We just got back from a trip to Seattle, Washington and WOW! It's safe to say our entire family fell in love and we will definitely be planning another trip there in the future. My kids are 9,7, and 4 and they all had an absolute blast!
I was pleasantly surprised at how kid-friendly the city was and blown away at the beauty and amount of things to do for the whole family.
Getting there:
We flew out of Oakland, CA and took a direct Southwest flight to the Seattle (Sea-Tac) Airport. We rented a car and drove to our hotel. While you don't need a car if you're staying right downtown, it was nice to have. We were visiting family that live in the Green Lake neighborhood and it was nice to be able to hop in the car to get there. We also liked driving around to different neighborhoods. Next time we go, we will probably rent a car again.
Flight Activities:
The flight wasn't that long (about 1.5 hours), but I always bring a few activities in addition to tablets. The favorite on this flight was definitely Sticker Wow! by Melissa and Doug. I've linked the activities HERE. I also brought this adorable Target themed Polly Pocket that was perfect for my 7 year old daughter.
Our Hotel:
We stayed at the Westin in downtown Seattle. The hotel was in a great location! We tend to book Marriott owned hotels because we have their credit card and can use points/get upgraded easily, so that's how we made our decision. We would definitely stay there again. Our room had amazing views and the hotel had an indoor pool which was a plus!
Our Itinerary:
Thursday:
We flew in Thursday morning and got to the hotel around lunch time. After checking in, we walked down to Pike's Place Market and strolled through the market. We saw the famous gum wall, the fish market, the first Starbucks, and more. We eventually stumbled across Old Stove Brewing Co. and put our name in for lunch. While we waited, there's an adorable small play area right outside the restaurant with a beautiful view. The kids played until our table was ready. We ate lunch and enjoyed a beer and then headed back to the hotel.
My husband and oldest son attended the 49er vs. Seahawks game that night and I took my younger two kids to the pool. We were tired after that so we ordered room service and had a movie night before bed.
Friday:
Friday morning we drove out to my sister in law's house in the Green Lake neighborhood. We checked out her home and then walked to a late breakfast.
After breakfast we headed to the Woodland Park Zoo. The Zoo was incredible. We saw rhinos, giraffes, zebras, lions, leopards, wolves, red pandas, warthogs, and more. They had a huge variety of animals and everyone had a great time.
After the Zoo we went back to the house and rested for a bit, then headed to dinner at a really cute pizza place called Lupo in the Fremont neighborhood. My favorite pizza was the Hot Coppa! We also enjoyed their house made ice cream- even trying their rotating specialty "sourdough" ice cream flavor.
Saturday:
Saturday morning we woke up early and headed to Ludi's for breakfast. It had 5 stars on Yelp and we discovered it's an iconic Seattle destination. They don't take reservations but since we were early risers, we only had to wait 5-10 minutes for a table. They open at 7 and I believe we got there around 7:30ish. After we finished, the line was out the door and down the street. If you're traveling with young kids that wake early, go take advantage of that! There's no way we would have been able to wait in the line had we gone around 9.
The food was incredible and the owner was so friendly and welcoming!
After breakfast we walked back down to Pike Place Market (it really is adorable) and then back towards the hotel. My daughter and I went to Nordstrom (their flagship store) and my husband took our boys swimming again.
We returned to the hotel room, rested for a bit, then headed to the Space Needle. We decided not to go to the top (the majority of us don't love heights), but the whole area around the Space Needle is awesome. There's a food court, museums, sprawling lawns with fountains, and more. We grabbed a quick lunch at the food court there, but it was nothing special. My kids were excited to try the "Artist's at Play" playground there, but it was sadly closed for construction. So we ended up going to the Seattle Children's Museum.
The museum was small but wonderful. All three of my kids had so much fun and didn't want to leave.
When we left, we walked to Teku Tavern and grabbed a beer. This place is family-friendly and has a bunch of board games to play while you're there. My kids enjoyed juice and playing while we relaxed for a bit.
After that, we walked to our dinner reservation at Half Shell. The crab cakes were amazing, but the rest of our dinner was just so-so and we found a bit overpriced. We walked to an ice cream place after dinner (I don't remember the name), but there's a ton of them right there along the water.
Sunday:
Sunday was our last full day in Seattle. We started the day with breakfast at Stone Way Cafe. The food was great and it was very family-friendly. After breakfast we headed to Gas Works Park. This is a must-do! The views are incredible, the kids' playground is amazing (great for older kids too), and there's great photo ops! My kids could have happily stayed here all day if we let them.
After the park, we took a drive to see some different areas of Seattle. Whenever I'm visiting a new place, I like to pretend I'm going to move there and research what neighborhood I would want to live in LOL. Anyone else? I decided this neighborhood in Seattle was Laurelhurst, so we drove by houses in the neighborhood. WOW. We also drove around the University of Washington campus and the Capitol Hill neighborhood.
Then we headed back to the hotel for a bit. The kids went swimming again, we watched a movie and we ordered room service for lunch.
In the late afternoon, we headed back to my sister in law's house and the kids stayed with a babysitter while we went to an adults only dinner at Rock Creek Seafood. The dinner was great and then we grabbed the kids and headed back to our hotel. We went to bed and left early the next morning.
Overall, I was amazed at how much there is to do for everyone in the family in Seattle. There were so many other things that we would have loved to do if we had the time, but those will have to wait until our next visit! The PNW is truly breath-taking and when we left I said I wanted to move there!
Where should we travel to next?
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