Article By Ariel Frager
As a Portlander, I have serious little sister vibes when it comes to Seattle. I’m always comparing our little town to Seattle and Seattle never thinks about Portland. Our family usually only heads north to see friends, catch a ball game or to watch our kid play soccer.
This article contains affiliate links. We earn from qualifying purchases.
For the first time ever, I recently played tourist in Seattle. I loved the public art, the forever grey rain, and the big city feel. As native son Jimi Hendrix sang, Seattle is one “foxey lady.”
The drive up I-5 from Portland to Seattle is only 175 miles but traffic can make the three-hour drive into an interminable slog. Slowdowns through the Washington State capital of Olympia creep right into congestion at US Army Base Fort Lewis-McChord and then the real traffic begins in Tacoma.
Unlike Oregon where the urban growth boundary limits sprawl, Washington population areas bleed into each other, making Tacoma-Seattle suburbs a stretch of highway that is often bogged down to a slow crawl. We got lucky on a fall Saturday morning; we were on the road by 8:30 am, and arrived in the Seattle Chinatown neighborhood before noon.
I had no idea that Seattle has a Chinatown until we were hungry for lunch. Officially named the Seattle Chinatown-International District, the historic area hosts over 50 restaurants and is home to the most extensive Asian community in Washington State.
After the lengthy car ride, food was in order, and we found Momosan. Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto has 23 restaurants around the world that focus on Japanese food for American palates. The Seattle outlet is a ramen and sake bar that was pretty quiet on the rainy afternoon we visited.
The ramen was warming and tasty and just what we needed after the long drive. The manager told us that Momosan is a hot spot on game days. The Chinatown-International District is a short walk to both Lumen Field, home to the Seattle Seahawks football team, and to both of Seattle’s professional soccer teams, the Sounders and the Reign and to T-Mobile Park, where the Seattle Mariners play. Rather than spend a fortune on stadium food, locals fill up on tasty Asian delights and walk over to cheer for their Seattle teams.
The Chinatown-International District is also home to the Seattle Pinball Museum. Open Thursdays-Mondays 12 noon – 6 pm, the $23 adult admission fee and $20 for kids gets you free play on all the machines. You can camp out all day long and even leave and return to fulfill your Pinball Wizard fantasies.
Dog Friendly Seattle
Initially, we didn’t want to bring our dog Kima with us for the weekend in Seattle, but her regular dog-sitters couldn’t take her, and neither could any of our friends. We lucked out with our reservations at Hotel 1000.
This “urban luxury resort” is a Hilton property that is both upscale and pet-friendly – an unusual combination. Kima was treated like a member of the family by hotel staff, and she made herself right at home, befriending the front desk staff and the parking valets.
Our suite was super spacious, and I appreciated the design that gave my husband and me a half-wall of privacy away from the seating area where the pullout couch transformed into our son’s bed. We had a peek-a-boo view of Puget Sound from our room, and the rain-filtered light brightened the space.
The central downtown location allowed us to leave our car parked in the hotel’s garage for most of the weekend. We were grateful to use Hotel 1000’s EV charging station so that we didn’t have to spend some of our time in Seattle charging our car.
Pike’s Place Market is a Must
We walked among the high-rises in the quiet Saturday downtown Seattle. We found the famous Gum Wall in an alley next to Pike’s Place Market, the formerly sticky wads plastered all over.
We stumbled upon the fish throwers at the aptly named Pike’s Place Fish Market and waited until a patron bought a fish that was then tossed from one employee to another, delighting the assembled crowd.
Discover Local Coffee
We saw the 4th-ever Starbucks – the original three coffee shops have closed – with the throwback logo and lettering. The coffee tastes just like Starbucks in any of their 38,000+ stores world wide. I suggest skipping the long line and grabbing a cup at a less touristy location.
For that matter, I even more strongly suggest trying local coffee chains or individual cafes for a less corporate take on the Seattle coffee scene. We enjoyed Storyville Coffee, a Seattle based coffee company that opened in 2006 and has three locations, two in Downtown Seattle and the roasting studio on Bainbridge Island.
Family Friendly Seattle Attractions
Seattle Center is aptly named because it is the heart of many beloved Seattle attractions including: the Space Needle, The Museum of Pop Culture, Pacific Science Center, Chihuly Garden and Glass, Climate Pledge Arena, and Seattle Children’s Museum are just a few of the 30 cultural, sports, educational and community programs that reside on the 74 acre campus. Many of the current structures and layout of the site were designed for the 1962 World’s Fair.
The icon of Seattle: the Space Needle, was designed to be a symbol of humanity’s space-age aspirations. The 602 foot structure was once the tallest building west of the Mississippi and quickly became a special destination spot for Seattleites and visitors alike. The ride to the top only takes 41 seconds but the line to get to the elevator can be quite lengthy.
We waited about 45 minutes for our turn and when we reached the top, we marveled at the 360 degree view of the city, Puget Sound, Mount Rainier, the Cascade and Olympic mountain ranges. One level lower than the top is the famous rotating floor that once held a restaurant where every table enjoyed the 360 degree view. The Space Needle experience is absolutely worth the expense and the wait.
Seattle CityPASS
Seattle is one of the 17 cities that offer CityPass, a discounted ticket package service that bundles major tourist attractions. Once you buy the CityPass, no extra fees are charged to visit the included attractions. The CityPass is good for nine days of adventures.
For our weekend, we only were able to visit three of our allotted 5 attractions so it might have been wiser to just buy the tickets individually. What I appreciated about using CityPass was that we tried out attractions that we typically would have skipped.
Our favorite activity was the Argosy Cruises Harbor Tour. Even though the three of us cringed at the cheesiness of a sightseeing cruise, we had a beautiful morning hour on the Sound. The sun broke through and the incessant rain held off as the boat full of visitors from around the Pacific Northwest and the world took in the Seattle cityscape. The tour guide filled us with both solid facts and plenty of trivia relating to the history, culture and vibe of the Emerald City.
Pro Tip: Argosy Cruises Harbor Tour requires a reservation even when using CityPass. Located close to the Argosy dock is the Seattle Aquarium which also requires a reservation and is part of the CityPass roster. Make the back-to-back reservations to make the most of your time on the waterfront.
I loved the Museum of Pop Culture for its wide reaching exhibits of everything from a tower of 500 guitars to Biggy Smalls’ and Lizzo’s performance outfits. Formerly known as the Experience Music Project, this was the brainchild of the “other” Microsoft founder, Paul Allen.
The building itself, swooping multicolored fields of metal, was designed by famous architect Frank Gehry. Both an experiential and a typical museum, MoPOP houses rooms with the world’s largest collections of artifacts dedicated to Seattle native son, Jimi Hendrix and to Aberdeen, Washington favorites, Nirvana.
Eating Around Seattle
The Seattle food scene focuses on Pacific Northwest fresh ingredients and makes the most of the verdant local environment for the ultimate farm to table dishes. Heavily influenced by Pan-Asian neighbors, Seattle leans on a delicate palette of innovative flavors from across the Pacific.
There are lots of celebrity chefs and of the moment high end dining experiences as well as wonderful meals to be found at neighborhood spots. One great way to get an insider’s view of the Seattle culinary prowess is to try out a food tour.
Charlotte Restaurant is a special occasion restaurant that makes the most of its million dollar view. The setting atop the Lotte Hotel lends itself to celebration while looking down on Puget Sound and Downtown Seattle. The food, a contemporary mix of classics like grilled filet mignon and seared halibut with an Asian flare using flavors like yuzu in a delicious dessert tart and miso with pasta and tamari with the fabulous, fall apart short ribs.
After a long walk along the beach at Golden Gardens Park, taking in the Sound and the Cascade mountain range for a spectacular sunset, we found our way to Sunny Hill, a Ballard neighborhood pizza spot that elevates the pie to a delicious Seattle standard.
Best known for their Detroit style square pies with the cheesy, crunchy corner slices, I preferred the regular circular pizza, and the crunchy cauliflower appetizer was a standout.
Pro tip: Save room for dessert. Sunny Hill makes a giant tiramisu cookie, a coffee/sugar cookie confection with a cream topping that is truly original and delicious.
More of Seattle to Explore
There were so many places we didn’t have time to visit on this weekend trip to Seattle, like the Soundgarden, a kinetic and aural sculpture on the NOAA campus and the namesake of the famous grunge band. We also missed the wonderful Gas Works Park, located on the former site of the Seattle Gas and Light Company plant that has kept some of the industrial remnants and transformed them as part of the children’s play barn.
There is great shopping and people watching in the U District, home of the University of Washington as well as on Fremont Street.
I guess we’ll have to drive back up to Seattle for another fun filled weekend soon.
Ariel Frager
Guest Author
For more family vacation inspiration: discover…..
Leave a Reply