I love love love to travel. Going new places, seeing new things, all while experiencing it with my favorite two people is one of the things I enjoy doing the most in this life. We took a trip this summer and I am finally getting around to re-capping (just the first part!) here for you. I get itchy when we haven’t traveled in a while and we were long overdue! The first stop on our trip was Seattle, WA.
E is generally such a trooper when it comes to traveling. We took a late flight out Monday night that didn’t leave until 10:05pm and when we arrived in Seattle it would be just about 2:00am our time at home! We figured either this was going to go real well and she’ll just sleep the whole time or else it’s going to be real bad. Well, it turned out she was so excited to “ride a plane in the clouds” that she was riding that high for awhile until she finally passed out, thanks to the magic Grammy, who came along on our trip with us. Grammy can get this girl to sleep anywhere and she saved the day many a times with this trick! She slept about half the flight and was roaring to go when we landed.
By the time we got to the hotel is was 1:00am Seattle time and 4:00am at home! I couldn’t believe we were all still awake but we made it and it turned out okay because we didn’t have to waste a day traveling.
We did so much in Seattle in just our short time there. We ended up getting a CityPass where we got to choose 4 popular “attractions” and paid a discounted price to do all 4. Even if you only wanted to do 3 things, it is still a good deal to get the pass. And once you have it, you don’t have to wait in ticket lines at all the places!
Space Needle
Our fist stop was the iconic Space Needle. We rode the metro train to the plaza, which is a must do if you are planning to do anything in that area. We learned a lot about the Space Needle and enjoyed the views at the top. Unfortunately, while we were in Seattle the air was smokey because of the wildfires going on in that part of the country and Canada. But, it was still an amazing view.
Chihuly Glass Museum
By the middle of the afternoon we’d already walked a ton and E was starting to get sleepy. She doesn’t like to miss a thing, especially somewhere with so much excitement, but Grammy worked her magic when we stopped for a Starbucks break and E took a little snooze in the stroller.
We took this opportunity while she was sleeping to visit the Chihuly Glass Museum. I was so glad she was asleep because something about a two year old and a glass museum doesn’t sound right, but maybe that’s just me? 😛
IT WAS SO COOL. I didn’t have very high expectations of excitement or thrill about this. I was thinking small glass sculptures on a shelf or something. But no way. There were displays that filled an entire room. Things hanging from the ceiling and even pieces that spanned the entire ceiling. I was pretty impressed and so glad we went. Even more glad E was sleeping!
Pike Place Market
We made our way back downtown and took a quick trip through Pike Place Market. The oldest continually operated public farmer’s market in the US. Very cool. But SO many people. We took a quick walk through on our way to the next destination. I would have like to spend more time here, but pushing a stroller through those crowds was not much fun.
Seattle Aquarium
We made it to the aquarium just an hour before it closed, so after a quick rest we wandered through saying “Hi!” to all the fish and animals. The highlight for us was most definitely the giant Pacific octopus! It was so active and hanging out right by the glass. I’d never seen one move so much. E was actually pretty scared of it but my husband and I had a good time taking selfies with him!
After the aquarium we took a nice long dinner break. My husband and my mom had some famous fish and chips from Ivar’s, but since I don’t like seafood – the shame, I know – I got a burger from Kidd Valley. I was so excited they also had really nice kid’s meal options. E got a grilled cheese, yogurt, apples, and milk in her meal and I was so relieved to finally find something she would eat! Plus, it was really good!
We walked around the shops downtown by the piers and bought some treasures until it was time for our next adventure. That’s right – we weren’t even done for the day!
Argosy Sunset Harbor Tour
To end the day we took a cruise around the harbor right near sunset and it was beautiful. Such a nice way to view the city. Even with the smoke in the air, it was quite a view. We learned a lot about the city from the guide and enjoyed the nice relaxing ride after a busy day.
It was an action packed day and once we finally made it back to the hotel room, we all crashed. Our little traveler was such a good sport all day.
The next day we packed up, made a stop at the grocery store for breakfast and snack supplies for our road trip north to Vancouver! Before we left Seattle, we took in one more sight!
Woodland Park Zoo
What a beautiful zoo! The exhibits were so nice for the animals and the zoo was made up of beautiful shaded paths lined with gorgeous flowers and plants. We didn’t stay long because it was HOT! Thank goodness for the shade, but holy humidity! My absolute favorite animal we saw was a baby gorilla. He was right up by the glass showing off and it was so neat to see him. E loved the “biiiig kitty” AKA the cheetah!
It was an action packed couple of days and it was so fun to explore Seattle. Our fun was just starting though because we spent the next 4 days visiting Vancouver! I will save all of that excitement for another day.
What is your favorite Seattle destination? There is SO much to see there. I would love to go back for longer!