We slept in again this morning. As there is a Starbucks at every corner in Seattle, we picked some coffee up for Tobia, while I stuck with my usual fruit and nuts breakfast.

We walked to Pioneer Square in hopes of getting tickets for the Underground Tour. We got there at 11:45am and got tickets for the 1pm tour. We walked around for a bit, shared a slice of pizza, had some tea at the next door cafe, and started our 1pm tour.

Underground Tour. They actually used to have serious bathroom problems in Seattle because they were at sea level.

Underground Tour. A street used to run here.

More of what the underground used to look like.

We learned a good bit of history about seattle, and also where the old city used to be (a whole 10 feet below where it is now). The tour was also funny, in fact started with 20 minutes of history in a big group, and there were lots of funny references and putdowns of the city of Tacoma. We then split into 4 groups that went underground.

It was a 90 minute tour which ended at 2:30pm. We then walked down to the piers and followed Frog’s recommendation to go to the Crab Pot. The food was good there, we both enjoyed it, but we also ordered the strawberry rubharb cake, which was a whole cake, easily for 4-8 people. So we didn’t even finish half of it, but I did give the leftovers to a hungry homeless guy some 2 blocks away.

Walking along the pier to Crab Pot.

We walked back to our hotel, even though we’d checked out already (left our bag there and our car at the valet in the meantime). Tobia printed out our tickets, we picked up our bag and car, and drove out to the airport.

We got in to the airport early and wound down prior to the flight. It was a wonderful short getaway.

We slept in this morning, then went down to Whole Foods for breakfast. Our hotel front desk got us our rental car from its parking spot and we hit the road, headed to Snoqualmie Falls, East/Southeast of Seattle.

Snoqualmie Falls.

Tobia and I at Snoqualmie Falls.

It took about 45 minutes to get there. The falls were very nice, very tall, and had a very strong flow. We roamed around the area for a bit, took some pictures, and headed off to Rainier National Park.

On the way to the park, we stopped to have some sushi at a sushi boat restaurant in Puyallup. It was really good, fresh and to our surprise, extremely cheap given what we ate.

From Puyallup, we headed south to Rainier National Park. There were so many trees and some lakes and rivers along the way. Everything was very green, as we drove up and downs through hills, all of it very beautiful.

The park was really full of people and cars. When we finally got in, we drove to Paradise, where it was really cold, and where you can get the best views of the mountain. We walked the Nisqually Trail, seeing Mount Rainier and lots of fog. There were lots of glaciers and the air was very clean and refreshing to walk through.

The view from Paradise at Mount Rainier National Park.

Mount Rainier.

Nice colors of flowers and vegetation along Nisqually Trail.

Mount Rainier.

We finished the loop and went to the visitor center for some lunch. It was tremendously packed there, but we appreciated the ability to warm up and eat something.

Alder Lake.

Troll Under the Bridge, Fremont District, Seattle.

Lenin Statue, Fremont District, Seattle.

From there it was back to Seattle. Along the way, we stopped by Alder Lake to take some pictures.

We pulled into Seattle just after 7pm and headed to the Fremont District to see the Troll Under the Bridge as well as the Lenin Statue.

Afterwards we pulled into the hotel and had dinner at Sea Star again, right next door to our hotel. The food, again, was fantastic. We picked up some bath soap for our bath, some dessert, and checked in for the night.

For Labor Day, Tobia and I headed to Seattle. Neither of us had ever been, and it seemed like a good destination for a long weekend getaway. We got into Seattle Friday night, rented a car, checked into the hotel, and had an awesome dinner at Seastar, a great restaurant right next door to our hotel. There was also a Whole Foods in the plaza, which made for a pretty easy way to get everything we needed. The hotel room was also fantastic, with a nice 2-man bathtub.

On Saturday we woke up at 8am and munched on some food we got a Whole Foods. We walked towards the Space Needle to do the Ride the Ducks. We got there and were able to get on the next available tour at 9:30am. It was a lot of fun! The driver provided a great mix of history, music, jokes and anecdotes, while also pointing out places to see, and things to do.

Ride the Ducks.

Union Lake.

Downtown Seattle from Union Lake.

That’s what the Ride the Ducks vehicle looks like in the water.

Besides passing by the Needle, we saw Pike’s Place and Qwest and Safeco fields. From there, we saw the so-called quirky Fremont district. Afterwards we went into Union Lake inside this amphibious vehicle. It rained on and off throughout this hour and a half ride, gently though, and we wrapped up at 11am.

Pike’s Place Market.

From the Ride the Ducks area, we walked to Pike’s Place, the fish and farmer’s market where fish are often tossed. The market is enormous and apparently 103 years old. We walked around there, sure enough saw some fish tossing, then went into one of the restaurants for a great lunch. For dessert, we walked just outside the market area and had crumpets (first time ever) nearby.

We walked to the Needle and went up to the top. The views of Seattle from above were nice. Afterwards we went on to the Science Fiction Museum as well as the Music Concourse. We returned to the hotel for some brief rest, and prepared to head out for the evening.

The Space Needle.

Qwest and Safeco fields from atop the Space Needle.

Downtown Seattle.

Tobia and I.

The Dixons, whom we met in Eastern Europe, suggested we check out Purple Cafe near Pioneer Square, and we did, and enjoyed that a lot. We had previously decided to go to Safeco Field to watch the Mariners take on the visiting Cleveland Indians. While walking from the Cafe to the ballpark, we stopped for some caramel apples. Outside the ballpark, we bought some scalped tickets behind home plate (but up high) for a good price with good view. I thought the ballpark was really nice, clearly pretty new.

Safeco Field. Ichiro had just singled and is on 1st base.

Space Needle.

The Mariners lost 4-2 to the Indians, but I was pleased to see Ichiro go 2 for 5 with an RBI. I knew he wasn’t going to reach 200 hits for the season in that game (though the 2 hits did help him come closer, of course), but I cheer for that milestone for him every year.

After the game, we walked all the way back to our hotel, a 45 or so minute walk. Just loosely looking at the map, we walked somewhere between 8 – 10 miles. We felt great, and accomplished for having seen so much, but also quite exhausted back in our hotel.