Day One
EMP (Experience Music Project) – This was $18/person, which we both thought was really pricey. Ryan’s a big Hendrix fan, which is why we wanted to stop in and see his exhibit. It had some history about Jimi and some of his clothing and guitars. It was incredibly small, and little of the rest of the museum appealed to us. For that reason, we felt a little underwhelmed. It’s a well-designed and maintained space, and perhaps others would like it (there were also exhibits on Nirvana, Avatar, Battlestar Gallactica…).
Walked around the Seattle Center and saw the Space Needle. We didn’t go up, because there was a 2 hour wait and it was another $18/person. We couldn’t stand to have another disappointment and neither of us were in the mood for long lines. We didn’t go to Disney World for a reason.
Ryan and I both wanted to see the Puget Sound, so we ended up at Richmond Beach, a Seattle city park with great views of the Sound. It was packed on a Saturday night, but we found a parking spot and hung out in the sand for a while.
Day 2
We started out the day by heading downtown. We parked in a central location (and the parking was FREE on Sunday) and walked all over.
We first walked down to the waterfront and walked through several of the piers (including Pier 54). It was around 8 or 8:30, so it was still pretty calm. And it was cold. Felt like autumn, which was a refreshing change from the 110 degree heat we’ve been having in the Midwest.
Next, we hit Pike Place Market. We really lucked out and got there right as the vendors were setting up. It wasn’t yet crowded and we got to walk around in peace. We didn’t want to solely eat at restaurants, so we picked up sourdough bread, cheese curds from Beecher’s and some fresh fruit and corn. And of course we saw the fish throwing. As we were finishing, the market was seriously picking up. We were both happy to move on.
After Pike Place, we walked around the city, walking up to some more stores, the Art Museum and the Columbia Center. We got a workout on the hills. We had planned to check out the Columbia Center Observation Deck for $5 since we were avoiding the Space Needle, but it was closed Sunday.
So, we headed back down to Pioneer Square and paid $15 for the two of us to go to the top of the TOWER. Then, we checked out the Klondike Gold Rush Historical Park. It’s in Pioneer Square and it’s free. It was actually pretty cool and really well put-together. It follows four real people through the Gold Rush. I learned a lot.
We met Keri from The Ronks and her sister Kimberly at RESTAURANT.
Then, we headed to a few different parks recommended by Kimberly and Keri.