Seattle Space Needle & Pike's Place Market

On our journey toward Japan, we made a short stop in Seattle to spend time with some friends. 

Brent & Tanya are some of our Florida friends, who now live in Washington... so they drove in with their girls to spend the weekend with us! Tanya & I met through a playgroup in Florida and it was so nice to catch up with them & let our kids hang out. They were kind enough to take us sight seeing in the local area.

Our first stop -- The Seattle Space Needle!!

We were blessed with a brisk, sunny day... a perfect day for a view from the top!

The crowd was pretty small, so we were able to buy tickets & then walk directly to the elevators.

At the top, there is a small cafe which serves Starbucks coffee.. and when in Seattle....

(the coffee actually turned out to be horrible... which will teach me to only buy Starbucks coffee from an actual Starbucks coffee shop.. but you live & learn!)

 

The Seattle Space Needle offers a free app which allows you to interact with these designs on the floor called Space Spots. They can be found on the floors around the top of the tower.

When you use the app, the Space Spots turn into photo prop spots!! They all have different surprises and our kids had a blast running from spot to spot to discover the hidden images & posing for fun photos! Oh who am I kidding.. Tanya & I had fun playing with them too! 

After a trip up the Space Needle.... it was on to Pike's Place Market!!!!

Isn't the view just gorgeous!?!

Pike's Place Market is home to the original Starbucks!

I just took a photo & moved on, as the line was ridiculously long & the store was packed.

 Inside the market we found craft vendors, food vendors, flower vendors, street performers... pretty much anything and everything you could think of!

Directly across the street from this entrance to the market is Starbucks at Pike's & 1st.

Stopping in Starbucks while at Pike's Place Market was an absolute must for me!!

It actually turned out to be a very quick and efficient shop... maybe a 10 minute wait in total. 

My drink of choice was the peppermint mocha.. my favorite!!

This was the best mocha ever!! just enough peppermint.. just enough mocha...

*deep sigh*

....incandescently happy...

Of course, no trip would be complete without a few goodies!

I picked up a fabulous canvas tote, a CD from The Tall Boys (street performers in picture above), and an exclusive mug & coffee roast from Starbucks at Pike's & 1st! The mug features the original mermaid logo & will be a fabulous addition to my collection!

~Ashley~