Day 25: Montana > Seattle

Spoiler alert: the Tooth Fairy DID find our tent and left money for Adler under his pillow. I'm not sure if he was more excited about this or the fact that we'd be in Seattle in less than six hours. He was up early in anticipation of both and we were on the road shortly after seven. We drove from Montana into Idaho and an hour later we'd crossed into Washington state. At this point I'd driven 7000 miles and hadn't received one speeding ticket. Washington was going to test that claim. As we drove through Spokane I saw SIX police officers issuing tickets. This was nuts. I hadn't seen six officers in the entire state of Montana and we'd driven across almost half of it. Adler also noted that we were now in Washington and Matt, our next door neighbor, is from Washington so Adler thought we should buy something for him. I texted this exchange to Matt and he told me that he'd always "liked that kid!"

If the rest of our stops along this adventure were to see sites and parks Seattle was more about the food. We checked into our Bellevue hotel and then drove across Lake Washington into Seattle proper. While driving through Washington I'd reached out to my friend Mark who has a company called Culinex in Seattle for advice as to what I should do with a six-year-old in Seattle. He sent the most comprehensive reply with activities and dining destinations. Thanks Mark!

First stop was going to be Pikes Place Market for lunch at a few of my favorites places and to check out Mark's recommendations. We began at Beecher Cheese which makes cheese curds right in front of customers on the other side of its storefront glass windows. We ordered the "World's Best Mac'n'Cheese" and the Flagship Sandwich. The mac was made with penne pasta tossed in a blend of their Flagship cheese, Jack cheese and spices. It had a nice kick to it--almost too spicy. It wasn't overly creamy and gooey but it was rich with cheese flavor. While we ate the mac in front of the curd making operation they prepared our panini which had tomatoes, basil and two kinds of melted cheese. It was phenomenal! Then we made our way to the Daily Dozen for some freshly fried mini donuts. We ordered them with powdered sugar and then I asked Adler which was better, these or the beignets from Cafe du Monde? He replied, "Both!" Later he refined his answer to say that the beignets came out warm and were better. He's a fried bread aficionado and knows what he likes. Finally we walked to Elleno's for the best Greek yogurt that I've ever had. Adler ordered a combo with the mango and blackberry crumble. By the time the yogurt was finished we were both full. Next was a stop at gumball alley for a photograph of something disgusting and then we walked around searching for mom's greeting cards that are carried by three retailers in Seattle. Strangely we couldn't find her cards in any of the stores but it helped to burn some calories after that filling lunch.

Beecher mac'n'cheese

Fresh donuts!

Elleno's Greek yogurt

Yuck!

Space Needle safely from the ground

Space Needle 600 feet up. 

Without delay we drove down to the Space Needle and bought tickets for a ride to the top. The Space Needle is just wrapping up a major overhaul of the observation deck and restaurant. And it still feels like a construction site with lots of plywood on the floors and unfinished projects. What is finished is the new view which separates you from the skyline with large pane of glass that stretch from the floor to ten feet high. It creates the effect of an infinity pool but 600 feet high. It is stunning and much better than the old view. As eager as Adler was to get to the top he was just as eager to want to get down. He was a bit too scared to venture to the sides and look down. He was more comfortable towards the center away from the edges. One thing that I will give the Space Needle props for is that before whisking you into an elevator they snap a photo of your family. When the trip down is completed you can scan your ticket at a kiosk choose a custom background for the photo and download it for FREE. Other places that we visited like the St. Louis Arch and the helicopter tour take photos with the intent of extracting additional money from you. This was complimentary and a nice touch.

After that we were walking to our car when we say the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Discovery Center. This was on Mark's list of things to do and we had twenty minutes left before they close. First, admission is free. Next, they ask you to watch a video before entering the center and we watched a three minute video of Bill talking about his history and the work that is being done by the Foundation. Then we rushed through the Center because we were limited on time but I was blown away at the caliber of the exhibits. Here was something devoted to telling the story of philanthropy and Adler was engaged. So much more than the visit to the Space Center in Houston. And this was coming from someone who'd founded Microsoft yet it felt more like you were walking through an Apple exhibit. Kudos to them for assembling such a fascinating experience. The only regret was they wouldn't be open on Sunday for us to return and explore it further.

The complimentary photo!

We returned to the hotel and rested for a few minutes before running off to dinner at a nearby restaurant in downtown Bellevue called Lot No. 3 where we enjoyed more Beecher cheese curds. This time they were breaded and fried with a tomato pesto sauce for dipping. And Adler selected the fish and chips entree for us to share because it had french fries. He liked everything and so did I. We were exhausted and ready for bed after a long day on our feet walking around a big city...