6 Things to do in Seattle

Earlier this month, I visited Seattle for the first time. The Pacific Northwest is probably where I feel most at home aside from, well, my own home (hopefully, I will retire someday in a log cabin in Oregon). I just LOVE it there. But I had never been to Seattle!

Luckily, my sister is getting married and chose to have her bachelorette party/girls’ weekend in Seattle. 

At first, I was skeptical. Not about Seattle. But about visiting Seattle in February. Because, brrr. But the thing about cold places is that the people who live there are used to it. Life carries on. When it gets cold in Texas, we pretty much shut down the state. But in Washington, cold weather is normal and people keep doing things. So I brought a warm jacket and got on with it, already.

6 Things to do in Seattle

Visit the Chihuly Garden and Glass.  If you’ve never seen a Chihuly piece in person before, this is a must-see. And if you have seen a Chihuly piece in person before…then you already know this is a must-see!

Don’t miss the photo opp of the Space Needle, and if you’re luck you can catch a glass glowing exhibition outside.

Be sure to watch the short Chihuly videos in the theater at the end of your tour through the museum. They’re not only interesting, but inspiring, too. 

You can also grab lunch in the cafe while you’re here. 

We bought a Chihuly Garden and Glass and Space Needle combo ticket. This was a better value than buying them individually. We purchased them at Chihuly.

Go to the top of the Space Needle. Super touristy, sure. But also, pretty neat! The story behind how and why the Space Needle was built is really cool, and views of the entire city are amazing. Even if it WAS basically freezing and wet!

The overpriced gift shop totally got me. Rainbow tie dye sweatshirts, y’all. I couldn’t resist.

Spend some time at the Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP). Located right next to Chihuly and the Space Needle, MoPOP is a museum dedicated to pop culture, creative thinking, and music. And it’s so fun!

Between the recording studio where you can play with all kinds of fun recording equipment to special exhibits (Star Trek or Nirvana, anyone?), there is literally something to do every time you turn a corner. 

MoPOP is super kid-friendly, too. They will love the hands-on nature of the museum. 

Go to Pike Place Market. Did anyone else watch Real World Seattle ages ago? It’s been years since I watched that show (like, umm, 18). But what I remember about that show was the Pike Place Market! I knew this wa sa priority for our visit, and it ended up being so cool…we made several trips here.

There is so much more than I expected. Sure, there are fish…and my sister totally got to catch one, because she’s the bride-to-be. But there is so much more to do! Not only is it a beautiful and thriving market (perfect place to pick up local-made gifts to take back home), but there are also lots of restaurants and shopping to be had in the area. 

You can visit the first Starbucks (they only serve drinks, so don’t go here looking for breakfast). You can buy cheese at Beecher’s. You can have clam chowder and then enjoy a crumpet for dessert. You can shop the market’s mall-like indoor shopping area (SUPER fun stores in here).

Ride the Seattle Great Wheel. Located on Pier 57 (more Real World for ya), the giant Ferris wheel is another fun way to get a different view of the city. You can fit eight people in each car.

Have a nice brunch – at somewhere like Tallulah’s. This is a good time to mention that the people in Seattle are the nicest. I know we have Texas Friendly here in Texas, but Seattleites take it a new level, and it’s the best. I felt like we were constantly surrounded by nice people, and the atmosphere at Tallulah’s was no different.

Even with reservations, we still had to wait quite awhile…but they have a bar and some pretty amazing brunch-y cocktails, so it was fine by me. Totally worth it when these Eggs Benny came out!

A few more notes about how we did Seattle:

• We used Uber to get everywhere. You can Uber out of SeaTac airport (you’ll meet you driver at an Uber pick-up location – it’s in the parking garage). 
• We used Airbnb for our accomodations (use this referral link and you’ll get $40 in travel credit with Airbnb). This was the first time I’d used an Airbnb. It was easy and a great way to make this trip more affordable. Our house slept 10 people. With 8 girls on the trip, we had plenty of room. Our house was in the Upper Queen Anne neighborhood. This was about 20 minutes from downtown, but within walking distance of tons of shops and restaurants (that all reminded me I should be a Pacific Northwesterner) and with an amazing view of Puget Sound.
• There are these Seattle Underground tours that look SO COOL. I will make doing this a top priority next time I go…I just think this looks so fun!

And one more thing. When we woke up Monday morning, it had SNOWED! And then it all melted before I had to get my ride to the airport, so…it was perfect. <3 

Are you from Seattle? Or have you been? What should I do next time I visit?

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Here are some other places I have been and loved (click on the picture to read the posts and see all the pictures):