No I’m not talking about the Wizard of Oz! Today I’m going to be talking about Seattle, Washington. Why is it called Emerald City? I honestly didn’t know until I looked it up and apparently the name came from the fact that the city is green all year round. It’s probably because of all of the rain which the city is more popularly known for and can also be referred to as Rain City.

Seattle

Summer of 2019 was pretty eventful for me, as you may recall from my last post I went to NYC with my friend, but I also went to Seattle with my family. My sister who actually graduated from Penn State this year, had an internship in Seattle, WA, which gave us an opportunity and reason to visit the city.

It was a six hour flight from the Philadelphia airport, which I spent watching movies and sleeping. When we got there, I was surprised by how much colder the weather was, mainly being around 60 or 70 degrees, which also worried me because I had basically packed for the 90 degree weather I was used to at home.

We mostly went to the tourist attractions as we bought a CityPASS which gave us admission to some of the most popular attractions in the city, some of which you may have heard of.

The Space Needle

Probably the most recognizable attraction in Seattle is the Space Needle. Of course, because of its popularity, the line for admission was pretty long. You can also only buy tickets for a particular time slot so we had to wait even longer which we had spent going around the gift shops. Once we were allowed to enter, there was another line we had to wait in to take a picture and go up the elevator. Overall, it was a lot of waiting, but the view at the top was really pretty, overlooking the entire city.  On the admission ticket, you can scan a barcode at certain photo stops at the top which was cool and you can retrieve the photos online. There’s also glass floors on the inside portion at the top which was a really neat aspect(if you’re not afraid of heights).

Pike Place Market

Pike place is a really popular market where you can buy a variety of things from clothes, scarves, bags, souvenirs, to fresh fruit, homemade beauty products, and even fish! It’s basically a craft market and farmers market, and also includes some restaurants. While walking through, my mom and I decided to buy fresh raspberries and blackberries which were so delicious and sweet. It was such an exciting place to walk through but it does get very crowded.

Chihuly Garden and Glass

This attraction was really cool in my opinion. Inside were exhibits of glass artwork which I thought were so beautiful. It’s something I’ve never really seen before. Not only inside but also outside displayed a stunning and charming garden which also encompassed intricate glass artwork. You could also see the space needle from the gardens which gave a lot of really nice photo opportunities. I know it doesn’t sound the most exciting, but it was definitely one of my favorite attractions with its mellow and peaceful atmosphere. I highly recommend going!

Seattle Aquarium

This aquarium wasn’t anything particularly special. It was smaller than say the Baltimore Aquarium if you’ve ever been there. However, I am always a sucker for sea otters. These small, cute, furry creatures that float in the water were definitely the highlight of the whole visit. One thing I do remember that was actually pretty cool was being able to touch some of the sea creatures like starfish and sea urchins. They have an open exhibit where you can just lean over and put your hand in the water. They have such a friendly staff that are clearly passionate about what they do and don’t hesitate to come up to you to tell you all about the sea creatures.

Argosy Cruises Harbor Tour

The cruise tour wasn’t something we were really super excited for, but it was included in the CityPASS which would be a shame to waste. It was a nice boat ride and the speaker was quite entertaining and informative of everything Seattle. One fact I do remember is that even though technically Seattle is considered the rainiest city because it has the most number of days of precipitation, the total amount of rain that it gets isn’t actually that much. Anyways, the cruise tour was a great aspect of my trip to Seattle because I was able to see the city from a different perspective.

Museum of Pop Culture

Lastly, this was another really interesting attraction and is probably catered more to younger folks. The Museum of Pop Culture, or MoPOP, consisted of many different types of exhibitions of pop culture. The artifacts of popular movies, science fiction, music, games, etc., included in this attraction made it truly fascinating.  I didn’t get too many pictures inside but maybe you will recognize the things I did get pictures of(if you’re into Harry Potter or Doctor Who). One exhibit I specifically remember was their fairytale exhibit. There was a huge door just to get into the exhibit resembling one that you would imagine in fairy tales. The whole exhibit felt so magical and I really loved it.

You may see in the picture below, a showcase of an “invisible cloak” which definitely made me laugh.

I hope you enjoyed following me through Seattle! Stay tuned for my next two posts on California! It was a very exciting trip from this past summer and there’s a lot to talk about so I’ve decided to split it up in two different posts so it’s not too much at once.