Exploring Seattle

When my parents visited us in Washington, they flew into Seattle. We were staying in Port Angeles which was a 3 hour drive from Seattle. Rather than drive the whole way we decided to make it more interesting and include a lesson in modes of transportation for roadschooling that day: Planes, Trains and Automobiles (and ferries too!)

First we drove to Bainbridge Island (about 2 hours away from Port Angeles). From there we took a ferry across the Puget Sound to Seattle. The views from the ferry were so beautiful!

My handsome first born — soon to be a teenager!

Beautiful Seattle sky line.

Once we got to Seattle, we found the Link Light Rail train that goes all the way to the SeaTac Airport where we met up with the parental units. After another train ride back to Seattle we hopped aboard the ferry back to Bainbridge Island with 2 extra passengers in tow, one with quite an interesting hairstyle.

Don’t you just love my mom’s hair in that photo? It was just a bit windy that afternoon! I loved the Facebook comment from her sister Jackie: “That’s a riot! The Flying Nun is still alive!… And look at Tom! Cool as a cucumber. Every hair in its place!” Don’t worry, my mom has a great sense of humor. 😉

Once we got to Bainbridge Island it was a challenge to find a place to eat a late lunch. I wanted to share this review I wrote on Trip Advisor about the cute little diner where we ended up — Madison Diner, the place that redeemed Bainbridge Island for me.

Trip Advisor Review: “This place redeemed our first impression of Bainbridge Island. To give some background, my parents flew out to Seattle from NC that day. My family and I were staying at a campground in Port Angeles so we traveled about 3 hours between driving, taking the ferry from Bainbridge to Seattle and then the train to the airport. By the time we had picked up my parents and made our way back to Bainbridge Island we were all famished and exhausted. It was about 2pm. We first went to Streamliner Diner because we had heard good things about that place. As soon as we walked in the door they told us we couldn’t stay because they were closing at 2:30pm. So we walked down the street and saw the Ale House. We assumed they also served food and my husband would have loved a beer. The 6 of us walked in (our 2 kids included), and the lady behind the counter immediately began yelling at us to get our kids out of there — that they weren’t allowed in there. Geez! Talk about feeling unwelcome. So after getting kicked out of 2 places and still feeling very hungry, we stumbled upon The Madison Diner. We hesitantly walked in the door wondering if they might also kick us out. But instead we found friendly faces and a welcoming atmosphere. The third try was a charm! They seated us outside in the back which we loved because it was a beautiful day. The food and service were all wonderful! Thank you Madison Diner for showing us such great customer service and changing our first impression that Bainbridge Island was not very friendly.”

So if you ever find yourself hungry in Bainbridge Island I would highly recommend Madison Diner.

So, fast forward 2 weeks later (after several fun adventures that I already wrote about), and it was time for the grandparents to return home. At this point we were camped in Concrete, WA, about a 2 hour drive to Seattle. We decided to spend the day exploring the city since their flight wasn’t until late that night.

Seattle Space Needle

We didn’t actually go up in the Space Needle because it is quite pricey. Instead we just took a picture in front of it and then went to the Pacific Science Center where we got in free on our ASTC reciprocal membership.

The outdoor water works section was really fun, and the indoor fast food window was a lot of fun too. The boys enjoyed taking orders at this window and informing the customers (us) how many calories are in the food choices we selected. If we selected unhealthy choices they would suggest healthier and lower calorie alternatives based on the script provided at the exhibit. Can you imagine a real fast food drive-thru doing this? “Excuse me sir, but you just ordered 1500 calories worth of food. Maybe you’d like to try again?” 🙂

We had so much fun at this science center and spent several hours there.

Later we took the monorail to Pike Place Market, yet another form of transportation. Seattle sure has some excellent public transportation options!

A really cool place to check out here is the Pike Place Fish Market where the employees playfully throw fish around.

WARNING: these next photos might gross you out if you’re a germophobe.

The Gum Wall, where you can add your own gum to the collection!

The boys adding their own gum to the Gum Wall.

If you’re still reading, don’t say I didn’t warn you! 😉

Lastly, we found an amazing playground right near the monorail. The kids played there for a bit before we had to say good-bye to Gramma and Grampa. They took the monorail to the Link Light Rail to the airport, and we headed back to the campground to rest up for a couple of days before leaving Washington and starting our trek back east.

Artists at Play Playground

Good-bye Washington and the lovely Pacific Northwest. We really enjoyed an amazing summer in that part of the country!