Washington | Seattle: Seaplane Ride

Sometimes it’s nice to get a different perspective on the city you’re visiting. It’s for that reason, that I chose to take a seaplane ride around Seattle. The concierge of my hotel, the Four Seasons (see post), arranged a city tour flight for me on Kenmore Air. Being February, the weather wasn’t ideal but it was good enough to still fly. Many of the tours get cancelled due to weather conditions, as did the flights right after mine.

I opted for the shorter city tour but you can arrange to tour or be dropped off at the San Juan Islands as well. The plane I was on held 5 passengers and the pilot comfortably. My only slight disappointment was that the tour was a recorded voice you listened to through headphones describing what you were seeing. It would have been nice to be able to interact with the pilot and ask questions along the way but it was still an informative and fun flight. Had it been the summer months, I would have gone to the San Juan Islands for the day (or a couple).

This was a fun and different excursion and a way to see the city from a different vantage point. Here are some images from my flight.

Click on the first image to open a slide show or any image to enlarge.

Wasahington | Seattle: Underground Tour

I had heard over the years that Seattle had an underground city that was still in existence and it was definitely something I wanted to see while I was in the area. I chose to take Bob Speidel’s Underground Tour. The brochure looked a little silly so I wasn’t sure if it was going to be worth it but I really found it very interesting and fascinating. The tour is very well organized and provides accurate historical facts presented with humor.

The guided walking tour is an easy walk around a few blocks of town. I do recommend wearing comfortable walking shoes as you will go up and down a few stairs, and have to walk on uneven ground and wood planking. I would not consider this tour handicap accessible.

It was fascinating to see the first-floor storefronts of old downtown Seattle still in existence below street level and there are just enough remnants around to spur your imagination of a by-gone era. Here is a sampling of what you will see.

While in Seattle, consider staying at the Four Seasons (post here)

Click on first image to start a slide show or any image to enlarge.