Seattle

Today was actually pretty spontaneous. Two days ago, I suggested that we cut our Glacier visit short so we could have a full day in Seattle. And everyone agreed that it could be fun. So we drove a full day to a KOA in Washington and started planning our visit.

We got up early so we could make it on an early train to Seattle. We took a bus to the train station and then took a train into the city. Once we got there, we walked to our first stop: Pike’s Place Market.

We saw the original Starbucks, put money in the Golden Pig, and got breakfast at an amazing bakery. I got a peanut butter oatmeal cookie, Livi got chocolate macaroons, Dad got a bacon cheddar croissant, and mom got raspberry scones. My dad also got some fresh bread to go. After breakfast, we walked around the market, stopping at many stalls. There were stalls featuring products like jewelry, clothing, bags, paintings, ornaments, and so much more. There were also food stalls with fresh produce, baked goods, and fish caught from the Pugent Sound. You could actually see the Sound and the mountain range behind it from the market.

After we left Pikes Place, we hiked up a huge hill and made our way to the monorail entrance. Once we got there, it still wouldn’t open for another 20 minutes so we went to the park next to it. It was actually a really cool park. There were hula hoops laid out for people to use, a playground, and brightly colored lanterns were hanging from the trees.

After the monorail ride (which only took 2 minutes) we walked to the Space Needle. Inside, you got a little history lesson about the tower and the people who worked on it.

Inside the elevators, talking wasn’t allowed for some reason, but once you got to the top, the view was all worth it! We had an amazing 380° view of the entire city, the sound, and the mountains behind it. We even got to see the helicopter pad from Grey’s Anatomy. There was also a revolving glass floor below the restaurant.

On our way out, we stopped at the gift shop and saw a pretty fountain. And then we walked through an alleyway of glass buildings to reach the pizza parlor where we had lunch.

After lunch, we went to the Museum of Pop Culture (MoPop). There were so many cool exhibits including costumes from Disney movies, a science fiction Hall of Fame, and props from fantasy franchises like Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings. There were also Pearl Jam and Nirvana exhibits which my dad loved.

After the museum, we played on a ginormous playground and then took the monorail back to the other side of the city. Once we were at the other side, we took a small walk to the Seattle Public Library. It was amazing! The building was made of all windows so you could see the outside from everywhere inside the library. There were three stories with all sorts of cool places inside of it. Including a gift shop, computer lab, small auditorium, a coffee stand, and of course: many many books. It was amazing.

Once we left the library however, things got a little crazy. We all started following my dad around because we thought he knew where we were going. Turns out, none of us knew where we were going. After a little bit of a fight that resulted in us being lost, dehydrated, and tired, we finally found our way to Chinatown where we had dinner.