Road Trip through Seattle

Is it pouring rain outside?  Is grandma visiting?  Are you in a pandemic lockdown??  Any of these scenarios can make finding an activity to do with your kids challenging.  In 2020, we were months into Coronavirus home schooling and to say I had some cabin fever was a massive understatement!  I was desperate to get in my car and do something. But the weather forecast wasn’t great… everything was closed… we couldn’t come within 6 feet of anyone else… what to do??

I decided a driving “field trip” to Seattle was just the activity to liven things up.  But I think this little drive would be useful in other situations as well – like a visit from an elderly family member.  Or if walking around Seattle with young kids isn’t really your cup of tea, this would be a great way to see the sights.  Read on to find out how we enjoyed a road trip through Seattle.

General Itinerary:

(click on each location for an address to help you navigate your drive)

1. Stadiums

2. Waterfront

3. Space Needle

4. Downtown Library

5. Seattle Art Museum Hammering Man

6. Pike Place Market

7. SR 99 Tunnel

8. Fremont Troll

9. Waiting for the Interurban statue 

10. University of Washington

11. Husky Stadium

Bring:

• Snacks & water bottles

• If you plan to stop along the way: stroller, diaper bag, baby carrier, “kid’s restaurant supply-kit”

• If you don’t plan to stop: lunch

Don’t Bring:

• Lunch if you can go to a restaurant – you’ll be passing too many good options

Weather:

This is a great activity for a rainy day.  And even if you’re able to hop out of your car and explore some of these stops, many (Space Needle, Library, SAM, Pike Place, Troll) are under cover.

Details:

My kids really enjoyed this little morning drive through Seattle.  We barely stopped – just to take a few pictures and (as it was 2020…) a 20 minute social distance visit at Grandma & Papa’s house.  The entire drive took us 2.5 hours.

We ended up turning it into a bit of an art tour:

• The MITT outside the Mariner’s Stadium

• Space Needle, MoPOP, and Olympic Illiad at Seattle Center

• Central Library

• Hammering Man at Seattle Art Museum

• Rachel the Piggy Bank at Pike Place

• Fremont Troll (which was actually very scary for my kids!)

• Waiting for the Interurban

They also love driving through the SR99 Tunnel and seeing the sports stadiums.

While this was a great 2020/Covid driving only activity, it was hard not stopping at many of these amazing places.  Especially to eat!  Here is a list of some of the places we drove right past (and in order) that would be worth a stop:

• Ivar’s Seafood Bar (Elliott Bay)

• Top Pot Doughnuts

• Pike Place Chowder (in my opinion 1,000 times better than Ivar’s, but can have a long line)

• Beecher’s Handmade Cheese

• Le Panier French Bakery

• Westward

• Ivar’s Seafood Bar (Lake Union)

• Agua Verde Café

• Rachel’s Ginger Beer & Ma’Ono Fried Chicken (U Village)

• Hello Robin (U Village)

(see… I really had to pass A LOT of good places!!)

Also you could explore many of these areas in more detail:

• The stadiums offer tours or you could grab a game

• Explore the Seattle Waterfront

• Ride to the top of the Space Needle

• Visit to the Seattle Art Museum (I love their Northwest Coast American Indian & Australian Aboriginal Collections, but Art Museums and my 3 boys don’t really go together right now… a walk through the Olympic Sculpture Park might be safer…)

• Walk through Pike Place Market

• Wander around UW campus

But for now we’re just driving though… hopefully soon we’ll stop for a bite and a visit.