The next morning, after waiting for the ducks to cross the street, we had a fantastic breakfast in a small coffee shop on the way to the Space Needle.

When we were researching things to do in Seattle, many people recommended to skip the Space Needle and go to another observation deck instead. We decided to ignore that advice (next to the other 1.3 million people that visit it every year) and go up Seattle’s most iconic landmark….and it did not disappoint.

The ticket to go up is fairly expensive (around $40) and does not really include anything besides an elevator ride (well, technically 2 elevator rides) and a digital photo in front of a green screen.

On the way to the elevator, you get to read about the history of the Space Needle. From conception to how they built it.

Located in the Lower Queen Anne neighborhood, it was built in the Seattle Center for the 1962 World’s Fair, which drew over 2.3 million visitors.

At 605 ft (184 m) high the Space Needle was once the tallest structure west of the Mississippi River.

They even had a scaled down Lego model with the original colors: The Space Needle’s original colors were Astronaut White, Orbital Olive, Re-entry Red, and Galaxy Gold. 

We arrived very early, so it was almost empty with no lines. The elevator up takes 41 seconds to reach the observation deck at 520 ft high.

To maintain flawless views for each visitor, the Space Needle has a full-time glasskeeper team that cleans and maintains more than 20,000 square feet of glass throughout the day.

We walked around the deck enjoying the incredible view around us. Ariela was a little afraid of stepping on the glass floor, but after a few minutes she was running around the observation deck.

The Space Needle was built to withstand Category 5-plus wind speeds of 200 mph (320 km/h) and can withstand earthquakes of magnitude below 9.1.

There are 74,000 bolts holding the tower together.

You can see the Key Arena below, which is now called the Climate Pledge Arena. Not sure who decided to name it that way, and not sure how Seattleans are OK with it to begin with. Eitan, being a Sonics fan since childhood was not happy about it.

We took some family photos!

And Ariela borrowed our camera and took the amazing photo below of us. She loves helping Eitan take photos.

The view down is not of the faint of heart.

Eitan was very interested in the mechanism that helps rotate the observation deck. The deck rotates one full spin every 45 minutes. The original turntable was powered by just 1 horsepower. The new glass deck requires 12 motors.

After chasing Ariela for another hour, we finally went down and enjoyed some greek fast food. It was mediocre.

We walked to our next stop: The Pop Culture Museum. It was founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 2000 as the Experience Music Project. It then changed its name to the current one.

A 140,000-square-foot (13,000 m2) building, designed by Frank O. Gehry, that houses several galleries and the Sky Church, which features a Barco C7 black package LED screen, one of the largest indoor LED screens in the world.

The structure itself resembles many of his firm’s other works in its sheet-metal construction, such as Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and Gehry Tower.

Exhibits covering pop culture, from the art of fantasy, horror cinema, and video games to science fiction literature and costumes from screen and stage.

IF VI WAS IX, a guitar sculpture consisting of more than 500 musical instruments and 30 computers conceived by British exhibit designer Neal Potter and developed by sound sculptor Trimpin.

They had a pretty great Nirvana exhibit. The band is originally from Aberdeen, a city a couple hours from Seattle. The museum has the the world’s largest collection of artifacts, hand-written lyrics, personal instruments, and original photographs celebrating the music and history of Seattle musician Jimi Hendrix and the band Nirvana.

Original Harry Potter glasses!

The Sci-Fi section was the best and included a rocket launch simulator and dozens of original movie costumes.

Darth Vader suit used in the Empire Strike Back movie.

Interactive activities included in galleries like Sound Lab and On Stage where Ariela explored with hands-on exhibits, the tools and instruments of rock and roll.

Did you know that Seattle was the the First City in the US to Play a Beatles Song on the Radio?

The next stop was the Chihuli Glass Museum, which includes two primary components: the Garden, the Glasshouse.

Located at Seattle Center, Chihuly Garden and Glass brings together all the elements of artist Dale Chihuly’s work, including Drawings, iconic glass creations, large architectural installations, and personal collections.

Apparently, the artist did not want the sculptures to be protected by barriers or walls. Also, the museum allows toddlers. This creates a very dangerous situation and talking to one museum employee, surprisingly there has not been any major incidents.

Ariela could not stay calm and started running around. Bad idea. We had to hypnotize her with videos on the phone to prevent having to pay thousands of dollars in broken glass.

The museum is filled with beautiful glass pieces.

This was the only exhibit not made out of glass, not sure why its here.

A few more photos of the exhibits:

The centerpiece of Chihuly Garden and Glass is the Glasshouse. A 40-foot tall, glass and steel structure occupying 4,500 square feet of light-filled space, the Glasshouse is the result of Chihuly’s lifelong appreciation for conservatories.

The urban Garden is transformed seasonally to enhance Chihuly’s work, featuring trees, plants and flowers in striking colors that highlight the artwork’s scale, color, and form. With an ever-changing landscape, visitors enjoy a distinct experience throughout the year.

The next stop was a quick visit to the Kerry Park, which is the place where all the famous Seattle photos are taken.

We were extremely lucy with the weather during our vacation. Mt Rainier was visible, which seems to be a rare occurrence here.

Did you know that people in Seattle purchase the most significant number of sunglasses per capita than any other city in the U.S.? While many people associate Seattle with gray, rainy skies, the simple fact is that Seattle experiences less annual rainfall than Houston, Chicago, and New York City.

After a few more photos and letting Ariela run around the park for a while. We needed a beer.

We drove to the neighborhood of Fremont, which is North of Seattle to have a beer. Fremont (and Ballard) has one of the largest brewery-per-capital ratios in the country.

Their award winning Hazy IPA is to die for.

Ariela enjoyed painting and drawing her art book.

Walking a little bit north we encounter the famous Troll under the George Washington Memorial Bridge.

The Troll is clutching an actual Volkswagen Beetle, as if it had just swiped it from the roadway above. The vehicle has a California license plate. Originally, the car held a time capsule, including a plaster bust of Elvis Presley, which was stolen when the sculpture was vandalized.

The Troll is 18 ft (5.5 m) high, weighs 13,000 lb (5,900 kg), and is made of steel rebar, wire, and concrete.

Next to the Troll there is a nice short walk along the Troll’s Knoll Forest. They have other sculptures of mushrooms and turtles. Nothing super exciting.

We then drove to Ballard, another nice neighborhood, to eat at the Reuben Brewery. Great beer and an even better Reuben Sandwich. After this stop, we drove back to the hotel for a nice sleep before we started exploring the National Parks!!!

Bonus pic of the day: The food safety rating in Seattle feels like it’s coming from a very nice teacher who is not allowed to fail you in the exam. The worst rating is “Needs to improve” and everything in between is “Okay” and “Good”. During our search for Thai food, Sarah refused to eat at any restaurant that did not have a good or excellent rating, and well, we did not eat Thai food that day.