Seattle, Washington
Seattle is a unique city in the Pacific North West of our country. Its known of course for the rainy weather and Starbucks Coffee but the city is so much more and a wonderful place to visit. If you are a fan of aviation like myself Seattle is the place to go. With the Museum of Flight and the Boeing Factory nearby in Everett, Washington there is a lot of Aviation history in the area. If you are a fan of Pop Culture the Museum of Pop Culture is a must see. The seafood especially in the Pike’s Place Market area. The city has a lot to do and a lot of natural beauty withing a short drive of the city. We visited Seattle during a very rainy spell in April of 2018. It was a great trip to Seattle and a few places beyond the city.
Getting to Seattle and transportation
There are multiple ways to get to the Seattle area. There is of course the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport that is just south of Seattle that serves all the major airlines and is a hub for Alaska Airlines. We ended up flying into Portland, Oregon and drove the around 3 hour drive to Seattle. It gave us the chance to see some of Portland and see some of the sights between the cities. Once in Seattle you have a variety of choices. If you find a hotel near a rail stop the Seattle Rail system is nice and takes you right into the heart of downtown Seattle. We stayed near the Seattle Airport where the hotels were a bit cheaper and rode into downtown from the Seattle Airport Rail Station. There is a Hilton that is a very short walk from that station. Once in downtown there is a Monorail ride for around $5-$10 Round trip that will take you to the Space Needle, Museum of Pop Culture and the attractions in that area. You of course have the options to use Lyft, Uber or Taxi or drive yourself but its not necessary for the downtown area. To see the Museum of Flight or Boeing Factory you will need to drive.
Pike Place Market
The historic farmers market that is known for fishmongers and the throwing of fish is a nice place to visit while in Seattle. When we first arrived in downtown Seattle on the rail we walked over to the famous over 100 years old market to take a walk through it. The market is multiple stories high and overlooks Puget Sound and the harbor. Its full of fish shops, fresh produce and many other types of stores. We even visited a comic book store while walking through the market. The very first Starbucks is near by the market, along with souvenir shops and other kinds of shopping. In the market you can stop by for some food as well. At the end of our tour of downtown Seattle we stopped back by the market to grab a bite to eat. We got some very fresh seafood at one of the nice restaurants inside the market. The sights and smells of all of the foods is great to experience. Depending on how long you look in the shops, an hour or so will be enough to walk through much of it. Its a must see attraction while in Seattle due to its history and free unless you go shopping yourself. The market can give you some shelter from the Seattle Rains as well. We were in Seattle two days and it rained all day each of those days.
Museum of Pop Culture
One of the gems of Seattle is the Museum of Pop Culture near the Space Needle. After our quick monorail ride after visiting Pike Place and getting some coffee we went to the museum. The main building is hard to miss with its distinctive fantasy design. Inside the museum is a world of music, movies and other cultural icons. A temporary exhibit on Star Trek was there when we visited. We were able to see the bridge set from the original Enterprise, props from the other Star Trek series, and the ship models. It was a great exhibit for any Star Trek fan. We also visited an exhibit on horror films that had props from many of the famous horror films like Aliens, Friday the 13th, The Walking Dead and others. There were also exhibits on Fantasy, and Sci-Fi movies and TV shows. In the music area there were exhibits of Jimi Hendrix and and Seattle Grunge Band Nirvana. They also had a musical exhibit where you can test out different instruments and pedals. We unfortunately missed by one weekend an exhibit on Marvel Superheros. We spent quite a bit of time at the museum so when going give yourself half a day at the least. For the museum it is $26 online.
Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum
Also near the Space Needle is the Chihuly Garden and Glass museum. Chihuly is a famous glass sculpture that you might recognize by his works at the Bellagio in Las Vegas (the glass flower ceiling in the lobby). He is from Seattle and his work can be found all over the world. This museum has many beautiful glass sculptures he has made and includes an outdoor garden featuring more oh his works. it a beautiful museum but it is somewhat small so it will only take an hour or so. It was very rainy so we could not spend too much time walking through the garden. They also have demos of glass blowing and short movies to watch. We got our ticket to the museum in a package that included tickets to the Space Needle for a discount. It was a nice short visit but if you are running out of time this might be a place to skip (but I do recommend it).
The Space Needle
The iconic landmark in Seattle was built for the 1962 worlds fair and gives you great views of Seattle and the surrounding coastline. At the time of our visit in April 2018 the Space Needle was being renovated so the viewing area was a construction zone and you could not see 360 degrees but it was still nice. It was still very rainy once we got to the top so the view was somewhat obscured. We could still see much of Seattle and the islands out in Puget Sound. You can walk into the open air viewing spaces as well. We spent some time just enjoying the views before we headed back on the Monorail for dinner. We did not have time to visit it but the nearby Pacific Science Center looked like a nice place to visit and is near all the attractions we visited in downtown Seattle.
The Museum of Flight
My personal favorite spot in Seattle is the huge Museum of Flight. The Museum of Flight is located at the site of one of the original Boeing factories at Boeing field South of downtown Seattle. At this museum you can see exhibits on space and aviation. You can tour one of the original buildings of the Boeing factory, go to a tower that views the airport, see many one of a kind aircraft you can walk inside like the first 747, a 787, historic 727 and even tour the concord. You can also go inside one of the Air Force One’s that have carried Presidents over the years. They have a WWI and WWII display of aircraft and great exhibits going over the air wars in both of the wars. They have movies that are available to purchase as well. Its a very well done museum and the price is good as well. If you buy online general admission is only $22 but there are other discounts such as AAA available. You will need to take a car to this museum since it is not near any rail stations. I heavily recommend this museum and it will take much of the day to tour this large museum.
Future of Flight and Boeing Factory Tour
Located around 30 minutes North of Seattle in Everett, Washington is the Future of Flight and Boeing Factory Tour. We drove up to the museum on our final day in the Seattle area. The museum itself has different hands on aviation exhibits about aviation in general and the late breaking in aviation technology. The highlight of the museum is the bus and walking tour of the huge Boeing facility. We visited the hangers (some of the largest in the world) that build 747’s, 767’s, 777’s and 787’s. In the factory you could see airplanes from airlines around the world. They have multiple airplanes on the assembly line at a time. Its impressive considering how large the planes are. After the tour there are a few shops you can buy Boeing gear and other aviation items. There is a nice airport viewing area that has the Air Traffic Control on speaker so you can watch airplane tests. Its a great experience. The tickets are $25 and they include the tour.
Sites Outside of Seattle
There are many other museums and places to visit in Seattle itself such as going to a baseball or football game and the other museums in the area. We only had two days in the area so we saw what we could. There are also many nice places near Seattle you can visit. There is the Olympic National Park with its unique ecosystem or Mt. Rainier National Park. Both area couple hours drive from Seattle. On the way and back to Portland we visited a few places that are not too far a drive from Seattle.
Washington State Capital
An hour South in Olympia, Washington you can visit the State Capital of Washington. Visiting the capital is free and you can take a self guided tour of the House and Senate chambers and other offices. The capital is very beautiful and open. This was a great rest stop for us driving from Portland to Seattle and allowed us to see a little more of Washington and its history. The capital has a nice gift shop for Washington souvenirs and nearby a good tourism center where you can learn about the different things in the area. Olympia itself is a nice small city with interesting things to do and water activities being near the edge of Puget Sound.
Mt. St. Helens Visitors Center
Around two hours South of Seattle nearing Portland you can visit the visitors center and possibly see Mt. St. Helens in the distance on a clear day. The volcano is most known for the 1980 eruption that killed many people and devastated the area. At the visitors center you can see a museum about the volcano and the people who have lived around it and a history of the extreme eruption in 1980. There are walking trails into the Forrest and lakes around the area that are pretty nice. To get to another viewing point it is a pretty decent drive from there closer to the volcano. The visitors center is fairly close off the major highway to get to Portland. For us it was another good rest stop and a chance to see a little more.
Seattle Tips
Seattle is a great place to visit and has many world class attractions and outdoor activities at the national parks nearby. I recommend staying outside the downtown area such as near the airport where hotels are cheaper and take the rail into downtown. Their rail system is clean and safe to use. If you want to visit the aviation museums a rental car or Uber/Lyft would be needed. If you like seafood be sure and visit Pike Place to get some very fresh food. If you have the time I would suggest visiting both Portland and Seattle since they are only a few hours from each other. We flew into Portland and visited both cities. The airfare was Cheaper to Portland that weekend. We spent five days on our trip. Be prepared for rain as it rained the entire time we were in Portland and Seattle. Buy some rain ponchos or umbrellas before you go and pack them. We usually bring some emergency rain ponchos on every trip just to be prepared. Seattle is great so give it a try!