Seattle for Seasoned Visitors

Seattle for Seasoned Visitors {Let's See Seattle}

11/26/2019

{Let's See Seattle} is where you can find the very best parts of the city of Seattle. The great eats, gorgeous spots, and weirdest attractions of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest overall come to life right before your eyes.

Recent {Let's See Seattle} posts include Seattle for Kids and What to Eat at T-Mobile Park.

Now we're covering Seattle for Seasoned Visitors, just in time for your Thanksgiving and Christmas friends and family from out of town.

It is officially the holiday season! You've probably got family and friends visiting you in Seattle soon. If they've already been here a time or two they've seen the Space Needle and the gum wall already. Here's a list of adventures to seek out with Seasoned Seattle Visitors!

Seattle's skyline from the water

Take a Ferry Boat to Bainbridge Island

The Washington State Ferries that operate in and around Seattle are actually the largest fleet of ferry boats in the US and fourth largest in the world! It's amazing to be waterfront in Seattle because you can always see at least one ferry scooting across the water at any time of day.

A great adventure from Seattle is a trip via ferry boat to Bainbridge Island. The journey is 35 minutes each way. You can walk right onto the ferry or drive your car directly into the boat! (It's wild if you've never gotten onto/into a boat in a vehicle before.) Pricing varies based on which way you're going and if you're walking or driving on. Visit the WSDOT website for schedules and info.

While on Bainbridge visit the Kids Discovery Museum! Our whole family, kids and adults alike, were entertained there for several hours.

Grab lunch or dinner at Bruciatio for the best and fanciest pizza you'll ever eat. The pizzas come with specific PIZZA SCISSORS! What a time to be alive.

One of Seattle's many ferry boats (this is the Kingston ferry)

You'll love the huge windows on the WSDOT Ferries

Driving onto and off of a ferry boat is still WILD to me!

Everyone will enjoy the Kids Discovery Museum on Bainbridge Island

The food at Bruciato is KILLER and they give you pizza scissors to cut your pie, it's amazing

Visit the Ballard Locks and Rose Garden

The Ballard Locks is a great spot to visit for some time exploring outdoors without leaving Seattle. Officially called the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks there you'll see the two HUGE boat locks which are essentially water elevators to get the boats into and out of the fresh water of the lakes and the salt water of the Puget Sound. It's an engineering masterpiece.

There are also the salmon ladders where the fish swim upstream back to their homes once a year. If you time it right you can catch the salmon between June and October with the best chances in September.

Year round there's plenty of fish, seals, and interesting birds to be seen at the locks. There are tons of walking paths and fresh air for exercising yourself, your dog, your kids, or your nieces and nephews!

My favorite part of the whole area is the garden! Officially called the Carl S. English Jr. Botanical Garden it's home to so so so many types of gorgeous plants and flowers. The real show stopper is the rose garden in the summertime. Someday I'll bring a book and sit in that garden for hours.

The Ballard Locks is an amazing spot to explore

There's so much to see at the Ballard Locks, keep an eye out for seals

Explore the National Nordic Museum

I'm into museums, history, and culture so it's no surprise that I love the Nordic Museum. Formerly called the Nordic Heritage Museum this museum just moved into a brand new building and was promoted to the National Nordic Museum!

There's a huge Scandinavian influence here in Seattle, specifically in the Ballard area where this museum is located. The old museum was lovely and the new, bigger one is downright impressive. My Dad and I spent an afternoon there and we both loved it. He was drawn to all of the building and labor stuff while I loved learning about the lifestyles and food.

I've heard great things about the food in the cafe there but we had just eaten when we arrived. Don't make a rookie mistake like us, try the food there and let me know how it is!

My Dad and I at the fancy new National Nordic Museum

My Dad reading about the Labor Unions at the Nordic Museum

During the Winter Holidays: Magic in the Market

My FAVORITE holiday event in Seattle is Magic in the (Pike Place) Market. It takes place on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, that's this week!

Pike Place Market invites Santa to kick-off their holiday lighting ceremony right on the cobblestone brick streets in the heart of the market. Hundreds of people pack in for the official countdown before the Christmas tree lights, the decorations of produce (a carrot, pear, and strawberry), and the pigs on the roof who've taken the job of the reindeer are all turned on for the first time. It's a truly magical event and a hot toddy from nearby Rachel's Ginger Beer is a wonderful pit stop to make along the way.

Pike Place Market all light up after Magic in the Market

Magic in the Market is my FAVORITE Seattle winter tradition

In the Summer: Set Sail in Seattle

Maybe you've got visitors in the summer and you want to "set sail" on a more recreational type of boat. I've got two fun ideas for you:

Parasail Seattle is owned and operated by one of our best friends, Captain Andrew. You can, of course, parasail or you can opt for a boat ride. It's the absolute perfect way to spend a summer evening in Seattle.

If you're looking for a little more adventure, look no further than the Emerald City Pirates. I'd seen the unmistakable pirate ship out on the water for years and just this summer got to set sail on the seas as a PIRATE. Everyone obliged in wearing some sort of pirate gear and the pirate's life was enjoyable for all ages. The crew had games and prizes for the kids and beverages for the adults are available!