Seattle Sights

I've been to Washington state many times to visit family ~ but we've very rarely done a lot of actual sight-seeing while in Seattle, so I decided on this trip, I wanted to make a point of doing some 'touristy' activities...one being a visit to the Space Needle.  This is usually as much as I get to see of it...

But this time, I was able to see it up close and personal...

My mom remembers visiting it in 1962, when it was built for the World's Fair.  And she agreed to go see it again...

It was nice being able to see a 360* view of Seattle ~ it would be pretty amazing on a really clear day.  It was somewhat overcast on the day we visited, but we could still see some nice views.

My friend Amy arrived from Chicago on Thursday.  She is my fellow road-tripper on this drive, but she has never been to the northwest, so we planned a couple of days for sight-seeing in and around Seattle before getting on the road.

First up?  Seattle's famous Public Market Center of course!  I fully admit that much of the market is wasted on me, given the abundance of fresh fish and other seafood of which I am not a fan.  However, I do appreciate the quantity and size(s) of lobster tail, scallops, crabs and other fish that are available.

We stopped at Pikes Place Fish Market...

 the spice and tea shops...

the fresh fruit and veggie stands...

and my favorite...the fresh flower stands...

You can get THE most amazing flower bouquets for $10 and $15!  There are multiple vendors, making up fresh bouquets right in front of you ~ the flowers are all gorgeous...one of my new favorites...peonies!

I know people who love Starbucks and people who hate Starbucks...but regardless of how you feel about the franchise, it's still pretty cool to see where it all began...

here's Amy in front of the original Starbucks location...still up and running...in fact, there was a long line of people waiting to order...which is pretty funny considering there is another Starbucks just another block over...and another one after that...and another one after that...we seriously lost count of how many Starbucks locations we saw...a quick google search shows anywhere from 27 up to 424 locations.

I wanted to make a stop here... Beecher's Handmade Cheese shop

to taste their self-proclaimed 'World's Best Mac N Cheese" given my admitted past 'obsession' with macaroni & cheese. :)  The cheese sample they handed out was REALLY good, and it was interesting seeing the cheese-making process.  The macaroni & cheese was very tasty...I'm not sure I'm ready to proclaim it the 'world's best'...but it was definitely worth eating!

Seattle is a great city to visit ~ so many activities going on and things to see, lots of people-watching opportunities, and conveniently, they have one or two places that you can stop and get a beverage if you so desire. :)