We spent only a few days in Seattle. I flew in from Texas and Whitney drove over from Montana with her parents. One day in the city was dedicated to a residency interview, but the other few days were free to do as we liked.
A group favorite was touring the Chihuly Garden and Glass, where the colorful blown glass artwork juxtaposes the jet-black backgrounds. The museum is next to the Space Needle, an iconic landmark in Seattle, built for the 1962 World’s Fair. We walked around the observation deck at 520 feet high overlooking the Seattle skyline.
We hit up the traditional tourist spots such as the original Starbucks coffee shop, Pike Place Market where fish were flung between fishmonger and customer, and ate crab legs on the pier. We also toured the Seattle Underground, where subterranean storefronts are entombed below the new city. Seattle rebuilt on top of itself after the Great Fire of 1889.
We strolled through the Olympic Sculpture Park, a 9-acre outdoor sculpture museum and beach overlooking Elliot Bay.
Seattle was our first stop on a circuitous route around the Pacific Northwest. Our route went from Seattle to Portland to Salt Lake City to Billings to Coeur d’Alene to Spokane. It was a packed three weeks full of family fun and sight seeing.