Travels to Tacoma & Seattle, Washington | July 2019 | Part 1: American Lake, Seattle, Little Si, and Tacoma

4/26/2020

This is a bit of a throwback, but in light of being stuck at home currently (#thatquarantinelife), I was reminiscing on this trip and decided to share some of the memories since I had plenty of time to put together a couple blog posts (I split it in to two parts because there is so much to see). Phoebe and I visited her sister Kathryn and her husband Owen at their home in Tacoma, WA where Kathryn is stationed as an army nurse. There was so much to see and do in this beautiful part of the country! We had a blast! Thank you so much Kathryn and Owen for always being the best hosts and adventure guides no matter where you are living at the current moment!

The weather was absolutely beautiful on our first day there, so we headed to American Lake to do some yakin'. I have never seen so many bald eagles soaring through the air in my life (although I wasn't able to get a picture because I only had my waterproof point-and-shoot camera with me on the kayak), but it was incredible.

We spent the next day visiting nearby Seattle, with a tour of all the must see spots given to us by Phoebe's friend and Seattle-native, Nattie. S/O to Nattie and her parents for their hospitality and for a great homemade dinner that night! Nattie's mom dropped us off in Seattle Center, where we got our first up-close glimpse of the Space Needle. There was a wait time to go up into the Space Needle (and now, after having done it, I can see why! It was our favorite thing we did this day.), so we got admission time and with the help of Nattie, made a giant circle around the downtown to see all the major sites before returning to the Space Needle as our grand finale.

We rode the Seattle Monorail to transport us to a different part of downtown, partly for the practicality of it and also partly because it is a right of passage for Seattle tourists and one of Nattie's favorite childhood memories from growing up there. It weaves in between the buildings and provides a unique view of city, in addition to being a retro Seattle landmark.

Next up was Pike Place Market. It was super bustling when we were there, so it was difficult to see it all, but all the flower vendors had amazing stalls! Those were my favorites to look at! This is also the location of the famous Seattle Gum Wall (which I added my own contribution to), and the original Starbucks store.

We walked along the waterfront on the way back to the Space Needle. This is the Seattle Great Wheel at Pier 57.

Then after waiting in line for a bit (again, we now see that it is worth it, so don't be discouraged), we finally made it to the top of the Space Needle, and it was an awesome view of the city, the Puget Sound, and the Olympic and Cascade mountains in the distance. It was very sunny while we were up there, so make sure you wear your sunscreen and sunglasses. One thing I didn't know about the space needle previously is that it spins slowly. You can't even feel it while it's happening, but it spins 360 degrees in 47 minutes, so if you stayed put, you could see the whole view in under an hour.

After spending time in Seattle Center, we headed to the Fremont neighborhood which is the location of some other Seattle landmarks. These included the Fremont Bridge, the Troll, and Gas Works Park which has an amazing view of the Seattle skyline.

After a day in the city, we spent the next day in the outdoors. We headed to the Snoqualmie Region and hiked the Little Si Trail. The day was a bit damp and cooler, so it was great for hiking and we got some misty views at the top. We then checked out Snoqualmie Falls, and got dinner at a brewery where we happened to catch trivia night, a welcomed surprise.

The next day, we hung around Tacoma to do some exploring. I highly recommend the Lime Scooters to get around. I had never rode one of the these before, and it was a blast. Especially around the Tacoma Art Museum and under the Chihuly Bridge of Glass.