Seattle Center and Waterfront

Our upstairs neighbor, Kristen, made us a list of things to see while we are in Seattle(see picture above). We realized that there would not necessarily be enough time (or money) to do everything, but we were glad to have a list of things to give us an idea of where to start. With careful planning and lots of bag lunches/dinners, we were able to do everything that was most important to us and then some.

While planning to see some of the sites, we ran across the CityPass. I guess they have them for many places (including Houston and So Cal). The CityPass is ticket book to do a number of things in one city, in our case, Seattle (The Zoo, Argosy Cruise, Experience Music Project (or Museum of Flight), Space Needle, Pacific Science Center, Seattle Aquarium) for half the price. We were planning on doing at least half of those things anyway, so essentially, we got to do the rest for free. You have to use your CityPass in 9 days and we started a week ago Saturday with the Zoo. Just a little shout out for the CityPass and to prepare you for all of the pictures from our CityPass adventures.

• On Wednesday, we picked up Paul from work and headed over to Pier 55 for the Argosy Harbor Cruise. It was pretty cool to see the Seattle Skyline from the water and hear a little bit about it's history. Parker liked being on the boat and wanted to be at the front where the boat was hitting the choppy water and bumping up and down. Paul, on the other hand, was not enjoying the bumping up and down. He was feeling sick and stayed inside the cabin most of the time with Autumn.(The last picture below shows the building Paul works in: left center, tallish, tannish, dark roof...Do you see it?)
• On Friday, after Paul's work, we headed over to the Seattle Center to visit the Experience Music Project / Science Fiction Museum. We spent most of our time at the EMP, but also visited the Jim Henson Exhibit at the SFM. It was a fun experience, but we wouldn't have done it if it wasn't on our CityPass. We just aren't musically talented, so we couldn't appreciate all that it had to offer.
• Later Friday evening, we rode up one really fast elevator to the top of the Space Needle. It was pretty awesome to look over the city and the water. We took some pictures, but our camera isn't that great.
• Saturday morning, we headed back to the Seattle Center to go to the Pacific Science Center. This was actually pretty cool. It is mostly set up for kids, but there is so much to see and learn for adults too. I kind of wish I could go again with out the kids! We saw an IMAX movie called 'Animalopolis.' We explored all of their exhibits, including the Butterfly room, the Dinosaurs, Grossology, and many more.
• Saturday Afternoon, we went back to the Waterfront to see the Seattle Aquarium. It was fun, but we were pretty worn out. But who doesn't love to see jellyfish and an octopus?!
• As if that weren't enough for one day, we stopped in at Pike Place Market to buy something I had my eye on last time we visited. Our Seattle souvenier... The fish market painting below (don't worry, those aren't the prices we paid).
• We finished off our busy weekend with Sunday Dinner with Dave and Melissa Conlee and their kids at Melissa's parents' house, the Carlson's. The 3 men got to talk lawyer stuff, Parker got to play with his friends, and we had a great meal. We even had a bonfire afterwards and roasted marshmallows and ate smores. It was so nice of them to have us over and it was a lot of fun!