Back in March, Chris and I visited Seattle for a belated
second wedding anniversary trip. The east coast hogged all the snow this past
winter and left the ski slopes in the Pacific Northwest bare. Whistler’s loss
was Seattle’s gain as we had great 60 degree sunny weather that weekend.
This trip marked the first time we could use our Nexus cards
to cross the border. We’re able to use a
“fast lane” when crossing the border as we have already gone through a customs
interview and application process. Instead of taking anywhere from thirty
minutes to two hours, it takes five minutes (if that) to cross.
Best fifty bucks we have ever spent!
We drove for three
and a half hours before making our first stop at:
REI flagship store
We spent two hours shopping here. (And by “shopping” I mean
I played Candy Crush by their beautiful fireplace while Chris found boots for ice climbing while reassuring me that 'Vertical
Limit' is not realistic.)
We ended up keeping our car parked in the REI lot and walking
to the sites in the downtown area.
We determined that a city-pass would be our best bet and we
resolved to see as many things as we could in the short weekend we were there.
The city pass combines admission for five attractions for a
discounted price. It also enables you to skip the long tickets lines at most
places as well.
The Space Needle
The Space Needle was built for the World's Fair in 1962. The
observation deck is 520 feet high. It's
a small world story- my former boss at the 9/11 Museum worked at the Space
Needle before coming to NYC. That was one of the reasons I wanted to visit.
A few yards away from the Space Needle we entered the:
Experience Music
Project (EMP) Museum
Chris learned just how much I don't know about Seattle’s
music history (or his type of music in general) when we walked through this
museum. I was able to recount some of
what I had seen on E! True Hollywood Story about Kurt Cobain though.
It was a neat experience to trace the music scene that started
in Seattle. Some of my favorite highlights included:
The guitar sculpture:
The interactive musical instruments:
First Starbucks Store
Our first "we're just friends" because he lives in
California and I live in Tennessee four hour date and our first "I guess
we're more than friends now" kiss, (because God works miracles!) eight months later, happened at a Starbucks in east Tennessee.
It was fun getting to visit the first one in Pike Place
Market. I’m a sucker for all things sentimental.
The Science Museum
The kid in us loved this museum.
We enjoyed walking through the butterfly exhibit, seeing the
scary dinosaurs, and running on the hamster wheel!
Ferry Ride
After walking nonstop for the first day and a half it was
nice to relax during our ferry ride around the city .
If you look closely you
can see the stadium where the Seahawks play. I don't do football, but I did
find it interesting when our tour guide mentioned a few years that an earthquake registered on the Richter scale from all those 'twelfth men' jumping up and down after Marshawn Lynch scored the "Beastmode" touchdown.
Crazy.
Seattle is a great city!
