana not only has a photobooth, but it is also one of the best dive bars in town. They have cheap drinks, friendly service, and picklebacks. Picklebacks are God's gift to drinking, so if you haven't had one and you enjoy drinking, you should probably hit this place up! Please note: their photobooth is an antique, which means sometimes it is Out of Order. Have patience, if it is meant to be, it will be! And last time we were there, they had cowboy hats to use in the booth. Yes!

These are just a few of the photobooths we have visited around the city. You can see a fairly large list on Photobooth.net if you want to explore some others, but make sure to click through on each location to see if there have been updates of closures; some of these photobooths once were, but have disappeared since. 

20 Things to Do Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day signals the beginning of summer (well not the REAL beginning, that is Kristina's birthday on June 21, don't forget to send donuts), but it is the symbolic beginning, okay? How you spend this weekend will set the stage for how your entire summer will go.

Get inspired. Bryan Adams should want to write a song about the Summer of 16. In order to help out we put together a little list of 20 things you can do over the weekend to make sure you kick off Summer 2016 the right way.

Let's do this. 

Boat views are the best views.

Get out on the water.

• Rent an electric boat, grab some beers and a group of friends and spend the afternoon navigating Lake Union and Lake Washington. 
• Get a workout in and enjoy the water by kayaking or paddleboarding Greenlake or Lake Union
• Insider Tip: Rent a sauna and float around Lake Union! An architectural design company, goCstudio created a floating, motorized sauna that fits six people and you can rent it for 1-2 hours for $150. See photos here and email info@gocstudio.com to book it! 

Experience the great outdoors and hike.

• Lake TwentyTwo is a great, moderate hike to see a beautiful part of the PNW. It is full of interesting vegetation, waterfalls, and the lake at the top is stunning. Something for everyone!
• Poo Poo Point is a great, easy hike that won't take you too long. Plus, the top of the mountain is a big open field, perfect for a picnic and you can watch (or take our recommendation and actually take the jump!!) the Paragliding that takes off from this point. 
• Wallace Falls is for all of you hikers who love the awesome water feature! There are also a few different options for how to complete this hike. We recommend making a loop from Wallace Falls to Lake Wallace.

Insider tip: At the half-mile marker, you will encounter a split in the trail. The path on the right, distinguished by a wooden gate, leads to the Woody Trail, which will take you to Wallace Falls. The left fork diverts to the old Railroad Grade that leads north to Lake Wallace. If you head to Wallace Lake look for the smiley face carved into a fallen down tree.

The tree face at Wallace Falls.

• Mailbox Peak is for people who like a challenge with a reward at the end. You will want to turn around or possibly lay down and just die. But once you reach that summit you will forget all the pain and just stare at all the beauty before you (hey, that's kind of like they describe childbirth)! Then you get to sign the bad-ass guest book in the mailbox! 

Insider tip: The mailbox is filled with small tokens and items. If you want to take something from the mailbox make sure you bring something to leave in exchange!

See a show.

• Teatro Zinzanni is this amazing dinner theater by Seattle Center that for a price (which is worth it!) you can see an amazing show served with a delicious Italian meal. Right now they are showing Be Italian, which we haven't seen, but looks like a winner!
• The Naked Magic Show at the Moore Theater. We don't think we need to explain why you should want to go to this one. 
• Ballard Locks has a summer concert series! Head over for the start at 2PM and enjoy a beautiful area of Seattle while listening to some classic music.

Spend some time at a festival.

• Northwest Folklife Festival at Seattle Center is an amazing, vibrant event held at Seattle Center. Come jam to fantastic indie bands, take in beautiful artwork, and SO MUCH MORE! It's awesome and if you live in Seattle you have to love learning about new things. Go fulfill your destiny! 

Memorial Day and bikes go together like white on rice.

Day Trip.

• Start driving south and make your way to Mount Rainier National Park. It is a 14,000 + foot active volcano covered in wildflowers. This is basically the coolest place in the state. If you haven't been, go for the day and if you have been, well.. still go for the day! 
• Memorial Day is the perfect weekend to take a trip with your friends to Woodinville Wine Country and drink your hearts out! No work Monday. Woo. Also, drink responsibly and make someone be DD. (Prep for the day with our post on How to Wine in Woodinville.)
• Leavenworth is just a little over two hours away and this little German town is always up for a good time! Hot ticket items: wine hikes at Icicle Ridge Winery, yoga retreats at the Sleeping Lady, and river rafting with Osprey Tours

Kid-Friendly Awesomeness.

• Seattle Aquarium Family Science Weekend is supposed to be geared for families, but not going to lie, that line-up makes us want to go too. Meet the octopus and diver shows? Yes, please!
• Magnuson Memorial Day Run is set up so the whole family can enjoy! Mom and Dad can run the 5K and the kiddos can participate in the 400 meter kids run! Plus Magnuson is a beautiful park to spend time at after the run as well. Pack and picnic and make a day of it!

Photo of art classes from Brooke Westlund's website.

Learn something new. 

• Hipcooks (don't let the awful website turn you off) offers the best cooking classes! You can't go wrong with any of the options and you get a great experience for the cost. Also, Bonny is the best! 
• Take a painting class at Brooke Westlund's gallery at Pike Place Market! Not going to lie, a lot of those paint and wine night classes seem to produce sub-par art no one would ever actually want to display. Not the case here- her classes help you produce classy, beautiful art! 

Get some R & R.

• Banya 5 will quite literally evaporate the stress off of you. Go alone, leave your phone at home, and leave feeling lighter than a feather! 
• Go for a float! Float Seattle is the best spot for sensory deprivation, a way to relieve stress and pain! Plus, first timers get a discount! 

The Backside of Pike Place Market

The literal backside of the famous Public Market sign.

Most people know about the bustling main entrance of Pike Place Market. It has the giant neon sign and fishmongers chucking fish to tourists. A lot of people never venture past this part of Pike Place Market, some don't even know more of the market exists. We are here to guide you to the "backside" of the market (we know it isn't the most charming name, but it really is the backside!) because there are some real gems over there. These places are all along the Western Ave. portion of Pike Place Market. You can reach Western Ave. by an elevator down a hallway flanked by the delicious Pike Place Bakery and Pike Pit BBQ. Take the elevator to Level 1 and you are ready to check out our list! 

The very long staircase to the top of the market.

Pretty red doors at Pike Place Press.

Pike Street Press

This letterpress printing shop makes the most attractive and cool (yes, it's cool, there is no other word) paper goods! We shop here for all our notebook, greeting card, and poster needs! 

Zig Zag Cafe

Zig Zag is Seattle-famous for their cocktails. The bartenders will treat the creation of your cocktail like an art. They also serve dinner late until 1AM, so if you are hungry and it's late head over for a bite.

Mmmm...gelato!

Procopio Gelateria

Is there anyone that doesn't love gelato? Didn't think so. Which means we don't need to sell this place, they make delicious, creamy, desserts. Enough said.

Brooke Westlund Gallery

This Seattle abstract artist does bold work that just screams to be placed in your home. She has some great Seattle-inspired pieces as well as amazing floral paintings. The best part about her studio is she also offers classes! You can gather a group of friends and make your own paintings with the help of this talented, local artist. 

Don't miss the cans of seafood at JarrBar.

JarrBar

JarrBar is one of our favorite watering holes. They serve up amazing cocktails (see a couple here in our post about the best cocktails of pike place market) and have a great wine list to compliment their small plates, which are all traditional Spanish/Portuguese foods. We did an entire post about this place we love it so much.

Stacks and stacks of amazing pottery at The Spanish Table.

The Spanish Table

Update: Shop Closed. This bright shop on Western is fairly large and has a great selection of specialty products from Spain. The staff are friendly and helpful and always send us away with something new to try. And so far we have loved every item! 

Paris Grocery

This French grocery store is a great place for cheese! After you sample some cheese, select some to overeat later (what is it about good cheese? We just can't stop eating it even when we know we are consuming something really expensive that should be savored) and explore the rest of the shop. They have beautiful dishware and packaged foods from France along with all the best French cookbooks. We have had our eye on this one for a while. 

Ugly Baby and La Ru

This shop is weird. It is amazing. You will laugh and wonder what the heck kind of crazy imagination thought up all this stuff, but that is the beauty of this craft store. It's absurdly beautiful and makes us all appreciate the quirky stuff in the world that brings a smile to your face. We covered a fundraising event they hosted for Seattle Animal Shelter - check it out if you love bunnies. 

Every spice you could possibly need and ones you didn't know you needed.

World Spice Merchants

The smell alone is a good enough reason to go in this shop. Once inside the awesome staff and wall-to-wall spices will keep you curiously exploring for a while. They have a great selection of cookbooks and can help you find even the most obscure spice for that recipe you've been wanting to make! 

Billie the Market Piggy Bank (Rachel's cousin).

Billie the Pig

Billie the Pig is located at the bottom of the market steps and serves as a piggy bank to raise money for the Pike Place Market Foundation and great photo opportunity. If you need some inspiration here is our awesome selfie:

Billie Selfie!

Hidden Henry mural.

Insider Tip: Hidden Henry Mural

Guys, get excited. We found another great Henry Mural located on the Pike Street Hillclimb off Western Ave. (to see where you can find other murals check this out.). If you are heading down the stairs it is off to your left at the first landing. Enjoy this adorable public art!