Back from Seattle!

Hey-yo! It's been a quiet week here since returning from Seattle on Tuesday, so I thought I'd update you all on the trip!

We left nice and early on Monday, about 6am, and drove straight through to the Washington border for gas and a snack, and to switch drivers.

Made it to Seattle and parked about 11am, and instantly bought tickets to go up in the Space Needle. Tickets were spendy at $16, but for $20 you could go up twice (once in the day and once at night). Hunter had never been in the Needle before, and it was in fact one of the places on his "list" to go! The view wasn't too bad, and there were lots of people checking it out.

Next, we took the monorail to the downtown area, and got coffee from Seattle's Best. Hunter has a goal to have items from places in the places they are from (i.e. Philly Cheesesteak, Chicago dogs, Key Lime pie from the keys, etc). I have to admit, it was the finest coffee I'd had, even better than Starbucks.

We walked from there to Pike Street Market, which for those who haven't been is a lot like a community Saturday market, but every day. Below, he found a cool coin shop, and we discovered our first penny smasher :D Hunter's been collecting smashed pennies from the places we go, and almost has a whole book of them! I collect shot glasses, myself, but I'd already been to Seattle and got one with the Needle on it...

We ate lunch at a great little fish and chips place on the waterfront, then headed back to the hotel. It was just a Best Western, but only $90 a night, and a block from the Needle! Pretty cool :D It was a perfect place, with a fairly comfy bed and nice shower, plus included a free buffet breakfast in the morning.

That night, we ended up at Claim Jumper, which I had never seen before except in the frozen section at the grocery store. I got ribs, and they were fantastic :D

After we got home, it was dark, so we headed back up the Needle for night time views. I think the night time views are much more spectacular than during the day.

The next morning, after tasty breakfast, we ended up on the monorail again, back to the waterfront. Got a nice walk around, and visited Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe, then noticed we could take a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island for only $6.50 each. We went, and truly enjoyed the whole ferry experience (as we've been on cruises before) and had lunch at a pizza place, then returned on the ferry to get back about 2PM or so.

Headed back to the hotel, got the car, and headed home! All in all, a great trip, for just a night.. Even though it was a 5 hour drive each way!