Amanda

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the court house. Such incredible history! It’s a great way to begin your adventure of First State NHP. I implore you to sit in for the tour before getting your stamp. They start every hour at the half hour. Wendy was a great guide. Stamp is located in the back near the exit.

Great food and coffee! Hubby and I dropped in for a mid-morning pick-me-up and were greeted by the friendliest barista. She definitely knew what she was doing. We ordered two medium vanilla lattes which were perfectly made. There was just the right amount of syrup. They also came out super fast! For bites: I was intrigued by the Jammin’ Ham (ham, spinach, swiss, apple, mixed berry jam on wheatberry bread, $9,75). Oh dear Lord this is one heck of a sandwich. The ingredients blend together spectacularly well. It’s sweet, salty and tart! It’s rather rich and heavy for breakfast, but if you’re in the mood to try something new and unique you can’t skip over this! My husband stuck with a more conventional option, a Bacon Egg Sandwich on Sesame Bagel. It’s one of their grab-n-go options so if you’re on a time crunch this is the perfect option. 100% recommend!

I arrived around 6:00am on a Sunday morning and there was plenty of parking. The entire loop took us about 3.5 hours to walk. The hills are still beautifully lush and green. There are remnants of the early summer wildflowers scattered throughout the hike.

The trail is very dog friendly. I noticed a lot of doggy poop bags left on the side of the trial. Please don’t be that guy. Clean up after your fur babies so everyone else can enjoy the trail.

Five stars all the way for the artwork, one star for the lousy event company that owns the building and keeps the mural inaccessible 99% of the time. I’m a frequent visitor of Seattle and not once has the gate been open. It’s super frustrating especially when you’re on a mission to visit as many of Greeting Tour’s beautiful murals as possible. I’ve now tried twelve (yes, twelve!) times to get my obligatory snapshot with the iconic mural to no avail. I haven’t given up, but I’m doubtful at this point if I’ll ever get it.

Calling the event company doesn’t do any good. They don’t answer often. On the two times I was able to reach someone, they told me the gate would be open at a certain time. Imagine my disappointment when I came around during said times and nada. I know, what a first world problem if there ever was one. :(

Greetings Tour Mural #5

Ummm, kind of in a sketchy part of Chinatown. Gorgeous artwork! It was cool to see one the first Greeting Tour murals in person.

Greetings Tour Mural #8