If you'd seen a passing mention I made some weeks back that Toby had gotten into the Microsoft Build conference you might have known, but Toby's paranoia doesn't like me talking in public about us being away from the house for a week, so I didn't make a big deal about it. :)
My favorite thing was Top Pot Doughnuts' Bavarian cream doughnut. I also enjoyed just walking around the Pike Place Fish Market and nearby areas (not just fish, but crafts and other stuff).
Also, we enjoyed the Museum of Pop Culture way more than we expected to. :) I found out about the indie game exhibit there and Toby immediately wanted to go, so we did that Friday afternoon after he finished the sessions he wanted to attend at Build, and spent a couple of hours poking through the museum. By the time you get there, the Henson exhibit should be up--my only regret there is that Build wasn't two weeks alter so we could see it. :) I will say that my enjoyment of the museum was less looking at the artifacts and more looking at the innovative exhibit construction and displays (my museum studies degree coming out). :D
If you're going to visit/do at least 3 of the following, then it's worth buying the CityPass in advance, as at 3 visits you'll start saving money over the regular admission prices--all $25 or so each--AND you get to skip the regular line:
1 Space Needle 2 Seattle Aquarium 3 Argosy Cruises Harbor Tour 4 Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) OR Woodland Park Zoo 5 Chihuly Garden and Glass OR Pacific Science Center
I highly recommend the Seattle Aquarium, MoPOP, and the Chihuly. The Space Needle is the Space Needle, and not even the tallest building in Seattle, but as it's right there next to the MoPOP and the Chihuly, you might as well go. (If you eat a meal up in the restaurant there, a visit to the observation deck is free, but otherwise it costs $25ish.)
If you've got Amazon Prime you should be able to get the latest Lonely Planet Seattle guidebook free (it's also on Kindle Unlimited), which came in handy.
I also went to the Seattle Art Museum. I have no idea what the regular admission is, because I accidentally bought a ticket to the special landscape painting exhibit, which included regular admission. I hadn't intended to visit that exhibit, but that's what the ticket person charged me for when I said "One adult, please" so I figured it was fate, and it turned out to be excellent. Alas, I cannot recommend it to you because it'll be gone when you get there.
One place that I'd intended to go but didn't because I got shin splints and took a day off to sit in the hotel room and alternate working on a writing project with looking out at that view I posted a few posts back, was the Seattle Public Library's Central branch, which is supposed to be innovatively designed (and is a Rem Koolhaas building, if you're an architecture geek--I used to work in an architecture library so some archy geekiness rubbed off on me). If you decide to go look around, report back!
You'll note that I stuck to downtown. I didn't want to figure out the public transportation system because buses inexplicably intimidate me, but there was plenty to see and do within a decent walking distance, even with my very slow pace.
ETA: We also caught Guardians of the Galaxy 2 at the Cinerama, which was a block from our hotel. Nice theatre, and the mix of regular and chocolate popcorn was delicious.
ETA2: Oh! Best non-doughnut restaurant we ate at was Local 360.
fabulous! i've been to that library -- it has a huge naturally-lit central well, and awesome artwork, and is all around a beautiful building. I'd also reccomend the island ferries if you want to see more of the area -- they can be caught from the pier near Pike Place Market. it's freezing cold on the water, though, even in June. I haven't been to the art museum or the aquarium -- they both sound amazing!
The aquarium was best right at 9:30 when it opened, before the waves of kids hit about 10-10:30. There were only a few of us at the touch tanks, so the docents would leap upon us, eager to spread information. XD
They also pointed out the crabs and snails who were feeling springtime in the air (water?) and were getting it on. XD
i could wish places like that had "adult day." the Monterey Bay Aquarium experience was almost completely spoiled for me by the hoards of screaming children and stressed-out, inattentive adults... i won't be back. glad you got a less-kid-infused experience in Seattle! and crabsex, lol. ;)
I could have had an almost completely kid-free experience if I hadn't spent so long at the touch tank. XD But I walked faster than most of the families, and ended up having the second half of my visit (shorebirds, seals, otters) pretty much kid-free.
I was most annoyed by the family that left their stroller DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF THE CUTTLEFISH TANK when they took the kid to go see the jellies. I mean COME ON PEOPLE YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONES HERE. There was a big empty space to the side they could have parked it!
omg entitled people. ugh. especially when the public space is already *designed* to accomodate things like strollers, kids, etc.
that day at Monterey, when we escaped the aquarium we needed food -- so we found a restaurant that was up a flight of stairs, stroller-proof. it was blissfully quiet. :)
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Did I know you were going to Seattle? We're going there next month, to visit our daughter who is in grad school there.
What were your favorite things there?
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My favorite thing was Top Pot Doughnuts' Bavarian cream doughnut. I also enjoyed just walking around the Pike Place Fish Market and nearby areas (not just fish, but crafts and other stuff).
Also, we enjoyed the Museum of Pop Culture way more than we expected to. :) I found out about the indie game exhibit there and Toby immediately wanted to go, so we did that Friday afternoon after he finished the sessions he wanted to attend at Build, and spent a couple of hours poking through the museum. By the time you get there, the Henson exhibit should be up--my only regret there is that Build wasn't two weeks alter so we could see it. :) I will say that my enjoyment of the museum was less looking at the artifacts and more looking at the innovative exhibit construction and displays (my museum studies degree coming out). :D
If you're going to visit/do at least 3 of the following, then it's worth buying the CityPass in advance, as at 3 visits you'll start saving money over the regular admission prices--all $25 or so each--AND you get to skip the regular line:
1 Space Needle
2 Seattle Aquarium
3 Argosy Cruises Harbor Tour
4 Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) OR Woodland Park Zoo
5 Chihuly Garden and Glass OR Pacific Science Center
I highly recommend the Seattle Aquarium, MoPOP, and the Chihuly. The Space Needle is the Space Needle, and not even the tallest building in Seattle, but as it's right there next to the MoPOP and the Chihuly, you might as well go. (If you eat a meal up in the restaurant there, a visit to the observation deck is free, but otherwise it costs $25ish.)
If you've got Amazon Prime you should be able to get the latest Lonely Planet Seattle guidebook free (it's also on Kindle Unlimited), which came in handy.
I also went to the Seattle Art Museum. I have no idea what the regular admission is, because I accidentally bought a ticket to the special landscape painting exhibit, which included regular admission. I hadn't intended to visit that exhibit, but that's what the ticket person charged me for when I said "One adult, please" so I figured it was fate, and it turned out to be excellent. Alas, I cannot recommend it to you because it'll be gone when you get there.
One place that I'd intended to go but didn't because I got shin splints and took a day off to sit in the hotel room and alternate working on a writing project with looking out at that view I posted a few posts back, was the Seattle Public Library's Central branch, which is supposed to be innovatively designed (and is a Rem Koolhaas building, if you're an architecture geek--I used to work in an architecture library so some archy geekiness rubbed off on me). If you decide to go look around, report back!
You'll note that I stuck to downtown. I didn't want to figure out the public transportation system because buses inexplicably intimidate me, but there was plenty to see and do within a decent walking distance, even with my very slow pace.
ETA: We also caught Guardians of the Galaxy 2 at the Cinerama, which was a block from our hotel. Nice theatre, and the mix of regular and chocolate popcorn was delicious.
ETA2: Oh! Best non-doughnut restaurant we ate at was Local 360.
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(I survived Week Two's assignments! Anxiously awaiting the critiques, haha.)
XD
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They also pointed out the crabs and snails who were feeling springtime in the air (water?) and were getting it on. XD
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I was most annoyed by the family that left their stroller DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF THE CUTTLEFISH TANK when they took the kid to go see the jellies. I mean COME ON PEOPLE YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONES HERE. There was a big empty space to the side they could have parked it!
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that day at Monterey, when we escaped the aquarium we needed food -- so we found a restaurant that was up a flight of stairs, stroller-proof. it was blissfully quiet. :)