Seattle is a fairly new and very modern looking city. It boasts the
second tallest building west of the Mississippi. It
is a city of coffee shops (not just Starbucks!), twenty and thirty "somethings",
parks, an intimate relationship with water, and mountaineering & 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 Mountain range peaks of Mt. Rainier and Mt. Baker.
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Sound Transit
is Seattle's light rail and as of
December 19, 2009 opened from the SEA-TAC airport to
downtown. There are a number of stops along the way; expect
about a 30 minute ride from the airport to downtown. For
more information please visit:
www.soundtransit.org |
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 and this amazing city is
also home to other well known companies including Boeing and Amazon.
With the exception of the Olympic Peninsula all the other attractions
listed below can be comfortably seen in 3-4 days. This is not an
exhaustive travel guide to Seattle - these are only the attractions that
Dave visited during his multiple trips to Seattle. All attractions below are listed
alphabetically.
Ballard Locks - the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks
are located in Ballard, Seattle and are a unique system of engineering
which allows boats to move from between saltwater of the Puget Sound and
the fresh water of the canal which connects to Lake Union and Lake
Washington. These locks are in operation for boats 24/7 and when you
visit, if there is boat traffic coming through you will see the dock-men
anchored to steel lines so they won't fall into the canal as they help
guide the boats.
Steel gates/bridges are part of each lock and open and close as
necessary to raise or lower the water levels, so the boats can reach
their destination. These bridges can be easily crossed when not in use -
bells will ring to indicate that the bridge will open and at this point
you should leave the bridge and move to the concrete dividers that are
located between each of the locks.
You can cross the entire canal by foot to the other side where you will
find the fish ladder viewing station. You enter the concrete building
and look through the thick windows into the side of the canal. During
the spawning season, the windows will be entirely covered by huge fish
swimming up river through the fish ladder. The best viewing times are of
course during the height of spawning season - usually in September and
early October - we've been here during late October and there are
a few fish but certainly not the amounts you find during peak season.
Both the locks and the fish ladder viewing are open year round during
the day time. Note that the scenic and serene
Carl S. English Jr.
Botanical Garden is located right next to the
canal and you have to walk through the edge of this garden to reach the
actual locks. Parking is metered here except on Sundays where it is
free. Visit:
www.seattle.gov/tour/locks.htm
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Future of Flight Aviation Center (Boeing)
- this major attraction is actually located about 30 minutes
north of Seattle in the town of Everett next to Paine Field.
This Boeing museum is dedicated to all things flight related.
The main large gallery contains several huge engines, parts of
planes including a huge fin from a 747, special exhibits and
video presentations.
You can choose to just pay the normal admission price which
grants you access to the main museum, but the tour is really the
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highlight of a visit here. You will be driven around
Paine Field to look at some of the large airplanes and then visit the
inside of the facilities. Boeing's main building is the largest building
in the world by volume. This building will absolutely dwarf the parking
lot full of cars. Huge planes are built inside - all the parts are
gathered, many of them shipped in from over seas, and then the planes
are assembled at an amazing speed, typically in just several days. You
will be able to watch this construction taking place on the ground floor
from above.
Seattle has two International airports and Paine Field while not
technically in Seattle is a 3rd International airport in the vicinity.
The reason is, this is Boeing's "delivery" airport in which pilots
worldwide fly here to pick up their new planes. As a result, you will
often see airlines from around the world parked at the airport.
The "flight shop" is worth a stop - you can find some good sales
on occasion. There are lots of Boeing clothing and other schwag
available and sometimes authors will be on site signing their
books. On a clear day be sure to visit the "flight deck" for
great views of Paine Field, Mt. Rainier to the south and Mt.
Baker to the north which is relatively close to the Canadian
border. Need food - a cafe is on site. Look for lots of area
visitor brochures near the main counter.
Visit:
www.boeing.com/companyoffices/aboutus/tours |
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Museum of Flight
- An entire day, or at least most of the day needs to be reserved for a
visit here. This is a huge museum that spans several buildings and when
you are displaying large aircraft invariably you have to spill the
exhibits outdoors. The museum is located at 9404 E. Marginal Way South,
right next to the King County International Airport about 8 miles south
of Seattle.
The museum is separated into exhibits. One of the real highlights is the
spacecraft exhibition which contains moon rocks, tons of photos,
interactive displays, a huge video screen showing the space station, and
an actual replica of one of the rooms in the Space Station. We ended up
spending about 2.5 hours just in this one exhibit! Docents are on hand
to help answer any of your flight and space related questions. Real
historical space craft are also on display and the collection keeps
growing.
The main part of the museum (called the Great Gallery) is a huge room
that contains a variety of aircraft including the neat car-plane
combination as well as fighter jets and other historical airplanes. The
use of flight simulators that actually move are available for an
additional fee. The older red building contains two levels that mostly
outline Boeing's history (Boeing donated land for the museum). Another
neat piece of trivia is this red "barn" was Boeing's original
manufacturing plant. Another huge part of the museum is the large
building that contains two levels; one level is entirely devoted to
World War I era planes and flight related items and the other level is
all about World War II aircraft.
Be sure to visit the outside exhibits. You cross the nice glass steel
bridge containing many speakers along the railings which blare out the
sounds of huge jets flying. So considering you are next to the
International airport, you might find yourself a bit confused when the
sound of a jet comes through the speakers and sounds like its right next
to you, but glancing around there are no flying planes!
The outside exhibit has a variety of large planes. More planes continue
to be added over time as older planes are restored at Paine Field
Airport in Everett and then shipped down to the museum (which is about
35 miles north of here). Fortunately at the time of our latest visit
there is still lots of parking lot space to add these. Highlights of the
outdoor exhibit include a Concorde and an older Air Force One jet (both
of which you can enter and take photography inside). We mention this
because we've been in an Air Force One Jet before in which photography
was strictly forbidden but not here. Another highlight is the huge 747 -
this plane was the first ever 747 built by Boeing. With a wingspan of
almost 200 feet, it presents quite a site, especially when you stand
underneath it!
A real life replica of a flight control tower is part of the museum.
Also of note is the Kids' Flight Zone featuring interactive displays for
the children - some of the displays will certainly test flying skills of
both children and adults alike. Visit:
www.museumofflight.org
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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 -
it is 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 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 are available as well
as the longer (multi-day) spectacular hike up to glacier covered 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 Place 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. Pike Place 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 Place Market is home to the world's very first Starbucks Coffee Shop
located at 1912 Pike Place (opened in 1971). This 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 Place 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. |
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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 there 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
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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. 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
first trip to
Seattle. It towers 520 feet above the city 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.empsfm.org
Front of the Music Project building located next to the Space Needle |
