Little background about this trip: This is one the corners of United States which has not been covered in the decade I had spent in here. I said yes the moment my wife told we are planning a summer vacation in Seattle with childhood friends in early March. She was exciting to meet the folks from her place 21 years back. I thought It will be an exciting weekend in Washington state meeting family and friends and planned few places to visit there other than spending time with friends. Kids are also very excited. So the time came and here is the details of my trip to Seattle.
What is Seattle – A city on Puget Sound in the Pacific Northwest, is surrounded by water, mountains and evergreen forests, and contains thousands of acres of parkland. Washington State’s largest city, it’s home to a large tech industry, with Microsoft and Amazon headquartered in its metropolitan area. The futuristic Space Needle, a 1962 World’s Fair legacy, is its most iconic landmark. So obviously the request from kids was to visit Space Needle and I was more interested in the Chihuly Garden and Glass other than visiting Microsoft HQ, Amazon HQ and Starbucks. And the story of Costco – originated from Kirkland City is also a neighboring suburb of Seattle.
Seattle is also called coffee capital and in today’s world coffee is alias to Starbucks. It all started in 1971 when the first Starbucks opened its doors in Seattle’s Pike Place Market. This coffee chain has since become a global phenomenon, with over 28,000 stores in more than 75 countries. Even if you’re not a fan of Starbucks coffee, it’s worth checking out the original store just to see what all the fuss is about. It’s usually packed with tourists taking photos and buying souvenirs. Enough for now about Seattle.
Day 1 – Lets get back to my trip.
So this time we were travelling from Austin, TX to Seattle-Tacoma, WA. its a 4 hours 30min direct flight but we took a stopover at Los Angles. We boarded an early morning Delta Boeing 737-900 flight from Austin after a little rough start to our trip as Uber driver cancelled our planned advance ride few minutes before his arrival time. I would not blame him. Who wants to work early morning 4:45AM on Sunday 🙂 So a little tip – book your early morning flight either on weekdays or don’t depend on Uber for Sunday early mornings. Anyways we took our own car and drove to airport. Checked-in our luggage and cleared the security. It was exciting for the little one. He was traveling on the plane after a almost 2 years. Our flight took off around 6:30 am and we reached Los Angles. Took connecting flight to reach SEATAC(Seattle Tacoma International Airport) around 12:30 pm PST. Flight was comfortable and on time. I love Delta and Alaska for the same reason. They have one of the best experience and service in air.
So we were warmly received by our friend Sankalp and we headed to his home. He lives in Redmond which is a suburb to Seattle and home to Microsoft. We picked up cake from https://www.regentcakes.com on the way to to celebrate father’s day at home. The way to home so amusing filled with lush green pine and rainforest trees on both side. Its a Mid June and summer of Austin where temperature was touching 100*F to the place in Seattle where it was 56*F in day time with fresh air filling in the atmosphere. Felt the cool breeze while getting out of the car and here we are at the place. Its a beautiful ranch house if someone ask me located at center of the place surrounded by trees on all the side. We met Rahi and Ruchi waiting for us there.
We met them once when they were traveling to San Francisco 2 years back. Kids grow faster. We celebrated Father’s day in evening cutting the fruit cake.
We chatted till late in the night after dinner and went to sleep.
Day 2 – Itinerary – We planned to visit Seattle downtown and art museum. I woke up early and decided to take a walk outside. Saw a deer on the way back home on the road looking at me. Took Sam with me later to show him but it was gone by the time but he enjoyed walking on the empty wet road with fresh air.
We headed to the downtown by car taking I520-I405 and I 90 to downtown. You can park near to Mopop Museum just behind it. Its parking price is $20 per 2 hours and we walked to the space needle.
Space Needle – The Space Needle is an observation tower in Seattle, Washington, United States. Considered to be an icon of the city, it has been designated a Seattle landmark. Located in the Lower Queen Anne neighborhood, it was built in the Seattle Center for the 1962 World’s Fair, which drew over 2.3 million visitors.
The Space Needle was once the tallest structure west of the Mississippi River, standing at 605 ft (184 m). The tower is 138 ft (42 m) wide, weighs 9,550 short tons (8,660 metric tons), and is built to withstand winds of up to 200 mph (320 km/h) and earthquakes of up to 9.0 magnitude, as strong as the 1700 Cascadia earthquake.
The Space Needle features an observation deck 520 ft (160 m) above ground, providing views of the downtown Seattle skyline, the Olympic and Cascade Mountains, Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, Elliott Bay, and various islands in Puget Sound. Visitors can reach the top of the Space Needle by elevators, which take 41 seconds. On April 19, 1999, the city’s Landmarks Preservation Board designated the tower a historic landmark.
Back to present from History. I felt the ticket to be bit overprice. Anyways we entered the building and waited over the lift to take us to the top.
Some of the views of tower are amazing.
A night view and a view from ferry
But the best from the top of the top 2 floor of the tower
After spending almost 2 hours at deck we started for one place I wanted to visit the most.
Its an amazing place – how can one imagine to torn and bend silicon into glass and glass into so many beautiful sculptures. Glass artist Dale Chihuly famously said, “I never met a color I didn’t like.” It’s a phrase that seems to sum up the internationally renowned artist whose life has been characterized by bold hues and fantastically colored glass sculptures. You can see his work at the Chihuly Collection in downtown St. Pete, in a building designed specifically to house the artist’s work.
While heading back we visited Mopop on the way back to parking. Formerly known as the Experience Music Project (EMP), the nonprofit MoPOP is one of the most popular attractions in the Seattle Center, home to other renowned sites like the Space Needle and Pacific Science Center. The museum was designed by famous architect Frank Gehry, known for his bold designs and sheet metal work constructing iconic monuments like the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. The exterior is a piece of art itself, an eccentric building made up of metal shapes that many, including Gehry himself, say resemble a smashed electric guitar, marking the perfect space for the MoPOP to reside. Inside is 140,000 square feet of space, including the museum’s centrally-located Sky Church, a venue paying homage to music legend Jimi Hendrix.
And that’s how our second day trip was coming over to the end. We went to McD to grab a burger for kids and headed back to home.
Day 3 – I had to do some office work and kids plan to visit near by place and we waited for our 3rd team who was heading to Seattle from Virginia. We met them in 2018 while visiting DC and stayed at their place for a night – to what Gagan say a stopover. Gagan and Swati have 2 beautiful daughters. This get together will bring 3 teenage girls together after a period of 21 years when all of them have grown up to be beautiful ladies. Its a feeling no one can explain when you met your buddies after a long gap.
We took a rental car from the airport and Sankalp received them from airport and we headed back to our base. We chatted and had dinner together and went to sleep as kids were tiered of the trip. Next few days are going to be fun and full of excitement.
Day 4 – Trip to hiking trail to Cherry Creek falls.
We met 2 beautiful girls Raina and Alisha. Raina is of same age as Sam and they quickly intermingled and got busy with activities. They were head to head in every steps and we enjoyed their fighting and crying and playing together.
Lets get back to the hiking the trail to cherry creek falls – Originally the site of a logging camp in the first part of the 20th century, Cherry Creek Falls is now a popular place for locals (and visitors) to cool off after the hike in. The 25-foot falls are the final waterfall along Cherry Creek. The falls drop over a wide, rocky ledge into a large pool. This pool is inviting to hikers, but as always with waterfalls, be careful when splashing and playing in rocky areas.
Initially we lost the way to trail head but Gagan helped us to the right location. We hiked with two 5-year-old and two 10 years old. It was great experience. We separated in mid due to keeping pace with 10yrs old who seems to be enjoying the hike so far. There were a couple spots to park on the shoulder, with plenty of movement in and out. If you stick to the widest/best kept trail at every fork, you’ll make it to the falls. That said, some places were only a foot wide between brush with some washouts and rock/trees in the way. Quite a few hikers, quite a few pups. Most were well-behaved. We didn’t have any troubles getting through, even though the kiddo hadn’t been on a hike longer than two miles before. The falls were fantastic!
Returning back from hike was little tiresome, legs were cramping and everyone was done for the day. We get back to home and had rest and chat that evening and retired for the day.
Day 5 – Trip to MS Headquarter , golf course and Kirkland
Plan changed for this day and we adjusted to make relaxing schedule for the day. Sankalp had arranged a visit for us to MS visitor center. We went and enjoyed few hours there and headed to golf course for a fun evening play with kids.
Me and Gagan did a baby sit for young kiddos and got a free 2 hour play to ourselves without any disturbance. Ladies got the chance and hit to the beach while Sankalp was managing the grownup kids at home. This place was near to the Kirkland Costco so we thought why not visit the place from where Costco started.
We had some drink in the night and day ended with enjoyment and chatting with Friends.
A view of moon from dining table at night.
Day 6 – Trip to Snoqualmie Falls
Snoqualmie Falls is a 268-foot (82 m) waterfall in the northwest United States, located east of Seattle on the Snoqualmie River between Snoqualmie and Fall City, Washington. It is one of Washington’s most popular scenic attractions and is known internationally for its appearance in the television series Twin Peaks. More than 1.5 million visitors come to the Falls every year. Most of the river is diverted into the power plants, but at times the river is high enough to flow across the entire precipice, which creates an almost blinding spray. High water occurs following a period of heavy rains or snow followed by warm rainy weather. This can occur during the rainy season which lasts from November through March. During high water, the falls take on a curtain form.
For the Snoqualmie People, who have lived since time immemorial in the Snoqualmie Valley in western Washington, Snoqualmie Falls is central to their culture, beliefs, and spirituality. A traditional burial site, to the Snoqualmie, the falls are “the place where First Woman and First Man were created by Moon the Transformer” and “where prayers were carried up to the Creator by great mists that rise from the powerful flow. The mists rising from the base of the waterfall are said to serve to connect Heaven and Earth. Enough about history and geography.
We hiked the trail to the end of the fall which converts into a river. It was an awesome place to spend time with friends if you love nature.
We spent the day there and headed back to beach but has to drop the plan as there was huge traffic jam on the highway and we diverted to a place near by to have lunch and Sankalp surprised us with dhaba tea on the road.
BTW he makes a very good espresso filter coffee. All the days spent there, I got a chance to have a coffee by his hand. Thankyou for that. So after coffee sorry dhaba tea we returned back to home via local road and avoided the highway as it was still jammed. Had a drink with Gagan and watched Sultan 🙂 . He shared so many experience from his life. What a wonderful guy.
We talked till late in the night as this was the last night there and we had a early morning flight back to Austin. Said good night to everyone promising to meet next year some place all together again. Times flies like anything and for sure meeting in there in the near future.
Day 7 – Back to Austin.
We wakeup early morning around 4 am and got ready. Everyone was sleeping except Ruchi- she only woke me up else might have missed the flight. Thanks again for inviting and hosting us at your beautiful ranch house. We invited her to visit us soon in Austin.
Returned the rental at airport and took the flight back to Austin, It was a direct 4 hours flight. I slept on the way back being tired of last few days. We missed one of the places to visit from itinerary – Mount Rainier – but there is always a next time. Hope to hike some trail next visit there.
But our friends from Virginia got a chance to visit the place next day !! Happy for them.
And that’s how one of our summer vacation trip to Seattle ended on fun note with so many experience and wonderful memories.
See you soon!!
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