City-Slicker’s Fünf to Seattle

Frank and I walk for miles on our travels. We’ve hiked to the top of Victoria Peak in Hong Kong and to the top of the mountain in Cat Ba Park, Vietnam. We’ve climbed the stairs of the fire monument in London and the Notre Dame in France, among others.

But with only one full day in Seattle, we passed on all things “outdoors-y” and we explored the city instead. Don’t get me wrong, we’ll try anything once. I scuba dived one time and then promptly passed out from lack of oxygen. We’ve also had our share of camping, fishing, hiking and rock-climbing.

I’m sure there are a lot of activities that outdoor enthusiasts love to experience in Seattle. The above-mentioned activities and hackeysacking, to name a few. But, these city-dwellers would like to offer to you the top fünf places in Seattle… For City Slickers.

• Smith Tower
The Smith Tower is officially the 17th tallest building in the Seattle city skyline. In fact, it boasts being the tallest building in Seattle… at one time a long LONG time ago. It costs about $6.00 to go up to the lookout. On the way up in the old-timey elevators, the conductor chats about the construction of the building. At the observation deck, after a brief rain—which is common in Seattle—the ground becomes mushy under the tiles, making for interesting maneuvering. But, you can take some beautiful photos up there and not overpay, like you would in the Seattle Space Needle. In fact, you can see the Space Needle from the observation deck. 

The Smith Tower

 

• Bill Speidel’s Underground Tour
The Underground Tour costs about $16 for adults and $13 for students with a valid college ID (oh, how I love my college ID). It starts off in an antiquated theatre with a hilarious skit of how Seattle was built and then rebuilt after a great fire. Guests then tour Seattle underground, which is both creepy and educational all at the same time.

Remnants of Underground Seattle Underneath the Sidewalk

 

• Pike Place Market
Within the Pike Place Market, there are multiple cafes and eateries, ranging from seafood restaurants to bars to actual markets to buy fresh seafood. Outside the market (and down the street about a quarter of a mile), we dined at Elliot’s Oyster House, which is a little ritzy. But, they have some great oysters. Inside the market, we ate at a creperie and a fried food spot.

Pike Place Market during the day

• Don’t forget to visit the Market Theatre Gum Wall: a wall full of gum and one of the top five germiest tourist attractions in the world. I love gum and I love sharing my chewed Bazooka Joe bubblegum even more.

Gum Wall

 

• The First Starbucks
You’ve had one caramel macchiato at a Starbucks, and you’ve had them all. But, it’s nice to pick up your favorite drink at the first place that made coffee-sipping “cool.” It’s located at 1912 Park Place, just outside the Pike Place Market.

Across the street from the first Starbucks is a set of totem poles with Mario a la Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. adorning the top. I always thought Mario was an Italian plumber with a serious ‘stache living in Mushroom Kingdom, but I guess we learn something new every time we travel: Mario is actually a Native American living in Puget Sound.

Super Mario Bros.

 

• Chinatown – International District
We stopped off at the Oasis Tea Zone for some milk tea and shopped at the Uwajimaya Market. For some reason, when we travel, we always find the Chinatown or the subsequent equivalent. I don’t know why…

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View from The Smith Tower Hugging totem The streets of Seattle

Seeing that our time in Seattle was short, we would love to go back and explore other parts of the city. Maybe even try some of that hiking or hackeysacking and visiting all the islands outside of Seattle.

What’s your 5 for Seattle? Do you think Mario is actually still a plumber?

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