The summer of 2014, my husband had been travelling
to Seattle, Washington for his work. When he couldn't stop talking about how
beautiful it was there, we decided to join him once school broke for summer –
it would let us get away from the harsh Texas heat and we would get to be
together as a family for two whole months. So we packed our bags and flew
to this green haven of lovely weather and picturesque views everywhere. Best
decision we could have made!!
After the long and exhausting flight from Dallas to Seattle, the
ride from the airport to our temporary home for the summer was surprisingly
refreshing! The lavishly green trees, the rising mountains, the splattering of
water sparkling in the setting sun, peeping out of the trees and buildings
every now and then! Simply beautiful! As soon as we moved in, we dived into our
exploration of this lovely place.
The Greater Seattle Area is fabulous. There are so
many things to see and experience that although we spent practically every
weekend exploring that summer, we still did not cover everything on our list.
Here, I am sharing with you some of the places we explored.
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A really fun place especially for curious cats is the Pike
Place Market, a farmers market where you can purchase some really unique
and fresh fruits, flowers, vegetables, seafood, meat, pickles, jams and
preserves. There are nurseries of unique and gorgeous plants. Talented
artists selling handmade artwork, beautiful embroidered and painted stuff,
handmade jewelry, several arts and crafts that could adorn your space
stunningly. After exploring through the market, you can eat some very
interesting foods sold on food stands that are mouthwatering and delicious
enough to make you want to keep coming back.
On Pike street is the First Starbucks Café established
in 1971. Of course the coffee tastes the same at all the Starbuck’s cafes but
the fun is in the quint décor. They have still maintained some of the original
flavor of the café from years ago along with providing us the modern comforts
that we always expect from a Starbucks like Wi-Fi. Although almost always
crowded, we were lucky enough to find seats and have our coffees in peace.
The Seattle Great Wheel on pier 57 is one giant
ferris wheel one must ride! The wheel extends nearly 40 feet beyond the end of
the pier, over Elliott Bay and the view is just breathtaking. As the story
goes, Seattle businessman Hal Griffith had envisioned a Ferris wheel in the
city for nearly 30 years, but finally on June 29, 2012 his dream came true and
the Seattle Great Wheel was opened to public. It is the largest observation
wheel on the west coast. It is 175 feet tall with 42 fully enclosed gondolas
with the capacity to hold over 300 passengers at a time. The wheel is open all
year round and as we experienced, it is fun to ride especially in the rain!
So many popular television shows and movies open with a shot
of the Seattle skyline featuring The Space Needle prime and
center. It is no wonder that when we think of Seattle we immediately visualize
the Space Needle. A major landmark of the city, it was quite a grant feat by
The Pentagram Corporation (now called Space Needle LLC) to have created this
605 ft. structure in under a year in 1962.
The Space Needle has lovely revolving restaurant and
a wonderful viewing deck from where the downtown Seattle skyline, Olympic and
Cascade Mountains, Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, Elliott Bay and surrounding
islands are visible. Although we adults enjoyed the viewing deck more, my eight
year old was simply thrilled by the elevator ride up and down! The Chihuly
Garden & Glass is a museum in Seattle Center, right next door to
the Space Needle. It showcases the brilliant and colorful glass exhibit of
interior designer, artist and businessman Dale Chihuly. Since we had not seen
any other Chihuly exhibits before, this one really impressed us!
Another place that impressed us was the Olympic
Sculpture Park on Western Avenue in downtown Seattle not very far from
Pier 69. This park faces Elliot Bay and consists of 9 acre outdoor sculpture
museum and beach. A free admission public park with both permanent and visiting
installations, it is a unique institution in the United States. Not only is the
view from the park spectacular, the contemporary sculptures that it features
are also quite awe inspiring.
A network of underground passageways and basements, gives a view
of the ground level at the city’s origin in the mid-19th century.
After the street levels were elevated these spaces fell into disuse but have
become a tourist attraction. In 1965, local citizen Bill Speidel recognized the
interest and profit these underground ruins might hold and started the Seattle
Underground Tour at Pioneer Square. As the history of the city’s origin
goes, a fire in 1889 was the cause of all the consecutive changes which led to
what we see as the city today. The fire that destroyed 31 blocks of the old
city, was not that damaging but there were other issues. The drainage system at
that time dumped the waste of the city into the bay and that would often be let
back on the beach when the tide rose and eventually ebbed. Fires were also
common at that time and hence the city’s leaders mandated that all new
construction must be with stone and mortar instead of wood. When you go
on the underground tour, which only takes tourists in some of these underground
constructions which are deemed safe, the stories told by the guides not only
have a funny twist to them, but few of them do seem quite obviously tall tales.
Although, I have only chronicled those places that we visited in
Seattle, there are many many more things to do here. But the great state of
Washington has some absolutely-do-not-miss places of which we checked out a
few.
About forty minutes away from Seattle are the 270-foot Snoqualmie
Falls in Snoqualmie, WA. The falls are such a glorious surprise.
Although one might say that one waterfall is not that different from others,
there’s something about the aura of this 270 feet fall which is quite
breathtaking. We were lucky to be at the falls at sunset and the view was so
exquisite that I do not find words to describe it! The drive up the green
mountains with their quirky, curvy roads and the mountain tops, the blue sky
and the glittering silver of water peeking in every now and then was a visual
feast!
The vineyards in Woodinville are also worth
visiting. There are some great wines to be tasted and enjoyed at places
like Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery but some of the restaurants around here serve food that is just out of this world.
The Boeing Factory – Future of Flight
Tour at Mulkiteo, WA was
definitely not a place we could
All of these wonderful places had been quite an adventure for us.
Yet the highlight of our summer was yet to come: Whale Watching at Friday
Harbor, San Juan Islands. Taking the Victoria Clipper from Seattle’s Pier
69, we left late morning on a bright and sunny day. The cruise was very
scenic and also gave us a chance to observe wildlife like seals, otters
porpoises and sea lions on our way to Friday Harbor. The clipper dropped us at
the Friday Harbor Market for a couple hours before we left to see the Orcas.
The market area close to the dock has some quaint places to eat and shop along
with
Once we were on our way to the Pacific Ocean where the Orcas
were, it was difficult to contain our excitement! Everyone on the clipper was
bursting with anticipation, clamoring to the decks and windows, cameras ready
to click at the slightest movement in the water. To our delight, all that to-do
was absolutely worth it when we were actually able to see the Orcas out there
in the wild open sea.
We saw a family of six happily frolicking around about a 100
yards from where we were, which is about as close as tourists are allowed to go
to these ‘Free Willys’! At first these whales which actually belong to the
dolphin family, were calmly swimming around and then out of the blue (see what
I did there!) they were diving in and out of the water, playing around, calling
each other and having a thoroughly fun time, leaving us breathless, speechless
and quite in awe! I have to admit, all of us on the decks were also going quite
crazy trying to get some good pictures of these gorgeous creatures at their
dancing best.
It was humbling to be out there in the deep blue ocean, the
home of the Orcas, watching them live their lives like the free spirits they
are. It felt like we were fans, ogling at these celebrities who
We still have many wonders to discover in the state of
Washington which is full of such big and small surprises made by man and
nature. This trip though was one of the most enjoyable ever. Every weekend of
the summer was more exciting than the last.
All photo-credits belong to the MAD
family!
Websites we used to plan our
adventures:
