Seattle: Pikes Place Market and Chihuly Garden and Glass

Although we hadn’t planned on it, we decided to spend our last day of our trip exploring Seattle! We decided to start our morning at Pike’s Place Market, famous for its fish throwing and variety of fresh bouquets, among other stalls. We arrived around 9:30am and things were still getting set up for the morning. The flowers were absolutely beautiful and so cheap! Huge, fresh bouquets for only $10-$15!

I found the actual market to be pretty confusing in the way it was laid out. We eventually made our way out to the information booth in the front where we (sadly) learned that because it was Easter the fisherman were taking the day off! That meant no fish throwing to be seen. We did however see the original Starbucks which across the street from the market and a few blocks down. We opted not to wait in the long line to actually buy anything there.

All along the street were small pastry shops, produce for sale, random kitchen supply stores and everything else you can think of. We saw a cheese store with the machines making fresh cheese right in front for everyone to watch. Also got to listen to an old guy playing a piano right outside on the sidewalk. A low-light was the gum wall or should I saw Alley. This was down below/behind the market area and it was disgusting. We spent very little time there, I didn’t want to get anywhere near the wall!

We found some food for brunch along the stores on the street and took it to the little park area to eat on a bench. In the little park was an information desk with a very helpful lady sitting behind it. She informed us that since it was Sunday, parking was actually free anywhere on the street (oops we had paid for parking already). We could walk to the Seattle Center where the Chihuly Exhibit was, and it would take about 20-25 minutes. Or we could drive over. We opted to drive to save time and move to somewhere where we wouldn’t have to pay for the parking anymore. She assured us if we drove around a little there we’d find parking.

It did take a little while and we had to park on a tiny side street a bit away from the center, but it wasn’t too bad. This area had a ton of main attractions for Seattle all in one area. One museum we didn’t make it to but sounded awesome was the EMP Museum. This museum was created by a rich guy who loves sci-fi and rock music- and it combines both his passions. The outside of the building was so unique in its design that I was sad we didn’t get to visit it (though it was a whopping $25 per person!).

We walked past the Space Needle and into the Chihuly Garden and Glass Exhibit. This was also a bit pricy ($21 each) but we had heard good things about it from both our parents so we decided to make the splurge. It was beautiful. While I’m not a big museum fan and don’t really love walking around galleries a whole lot, this museum was full of vibrant colors- which I do love. It was a very unique museum with colored glass sculptures and chandeliers everywhere. Chihuly created some really pretty pieces!

We walked through the indoor glass exhibit for a while and then headed out into the gardens. There was a glass blowing demonstration going on which was a little lengthy, around 20 minutes or so, but it was interesting to learn how they make the glass so colorful and beautiful in different shapes. The garden was also beautiful, makes me want to have a garden like it someday as well!

We also watched a few of the 5 minute videos on Chihuly’s life and work. They were really fascinating though I was disappointed we didn’t see any of his sculptures around Venice when we were there last year. Overall, the museum was really small and didn’t take much time at all to get through. It really was a little bit overpriced but I’m still glad we went as it was a beautiful place to see.

We headed for some food from there at the Armory, a central building with a variety of food options inside. We ate outside and spent a little time by the big fountain there as well before heading back to our car and the airport. My only regret is that I hadn’t done enough research to plan for this ahead of time and found out that there was a huge tulip festival about an hour north of Seattle in Skagit! I would’ve loved to see that and we could have planned to see this had we known about it.

Nevertheless it was a great trip and we enjoyed our time. No rushing around at all, we had plenty of time with all the activities we did. It was quite a bit of driving to go around the whole park, but it was also relaxing so we didn’t mind too much. Aside from the fact of our flight home being extremely delayed on our layover and arriving home at 5:00am, the trip was great! We even had sun for our whole last day in the Pacific northwest 🙂

Summary:

• Free parking on the streets in Seattle on Sundays!
• Museums are expensive, plan which ones you want to prioritize to see.
• If you’re going in April, check out the Skagit Tulip Festival and let me know what it’s like!