Downtown Seattle, WA
As I mentioned in my previous Seattle post, I got to spend almost a week in this beautiful area but only had a few days to really explore when I wasn't on site working. I was staying over in Redmond, but luckily I had a rental car so I could pop over the bridge to downtown relatively quickly.
One night I decided to drive to a restaurant on the north shore of Lake Union overlooking downtown. I'll share more about that spot and a few other places on the north side of the city in another post, but after one delicious dinner I decided to drive into town to catch blue hour overlooking the skyline from Kerry Park. There were a lot of other tourists and photographers with the same idea, but there is room for everyone and the view is definitely worth a visit!
I had been a little tired after dinner... but seeing the town all lit up made me want to see everything while it was sparkling with neon. I made my way right to Pike Place Market and started exploring from there. The sign for Maximilien hidden inside the market caught my eye and I decided a drink with a "spectacular view" just couldn't be missed.
Pike Place Market isn't just the building with the big, famous sign on it. It actually spills into the surrounding area and ends up taking up an entire block. Between, and also under some of these buildings, runs Post Alley. The southern end of this little street leads to the stairs that go down to the waterfront. Oddly... part of the way down is a famous monument of sorts, the gum wall. I've never been more glad that I don't usually chew gum, but if this weirdly intrigues you then by all means, go check it out. Personally, I'd just make a beeline for the ferris wheel.
After I got my fill of walking around downtown, I made my way back to my car to head home for the evening. Before getting there I passed by the original Starbucks, and shock of all shocks, this was the one time I walked by that there wasn't a line down the street!
The next day I was completely free, so I decided to begin back at Pike Place to start my day with some snacks and maybe a few souvenirs.
After eating a few too many donuts from the Daily Dozen stand, I thought some healthier food was in order. For that, I made my way over Pioneer Square for a late breakfast at the London Plane. As I walked around this area I immediately fell in love. The architecture, the outdoor space, and the abundance of cafes and funky little shops all add up to a pretty cool area.
After my very interesting looking and delicious breakfast, I walked a few blocks to the office / start point for the Seattle Underground Tour. As you can probably tell, this is a guided tour of some of the underground areas of Seattle that were left behind when they completely re-built the city structure after the "great fire of 1889". As an architecture buff and a structural engineer, this was definitely right up my alley. For the average traveler though, the history and humor make this a worthwhile stop for any newcomer to town.
Some items that we passed by had obvious uses, while others seemed to just be remnants of a forgotten past.
After a morning of walking around town I had worked up an appetite. Someone had recommended getting a different view of the city from Alki Beach, and while it was raining, I somehow managed to still think getting a misty view would be possible. Sadly that wasn't the case, but I did get some great fish and chips at Spud. With all of the rain, I ended up spending the afternoon at the Volunteer Park Conservatory, and then exploring more of Capitol Hill, which I shared in this previous post.
I hope you enjoyed this look into downtown Seattle, regardless of a little rain! Let me know of any questions about Seattle or some of the places I went on my trip.
Thanks,
~V
Date & Locations: Saturday & Sunday, 25-26 March 2017 - Downtown / Pioneer Square, Seattle, WA, USA
Photos taken with: Nikon D5300, Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 35mm f1.8 Lens, Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 18-140mm f3.5-5.6 lens, and iPhoneSE