We ended up using some hotel points to book a room in Seattle for the weekend. What most people don’t know is the Pacific Northwest has THE MOST beautiful summers ever. Seattle did not disappoint and we were gifted with 70 degree sunny weather to enjoy the city.

It was never meant to be relaxing, we knew we were going to hit the ground running and explore until we couldn’t anymore. We ended up buying the City Pass and showing the kids all the major highlights.

With a free waterfront shuttle and a well placed hotel room, we were able to get around without too much trouble. We booked the Thompson Hotel – in the Hyatt family – and it had one of the most beautiful views. We were able to see Pike Place Marke, the waterfront, ferries doing their daily runs, and the hustle and bustle of the city below. I mean, just look:

I might have just called it in right there but I figured we should do some exploring. All of our activities were part of the CityPass which I am glad but some of them would have been huge rip offs if we had paid for them individually. We headed straight for Pike’s Place Market (those flowers) and down to the waterfront. We got tickets for the 1 hour harbor cruise for the next day and then headed for the Seattle Aquarium.

The aquarium was so-so… I wouldn’t do it again, especially considering the high cost of tickets that are not purchased as part of the CityPass. However, as part of the pass, it was a good activity for the water front area. The people and boat watching were my favorite part!

Before you think I’m the luckiest girl that my family travels so well… this is where we insert the stomach flu my son caught somewhere along the way…. so we detoured back to the hotel and pretty much spent a good chuck of time getting him back on track! He rallied for dinner but we had a quiet night looking out the window and watching day turn into night.

We started Day 2 fresh but with a plan to take the day as it comes. We headed back to the docks for our harbor cruise and it was a nice relaxing start to the day!

Everyone was feeling pretty good after so we headed up the Space Needle. Things have changed since the last time we had been there. They now have quite a little village that includes a nice indoor food court, children’s museum, outdoor concert venue and park space. They were having a festival that day, so there were plenty of vendors around and of course my little wanted to spend her money on face paint. Being a rainbow tiger may have been the highlight of her whole trip!

The spinning restaurant is no more, and has been replaced with a spinning observation desk complete with a see-through floor. Nervous nellies beware…. but my kids enjoyed it! We were up and down fairly quickly but always a fun trip!

Seattle is such a fun city with a great energy. Although we hit most of the major tourist destinations, just enjoying the Northwest summer weather with some good fish and chips overlooking the water is worth the whole trip.