RE-DISCOVERING SEATTLE

At the end of March we celebrated our daughter’s 9th birthday. When we asked her what she wanted for her birthday, she simply said that she wanted to go on a trip to Seattle. Very often we would drive through Seattle, passing downtown, trying to avoid traffic, and for us, Seattle usually meant shopping, but kids were very curious about that “tall tower”. So we went. This post is so overdue, but I wanted to share it anyway, because I made a very important discovery on this trip as well.

 

So, we took off on Saturday afternoon, and as we drove through Skagit county, we couldn’t resist from stopping by gorgeous tulip fields. You can read all about it here. Then, we drove to Seattle, had a dinner, and decided to settle for the night in a hotel that offered bed and breakfast, which I thought was a very good deal.

In the morning, we came down for breakfast. There were eggs and sausage, waffles, fruits, juice bar. Sounds good, right? Well, my kids went for it. As we sat at the table, I’ve noticed my kids sitting there without much excitement. I asked why aren’t they eating, and the answer just shocked me. Besides the complains that scrambled eggs tasted like rubber, and didn’t even smell like eggs; the waffles didn’t taste like waffles, and so on,(honestly, I couldn’t eat either), I heard something that I did not expect to hear. My 5-year-old said that this food is not REAL, and she really wants to go home and have a REAL breakfast. Wow! They know the taste of real food! Their taste buds are not ruined by processed food!! Pat on a shoulder for me, of course, for making food from scratch every single day, using REAL ingredients. And I tell you, hotels really downgraded on many things, especially on their breakfast options. Next time, I’m going to plan it better, and perhaps, cook my own breakfast right in a hotel room. Now, let’s get back to our Seattle adventure.

So, we came to downtown Seattle. Parked few blocks away from Pike Place Market, and walked up to 5th avenue, where we entered a Westlake Center Mall building. There is a food court on the second floor as well as a Monorail Station that’s adjacent to the Space Needle.

It was such a fun ride! Going at about 40 MPH, gives you time to look around, which you wouldn’t do while driving.

So we knew for sure that we wanted to go up the Space Needle, but when we got there, we had to stop once again and give it a thought as there were few more attractions to consider. There are Glass Museum, Children’s Museum, Pacific Science Center, plus Space Needle. We are a family of 5, and besides that everyone had their own preference, the admission to each attraction would cost nearly $100. We’ve been to Science Center and Children’s Museum before, the Glass Museum didn’t seem too amusing for kids, plus, the birthday girl couldn’t wait to go up the Space Needle. So Space Needle it was. And if you ever take your kids on such trip, consider getting a City Pass, and staying around for 2-3 days in order to make the most of your trip, especially if you’re not visiting Seattle as often as we are. There are things that are worth seeing and experiencing.

 

This is the view from elevator while going up. My daughter took pictures and videos of the whole experience, and shared with the friend, so that friend had one nice virtual tour.

 

It was very first time for us to bring the kids up there, and they were AMUSED!

 

It was very windy up there, and Space Needle was a little shaky. My younger daughter was frightened, and wanted to go down.

 

Here are some nice views from different sides of the tower.

Look at 3D pictures of the spiders on building’s roof top, the kids thought it was pretty cool.

That green “plant” is made out of glass. The musical “palm trees” charged by solar power are pretty awesome. And look at that building.

  

We walked around, took some pictures, enjoyed a beautiful day, and our time together.

 

Of course, there had to be a kiss with Mr. by the Space Needle. The photobombers were hard at work while Mr.and I were attempting a selfie. It was a fun-filled day.

  

We took monorail ride back, walked down to Pike Place Market. I had one more mission to accomplish.

I absolutely wished to visit this place. Piroshki are Russian sweet or savory rolls that can have various fillings, and oh so good! But as we came down there, it was already closed. Next time, this will be my first place to stop by.

We ended the adventure with a dinner, a birthday song by waitresses in a restaurant, and a nice peaceful and quiet drive home, as the kids fell asleep as soon as they got in a car.