Pacific Coast Highway 30th anniversary road trip blog post — Seattle

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PCH Road Trip 2020 › Seattle, WA

Part 1 · August 2020

Our 30th Anniversary Road Trip: Chasing the Pacific Coast Highway

A milestone anniversary, a pandemic pivot, and the ocean we'd never seen.

In 2020, my husband and I finally made one of our biggest dreams a reality — a real, honest-to-goodness big trip to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary.

We'd been tossing around the idea of a cruise for a while, but as we all know, 2020 had other plans. By summer, cruises had come to a screeching halt and we found ourselves back at the drawing board. That's when my husband suggested something that honestly sounded even better: a road trip down the Pacific Coast Highway.

Neither of us had ever seen the ocean. Thirty years of marriage, and we had never seen the ocean. This was the trip.

I love to plan, so I spent a few months mapping out every detail of a week-long adventure. In August, we flew into Seattle, Washington to kick things off.

Seattle, WA 

We only had one day in Seattle, so we hit the ground running.



Stop 1 Ivar's Fish & Chips

Our first mission? Food. My husband had been dreaming about trying fish and chips at Ivar's, and let me tell you — they did not disappoint. Fresh, crispy, and absolutely delicious. Totally worth the hype.



Stop 2 The Space Needle

The Space Needle had just reopened to the public, and the timing felt like a little gift. We rode up to the top and took in the most incredible views of the city, the water, and — on a clear moment — the faint outline of Mount Rainier in the distance. Standing up there, looking out over a city neither of us had ever visited, it really hit me: we were actually doing this.




Stop 3 The Gum Wall

On the way to Pike Place Market, we stumbled upon something I had absolutely no idea existed: the gum wall. Tucked into a brick alleyway, it's exactly what it sounds like — thousands of pieces of chewed gum left by visitors over the years. A little gross? Yes. Oddly fascinating? Also yes. We had to laugh.


Stop 4 Pike Place Market

Pike Place Market was quieter than usual thanks to the pandemic — many vendors and shops were still closed — but we still loved walking through it. Even at half capacity, you could feel the energy of the place. On a normal day, I imagine it's absolutely buzzing.


Next stop

Olympic National Park

Part 2

Have you visited Seattle? Drop your favorite spots in the comments below!

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