We arrived in Seattle from Iceland late in the evening. We rode the metro from the airport to downtown and then walked about a mile to our hotel. It was fairly late in the evening and we were hit with a major time change so we went straight to bed so we could start fresh for our first day in Seattle.
During trip planning I had looked for a breakfast place that was near the Space Needle since I knew we would head over their first thing in the morning. I found a place called The 5 Point Cafe that had great reviews on Yelp, raving about the amazing breakfast. While the food was delicious, we were not prepared for the ambiance ahead.
As we walked in half the cafe was diner style while the other half was a bar. And for 8 am on a Sunday morning in Seattle, the place was packed. Meaning the diner and the bar. We got seated in the bar that was extremely dark and loud. While we may have not minded it on another day, coming from our whirlwind Paris trip, this was by far quite the culture shock. Welcome back to America. And welcome to Seattle!
It was just kind of ironic that our first taste of Seattle and being back in the states was spending breakfast at a loud bar with decor such as a bra hanging from deer antlers! I know not all of Seattle is this way but we had a good laugh as we pushed through what felt like an atmosphere induced headache.
Did I mention the food was good? It was great.
After breakfast we headed to the Space Needle just down the street. As we got closer, things got a little quieter, we caught glimpses of fall in the trees, and we could settle our hearts a little with a restart to our loud morning.
As we approached the Space Needle it was very Disneyland like. Soft cheerful music played in the background. The employees were friendly, joyful, and all matching in uniform. We hit family friendly of Seattle and it was lovely.
We had a great time in Seattle but I'll admit we did things a little backwards. While we gave Paris all our fresh energy and enthusiasm, going from Paris to Iceland to Seattle only proved to be disappointing. Going up to the top of the Space Needle was magnificent. But comparing it to only days earlier of being at the top of the Eiffel Tower was just unfair to Seattle. Nonetheless, we made the best of it. But we were tired and our feet hurt.
While the view was great, it was the extras at the Space Needle that we enjoyed the most. They had all sorts of interactive displays about the Space Needle and Seattle. We did about two laps around the observation deck but with the extra activities and the gift shop, we were able to knock about two hours out wandering around feeling like we got a quality amount of time for the cost.
They also offer free photos while at the Space Needle which you can get emailed to you. While we did have our handy tripod, there is no way we could have gotten such an epic shot with the view of Seattle. They had a camera permanently placed for this spot which an employee controls via an iPad. So cool Seattle.
They also had a backdrop photo op. Cheesy? Maybe. But I'll take free photos any day.
When we were finished we headed out to walk around the Seattle Center. By then it was later in the morning and more people were out. I would definitely recommend getting to the Space Needle early to beat the crowds. But by now there were street vendors and entertainment making the whole area fun and enjoyable to be a part of.
We stopped at Sculpture Park on our way to Pike Place Market.
Just like the Eiffel Tower, it was fun to spot the Space Needle everywhere we went.
The Public Market was just as fun as I had hoped. Lots of people, all sorts of unique places to eat, shop, and simply window shop.
We didn't bother to wait in the long line to go inside the original Starbuck's. But a picture will do!
And we watched the famous Pike Place Fish Co. sing and fling fish around! So much fun!
Such a bargain for beautiful flowers!
After wandering around the market, we headed back down towards the water to see the Seattle Great Wheel.
Our plan was to go back to the Great Wheel at night so that we could ride it and see all the city lights. So we walked some more and headed to our dinner location, 8 oz. Burger and Co.
The food was absolutely amazing. Brent was not feeling too hot (still sick from Iceland) so I ate almost everything myself. You know, for his sake.
Burgers, garlic fries, and macaroni and cheese. Amazeballs.
He literally ate what is in his hand. And I ate. the. rest. It was amay. zing.
After dinner we stopped at Molly Moon's for ice cream.
The place was filled with the most spectacular aroma of fresh waffle cones!
We split a salted caramel and chocolate sundae and suddenly Brent was feeling like himself again!
On the walk back to the Great Wheel we got to take in a little of Seattle night life. Loved seeing this little store where friends gathered to play board games.
Can you spy the Space Needle in the next photo?
A little lit stairway took us back to Paris for a moment...
As we arrived back at the Great Wheel we were welcomed by the glowing lights reflecting on to the water.
After buying tickets we got our picture taken in front of a Great Wheel backdrop. These photos were not free but I liked them so much we decided to buy them.
The view from the top of the ferris wheel did not disappoint.
There's the Space Needle again!
The wheel goes around a couple of times providing plenty of photo ops as well as sitting back and just enjoying the view.
We headed back to our hotel after a full and fun day in Seattle. The night lights were like the city's encore to a lovely day.
See all Seattle posts here.
See all Iceland posts here.
See all Paris posts here.
