My family booked an Alaskan cruise leaving from Seattle and decided to spend two days in the Emerald City before departing. Rain, Starbucks, Amazon, and 90s grunge music are what come to my mind when thinking about Seattle. But there was much more to it than cliches, though our new raincoats proved to be very valuable things.
“All I really had was a suitcase and my drums. So I took them up to Seattle and hoped it would work.”
Dave Grohl
Our hotel was within walking distance of all of the downtown attractions and that proved to be a great choice. Downtown Seattle hotels are not cheap but it’s worth it to be close to major attractions. I bought tickets to the Museum of Pop Culture and Chihuly Garden and Glass ahead of time and planned a nice seafood dinner to try some Dungeness Crab near Pike Place market – all proved to be great choices as well. Chihuly was actually closed early on Saturday evening but I knew this already. Had I not pre-planned, we would have missed out.
We decided not to spend the extra to go up into the Space Needle and instead, spent some time outside of the city touring some 90s grunge-era spots like Kurt Cobain’s house and Volunteer Park’s Black Hole Sun-inspired sculpture. Our kids didn’t understand the Seattle music movement but obliged with Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden on the car radio. The Fremont Troll proved to be a bigger hit with them.
A must-do for us was visiting Mt. Rainier National Park which required a car rental. If we weren’t so adamant about going to Mt. Rainer, we could have easily experienced Seattle without a car.
The Pacific Northwest is notorious for its low-hanging grey skies and drizzle. I had this image in mind of rainy, misty foggy pine trees that was the Pacific Northwest. It did not disappoint on Day 2 heading to Mount Rainier.
Mount Rainer is easily the most beautiful national park I have ever been to. It did rain the whole time but it added something to it, I think. May at Mt. Rainier is a frosty month, there is still a lot of snow on the ground and higher gates are closed because of it. I wasn’t expecting all of the beautiful waterfalls in the park. We hiked the Wonder Trail but I left feeling like I wished we had more time there. We found a great spot on the way home from Mt. Rainier called Pizza Express which serves pizza from a train car.
Seattle is a big city with its own unique culture. There is definitely a serious homeless problem but unfortunately, it wasn’t unlike any other big city we’ve been to. For these 90s kids, Seattle was also a little bit of nostalgia. Perhaps one day, my kids will appreciate all of the great music that all began in Seattle.
2-Day Itinerary with Kids
| Day | To | From | Mode | Departure Time | Arrival Time | Trip Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Sat | DTW Airport | Dulles Airport | Delta Airlines | 6:10AM | 7:38AM | The best part of flying out to the west coast early is that it’s still early upon arrival. |
| SEA-TAC Airport | DTW Airport | Delta Airlines | 8:25AM | 10:25AM | A short connection in Detroit with plenty of time to get to our next flight | |
| SEA-TAC Rental Car Facility | Airport | Shuttle | 10:45 | 11:00AM | Nothing special about this rental car facility. We used Payless and rented a nice Mazda CX-5. No issues. | |
| The Sound Hotel Belltown, Tapestry Collection by Hilton | SEA-TAC Rental Facility | Rental Car | 11:15AM | 11:30AM | We loved this boutique, new hotel by Hilton. It was centrally located to all major attractions and a bonus was the terrace which had a nice view of the Space Needle. Valet parking is $56 per day | |
| Lunch at Great State Burger, Seattle | The Sound Hotel | Walk | 1:00PM | 1:10PM | This was an okay burger and fries option. I thought it was overpriced for the portion sizes. | |
| Sub Pop Records, Seattle | Great State Burger | Walk | 2:00PM | 2:05PM | A must-do for a 90s grunge music lover! This is where the Seattle sound all started… | |
| Amazon HQ, Seattle | Sub Pop Records | Walk | 2:30PM | 2:35PM | Our hotel room had a great view of the Amazon HQ and indoor botanical gardens at Amazon. | |
| Museum of Pop Culture, Seattle | The Sound Hotel | Walk | 2:45PM | 3:00PM | Movies, music, video games, you name it – MoPop is a 90s grunge music lover’s paradise. Located at Seattle Center Campus, a thriving hub of activity | |
| Pike Place Market, Seattle WA | The Sound Hotel | Rental Car | 5:00PM | 5:15PM | A must-do! Founded in 1907, the Market is one of the oldest and largest continuously operating public markets in the U.S. and is considered by many as the soul of Seattle. | |
| The Crab Pot, 1301 Alaskan Way, Pier 57, Seattle | Pike Place Market | Walk | 5:30PM | 6:00PM | We parked the car at Pike Place Market and walked down to the pier. Great market sights along the way and spotted the first Starbucks Coffee shop. | |
| 2 Sun | Top Pot Donuts, Seattle | The Sound Hotel | Walk | 7:00AM | 7:15AM | I really liked this donut spot. The donuts are all cake donuts with an old-fashioned feel to them. |
| Fremont Troll, Seattle | The Sound Hotel | Rental Car | 8:00AM | 8:15AM | A must-do! My kids weren’t excited about stopping here until they actually saw the troll in person. It’s massive and so cool. | |
| Kurt Cobain’s House | Fremont Troll | Rental Car | 8:30AM | 8:45AM | Kurt Cobain’s death had a profound effect on our generation. It was nice to pay tribute in person. | |
| Volunteer Park, Seattle | Kurt Cobain’s House | Rental Car | 9:00AM | 9:15AM | This park was a beautiful surprise. Everything was meticulously manicured and the trees were bigger than anything I’ve ever seen. We stopped to find the Black Sun sculpture which inspired Soundgarden’s 90s song. | |
| Chihuly Garden and Glass, 305 Harrison St., Seattle | Volunteer Park | Rental Car | 9:45AM | 10:00AM | A must-do! Spectacular works of art and located right next to the Space Needle. | |
| Mount Rainier National Park | Chihuly Garden & Glass | Rental Car | 11:00AM | 1:15PM | A must-do when in the Seattle area. Ascending to 14,410 feet above sea level, Mount Rainier stands as an icon in the Washington landscape. An active volcano, Mount Rainier is the most glaciated peak in the contiguous U.S. | |
| Pizza Express, Elbe, WA | Mt. Rainier | Rental Car | 5:00PM | 5:20PM | Located in a 1910 refurbished train car, Pizza Express has one size pizza by the slice or by the pie. | |
| Sea-Tac Rental Car Facility | The Sound Hotel | Rental Car/Uber | 8:00PM | 8:15PM | ||
| 3 Mon | Breakfast at The 5 Point Cafe, 415 Cedar St., Seattle | The Sound Hotel | Walk | 9:00AM | 9:10AM | Total dive bar but the food was outstanding. Belltown’s oldest bar and Seattle’s best jukebox. Hearty and cheap food served 24/7. |
| Leave for Pier and Alaska Cruise | The Sound Hotel | Uber |
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