Tourist in My Own City

https://visitseattle.org/

Early this month my niece visited Seattle from the other Washington for the first time. Though she only had two full days in Seattle, my husband and I gave her a whirlwind tour of the popular sights in Seattle—some that I had never seen despite living here for 48 years.

Red Hall Link

The first day she was here gave us just a few hours to see the “red hall” at the downtown Seattle Public Library. I’d never heard of this floor of the library. A librarian told us it contained no books but housed library meeting rooms. Despite FIFA, we were able to get a dinner table right away, then it was time for her to get some rest before her first full day here.

 

 

 

Friday morning we had breakfast crumpets at the Crumpet Shop and then explored Seattle’s famous Pike Place Market. My husband and I make an annual trip here to shop for treats and Christmas gifts.
 

 

 

After an hour or so at the market, we headed to the Nordic Museum, which was the first time I’ve been there. Seattle has a significant Nordic population in the part of Seattle known as Ballard, named for Captain William Rankin Ballard.

Following that, we toured the Ballard Locks and fish ladder. The locks raise and lower water levels between Puget Sound and Lake Union and Lake Washington to allow ships and boats access each way.

The Falls

The final day of her visit was July 4th and we started off with a trip to Snoqualmie Falls and a stop in the historic town of Snoqualmie. Arriving back in Seattle, we then took an underground tour with Beneath the Streets. Seattle was originally built on tide flats, but following an historic fire that destroyed the entire town, it was rebuilt above the original stores and sidewalks. Many blocks of the old city still exist underground.



 

It was a busy two days of sightseeing that found aunt and uncle happy to skip fireworks and fall asleep on the couch shortly after 9pm. 😀