Hello, hello lovely and amazing people who are reading this, I’m Ariela, and this is arielaonthego’s blog post about Seattle, Washington. This post is just a *bit* overdue, and as I’m writing this currently, we’re already off on another adventure! My last travel post was about my trip to Mexico City and Florida, and that was a while ago. And a LOT earlier in the year, back in April 2023.

We decided to spend a bit of time in Osoyoos again.

So, Osoyoos is a tiny town that borders Washington, USA, and you can cross into the USA right there. In fact, if you look far enough you can see Washington right on the other side. But we didn’t cross the border at Osoyoos, instead we had to go back to Vancouver to switch rental cars, then we drove baaaaack down south to the Douglas Border Crossing, or the Peace Arch Park. It’s an international boundary where Canadians and Americans can go without showing their passports, but you have to stay in the park, or else….

It’s only around a two-hour drive to downtown Seattle. We stayed at The Level Hotel located right in the middle of downtown so it’s close to restaurants. And we like it because it’s has a pool and a hot tub! Did you know that there are many large businesses based Seattle? Now popular brands that had their own humble beginnings right here in this city. There were few stores that my dad wanted to visit, and the first order of business was to visit Filson. Filson is my dad’s favorite store, they are known for being, “Alaskan Outfitters”, and they have a lot of warm clothes, outdoor clothes, bags, and many other goods. Their aesthetic is the very rugged, hunting, fishing, and heavy duty work clothes kind. And I love it. Mostly American made, but sadly a lot of their products are now being made outside of the US. My dad bought a few things and since it was Ariela’s birthday trip, I got an axe head key chain that doubles as a bottle opener.

After Filson, we went to this really small coffee shop’s headquarters, but like it’s such a small coffee shop that you’ve probably never heard of called Starbucks? No way you’ve heard of it because there just aren’t that many across the world. Actually, when they first started out they were a pretty small store, in an area called Pike Place Market where there are a lot of artisans and unique shops, a market to do your grocery shopping as well, and lots of restaurants to choose from. Pike Place Market is also located at the harbour where the cruise ships are docked.

The first Starbucks coffee shop opened up in 1971, and then we also went to the Starbucks HQ, and Starbucks Reserve. The headquarters is MASSIVE, and it’s in a more industrial area, less like a trendy market. If you’re wondering what a Starbucks Reserve is, it’s a Starbucks location that serves some of Starbucks’ finest coffees, alcoholic beverages, and this one had gourmet salads, pizzas, & pastries.

Check out the link below on my – Instagram Reel – Starbucks Seattle








Some photos from the Pike Place Market. My mom loves the flower section.







Amazon’s headquarter is also in Seattle. It is called Amazon Sphere. Get it? Because its shaped like a spher—




Just a short walking distance from our hotel was Amazon Go. It’s a convenience store, but you just go in by using your Amazon account then you can get anything you want to buy. It’s cashless so you will see your bill on your Amazon account. There’s no cashier to check you out, you don’t have to show your ID to get in so they can track you and what you buy. You just scan your account, get what you need, and walk out. Super easy! We purchased sandwiches and drinks for a quick lunch.

The next day as we were driving back to the hotel, we saw a flyer for a boba tea festival. I begged my parents to let me go to the U District (University District, where the University of Washington is located), and get some bubble tea because it’s National Bubble Tea Day (April 30th). I was very happy 😀



It was great to walk around and see the different bubble tea shops, because there were just so many of them! One even had a create your own boba bar, where I think you could put in as many toppings as you wanted… But we didn’t go there because the lineup was very very long and it extended until about a city block. Also… we just ate some food from the Starbucks Reserve, so I wasn’t really feeling like a LOT of tapioca… you know. It was so busy that we have to drive around to find a parking spot. Thankfully, we found one and I got my watermelon flavored bubble tea!


Another stop was the Boeing Museum. The Boeing Museum was awesome, I got to fly a drone, check out some space shuttle models, check out some planes, and see the brand new planes being tested right outside. Some of the planes were also still wrapped! I thought it was really cool the see the process and how much work goes into the planes. Aviation is nothing short of spectacular. Every time I go on a plane I’m amazed at how we lift off, and it was very educational to see how planes are made. Seeing the planes that go as far back as world wars, up until the passenger and fighter planes we have today, it’s so neat. It also makes you feel very small standing up to something so big, like the tail of a 747. And because it’s almost my birthday, my parents bought me a Boeing sweater as an early birthday gift. Good stuff!



Above are some brand new planes going to China!

Seattle’s most iconic landmark is the Space Needle. An observation tower built in the heart of the Seattle Center in 1962 for the worlds fair. It stands at 605 feet tall (184 meters) and from the top, it’s a 360 saucer shaped tower. Seattle’s skyline can be seen from the tower, as well is Mount Rainier, Puget Sound, and the Cascades and Olympic mountain ranges. There’s also a rotating glass floor on the outside floor of the tower, it’s a slow revolver, but if you stay still you can really appreciate the 360 view. My dad is scared of glass floors, and it is very entertaining to watch him hesitantly put his foot on the glass, before taking the tiniest step forward, and then going back to where the floor is not glass. He thinks it’s going to crack and fall.

Have you been to the Space Needle? What did you think of it?









Then it was Ariela’s birthday! Yay! My birthday! On the day of my birthday, we were travelling back to Canada. But as we were on the road, I was also able to do a whole bunch of fun things that I wanted. I went to Chick-Fil-A, for breakfast and got those little chicken minis. and I like to put honey on them. I wanted Chick-Fil-A because we don’t get Chick-Fil-A that much in the tiny province of New Brunswick, Canada. Not that many fun American things happen there. The best we got is a brand new Popeyes, and I haven’t really heard a lot of locals talking about how they’ve tried it of how good it is…Then when we arrived in Vancouver, Canada. We went to Jollibee, my favourite Filipino fried chicken and rice. Double fried chicken day! Probably not that good to have everyday, but everyday isn’t your birthday.

Seattle was my birthday trip, and I really enjoyed it! From wanting to go that extra bit from staying in Osoyoos and looking over at Washington everyday, to crossing the border at the Peace Arch and exploring Seattle for my Birthday. Very good trip, and I enjoyed it a lot. I think that’s all for now. Ariela’s travel adventures in Seattle stop here.

Have a nice day everyone! Bye bye!