One Day in Seattle Itinerary

Chihuly 

     For Memorial Day weekend we took Amtrak up to Seattle. The train is becoming a new enjoyment of mine. The train from Portland to Seattle is approximately four hours and if you get the cheapest ticket, it is around $50 to travel round trip. Normally, I spend the train ride catching up on my latest tv drama, however this trip I had forgotten my headphones. Instead of television, I drew possible future home layouts, meal planned and caught up on social media planning. As my aunt says, the train is the perfect time to get work done because you are in an environment where it is hard to do other tasks. 

     We arrived Friday night, and had intended to unpack and go out again, however when we were walking through Capitol Hill we noticed it was rather quiet. Once we had unloaded and made it to our lodging we were tuckered out from traveling and just called it a night. We did fill our weekend with exploring and site seeing, but the day that was filled was Sunday.

     We woke up around 8:00am Sunday morning to
take an Uber to go to the Chihuly Glass Garden near the space needle. We arrived just before opening and tried to find somewhere to grab a quick bite to eat but were unsuccessful. At 9:00am we entered the museum. We spent roughly 45 minutes walking through the entire museum, with 20 of those minute spent at the end taking photos in the glass house.

    We found a coffee shop, called Vita at KEXP for breakfast and to kill some time before our next agenda item. The space appeared to be a large industrial warehouse used as a multifunctional space. I got a cookie butter latte (which was a sweet as it sounds) and Roy enjoyed an Ethiopian drip coffee. After finishing, we made our way past the International Fountain to the Space Needle

Glass Floor

     At 11:00 am we stepped in line to go up to the top of the Space Needle. The process is rather straight forward. We waited in a line for the elevator to take us to the top. While waiting in line they have a place to have a complimentary photo taken in front of a green screen for you to choose your digital background later online. They give you a ticket with a QR code to scan in various locations to take photos and download at a later time. The elevator takes you to the top observation deck. I will say, the view from on top of the Space Needle is amazing, but the poor crowd control made our experience rushed. Trying to navigate through crowds, take a photo, or even just make your way to the exit was a constant push and shove that took away from the enjoyment of seeing a spectacular view. Taking the stairs down one floor brought us into the revolving glass floor. Similar to the observation deck, it was hard to enjoy the awe of the structure and height because of others. For us, or at least for myself, the experience ending up being more of a "let's get this over with" than it was enjoyment. 

     Once we came back down from the Space Needle, we stayed in the area to find some food and enjoy the Folklife Festival that was happening. After eating some delicious gyros, we began to walk the 30 minute walk down hill towards the Seattle Aquarium. On the way we got lost and wandered through the Olympic Sculpture Park. This was my favorite non-food part of the trip. We hadn't planned to go, but I got distracted, and saw something shiny to explore. Well, not actually, but the idea is the same. 

      We made it to the Seattle Aquarium around 1:30 and headed inside. By this time of day, families were wrapped around the building and rain was just around the corner. With these factors and Memorial Day weekend, the aquarium was full of families. We rushed through the first part to the seals and otter exhibits. Overall, we only spent about 40 minutes here, but you could definitely spend longer. 

     Following the aquarium, we took an Uber back to the Museum of Pop Culture. Of everything, this was my least favorite experience. Admittedly, there was a lot of interesting relics to see, and the Indie Gaming room was a favorite of Roy and I's, but overall, I felt that the museum was incohesive and had poor flow of traffic. We did go when it was raining, and the museum was probably at capacity, if not over capacity, but realistically with the amount of people that was there it was impossible to truly enjoy any of the exhibits. 

The Crab Pot

     We ended our night with Roy's pick of food at The Crab Pot. This is the restaurant located back by the Seattle Aquarium (yes our route was poorly planned), that is known for dumping its bucket of seafood on the table for you to enjoy. Both Roy and I were excited for this and I was particularly excited to enjoy some crab. 

     Other parts of this trip included, a trip to the International District/Chinatown for coffee, tea shopping, and a visit to the Waterfall Garden. An exploration of Capitol Hill and a drive-by tour of Freemont.

Three Day Weekend in Seattle:

• 

  Space Needle

  Arrived Friday at 9:00 pm
• Saturday
• 10:00 Coffee at International District/Chinatowns
• 11:00 Tea Shopping
• 12:00 Visit the Waterfall Garden
• 1:00 Fremont Statue Tour
• 6:00 Dinner back at Capitol Hill
• Sunday
• 9:00 Chihuly Glass Garden Museum
• 10:00 Coffee
• 11:00 Space Needle
• 12:00 Folklife Festival
• 2:00 Seattle Aquarium
• 3:00 Museum of Popculture
• I would switch this with the aquarium in timeline planning.
• 6:00 The Crab Pot
• 8:00 Back to Capitol Hill
• Monday
• 10:00 Breakfast at Glo's
• 1:00 back to the train station to go home.