Click here for more information
on public transportation in Seattle. Public transportation in Seattle is
called "METRO" and is provided by "King County Transit Division". For
24-Hour Rider Information you can also call 1-800-542-7876 or
1-206-553-3000.
There are many sights in Seattle, but the following are the four main
sights that you should not miss: the Space Needle, Pioneer Square,
Pike Place Market, and the Waterfront. In Pioneer Square, be sure to
take the Underground Tour. Make reservations a day ahead of time to
have lunch, dinner or Sunday Brunch at the revolving restaurant at the
top of the Space Needle. If you do that, go to the "Restaurant Check-In"
section when you get to the Space Needle, even if you arrive an hour or
more early. You will avoid the lines and the admission price of the
people that have come just to go up to the observation deck. If you
arrive early, you can spend your wait time on the observation deck
and the gift shop above the restaurant. You will hear your name called
when your table is ready.
Getting back to talking about the Underground Tour, it starts at
"Doc Maynard's Public House" in Pioneer Square. You can call 682-4646
once your in Seattle and make reservations for a tour. Arrive about
20 minutes before your tour. You will probably get a discount coupon
for your choice of either beer from a local micro-brewery or for a
specialty coffee. By getting there early, you'll be able to find a
table to sit at, relax, enjoy your drink, and listen to the introduction
lecture to the tour.
On Saturday, June 22, we took the trolly from around the corner down to
Pike Place Market. We had lunch at the Pike Place Market Bar & Grill.
The food was good there and it was fairly quiet. Pike Place itself is a
very crowded place. I thought some of the most interesting shops were
on the stairs from the trolly station up to the main level of Pike Place
Market. The main arcade of Pike Place Market is 6 floors. The top level
is considered the actual location of the market and everything below that
is considered the shops "down under". From the crowds at the market it
was obvious that this is one of the main Seattle attractions, but I
personally like places a bit less busy.
My First Trip To Seattle
via the Coast Starlight
9/26/95
This was my very first trip on Amtrak. I booked one of their Fly/Rail
Amtrak Great American Vacations. My two daughters and I flew to
Seattle on 9/23/95. We toured Seattle until Sunday and then returned
to Los Angeles via Amtrak. The tour package included airfare from
Los Angeles to Seattle, a Hotel in Seattle for 3 nights, a rental
car for 3 days, and the return trip by Train for all 3 of us. The total
cost came to $1390. Since we had the Family Room on the train, this
also included all meals on the train for the 2 day trip! As you will
find elsewhere in my description about dining on the train, the meals
on the train are the equivalent in price and quality to those in a
good restaurant. So, take that into consideration when comparing value
to cost.
When traveling with my children, I try to take in items that they will
enjoy. That means hitting some of the more exciting locations, especially
those with animals or rides. We spent quite a bit of time down by
Seattle's most famous attraction, the Space Needle. There is a Science
Museum that includes a lot of "hands-on" things for children, an IMAX
theatre, and an amusement park all in the same comlpex with the Space
Needle. We waited until Sunday morning to actually go up in the Space
Needle and killed two birds with one stone by having Brunch in the
revolving restaurant at the top while enjoying the view.
Another item to check out is the Monorail. Like the Space Needle, the
Monorail is another left-over from the 1964 World's Fair that was held
in Seattle. The most interesting item about the Monorail is that it is
a 1964 vision of what transportation systems were expected to be like
in the future. As far as I know, the only place Monorails are in use
are at the Disney parks and in Seattle. I guess that is one vision that
didn't quite pan out as expected.
Another day we visited the waterfront where they have an aquarium and
another IMAX theatre that features Mt. Saint Helens, which is not very
far from Seattle. Later that afternoon we drove to Northwest Trek,
a nature park about an hours drive outside of Seattle. You can probably
tour Seattle without a rented car, but it definitely helps to have one
if you want to wander any further than the metropolitan area!
On the final day in Seattle, we returned our rental car and took a taxi
to the Amtrak station. We boarded the train early in the morning for our
first trip and two day trek home!
This web page was originally posted on December 25, 1996.
A visit counter was added below on August 17, 1999.
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