We unintentionally ended up in Seattle during Seafair. This was good and bad. Seafair is an annual festival that includes Fleetweek (U.S. Navy Ships in town), Airshows (including Navy Blue Angels), hydroplane races, etc. With all those fun activities come big crowds (and interstate shutdowns for Blue Angel practices and shows). But the festive atmosphere and great weather more than made up for any drawbacks. Unfortunately, campsites during this peak period were hard to come by and we managed only three nights in town. We made the most of it.
No visit to Seattle is complete without a trip to the iconic Space Needle. We visited the night of our arrival and the following day. You can’t beat the views.
Watching a Blue Angels practice from the top of the Space Needle was a special treat. Here they are flying low over Lake Washington and splitting off.
A mid-show fly-by of the Space Needle awed all of us on the observation deck and impressed Penny Benjamin.
While I snapped shots of marginal value, M captured a very cool video (apologies for the quality but I could not manage to upload the file without reducing the resolution).
At the end of the show, the planes peeled off to land with Mount Ranier in the background.
On the ground, the glass sculptures at the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum dazzled. I’d never seen anything like it.
And where else but at the Experience Music Project (EMP) Museum can you rock out while learning about music, movies and pop culture?
We celebrated L’s 10th Birthday with Top Pot donuts in the morning, a shrimp and crab leg dinner on the harbor, and an evening stroll on the waterfront. Happy Birthday L! We are proud of the lady you are becoming.
For our last day, we targeted the waterfront attractions. While small by comparison to the Georgia Aquarium, the Seattle Aquarium did not disappoint. In a dramatic moment, we saw another Tufted Puffin!
But the simulated tidal pools proved to be the real star of the show. The friendly staff provided excellent information as we learned about and touched the various animals. We were there after closing and the staff let us feed the sea creatures. Awesome.
A relaxing and informative harbor cruise, made all the more enjoyable by the Navy vessels docked in the harbor, capped our stay in the Emerald City.
Thanks, Seattle, we had a great time!
Again,COOL! Was M3 cutting a record?
No, he was learning a Nirvana song and cutting something else…
Nice shot of the needle in the glass! Cool memory I have of Seattle was going down in the glass elevator of the needle while it was snowing outside… looked like snow was rising upwards into the sky. Fantastic view of the jets!
That’s funny. I saw the same thing after I finished my Top Pot doughnut.
Happy Birthday, L! Those three days were adventure-packed! You saw everything that we didn’t.