Every year, we take our two oldest grandkids on a No Parents Allowed trip. We call them NPA. In October 2023, we flew to Seattle, and then caught a cruise to Alaska. We had one day to explore Seattle and tried to make the most of our time. First things, first…say good-bye to Mom and then we were off from the Des Moines airport…

We had a layover in Denver, Colorado. It was the week before Halloween and the Southwest agents were having a decorating contests.

When you are on a No Parents Allowed, you eat McDonalds hamburgers at 11 pm and then you nap while waiting for your flight.

We landed in Seattle at 3:00 am Iowa time. At the hotel, the time difference finally hit!!

Since our son-in-law is a Sports Information Director, Whitney and Wyatt are all about sports scores. So Saturday morning, after checking the college football scores, we took the hotel shuttle back to the airport and caught the train into downtown Seattle.

Our first stop was Pioneer Square, which is the birthplace of Seattle. We grabbed a quick breakfast and smoothies at the Cherry Street Coffee House.

Our first activity was a tour of the “Underground of Seattle.

The picture is of one of the original Seattle buildings…The second floor is now at street level. Due to the city being built on a tidal plain, there were many issues related to sewage. When modern pipes were installed, the street level was raised, creating the Underground.

The original sidewalk is now 15 feet below the present sidewalk. The underground is now abandoned (except for tours) and reportedly haunted.

Skylights were installed to provide light to the underground sidewalk. Thee are only a few of these remaining.

There were lots of interesting items that were left behind from the shops that used to be along the street.

We saw some of the original sewer pipes made from hollowed out logs, which explains the sewage issues Seattle experienced. The kids thought the old metal tub was cool.

There is an old bank teller’s cage and lore has it, that a bank robber came and shot the bank teller who died. It is believed that he still haunts the old bank area.

Since we were on a family friendly tour the Seattle seamstress industry was explained with the following….In early Seattle the “seamstress” industry was very prosperous, as they were very well paid for their services. Several of their “sewing machines” have been left behind…Seattle wanted to be a respectable city, so the ladies were known for their “sewing” skills. Wink, wink, wink

Our next stop was the Public Market along the waterfront. It is the location of the first Starbucks, which was started in 1912. The wait was over an hour to get in.

At Pike Place Fish we watched the workers throw some fish. When a customer picks out a fish, rather than walk it to the counter to be wrapped, the worker tosses it.

From the market, we walked to the Space Needle but after buying our ticket, we had a three hour wait for our entrance time. We ate lunch, in a nearby food court. It is in the old Field Artillery Armory. It was built in 1939 and used to house tanks.  

After lunch, the kids enjoyed the rope tower while we waited.

There were also musical chimes and a line maze

It was finally time to tour the Space Needle, which was built for the 1962 World’s Fair. Cindy’s parents came to the World’s Fair for a belated honeymoon in 1962.

We couldn’t forget Willy P, especially since it was Homecoming week-end for WPU.

We went into the Space Needle gift shop and got a souvenir coin, among other things. We then headed to the entry point. While you wait in line to ride the Space Needle elevator, you can read about the construction process. 

 Local residents hated the design of the Space Needle, but it was built to go along with the futuristic space theme of the World’s Fair.

Wyatt and Whitney enjoyed watching the NCL Bliss leave the port. That is what we would look like on Sunday when we left on the NCL Encore.

The observation deck guard rails were replaced by large panes of safety glass in 2018. The glass leans outward!!

Whitney and Cindy don’t really like heights, so they were abit cautious.

Wyatt was very comfortable with the height and loved leaning on the glass

The area that used to be a restaurant now has a glass floor and it still rotates. We took pictures on the floor. Wyatt was abit too comfortable…lol…but was having a great time.

We enjoyed the Seattle scenery and skyline. The Space Needle is truly a construction marvel. It was built to withstand 100 mph winds and a 9.0 earthquake.

Unfortunately our time had ended and we headed back down the elevator

Back at the base of the Space Needle, Wyatt wanted to get the perfect picture, so he laid down on the sidewalk and took pictures from different spots.

We took the monorail to the Westlake train station.

Back at the hotel, we settled for a dinner at Wendy’s, with the thinking, we can splurge on the cruise tomorrow…haha. As Wyatt said, “And tomorrow the food will be free”.

What a great day, exploring Seattle. Even with very little sleep, the kids were troopers.