Be a Hard Core Seattle Tourist
The Space Needle
The Underground Tour
The Seattle Aquarium
The Woodland Park Zoo
Pike Place Market
Seattle Waterfront
Pacific Science Center
Seattle Art Museums
Museum of Flight
The Primary Seattle Landmark. Great view, lousy food. Do yourself a favor:
either pay the $12.50 to just wander around the observation deck for a while,
or
go for dessert. If you spend $15 in the dining area, you'll get the ride to
the top free in the deal. It's not difficult to spend $15 on coffee and
dessert. My personal favorite (not for the easily embarrassed) is the
"lunar orbiter". It's...well...foggy. And part of it is blue. But the
ice cream is great, and eating gives you time to sit in the restaurant
and watch the Seattle Area revolve around you.
An activity which is fun even on those "rare" rainy days in Seattle, since
it's virtually 100% indoors. Many fish to watch, a small touch-tank for
the kids (or the kid in you). The concrete and glass dome where you walk
under the surface of Puget Sound is one of the best parts, but try not to
think about what would happen if it ruptured. If you time it right, you can
watch the sea otters or the seals getting fed, or watch a diver feed animals
in the underwater dome.
What a great zoo! 92 acres of animals, most of which have now been transferred
to spacious, outdoor habitats. My personal favorites: the butterfly dome
(if you wear light colors, they might even land on you!), the orangutans,
the Nocturnal House (watch for armadillos), and the teeny tiny pygmy
marmosets. Plan at least four hours to do a decent tour. King County residents
get a discount on admission, and parking is reasonably cheap for Seattle. The
website is really complete and informative, check it out.
I worked for these guys briefly a few years ago, doing travelling shows.
It's more for the elementary school set, unless you go for the laser light
shows or the IMAX theatre shows. The new butterfly exhibit is supposed to
be pretty good too, but I hear it's not as neat as the one at the zoo. If
you go, make a day of it and hop the monorail over to Westlake Center, or
hang out in the Fun Forest and ride some rides and eat too much cotton candy.
The website is a nightmare, but the museum is really nice, honest. I've
only ever been there to see special collections (like the Egypt one, or the
DaVinci Codex Leister...if you missed them, be sad, they were great). Fun on
a rainy day, very low key, handicapped accessible. Probably not great if
you have little kids with you, unless they have more appreciation for
abstract art than I did as a child.
Kids love this place, even big kids. Lots of planes, located right on
the edge of Boeing Field. If you have time, try to reserve a spot to
go on the simulated Shuttle missions (especially if you have kids, though
adults get a kick out of it too). Like many museums in Seattle, it's
open late on Thursdays.
These places sell something called a City Pass. It gives admission to all
of the above, but with a 50% discount. You can get one at the ticket booth
of any of these places, or you can go to the CityPass website and order one ahead of time online, and have
it delivered to you before you go adventuring. What a deal!
Yes, it's really underground. At least partially. I lived in Seattle about
five years before I went on it, and I've been back three times since then,
always with a tourist in tow. It's a very mellow walk around three blocks
in downtown Seattle. (Unfortunately, some of it is not handicapped
accessible, due to the layout of the old Underground.) Seeing the old parts
of Seattle under the new city sidewalks is interesting, but it's secondary
to the fascinating history lecture and performance given by the outstanding
tour guides. It will answer the question, "Why was an entire generation
of Seattle children toilet trained according to the tide tables?"
Shop. Shop till you drop. Then eat something, and shop some more. Duck
a fish being thrown overhead. Check out a big brass piggy bank. Get some
fantastic produce and fresh seafood (they'll ship the fish back home if you're
from out of town, so you don't have to figure out how to pack it in your
suitcase). Don't miss the parts of the market which are downstairs (at least
three levels worth) or the Sanitary Market across the street (don't ask).
Be sure to wander through the upper level of Post Alley for more shops.
Where to go if you want to do the Complete Tourist Window Shopping Trip.
The high points include the Aquarium, Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe
(trust me, ya gotta see this place), and a carousel. Plenty of shops and
food, and you can take a horse and buggy ride, a boat cruise, or a trolley
ride from here. Lots of parking, spendy if you want to park in the garage,
cheaper but harder to find if you want to use a meter.
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