Our last full day in Seattle was filled with typical tourist stuff and a little bit of resting. We got coffee from a little shop in Phinney Ridge neighborhood, then went to Pike Place Market where we roamed, got incredible fresh produce, and then went to the Space Needle.
Fall colors were in full swing in the PNW.
Harrison: "Don't forget we parked in the salmon lot mom."
I want to talk about the prices of Seattle for a minute. Before our trip, all I heard about was how expensive that part of the country is. Now, I know nothing about home prices, rental units, or utilities, but I honestly found it all affordable. We parked at the Pike Place parking garage to make it easy on us and it was only $4 for two hours. Most street parking was free (outside of downtown). Food prices and restaurants were pretty much identical to what we're used to. Gas is nearly $1 more per gallon than in Iowa, but other than that, I didn't notice a huge price difference in things.
Everyone asked us if we got see the fish being thrown at Pike Place and the answer is a big no. They were not doing that. It's my understanding they just brought back the food sampling, so we were able to try some wonderful local produce. I would like to say we made it to all of the vendors, but we were on limited time since we had to get my sister to the airport for her flight home. Instead, I got to talking to a vendor who was SUPER excited we were from Iowa. Apparently it's on his bucket list of places to visit. I wonder if Iowa will be akin to our Oklahoma or New Mexico (our two favorite states we've been to)?
Another bucket list item (for a mini) checked off: seeing the first Starbucks. I told him we were not waiting in that line and he wasn't pleased. I like to think I made up for it by buying the best raspberries, goldenberries, and broccoli we've ever had. Seriously, all of the produce looked amazing and fresh and tasted even better.
I'm soooo thankful we had the dog with us and couldn't do some of the ultra touristy things. One being going up in the space needle. After seeing how tiny that thing actually is, there's no way we would have gotten great views from it. I would have loved to go to Chihuly Garden and Glass and the Museum of Pop Culture, but I've saved those for my next time visit. The Space Needle and both museums are on the same grounds, so we were able to quickly view both before hopping back into the car and checking out the SeaTac airport (we had to take my sister; it wasn't a cool, touristy thing). On the way there we were able to see the Boeing planes, which the minis thought was cool.
After our quick adventure to SeaTac, we could have done many things. Visit Olympic National Park or Rainier, go to one of those Museums, the list was really endless. However, I was pretty beat after being on the road for a week and a half. The minis wanted a bit of a breather from all of the sightseeing, so we chose to hang around our Airbnb neighborhood. We napped, the minis did schoolwork, we walked all around, and we chatted with the friendly neighbors. It was an absolutely perfect end to our Seattle vacation.
