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Seattle, Visit Seattle, Seattle Guide, Seattle Travel, Space Needle, Olympic Peninsula, Pike's Market

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MT. RAINIER, WASHINGTON Previous Page Next Page
   Seattle at a Glance
Seattle, Visit Seattle, Seattle Guide, Seattle Travel, Space Needle, Olympic Peninsula, Pike's Market 

Seattle is a fairly new and very modern looking city. It is a city of coffee shops (not just Starbucks!), twenty and thirty "somethings", mountaineering and high tech companies. Due to its proximity to the Olympic Peninsula, Cascade Mountains and Puget sound, Seattle is really a city that loves to be outdoors. There are many outdoor destinations all within a days drive of downtown. Seattle sits at the edge of the beautiful Puget Sound while behind the skyline in the distance rise the prominent cascade peaks of Mt. Rainier and Mt. Baker.

Seattle is really the Mountaineering capital for the western USA. The Mountaineers, the North West's premier mountaineering and outdoor organization was formed in 1906. Many outdoor companies such as REI, Outdoor Research, Cascade Designs, Mountain Safety Research (MSR), and Feathered Friends among others started here.

In addition to being the city where prominent outdoor companies got their start, Seattle is also where household name companies started such as Microsoft, Costco, Nordstrom and Starbucks.

With the exception of the Olympic Peninsula all the other attractions listed below can be comfortably seen in 2-3 days. This is not an exhaustive travel guide to Seattle - these are only the attractions that Dave visited during his time in Seattle. Attractions are listed alphabetically.
 
  Consider a several day trip to the Olympic Peninsula or to some of the Puget Sound Islands across from Seattle. Car ferry trips are available quite often especially in the summer. They leave from near Pike's Market and also from Pier 52 along the Seattle harbor front. The closest ferry on your way to the Olympic Peninsula would be from Pier 52 to Bainbridge Island - total crossing time is about 35 minutes. Food is sold at Pier 52 near where the cars line up before driving onto the actual ferry.

View driving into the Hoh Rain Forest

Visit the Department of Transportation for more information about the ferry trips and locations: www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries

The Olympic Peninsula is a beautiful drive especially on a clear day. It is intensely forested and you probably won't run into too many people - its sort of like driving on parts of New Zealand's south Island. If you plan on driving the 101 all the way around the Peninsula you should have at minimum 3-5 days - as there are many beautiful places to stop and hike - including near Lake Crescent (a very picturesque lake west of Port Angeles on the 101), the Sol Duc Hot Springs and the great hiking in the Hoh and Quinault Rain Forests. The Hoh is a good example of this area's rain forests - several easy to hike trails area available as well as the longer (multi-day) spectacular hike up to Mt. Olympus. Everything is so green and moss literally is dripping from the trees.

Some areas of the rain forest get over 200 inches of rain in a single year! You should not expect to absorb the beauty of the Olympic Peninsula in one day - that simply is not enough time. Visit the following two informative websites about the Olympic Peninsula. Official Visitors guide: www.olympicpeninsula.org and the National Park Service website: www.nps.gov/olym

 
Flowers on the Olympic Peninsula and hanging bunches of peppers at Pike's Market in Seattle

The famous Pike's Market is well worth a visit when you are in Seattle. Its centrally located just up from the waterfront and spans several blocks of shops. Pikes Market is home to the famous Pike's Fish Throw; someone orders some fish from the vendor and their employees yell out and then take the fish from the ice and throw them across the shop to someone else who catches them and then wraps them up for the customer. Lots of produce and fruit as well as specialty items are sold in this market. It is one of America's premiere farmer's markets and in the summer be sure to try the yellow red Rainier cherries.

Pike's Market is home to the world's very first Starbucks Coffee Shop located at 1912 Pike Place (opened in 1971). This very small coffee shop is almost always very crowded. Some tour buses drop off their passengers in the general vicinity and the lines can snake out the doorway. No bathrooms are available - you will have to use the main Pike's Market restrooms. Often you will find local musical talents performing in front or nearby. A bronze plaque inside the store, next to a book of Starbucks history are the two highlights from inside. You can also buy some "first Starbucks" memorabilia.  

Spend an afternoon wandering among the produce stalls or outside along the fine selection of street shops. An open air plaza overlooks Puget sound and the 5 freeway directly below. This is the only place in the world that Dave has seen a policeman writing a clown a ticket! Allow at least several hours and consider eating lunch here. For more information visit: www.pikeplacemarket.org 

Pioneer Square is the home of Bill Speidel's Seattle Underground Tours and his tours are well worth taking advantage of when you are in Seattle. Unfortunately Bill passed on a while ago, but the tours guides keep his unique perspective on history alive. Conveniently located in Seattle's Pioneer Square your guide will lead a very humorous tour lasting approximately 90 minutes through several blocks of subterranean Seattle. You will surface at several points on the tour - and highlights of the underground tour may change from year to year as underground real estate becomes available to this company. Did you know that much of the downtown Seattle used to be 10-15 feet lower than where it is now and that here is an entire underground to the city? These tours provide a unique insight into Seattle's downtown life 100 years ago. At the end of the tour you will enter a gallery with more historical information and then a gift shop. For more information visit:
www.undergroundtour.com More information about the Pioneer Square in general is available here: www.pioneersquare.org

  For outdoor lovers, visiting the flagship store of REI is one of the must highlights of Seattle. It is located at 222 Yale Ave North - a parking garage is available for free for REI shoppers. An attraction in and of itself, this store outranks all other REI stores in terms of size, on site attractions, and an unbelievable supply of outdoor equipment. This is REI's flagship store and it really shows. Outside clocks show select times at certain mountains and locations around the world - fancy golden doors with the trademark ice axes grace the entrance, and a huge fireplace sits inside.

In addition there is a 65 foot climbing wall, mountain bike test trail, and other gear testing stations. Also visit the "garage" downstairs which contains returned items available at discounted prices. If you need a good resource of information for what to do and see in the Seattle area, including maps and visitors guides - be sure to use the REI Visitor's center located at the main entrance. The staff here are very helpful. Next to the visitor's center there is a small display of REI historical items. Visit: www.rei.com/stores/seattle

The Seattle Monorail is one of the first monorail systems in the USA. When its running (see website for updates as its currently closed in 2006), it services downtown Seattle to the Space Needle. This trip is extremely fast and is a great alternative to taking a car. Visit: www.seattlemonorail.com for more information. You can walk from the Needle to downtown - and any of the major downtown attractions (Pike's Market, Underground tours, Aquarium, etc). Expect to walk 20-30 minutes from the Space Needle to reach the heart of Seattle's downtown.

    

The towering Space Needle is a required visit during any trip to Seattle. It towers 520 feet above Seattle and you can be on the observation deck via the high speed elevator in just 10 seconds! The elevator attendants ask everyone in the elevator if they have any questions about the Needle or Seattle in general. You had best make your questions short answer ones as you have only 10 seconds on your up or down trip! On a clear day you will have incredible views of Mt. Baker to the North, Mt. Rainier to the South East, downtown Seattle and the lovely shining Puget sound. You can walk in a circle, 360 degrees around the top of the needle. Tour guides provided by the Needle will help answer any questions you may have about Seattle and the Space Needle. Choose from one of several powerful telescopes and or live interactive TV screens to enhance your view of the city! To view the live web cams and learn more about the Seattle Space Needle visit: www.spaceneedle.com 

All day parking in any of a number of open air lots near the Space Needle typically will run about $10. Prominent signs listing the towing company phone numbers are on the building walls near the parking lots. There is plenty to do in the area right around the Space Needle. Consider a visit to the Bilbao Guggenheim museum look alike building located right next to the Space Needle. You can't miss seeing this wavy shaped brightly colored building. It houses the "experience music project" and the Science Fiction Museum. Entrance admissions to each museum are separate. A free gallery displaying the clothes of about 20 famous musicians is available near the lobby. More info about the music museum is here: www.emplive.org and the Science Fiction museum here: www.sfhomeworld.org

 

Front of the Music Project building located next to the Space Needle

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 Last Updated:  12/21/07 22:07:48

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Seattle, Visit Seattle, Seattle Guide, Seattle Travel, Space Needle, Olympic Peninsula, Pike's Market