We took a whirlwind trip to Seattle from Olympic National Park to Mount Rainier National Park. When Matt and I were planning our trip we talked about what our priorities were. Our priorities for the trip were seeing the National Parks. We knew there was tons to do in Seattle so we had to be choosy on what we wanted to do The hotel we were staying at that night was a smaller hotel. We had read reviews that if you arrived late (after 10pm) then some people didn’t get their key for the night. Spending the night in our car did not sound appealing. We made sure we got to our hotel in time that night. Matt’s hiking shoes also broke (they were old) hiking around ONP so we had to make a pit stop to get some new shoes. We had lots more hiking to do on our trip.
All About the Ferry
As a family, we had never taken a ferry before with our car. So, this was an exciting adventure. I called ahead because I couldn’t find information online. Did I have to make a reservation? Do I just show up? How early do I need to show up to make the ferry? You don’t have to (and you can’t) make reservations. The nice lady on the phone said that about 30 minutes early should be adequate time to make the ferry. I’m sure that varies on traffic/time of day. We didn’t show up 30 minutes early and we barely made the ferry (so showing up early would be less stressful. After you board the ferry, you have to turn off your car and while you can sit in your car it’s so nice to walk around the ferry and see Seattle from the water. It was a fun experience. It was crazy to me to think that this was part of some people’s normal commute for the day.
Pikes Place Market
There were two things on my list at Pike Place Market was to get a family picture in front of the market. I also wanted us to see the Gum Wall. The Gum wall is right below the main street of Pike Place Market so it didn’t add extra time. I packed gum on our trip —just to do this. This was the first time our kids have ever chewed gum. I’m not really a big gum person I feel like it ends up places it shouldn’t. I’m fine with gum as long people throw it away where they are supposed to. I remember in school one year I put my knees up underneath my desk and a piece of gum got stuck on my knee. Of course from time to time I’ve stepped on a piece of gum and had to clean my shoe.
The kids had fun sitting on Rachel the Pig. Matt wanted to buy berries from the market. We had looked up a few places to eat. We ended up grabbing some mac n cheese from Beechers, and Clam Chowder from Pike Place Chowder all to share. However our favorite find was Din Tai Fung just outside the market. Din Tai Fung is amazing and reminded us of our trip to SanDiego.
Other Things to do in Seatle we Didn’t have Time for
- Ballard Locks Fish Ladder (Officially called the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks. They were closed due to Covid- this was something high on our to do list. Apparently, you can see the Salmon swimming).
- Fremont Troll (Even though this is a quick stop we didn’t have time to see this because it wasn’t within walking distance to Pike Place). Matt actually had been here on a previous trip to Seattle.
- Fish Throwing. (We got to Pike Place market too late. I think they stop throwing fish around 4pm and we arrive after that.
- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (I really enjoyed her book Moment of Lift).
Whirlwind Trip to Seattle
Of course there are so many other things to do in Seattle. We knew we wouldn’t have time for the Space Needle. We had seen a Chihuly exhibit in Tampa a few years ago so we didn’t put that on our list to consider for Seattle. What do you think of our whirlwind trip to Seattle? We were only in town for 2-3 hrs. We had a great time even though it was very short. What are things you have enjoyed in Seattle?
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