48 Hours in Seattle
I was able to bookend my Olympic National Park trip with two full days in Seattle and managed to see some of the city’s greatest hits. Seattle felt like an Indie paradise - good coffee scene, accessible waterfront, and such fun boutique shopping - think maps, rocks and gems, and beautiful Indigenous art. I already can’t wait to come back and spend more time exploring the city.
View of the Space Needle from Chihuly Garden & Glass
Friday Morning
After getting into Seattle late last night, I went for a morning food tour of Pike Place Market to (1) get associated with a bit of the city and some of its history and (2) try some of the best bites around. We had biscuits, cheese, samosas, chocolate, chai, salmon, and more! I enjoyed hearing some of the history of the market as well, and it was easy to keep track of spots which looked interesting that I wanted to come back and check out later. I spent the rest of the morning wandering the various floors of the market, popping into small shops and checking out the Gum Wall.
Friday Afternoon
After a quick powernap to recover from my Pike Place Market Food Baby™, I headed out for a happy hour Harbor Cruise, which was included on my Seattle City Pass ticket. We spent an hour on the water, and were rewarded with views of the North Cascades and Mount Rainier, as well as some of the large-scale industrial quayside facilities, which were pretty cool especially for fellow maritime nerds. After the cruise, I met up with a friend to grab dinner and we ended up enjoying the evening at the Charter Hotel’s rooftop bar before heading out to catch sunset views from higher up over the city. Not bad for a first day in town!
We spent the weekend exploring Olympic National Park - check out that trip here.
Monday Morning
I had one more full day in Seattle before heading back to Boston and wanted to make sure I made the most of it! I started out with some brekkie from the Pike Place Market, including some delicious mini donuts and the richest mac’n’cheese from Beecher’s. I popped down to the waterfront to head to the aquarium as soon as it opened (also on my City Pass). While I’ve been to several aquariums around the world, I thought that Seattle’s coral and anemone exhibits were stunning! I also really enjoyed learning a bit about the unique ecology of the Salish Sea.
Monday Afternoon
I had several more items to hit on my City Pass this afternoon, and luckily they were all in the same spot! I took the monorail up to Seattle Center to check out the Museum of Pop Culture, which was very cool - I likely wouldn’t have purchased a ticket if it hadn’t already been included in my Pass, but it was a super interesting stop, covering art, music, sci-fi, horror, and other genres.
After taking a couple hours to explore the Museum, I headed up to the Space Needle observation deck to grab a beer and enjoy the views. As cool as this was, the star of the show today was definitely the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum right next door. I didn’t know much about what to expect going into it, and was absolutely blown away (ha). The sheer scale of the pieces was incredible! And so interesting to go and experience this right after spending the morning at the aquarium - so many similarities between the beautiful artwork and the lively corals and anemones. After catching one of the live glass blowing demonstrations, I grabbed a quick bite at the onsite bar (yum) before catching the monorail back to grab the airport train downtown. Thanks for a great trip, Seattle!
