Day 1

Take a little drive to the southern part of the city and start the day at the Museum of Flight with a tour of the aviation industry that first put Seattle on the map. Then park your car in the hotel garage for the rest of the weekend — you’ll be able to walk or take alternative means of transportation after that. Grab a camera and take a ride on the monorail from Westlake Center to Seattle Center and spend some time atop the Space Needle. Bundle up — it gets cold on that observation deck!

Day 2

The weekends are the best time of the week to visit Pike Place Market, which absolutely teems with activity on these days. Try an Asian pear or some fresh honeycomb, listen to street buskers croon, and pet Rachel, the bronze pig. Then take the stairs all the way down the Pike Street Hill Climb to the Waterfront. Enjoy the octopus, sea urchins, and sea mammals at the Seattle Aquarium. Check out Sylvester, the mummy, at Ye Olde Curiosity Shop. Enjoy some fish and chips from restaurant stalls lined up by the piers. And then, if you’ve still got some life in you, walk it all off with a long stroll all the way down to Olympic Sculpture Park.

Day 3

Take the Elliot Bay Taxi over to West Seattle and enjoy one of the best Sunday brunches in the state at Salty’s on Alki, feasting on crab legs, prime rib, and dainty little desserts. Then relax by the water with a walk along Alki Beach, taking in the Seattle view from a distance.

Day 4

Enjoy your last morning on the water. Take the Lake Union Trolley down to South Lake Union and then trek a mile up Westlake Avenue, or take bus 17 over to Northwest Outdoor Center. Hop in a kayak for a close-up look at the houseboats made famous by the film Sleepless in Seattle. Check out the giant structures at Gasworks Park and watch the seaplanes zip over the water.

© Ericka Chickowski from Moon Washington, 8th edition