Eearlier this week, I had the privilege and honor or keynoting a PRSA event for the Puget Sound Chapter in Seattle (I spoke about the PR pro of tomorrow). I say privilege because I don’t take these kind of speaking engagements lightly. After all, I’m not really a “professional” speaker. I’m just a guy who’s trying to run a small business—and speaking engagements like this are a big part of that mix in terms of new business and awareness.

But, speaking opportunities like this one, with a local PRSA chapter, are also a way for me to give back—and see a bit of the country at the same time.

So, I used the trip as an opportunity to see Seattle with my wife. We flew in Friday, June 8, and she stayed until Monday morning. Then, I stayed through Wednesday as I had two speaking gigs on Tuesday.

We couldn’t have loved Seattle more. Sure, the weather was a bit jarring (55 in June? C’mon Seattle!), but you get used to it. And, I was trying to appreciate the fact that it’s basically the same temperature the whole year round. In fact, really, it’s exactly like San Diego, just a bit cooler, with less sun and not right on the ocean.

Seattle is also a bit like San Francisco. How? Well, it’s more hilly than you think. Especially downtown where I stayed. You can barely find a block where you’re not walking uphill or downhill. Not what I expected. Also, similar to SF, you can travel a couple hours in one direction and be in a completely different ecosystem. For us, that meant traveling west to see the Olympic mountains, which were incredible. Go the other direction and you’re in the Cascades. Go south and you’re near Mount Rainer. Go a little further west and you’re at the ocean. That’s my kind of geography. I’ve always wanted to live near water and mountains—this city gives you both.

Our tour of Seattle included so much more than I could describe in words. So, I thought I’d share our travels via pics I took on Instagram along the way. Enjoy!

The weekend started with a visit to the Public Market–unbelievable fruit, flowers and fish.

We tried our first crumpet with peanut butter and raspberry jelly!

Which was followed by a trip to the original Starbucks.

After a short ferry ride across the sound, we enjoyed some wonderful wine tasting on Bainbridge Island.

Then, we headed back to Seattle for the Underground Tour. Very unique.

Finally, we found our way to the top of the historic Smith Tower. Cooler than I thought.

Day two started off with us picking up this car. We called it the Skittle car.

We drove over to the peninsula for a gander at this: The Olympic Mountains.

Next up: A visit to Lake Crescent and dinner at a quaint National Park Lodge right ont he lake.

Then, a short hike to this waterfall. Felt more like Hawaii than Washington.

And on the ferry back to Seattle, we finally caught a glimpse of Mount Rainier.

Monday morning, I made a pit stop at a Seattle institution.

I didn’t go up, but I had to get a close-up look at the Needle.

And while I didn’t make a game while I was in Seattle, I did take the tour. I was one of two people on it, which was pretty cool. It was like my own personal tour of Safeco.

Stayed at the Fairmont all week–fantastic place to stay if you’re in Seattle anytime soon.

And of course, the whole reason I was in Seattle: My PRSA keynote presentation. This isn’t me, but if you look closely you can see my ugly mug on the Powerpoint slide in the background.