Seattle & Mount Rainier: Pacific Northwest part two

Hello, Seattle! After six days in beautiful Vancouver and Victoria, we sailed on the ferry back to the States. The ferry lands in Port Angeles, which is a three-hour drive to Seattle. We opted for the long way around instead of boarding another ferry, but the drive was easy and scenic, even in the rain. Our first glimpse of the skyline was dreary, but the skies cleared for the remainder of our trip.

This photo is not black and white, it’s just that overcast.

After squishing in one hotel room for five nights, the four of us were grateful for the extra space in the little house we rented in Queen Anne. It is a residential neighborhood northwest of the city center, with a cute main avenue full of shops and restaurants. We arrived around 7:00 p.m., so after a dinner at a pizza place and a stop at Trader Joe’s to stock the kitchen, we called it a night. The next morning, I drank my coffee on the balcony and watched the boats on Lake Union.

Good morning, Seattle. I’m listening.

Day 1 – Underground Tour and Pike Place Market

We started off our first full day in Seattle with an underground tour. After the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, the city was rebuilt above the muck in which the original city was constructed. The Underground is that original city, and our tour with Bill Speidel’s Underground Tour was a fascinating way to learn about the history of the city. Our tour guide was fabulous, and the 75-minute tour held the attention of every child, teenager, and adult in our tour group.

The underground portion of the city remained in use until 1907, when it was condemned for fear of the Bubonic Plague. Skylights were installed in the sidewalks to provide sunlight underground; we stood under one and could see the shadows of the people walk over us.

A skylight from the street level – who knew a whole town once existed underneath!

From Pioneer Square we walked to Pike Place Market for lunch. While the market is a must-see for any tourist, it was a harrowing experience for our family. We were tired and hungry, and the market was packed on a beautiful summer Sunday afternoon. We spent about 45 minutes trying to agree on a place to eat. At that point, I may have had my one meltdown of the vacation.

We finally settled on Lowell’s, where we ordered at the counter and sat at a table overlooking the water. Tempers cooled as bellies filled, and we left the market in a much better mood. 

We walked along the waterfront back to our car, with water views that never get old.

Day 2 – Bainbridge Island

The next day we took the Washington State Ferry to Bainbridge Island. The ferry runs hourly, and the round trip fare for the four of us was under $25. The 35-minute crossing was a great way to take in the Seattle skyline.

The ferry terminal is a five-minute walk to the main shopping area on the island, and we spent a few hours leisurely popping in and out of unique shops. The boys were patient until they got hungry, and after a quick lunch on the main drag we headed back to the ferry.

The houses on the coastline of the island are beautiful.

Back in Queen Anne, we had a yummy dinner at Laredo’s, and then strolled the neighborhood. We stopped in Kerry Park to take in the sweeping views of the Seattle skyline. This is the Frasier view – where Frasier Crane’s fictional building would be located based on the view from his condo.

On the walk back to our place, we passed a school yard where this interesting sign was posted:

Are pot-bellied pigs popular pets in Seattle?

Day 3 – Seattle Center and Downtown

While our rental home was too far from downtown to walk, it was only a mile from Seattle Center, home of the Space Needle. We walked to the the complex, which was built for the 1962 World’s Fair. We had an hour to kill before our lunch reservations at the Space Needle, so we stopped in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Visitor Center.   

The center has free admission, and it highlights work being done worldwide to help people live healthy, productive lives. Arrive curious. Leave inspired. is the center’s tag line, and we did.

Left: Eradicating polio, particularly in remote areas, is still an issue. Right: Interactive exhibits allow visitors to determine their skills, and how they can use them to make a change. Surprise! I’m an organizer.

Space Needle

I had made lunch reservations at the Space Needle, and I highly recommend doing this instead of simply visiting the observation deck. Lunch is costly, but not when you factor in the admission that is included with your reservation.

A burger and fries is $27, but a midday ticket to the observation deck is also $27.

Our lunch of four entrees and one beer came to $163 with tip. It’s ridiculously expensive, but included in that lunch was admission to the observation deck, which would have been $108 for our family. That makes the true cost of lunch $57 with tax and tip, which is reasonable for a sit-down experience with amazing views.

The views from the observation deck were great, but those darn bars are in the way.

Instead of jockeying for position with the other tourists on the deck, we glanced out the windows as we dined, taking in two full revolutions of the rotating restaurant and enjoying the unobstructed views.

After lunch we took the Seattle Center monorail into downtown. The ten-minute ride is $4.50 round trip, and it is a cool way to see the city. We spent some time browsing the stores in the shopping district, including the original store of one of my favorites.

The mother ship is calling me home!

Taking the monorail back to Seattle Center was easy; walking back home uphill was a strenuous quad and glute workout. That workout justified double scoops of ice cream at Molly Moon’s, a Seattle ice cream shop that we visited once twice three times.

Day 4 – Mount Rainier National Park

We rose early and drove two and a half hours south to Mount Rainier National Park. We had been unable to see Mt Rainier through the clouds in Seattle, but we got an eyeful up close and personal in the park.

We planned on hiking the 5.5 mile Skyline Trail, but a park ranger warned us that a large portion of it was snow-covered and unmarked. Quite a few hikers had sprained ankles on this trail, so we only hiked up halfway.

I’m wearing three jackets at the beginning of the hike.

I’m down to one jacket – climbing uphill is hard work!

At the base of Mt Rainer looking down over the park.

After pb&j’s in the car, we drove through more of the park, stopping for photos and scenery.

Reflections Lake

So many trees…the vast old-growth forests are magnificent. 

By the time we got back to our place in Seattle, all we could muster the energy for was dinner at the same pizza place we went to on the first night (Zeek’s Pizza – excellent!) and an evening lounging on the sofa watching Naked and Afraid XL.

Day 5 – Discovery Park and Ballard Locks

Having done and seen everything we planned, today we leisurely explored. Discovery Park is a beautiful area overlooking the Puget Sound, and we spent the morning walking the paths that meandered through the woods and along the beach.

After lunch we visited Ballard Locks, which was much cooler than I thought it would be. The locks link the Puget Sound with Lake Union and Lake Washington. The lakes are higher than the Sound, so boats traveling from one to the other enter into the locks, and the water rises or falls to bring the craft level with the next body of water.

The process takes 10 to 15 minutes, but Matt filmed it all on time lapse:

The Locks also has a fish ladder, where spawning salmon can move upstream to fresh water. Each step (called a weir) the fish swims through allows them to move higher, and after 21 weirs they are out of the Puget Sound and in the fresh water of the lakes.

The viewing area of the fish ladder.

The ladder is really just a hole that salmon swim through to get to the next weir. If you’re a visual learner or have no idea what I’m talking about, Wikipedia has a good profile drawing of the ladder here.

We were exhausted from all the walking and learning of the day, so we finished our final evening in Seattle with an ice cream dinner at Molly Moon’s.

Forget the typical tourist t-shirt souvenir. I bought a shirt at Molly Moon’s.

Ice cream…the perfect ending to a summer vacation.

There are lots of links in this post to the places we visited, including restaurants. If you’re taking a similar vacation, I hope you find them helpful as you plan!