It had been thirty-nine years since Bruce and I visited Seattle, so we looked forward to seeing how the city had changed. A small group Alaskan land tour was booked with Odysseys Unlimited that would begin with a flight out of Seattle to Anchorage, so we arrived a few days early.

Seattle has a reputation (rightly so) for being very rainy; the average rainfall is about 39 inches of rain per year. And if it’s not raining, it is often cloudy. The city experiences about 201 cloudy days per year compared to 93 partly cloudy and 71 clear days. We anticipated the former rather than the latter, so we were pleasantly surprised to be greeted with sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-70’s!

Top on our list to see was Chihualy Garden and Glass, but we arrived on a Saturday and decided to wait until Monday to visit when it would be less crowded. Besides, with the museum’s dynamic pricing, it would be less expensive, too.

Opting to stay near the airport rather than downtown for an easy getaway on Tuesday morning, we found a hotel just a short walk from the Link light rail station, which was convenient for riding a train downtown each day.

A great way to get around downtown Seattle is by their free shuttle bus, which stops every 15 minutes at several locations and hits all the popular spots. Even on a Saturday in July, we were able to catch a ride with no problem. (Of course, it helped to get off the train in China Town, at the least popular end of the bus route, and then hop on the shuttle there rather than at the Space Needle.) We did the complete round trip shuttle ride, so we could get the lay of the land and see how much we remembered from our 1987 visit. (Other than the Space Needle and Pike Place Market, not much, as it turned out!)

Just a couple of blocks away from the shuttle bus is a food hall on 5^th and South Weller Street, a great casual location to grab a good quick meal. We selected Los Costenos based on its Google reviews, and we enjoyed it so much, we returned for a breakfast burrito on Monday morning, before visiting the Chihualy museum.

As you can see by these shots of China Town and the Space Needle, it was indeed a sunny day in Seattle!

(For all photos, click on the image for a full screen view.)

Next up: SEATTLE & ALASKA #2: POPULAR PIKE PLACE MARKET & WALKING THE WATERFRONT