WEEKEND AWAY

Your Guide to a Rejuvenating Weekend in Seattle

Treat yourself to kettlebells and kale smoothies in the Emerald City's hottest hood.

By Allison Jones December 21, 2015 Published in the January 2016 issue of Portland Monthly

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Image: Alexis Hotel

Restorative winter trips shouldn’t be restricted to warmer climes. Instead, Portlanders can just cruise up I-5 (or hit Amtrak or Bolt or our seemingly limitless direct flights) to Seattle, where the bustling Capitol Hill neighborhood offers some serious renewal. The urban epicenter of Seattle nightlife is packed with hedonistic bars and restaurants but is also an ideal destination for a multiple-choice winter health retreat. You’ll find modern spas, peaceful yoga studios, leaf-laden juice bars, bountiful brunches atop gluten-free biscuits, and even a few alt-sweet shops for a touch of conscientious hedonism.

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Image: Ritual Yoga

Stretch

Drop in for an ashtanga, vinyasa, hatha, or yin and myofascial release class at the minimalist Ritual House of Yoga. Twice a month, the studio offers “sound bath” workshops to surround yogis with vibrations from crystal singing bowls, vocal toning, and gongs.

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Image: Juicebox

Sip

Hip dives and sleek cocktail boîtes abound in Capitol Hill’s Pike/Pine corridor, where healthy café Juicebox aims to balance out late-night debauchery with turmeric-spiked green juice and coconut milk yogurt parfaits. Want to warm up from the inside out? Head to Remedy Teas for a tulsi chai latte or one of the shop’s more than 150 other organic tea blends.

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Image: Nelle Clark

Savor

Save that full-on cleanse for another weekend—the gluten-free biscuit sandwiches and Benedicts at the cavernous Oddfellows shouldn’t be missed. For a sweet treat, devour a cone of house-made chocolate soft-serve from Plum Bistro’s new all-vegan ice cream and pastry shop Sugar Plum, or skip a few blocks down to gluten-free bakery Nuflours for a really good lemon bar.

Shop

Stock up on recycled-cotton yoga pants and mats at 8 Limbs Yoga Boutique; browse the selection of essential oils, artisan incense, cold-busting throat sprays, and organic skin care at apothecary and specialty food store Sugarpill; and pick up a clean-eating cookbook at The Elliott Bay Book Company.

Soothe

Inspired by worldly wellness traditions like Finnish saunas and Japanese bathhouses, coed urban sanctuary Banya 5 offers a Turkish steam room, a Russian brick parilka (sauna), a hot pool with powerful jets, a saltwater pool, custom massages, and a nap room (seriously).

Stay

In downtown Seattle, the Alexis Hotel boasts a new fitness center designed in partnership with a local CrossFit gym. You’ll find a concrete rock-climbing wall, monkey bars, kettlebells, touch-screen monitors with workout demos, and hula hoops. They’ve also got the expected cardio equipment—but with a grown-up playground at your disposal, why bother with a treadmill?

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