Fun Flying Four: A Link Up Post

Hannah of Fun Flying Four shared her "Seattle; Part 1: Pike Place Market, Post Alley and Great Food" post about a trip to Seattle she took in 2014 with her family for my most recent Wanderlust Wednesday Link Up.  If you'd like to link up, be sure to check back every Wednesday!
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After our awesome week spending time with family at Isle O’Dreams we drove the 575 miles back to Lincoln, enjoyed one last delicious meal with Matt’s parents and sister Chrissi before spending the rest of the evening catching up on washing and packing for our early morning flight to….Seattle!

Eden killing time at Denver Airport 

Despite leaving the house a little late we made it to Lincoln Airport on time only to find our plane had been delayed, which of course meant we were going to miss our connecting flight in Denver! When we did make it to Denver our connecting flight had also been delayed, sadly since United re-booked us on a later flight they wouldnt allow us to board our original flight. It was kind of frustrating as this meant we wouldnt arrive into Seattle until 2pm, 5 hours after we were meant to. While I was gutted about our later arrival we were upgraded to Economy Plus which was a nice surprise.

Clio enjoying the playground at Lincoln Park 

When we did make it to Seattle we jumped straight in a cab to our AirBnB property where upon paying for the cab, the driver asked for a bigger tip! This is the first time this has ever happened to us and honestly we tipped him fine especially since he seemed a bit lost, despite using a GPS, he simply said I have mouths to feed and well we couldn’t argue with that! The host had already set up the room with a crib and highchair for Clio, left a stroller out for us to use, baby proofed the place and even put a basket of toys out for the girls. This was our first AirBnB experience and it was a great one, we definitely plan on using it in the future.

Our hosts directed us to Lincoln Park, where the girls burnt off some energy in the gorgeous Seattle sun and Matt & I relaxed before we walked down to Zeeks Pizza and then back home for early nights.

‘first’ starbucks, people lining up out the door for Starbucks, Matt with his coffee 

We were out of the house by 7.30am the next day and caught the bus from where we were staying in West Seattle to Downtown and made our way to the famous Pike Place Market. Lots of places were still setting up but it was perfect for us to grab a bite to eat and beat some of the lines, although even at 8.30am there were still plenty of people out. Matt had a coffee at the first EVER Starbucks, although I guess this isn’t actually its original location. They only served coffee, so its not all that great for non-coffee drinkers like myself, also inside there is no seating, so we took Matts coffee and made our way to Le Panier, for some delicious pastries to go and found a perch overlooking Elliot Bay to enjoy.

Enjoying our pastries from Le Panier

Eden giving Rachel a kiss on the nose

With full bellies we wandered around Pike Place Market, Eden donated some money to Rachel the pig, we visited the Lion Heart Book Store, this was probably our favorite store in PPM, the owner, David, was a hoot, he sang to us, recited snippets out of books and was just a fun guy to chat with. We bought 3 books off him, the favorite being Tikki Tikki Tembo which we have read just about every day since being home (and often multiple times a day).

PPM full of electric signs

Eden loved drawing on this chalk pig, Matt even added to the pig!

It was at PPM that Eden had an unfortunate public toilet incident. Having the urge to go, we found the public toilets and Matt took her into the mens. She jumped on the loo and let her shorts fall to the floor, the incredibly dirty floor. While I would like to think it was covered in mud, my gut tells me it wasn’t just mud. Thankfully we were in a market full of stores, so we found the first place selling children’s clothes and she got to pick out a new dress, hence the outfit change in the photos!

poster wall, Matt & Eden buying some gum

We swung by a newsagents to buy some gum so that we could contribute to the Gum Wall on Post Alley; Eden told me this was her favorite part of the day! I am not sure if its because she got to have her first go at chewing gum, or she just found the act of adding gum to a wall covered in thousands of bits of gum fun. It was pretty gross.

Eden chewing her first bit of gum ever, bottom left; Eden’s contribution to the wall is the yellow blob in the middle! 

Matt & I also contributing to the wall

As PPM started to fill up we decided it was a good time escape and we made our way down to the waterfront to go on the Seattle Great Wheel and see some views from above. The girls loved it, Matt & I were so so about it, it felt a lot more secure than the ferris wheel here in Okinawa but it was also a little bigger.

View from the wheel, the troops excited to get on it!

The Great Wheel (Eden didn’t want any photos of her on the wheel)

For lunch we decided to go where everyone else was heading that day, to Pike Place Chowder which was definitely worth the wait and the fight for seating which was extremely limited. We had bought the girls a seafood sandwich to share (which was delicious) but they both liked Matt’s chowder the best.

Line for Pike Place Chowder, enjoying our delicious lunch

the boat feature, glass roof 

After lunch we found our way to Chihuly Garden and Glass which was amazing, even Eden enjoyed all the glass sculptures and thankfully Clio was secured in the stroller otherwise I think it would have been a very stressful and quick visit! My favorite piece was the boat. Afterwards we rode the monorail 0.96 miles back into town before getting on a bus to take us back to West Seattle so we could all get early nights for another busy day!

Space Needle, slight reflection of the space needle at Chihuly Garden and Glass 

Chihuly Garden & Glass