In September I took a vacation to Seattle with some awesome mom friends from college days. If you have never taken a “mommycation”, I highly recommend it! No kids, no cooking, sleeping in and plenty of fun to be had! You absolutely MUST try it!
I can’t wait to take my family and show them the sights but since this was a kid-free vacation I got to experience some of the less kid-friendly activities. I’ll share six of my favorite things that we did as well as what we did to save money and make the most of the money we did spend!
If you’re more of a visual person rather than a reader, then skip this post and watch the video here. Otherwise, let’s get this show on the road!
1.Dine and shop at Pike Place Market
You can not take a trip to Seattle and miss out on this iconic market. It is loved by both visitors and locals alike. Be prepared though, it is always busy. Here you will find fun shops on the lower levels and fresh seasonal market goods on the main level.
Make sure to linger a while near the main entrance to see the world-famous fish-throwers at Pike Place Fish Co. When someone purchases one of the freshly caught fish, the fishmonger (that’s official lingo for someone that sells fresh fish) throws the fish to another to catch before preparing it for the customer! They claimed to have never dropped a fish, but I’m not sure if I believe that.
Across the street from the main market is a row of delightful shops including Beecher’s cheese and some super yummy pastry shops! This is also where you can visit one of the very first Starbucks locations! The lines will be long! Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
From Pike’s place, take a short walk down Post Alley past the theater and you will find yourself at the Gum Wall. Personally, I thought this was pretty gross, but I performed my “tourist duty” and added some gum to the wall.
All grossness aside, the Gum Wall has a pretty interesting history. Theater crew started sticking gum and pennies to the wall out of boredom during their breaks in the 1990s and for some reason, it just caught on. In 2015 the gum wall was cleaned in order to preserve the integrity of brick and mortar underneath.
Fun Fact: It took 130 hours to scrape off the gum and then steam clean the bricks. Workers removed 2,350 lbs of gum from the wall! Gross!
2. Take a Boat Tour of the Harbor
This was the attraction I was the most scared of. Not the way-high-up Space Needle or even the creatures of the deep. But the boat cruise. It turned out better than I thought it would.
The cruise was 1 hour long and they told fun history, facts and stories about Seattle. Seeing the city from the water was neat too. From this cruise, you can see the Seattle Great Wheel (it is a giant Ferris Wheel), other boats in the water, a huge number of shipping containers at the port, and the city skyline from a different angle.
Fun Fact: The Ferries you see in the water are part of the state ran Washington State Ferry fleet, which is the largest ferry fleet in the U.S.
3. Watch the sunset from the top of the Space Needle
The Space Needle is at Seattle Center in the Seattle Neighborhood of Queen Anne. It was built in 1962 for the World’s Fair and is a neat way to get a bird’s eye view of Seattle. The observation tower was recently renovated to include glass floors and panels of glass on the observation deck to give you unobstructed views across all of Seattle. Inside the observation tower, the floor even slowly rotates so you can stand in 1 place and still get a 360-degree view of the city. Seattle can be pretty gray at times and while the views of Seattle can be enjoyed any day, this is a special treat on a clear day.
4. Brush up on your pop culture knowledge at MoPOP
MoPOP is the museum of Pop Culture (formerly the EMP and SciFi Museum) and while it was not my cup of tea, if you enjoy music history and Horror and Sci-Fi Movies, you will likely enjoy this. While I was there the special exhibit was a Pearl Jam Exhibit. Seattle is also known as the birthplace of grunge, so they have displays about Nirvana and Curt Cobain. Upstairs they have an interactive music exhibit that is perfect for the kids. Downstairs is where the Sci-Fi and Horror lore lays. My favorite part was seeing the awesome wall of weapons, many of which I recognized from some of my favorite movies.
5. Get hugged by a sea urchin at the Seattle Aquarium
I had so much fun at the Seattle Aquarium that I barely took any videos or pictures! There were so many fun things to do. They have a tide pool exhibit that lets you get up close and wet with various marine life like sea urchins, sea cucumbers and even sand dollars!
I loved watching the sea otters play in their exhibit too. I highly recommend visiting the Aquarium. It is situated on the Seattle Waterfront, close to where we went on the cruise and right down the hill from Pike Place Market.
Fun Fact: When sand dollars are still alive they are black and furry. Who knew!
6. Take a stroll through a glass garden at the Chihuly Garden and Glass
Last but not least, the Chihuly Garden and Glass. This is close to the Space Needle in Seattle Center. It features blown glass from the world-renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly and was opened in 2012.
It was so fun to stroll through the beautiful and colorful pieces of art. The colors were vibrant and the artwork, unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I legit wanted to touch everything it was so pretty!
Fun Fact: Dale Chihuly has his blown glass art in 200 museums around the world and has been awarded 12 honorary doctorates. Busy guy!
Save Money and stretch those dollars!
I know that vacationing can get pricey. Flights, room and board, food, it all adds up. Throw in some money for sight-seeing and activities and it can really blow a budget! Save yourself some money and get the City Pass. At $99 ($79 for kids 5-12) the City Pass gets you into five of the six attractions above (Pike’s Place is free). That’s a savings of $103.95!
The City Pass is valid for 9 consecutive days, so we didn’t have to worry about trying to fit in all of the activities into one day, which is really nice. It even has options! Since I was in Seattle sans kids, we chose to go to MoPOP and Chihuly Garden and Glass instead of the Woodland Park Zoo and The Pacific Science Center.
Another money stretching tip is to go to the space needle in the morning. Save your ticket and then go back in the evening! You can get two entries for the price of one! I’m not sure if this is a City Pass perk or if everyone gets to do it. Either way, do it! And if you go back for the sunset, get there a little early. It will get packed but it’s an absolutely breathtaking experience.
Have you been to Seattle? What was your favorite activity? What should we do next time we visit?
-Janice
