About 2 years ago, my mom wanted to go to Las Vegas to see her best friend from high school. I, being the wonderful daughter I am (hope you’re reading this momma!!), never turn down the opportunity to go someplace new, and decided to tag along. While Vegas had never “been on my radar” of places I wanted to see, we actually had a really great time and it’s definitely someplace I would go back. Thus, the mother-daughter trip tradition was born!
Since my mom picked Las Vegas last time, for our next trip together, it was my turn to pick a destination! I picked Seattle; mainly because Vegas was the furthest out west I had ever been and wanted to see more, and have been told Seattle has a lot to offer. Another great thing about traveling west in The United States (if you live in the middle of nowhere like me) is because of the time change; you don’t lose a lot of time traveling on your first day! I’m pretty sure we flew out at around 6:00 am, and arrived at 8:00 am-ish, even though it was a 4-hour flight. So we still had a FULL day to explore!
However, I will say everytime I told somebody we were going to Seattle in March, they told us we were crazy! Even though I told them I had done my research and was well aware of our chances of bad weather, they still said things such as…
“It’ll still be cold”
“That’s such a rainy time of year there”
“You’ll be stuck inside the entire time”
And the list goes on…and on..and on..
But, my mother and I were stubborn! We decided we would do it anyway! Besides, my mom had to use up certain vacation days prior to April 1st, so March was our only option. We planned our itinerary, Amazon-primed some rain jackets, packed our bags, and headed to the Pacific North West.
And it. Was. PERFECT!
It actually ended up being warmer in Seattle than it was back at home. We enjoyed a sunny, 3-day trip of 60-degree weather, while everyone at home was cold and battling rain and snow.
So, if you’re like me and Seattle is on your bucket-list, here’s what we did during our 3-day visit!
DAY 1
We arrived at the airport, and loaded into a shuttle to get to our hotel. We wanted to be as far downtown as possible to be able to save money walking, so we chose the Holiday Inn Express. While there was some annoying road construction going on and it wasn’t necessarily in the safest area per our opinion, it was still a nice, clean, accommodating place to stay! Great service, so we would definitely stay there again.
Wanting to save some money, and since our brains thought it was lunch time due to the time difference, we tossed our bags into our room, took advantage of the hotel’s free breakfast (have ya’ll ever seen a pancake conveyor belt?!), and headed out for the day.
First stop, Space Needle! Some people may say it’s a “cheesy tourist thing” to go there first, but it was worth it to us! I believe it was about $30-$40 a person to go up. Before going up to the top, we strolled around the area surrounding it. There’s a big, grassy field nearby that many people were using to play fetch with their dogs, sit down for lunch, etc. It was a great place to get pictures with the Space Needle! We then purchased our tickets and went to the top. Let me tell ya, the view is incredible! If you stand on one side you’re looking out over Puget Sound, and the other side gives a great view of the city. There were a lot of people up there, but everyone was pretty courteous when it came to allowing others some space to take a picture.
DISCLAIMER: I’ve also heard of another great place to go called the Columbia Center that has an observation deck. We contemplated going there, but decided on the iconic Space Needle instead.
We then went down to the bottom, purchased some souvenirs at the gift shop, and continued to our next stop; Pike Place Market!
We mainly just walked around, checked out some booths, watched them chop up fresh fish and toss them through the air (seriously don’t know how those guys do it, the fish totally would have slipped right through my hands and nailed some old lady in the face if I worked there). My 2 musts if you go; buy yourself some pretty flowers, because they are seriously gorgeous! And also, there’s a little stand with homemade donuts. Trust me, you need them. I still think about them to this day. Also, if you’re a coffee lover, the original Starbucks is literally right across the street!
Keep in mind, we walked everywhere this day to save some $$$, so we were pretty exhausted! We went back to our hotel, changed clothes, and looked up nearby restaurants. Now, I may be adventurous, but I am a very picky eater, and so is my mom. Pizza was the safest option, and there happened to be a place close by called Zeek’s Pizza. This was our favorite restaurant on our whole trip, we actually ate here twice! It’s nothing crazy fancy, but had a great atmosphere, delicious brick oven pizza, and you can get a seat with a great view of the Space Needle. Win-win for us! Then back to our hotel to go to bed early.
DAY 2
Whale watching!! I had this booked quite a bit in advance, and there were a lot of people on the boat; so if this is something you’d be interested in, don’t wait! We booked through Puget Sound Express.
The tour left out of Edmonds, which is north of Seattle, so we decided to take an Uber to our destination. This was our most expensive activity, which costed about $187 total for the 2 of us. We got there early enough to check in, then walked around the harbor a bit and looked at all the boats and the beach area.
The tour was great! The boat had an indoor area with a snack bar, then an observation deck on the same level as well as the level above. I was pretty glad we packed those rain jackets, because the combination of being out on Puget Sound and the wind made us really cold, even though it was a beautiful day. If you do this, even in the summer, I’d definitely pack a backpack with a warm jacket, gloves, hat, etc. Also, remember to wear appropriate shoes. I saw several people in shorts and flip-flops, and you could tell they regretted that decision!
We ended up seeing 3 or 4 gray whales during the trip, which was a really neat experience! We also had a great view of Mt. Baker. After we got back we ate a quick snack that we had packed, grabbed an Uber, and headed to our next stop, Discovery Park!
Discovery Park has great hiking trails that you can either walk or bike (we opted to walk) that also allows you to go to the water edge and see an old lighthouse. AND there is no entrance fee! There are several cliff areas too, so be careful. We did get a little lost on the way back, but eventually found our way! This place is great for those who want to experience nature but also don’t want to venture out of Seattle, if you look on a map it’s literally right there in town! The beautiful ferns and pine trees everywhere blew me away. It felt like a fairy tale forest!
For supper this night, we went to 8-oz Burger. Again, nothing fancy because we like to save money! I think I got a burger and my mom got some sort of a chicken sandwich, and we sat on the patio and watched people go by. Probably not someplace I would go out of my way to eat at again, but it filled our bellies after a long day.
DAY 3
This day was probably my favorite day. The others were great too, but this really made us step out of the comfort zone of the city and go explore. We had decided to visit Snoqualmie Falls, which is a huge waterfall. After that, we decided we wanted to drive as far up as we could to get a good view of Mt. Rainier! Obviously this couldn’t be done with Uber, so we packed up what we needed for the day in our backpacks, walked to a nearby Enterprise, and rented a car!
My mom hates to drive in the city, but since I’m under the age of 25, it was our only option. I turned on our beloved maps and our darling Siri told us where to go (I don’t know what I’d do without Siri!!). Snoqualmie Falls was about 45 minutes out of town, and we got there fairly early. If this is something you’re interested in doing, I would recommend going early as well. We were able to beat the crowds and take as many pictures that we wanted without interruptions. By the time we left, however, huge crowds of people were flooding in. Granted, it was a Saturday, so during the week may not be as bad. Also, this activity was free!
The falls have several great “look out” areas, as well as a looooooong, winding hike down the bottom to see the river. If you’re not in good shape or just don’t feel like hiking, there’s also a road you can take your car down and park at the bottom. We were up for the challenge though! If you do the hike though, I recommend wearing appropriate shoes and packing water. There were several different logs to stop and take a break on. When we reached the end, I hopped around on some rocks out in the river while my mom stood on shore and had about 47 heart attacks (sorry mom!). We then made the brutal hike back up the path to the top. Grabbed a quick lunch at a Subway in town, then Siri guided us into the mountains!
Be prepared for some winding roads and breathtaking views. If you visit Seattle, I think it is an absolute must to get out of the city and see all the beautiful scenery the state of Washington has to offer!
When you’re driving, don’t be afraid to pull over to take pictures. There were several little spots that seemed to be designed specifically for this! I lost track of how many times I made my mom pull over!
We drove as far up as we could until there started to be too much snow on the ground (first snow we’d seen all trip!), and decided our little rented car couldn’t handle it. We turned around and started to drive back down, then stopped at one of the view-point areas and waited for some clouds to pass to get a good view of Mt. Rainier. Please keep in mind that at some times during winter, this road may be closed, and at many times it is required to have chains on your tires to go up. We didn’t see very many other cars and we didn’t have the best cell service, so be smart! If you get stuck, it may be a while before somebody shows up to help you. Not to mention, this is also the wilderness, so there are animals such as bears or mountain lions in the area. We would have loved to keep driving, but decided we’d rather not be stranded.
We stopped at a beautiful bridge over the Carbon River for a few more pics, then Siri decided to take us on another adventure by trying to take us back to the city on an entirely different route that involved a lot of sketchy one-lane roads. We purposely took a couple wrong turns to get her to re-route us the same way we came, and I even talked my momma into letting me stop at 2 Marshall’s to hunt for Rae Dunn pottery (Yes, I’m a weirdo that collects pottery. Judge me).
We dropped the rental car back off at Enterprise, ate at Zeek’s Pizza for the 2nd time, and that concluded our trip! We flew back home the next morning with lots of wonderful memories and stories to share. Seattle was a great trip and hopefully I’ll get to visit again someday! Next mother-daughter trip, it’s my mom’s turn to pick our destination…any guesses where we’ll end up?!
TRAVEL TIPS + THINGS I WISH WE WOULD’VE DONE…
- After about the 2nd time using Uber this trip, we opted to start using Uber-Pool. While it can be a little uncomfortable sharing a ride with strangers, we saved a lot of money this way and even got to see a bit more of the city just by riding around. Keep in mind this will add time to your trip, so if you’re in a rush, it may not be the best option.
- Some people may disagree, but don’t use a travel agent! Do your research and you can book everything by yourself! We book our own flights, hotels, and excursions everywhere we go, which helps us save money and allow us to personally look for the best deals. While agents can be great for complex trips, such as traveling around Europe, you don’t really need one most of the time.
- Be smart while booking airlines. 99% of the time, we prefer to fly with South West. You get 2 free checked bags plus a free carry on, so you’re saving a lot of money. I’ve flown with several different airlines, and South West is still my favorite. You can book directly off SouthWest.com, and earn points towards your next flight!
- While in the initial shuttle to get to our hotel when we first arrived, a woman told us if we had time, we needed to check out the famous tulip fields, called Skagit Valley Tulip Farm. I wish I had known about it before hand to be able to fit it into our plans, because it looked beautiful. If you go, definitely try to check it out if it’s during the right time of the year! If I go back I want to see it!
- I also wish we could’ve rode one of the ferries to one of the nearby islands. I didn’t do a lot of research about them, but I’ve heard it’s a great experience.
Well, I think that’s it! Hope you enjoyed this post and it gave you some great ideas if you ever decide to visit Seattle! I’d love to hear what you think in the comments, or if you have visited Seattle before and have more recommendations, let me know so I can remember them for next time! Thanks for reading!
For more pictures from this trip, check out our photo album below!
Loved it Tara! You travel to some beautiful places! I have another young friend and she traveled all over Europe and I’m encouraging her to write a blog also. Actually a book but blog sounded better! Lol I’m gonna definitely keep reading and you did a great job!