Our Walking Tour of Seattle
My daughter and I had the good fortune of visiting Seattle with my husband. He had a class to attend for work so it was a perfect opportunity for us to travel with him. At the time, it was the furthest I had ever ventured from home and definitely the longest plane ride I had ever been on. This post is about our first day in the city and how we ventured around on foot.
For this trip to Seattle we purchase the Seattle City Pass. It was something that we talked about and considered several times over but in the end we thought it was a way to see more of the city. The good thing about these types of passes is that they cover a lot of different sites and attractions. Often they cover the entry fee and provide some additional discounts at restaurants and retail outlets. Some of the sites provide head of the line privileges for City Pass holders, which can be valuable for especially busy locations. The negatives are that the pass is often time-limited, meaning that once you visit the first site the clock is then ticking until it expires. Unless you visit a majority of the attractions covered by the City Pass, then you’ll spend less money by just visiting the sites that you want to see. In the end, we decided to use the City Pass because we were new to Seattle and didn’t really have a set itinerary so we felt this would give us a nice, broad coverage of the city.
We first visited the Space Needle in Seattle. For whatever reason, my husband has a real thing for the views from high above a city, and the Space Needle is an iconic landmark that fits the bill.The views were terrific, and we had an unusually clear day to visit (for the Pacific Northwest) so we could see everything. We arrived pretty early in the day (I think before 10 am) so we didn’t have any wait at all to be whisked to the top. Once at the observation deck, it was stunning to see. We were also able to go outside for purely unobstructed views of Seattle, Puget Sound, Mt. Rainier and Mt. Baker. Absolutely worth it.
We then went to the MoPoP Museum in Seattle (formerly known as the EMP Museum). Unless this was part of our City Pass, I don’t think we would have made it part of our plans. But I’m really glad that we visited! It is located within walking distance of the Space Needle so it was our next stop after leaving the Space Needle. I’m normally not a museum person but the pop culture represented in the museum was fantastic. There was so much music represented in the museum, but it was more than just displays and exhibits. There were many interactive hands-on displays like sound booths to record your own music, Even my 11 year-old daughter liked the museum as well.
After lunch and a trip to Pike Place Market (more on that later), we went to the Seattle Aquarium. Located right on the waterfront, this was a surprisingly large aquarium that was in excellent condition. They have displays on the inland and coastal undersea life of the Northwest and all of the nations of the Pacific. We were also able to watch the otter and harbor seal feedings take place, which was a lot of fun. If I remember right, we spent about an hour and a half at this aquarium, which was also part of our City Pass.
Another of the options that we took on our City Pass was the Argosy Harbor Tour cruise. This trip from Pier 55 took us out and back for about an hour-long trip. The boat that we traveled on was very comfortable and had inside and outside seating. We were able to walk the deck comfortably without losing our balance or being overly windblown. There was much to see from this perspective, including the iconic Seattle skyline. Our tour guide and narrator did a wonderful job filling us in on the history of the bayfront, including many of the buildings and structures that still stand there today.
Not on the City Pass but still interesting for us was the Pike Place Market. This was a little further away from the Space Needle/MoPoP Museum so we drove our rental car down to this area. Although it’s very touristy, we really enjoyed our visit. It is a live fish market with several different vendors selling a variety of the fresh catch that their boats have brought in. And yes, if you’re not careful you can get hit in the head by a big salmon or tuna being thrown across the aisle. There were several eateries and other arts and crafts vendors at the market. It’s also interesting that the market is primarily open during the day. We went there around lunchtime and it was a bustling, lively place. Six hours later when we walked back by (but still daylight), all of the vendors had closed up for the night. Maybe that’s because it was a Thursday when we visited and maybe the weekends are open longer.
As for the City Pass, I think we made out to the good on our purchase. The total cost of the three passes for us was $175 (one child and two adults) and the total value of the tickets that we used was as follows (shows two adult admissions plus one child admission):
MoPoP Museum – $26 + $26 + $17 = $69
Space Needle – $19 + $19 + $13 = $51
Argosy Harbor Cruise – $27 + $27 + $13 = $67
Seattle Aquarium – $30 + $30 + $20 = $80
All total, the entry value was $267, so we saved almost $100 by using the City Pass. In this case for us, highly recommended!
So much for our first day in Seattle – it was a long day but a fun day, and the best part of all is that the weather cooperated nicely. The next day on our trip was July 4 – read on to the next post to see how we spent the nation’s birthday in Seattle!
