Hey Guys!
So, after checking out of our cute little cabin in the woods, we headed to Seattle to spend our last day in Washington State.
Read Day 1 here, Day 2 here, Day 3 here, Day 4 here, Day 5 here & Day 6 here
After about an 1.5 hr drive, we arrived to Seattle.
We found a parking garage that was located near the most popular sites in Seattle…cost to park for a few hours, $50!
Once we parked, we started walking in the direction of the very popular, Pike Place Market.
As we were walking, we spotted the ferris wheel.
The Seattle Great Wheel is the largest observation wheel on the west coast, standing 175 feet tall. The Wheel opened in 2012 and has 42 gondolas that seat a total of 332 people.
The 12-minute, three-revolution ride extends 40 feet out over Elliott Bay.
As we continued our walk, we finally arrived to the Pike Place Market.
Tip: Click here for a complete guide of the Pike Place Market
The market opened in 1907 after a City Councilman proposed the city create a public market where farmers and consumers could meet directly to sell and buy goods so they could bypass the wholesalers who were price gouging the farmer’s goods.
Within a week of opening, 70 wagons were gathering daily to sell along the newly named Pike Place Market.
However, in the 1960s, the buildings were slated for demolition. But local architect Victor Steinbrueck rallied Seattle to “Save the Market.”
Voters approved a 17-acre historic district on November 2, 1971, and the City of Seattle later established the Pike Place Market Preservation and Development Authority to rehabilitate and manage the Market’s core buildings.
Today, Pike Place Market remains Seattle’s neighborhood marketplace and is one of the oldest continuously operated public farmers’ markets in the United States.
Read more about the history of the Market here
This place was crazy busy even though we were visiting in the “off season”.
We first spotted Rachel, the piggy bank.
Rachel has been the Market Foundation’s mascot since 1986. The foundation raises money for social services such as the food bank, the senior center and child care.
The bronze cast pig weighs in at a whopping 550 pounds and was named after a real 750-pound pig who won the 1985 Island County Fair.
It’s said, if you make a donation to the foundation and rub Rachel’s nose, you will have good luck. 😉
We then spotted the Pike Place Fish Market.
The fish market is one of the top visited attractions in Seattle. Travel & Leisure ranked Pike Place Market as the 13th most visited attractions in the U.S.
This place is best known for it’s “flying fish”. The employees throw fish out into the crowds for people to catch….it’s very entertaining watching people try to catch these slippery fish!
She caught it!
We were ready for lunch so my hubby asked one of the guys at the fish market the best place to eat fresh seafood. He recommended the Athenian Restaurant.
Tip: Click here & here for the best places to eat at Pike Place Market
The restaurant was located inside the market so we headed through the market to find it….there were fresh flowers & produce everywhere!
After a short walk, we spotted the restaurant.
We walked in and it was super busy but got seated right away.
They seated us on the 2nd floor at a table facing the water….we also had a view of the ferris wheel!
We looked over the menu and decided on the fish and chips & a bowl of the clam chowder.
The food was average ….after eating fish and chips in Iceland last year, I’m not sure we will ever find anything as good in the US!
As we were leaving, we noticed pictures of Tom Hanks hanging on the wall….unbeknownst to us, he had filmed a scene of Sleepless in Seattle at the restaurant.
After leaving the restaurant, we continued our walk through the market.
There was fresh fish all throughout the market
Walking through the streets and market
We passed the Three Girls Bakery….it was the first business licensed to a woman in the city of Seattle, and the longest continually operating business in Pike Place Market.
After walking around the market, we decided to take a ride on the ferris wheel.
After purchasing our tickets, ($14 pp), we waited in a short line…thankfully, it wasn’t very busy!
They boarded just the two of us in one gondola…each gondola holds 8 people.
The views from the ferris wheel were amazing!
We were blessed with a perfect day….sunshine and blue skies! Seattle is typically rainy and cloudy especially in the spring.
More shots of the views
As we were riding the ferris wheel, we spotted the Space Needle so decided that would be our next stop.
The Space Needle was built in 1962, and served as the focal point of that year’s World’s Fair.
The tower is 605 feet high and 138 feet wide at its widest point, and weighs 9,550 tons and was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River at the time it was built. The observation deck stands 520 ft tall.
As we were walking to the Space Needle, we came across a place that gave us better views of the ferris wheel.
We then passed this piece of artwork…there’s lots of artwork all around Seattle.
We thought this was a statue….but it was a real person!
Getting closer to the Space Needle..it was a much further walk than we had thought!
More artwork near the Space Needle
After purchasing our VERY expensive tickets ($32.50 ea), we headed to the short line for the elevator to the top.
They had a gift shop inside the needle
After making it to the top, we were amazed by the 360 degree views!
We spotted these spiders on top of a building!
Last year, the Space Needle underwent a $100 million makeover…they installed slanted clear glass benches on the outdoor Observation Deck. The benches are attached to some of the viewing deck’s newly installed 11-foot-tall glass windows.
These new additions invite visitors to lean back and snap selfies that will make them appear to be floating out over the landscape.
My hubby wanted me to stand on one of the clear benches so he could take my pic….I just couldn’t do it..I am terrified of heights…I could barely sit on the bench!
My hubby had no problem standing on the bench!
More shots of the views
We then decided to walk down to the 2nd flood to see the world’s first and only revolving glass floor!
The rotating glass floor is located just below the open-air observation deck and replaces the original (nonglass) revolving floor that was a feature of the Space Needle’s restaurant when it first opened at the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair.
Visitors can walk, stand, sit or stretch out on the new floor and look down on the Space Needle’s architecture….no thanks!
Looking up through the glass floor to the top
A few more shots of the needle
After leaving the needle, we headed to the Alweg Monorail.
The monorail is an elevated monorail line that was built for the World’s Fair that was held in Seattle in 1962. There were 8 million people who rode the monorail during the half year the monorail was opened. It costs 3.5 million to build.
The cost to ride was only $2 pp and only lasts about 5 mins. It only has one stop which got us closer to the fish market so we didn’t have to walk so far.
Shots on the monorail
After getting off the monorail, we headed back to the fish market.
We passed Post Alley on the way…
We saw this statue again! It moved around a lot! 😉
We then headed to the first original Starbucks to get our daughter a coffee cup..she loves Starbucks and wanted us to bring her back something so we thought this would be the perfect gift.
The original Starbucks opened in 1971. Today there over 14,000 Starbucks stores in the United States, but there are more than 14,000 in other locations around the world.
The place was a mad house! People were standing everywhere….I just wanted to purchase her cup ASAP and get out of there!
After leaving Starbucks, we continued our walk around the market place and came across this restaurant that I had read about before arriving to Seattle called, Beechers.
Beechers makes their own cheese using all natural locally sourced products. I also read they made amazing macaroni & cheese so we just had to try it out!!
We’re from the south so we know what good Mac & Cheese should taste like! 😉
We both ordered an 8 oz cup of the mac & cheese & one grilled cheese sandwich to split…the cost was $21.
Ok, so we agree with all the reviews….it was amazing!
The grilled cheese sandwich was soooo good! The cheese was so thick!
Making their cheese
After leaving here, we headed to another place I had read about, Gum Wall.
Gum wall is, well a brick wall covered in gum!
The tradition began around 1993 when theater attendees stuck gum to the wall and placed coins in the gum for good luck.
The theater workers scraped the gum away twice, but eventually gave up after market officials deemed the gum wall a tourist attraction around 1999.
It was named one of the top 5 germiest tourist attractions in 2009, second to the Blarney Stone in Ireland. (which, by the way, is where I’m headed next month!).
In 2015, it was announced that for the first time in 20 yrs, the gum would be removed to prevent further erosion of the bricks from the sugar in the gum!
It took 130 hours to complete, with over 2,350 pounds of gum removed.
After the cleaning was finished on November 13, gum began to be re-added to the wall; among the first additions were memorials to the November 2015 Paris attacks.
It was disgusting but cool….and so colorful!
Some people got creative with it
Some people stuck business cards to the wall
After leaving here, we continued walking around the area….
We spotted these cool looking light fixtures on a nearby building
A shot of the old Market Theater sign…the theater opened in 1977 and closed in 1989.
A shot near Post Alley…this is were Gum wall is located.
As we continued our walk we ran into this bicycle taxi…lol!
We passed the Harbor Steps…the steps are said to be the most scenic route to the waterfront.
We decided to head to our last stop of the day, Kerry Park Viewpoint.
Kerry park is a small public park that has awesome views of downtown Seattle and the Space Needle.
The park was located 15 mins from downtown …It’s also a popular place to watch the sunset so it stays pretty busy.
The views were spectacular!
I had wanted to wait for the sun to set but we were so tired after a full day of walking and we still had to pack for our flight out the next morning…so we called it a day and headed to our hotel.
But first, another shot of downtown.
The next morning, we boarded our plane back to TN!
We had a layover in St Louis & had time to grab lunch…we ate at Chillis…the hubby ordered his usual burger and I ordered a turkey sandwich.
Later that evening, we made it safely back home & went straight to bed!…I’m now packing for my next trip, Ireland! Then in July, we are headed to Denver, Colorado…..so stay tuned!
Click here for 63 things to do in Seattle
Click here for 52 best things to do in Seattle
Click here for best areas to stay in Seattle
Click here & here for best hotels in Seattle
Click here for best restaurants in Seattle
Click here for best coffee in Seattle
Click here & here for must try foods while visiting Seattle
Click here & here for the best places to park in Seattle
Click here & here & for areas to avoid in Seattle
Thanks for reading!
Read Day 1 here, Day 2 here, Day 3 here, Day 4 here, Day 5 here & Day 6 here