Surprising Seattle
The ‘attraction’ we went for was the Boeing factory. It’s situated 25 miles North of Seattle and you can only visit on an organised tour, so we booked a trip that would pick us up from our hotel. This place has the worlds largest building (by volume), the factory including their runways covers nearly 100 acres and employs around 30,000 people. Boeing is so big that it even has its own postcode! With this in mind, when you book the tour, you need to know that you will be walking/standing for roughly 90 minutes and you also need to be able to handle this along with stairs, lifts, tunnels and noise without needing a comfort break. This is a working assembly plant and you can never guarantee exactly what you will see on any given day. The plant produces 747, 767, 777, 787 and Dreamliner aircraft and you may recognise the liveries of different airlines if their airplane is due for completion. One you won’t see is the new Airforce 1 which has been commissioned but is still ‘top secret’. Keeping to the theme of top secret, no personal items are allowed on the tour and that includes cameras and phones. Part of our tour was the ‘Future of Flight Exhibit’, but as we were time limited, we had to choose between the that or the shop. We chose the shop as there were queues for the Exhibit and we didn’t want to risk missing our allocated tour slot. The Exhibit features a flight simulator and a Dreamliner interior as well as some great interactive stuff for kids. I admit that this Boeing tour was my husband’s choice, but as aviation is a huge part of my industry, I was equally fascinated when we did it as the guide was as entertaining as he was informed.
We had just 3 nights in Seattle, so when time is limited, we always pick up a ‘hop on hop off’ ticket to get our bearings. Seattle has three circuits and we could either walk down towards Pike Place Market or up towards the Space Needle and Chihuly Gardens & Glass to a pick up point. As the sun was shining and the sky was blue, the Space Needle won. The iconic Space Needle stands at 605’ tall and is one of the most photographed structures in the world, but as it was built in 1962, it’s had a pretty good head start! Over the years it has been renovated and now features multi-level, floor-to-ceiling glass viewing experiences including an upper level outdoor observation deck with open-air glass walls and Skyriser glass benches. It also boasts the world's first revolving glass floor called ‘The Loupe’. If you’re not good with heights, you might want to give this one a miss because when you reach the top it’s all about the views from every angle – complete with selfie stations! Part of your ticket price includes free digital photos so don’t forget to download their app to view them. As with all popular attractions you need to queue as the space in the viewing areas is limited, but they’ve got a great exhibition story to read along the way to the lifts.
Once you’ve seen Seattle from above, make time for a visit to Chihuly Gardens which is literally just next door. We fell in love with Chihuly glass at Kew, but the installations here are stunning. Unfortunately, we were so engrossed here that we ran out of time to visit MoPop (Museum of Pop Culture), which is a few minutes away.
One thing you might notice in Seattle is the number of a certain green and white logo coffee shops. Starbucks was born here and the original one is still open opposite Pike Place Market. Don’t worry if this one has queues that are too long though – there are around 160 in Seattle, so walk for a few minutes and you’ll soon find another one!
The famous Pike Place Market is worth a visit whether you want to buy anything or not. The Market opened in 1907 and is one of the oldest continuously operated public farmers' markets in the US. The fresh produce is amazing and there are plenty of places to eat or try some local craft beer. Walk to the corner of Pike Place and Pike Street and meet Rachel, a 550-pound piggy bank. She raises money for the Pike Place Market Foundation so if you take her photo, don’t forget to donate. If you don’t get tempted to eat or drink whilst you’re here, a short walk will take you to the waterfront and the piers where there is street entertainment and more eateries close to the Seattle Great Wheel. Depending on which way you go, you might come across the ‘Chewing Gum Wall’ in Post Alley. You might think that the gum wall is just a small strip of wall next to a theatre entrance, but gum is stuck to the walls along the alley for more than 50 feet. We found it by accident, but there were several people adding to it whilst we walked through. Also in view when we were there was the last section of the elevated ‘Alaskan Way’. This was a huge ugly raised concrete viaduct style highway running along the waterfront which has now been demolished to make way for a huge renovation project. The new waterfront will include an expansion of the Seattle Aquarium, complete with a 350,000-gallon shark tank that will be visible to people walking through the plaza below. Along the length of the seafront will be a protected bike lane, a landscaped pedestrian promenade and public spaces hosting year-round events, from ice skating in winter to the return of live music in the summer. I would love to go back to see it all in action!