I am an individual that thoroughly enjoys to travel, yet the one thing that I can’t handle is a long flight. Thus, when I started looking at flights to Hawaii from Ottawa, through Toronto, I wasn’t exactly enamored with the possibility of flights over 8 hours. So, I came up with another plan. A layover of one night in Seattle presented a very viable option. On the downside it would add an extra day of travel but on the upside would provide two much shorter flights, while also giving us the opportunity to explore a city we’ve often discussed about going to.
With an early morning flight from Ottawa with a short layover in Toronto, we arrived in Seattle before noon on a Sunday. We had booked a hotel about 5 minutes from the airport but when we arrived to check in, our room was not ready. However, upon hearing the reason we were on this trip (anniversary) we were upgraded to a suite and were given the room immediately. We don’t often get perks when we travel, so this was a pleasant surprise to say the least. After a brief rest and a bit of a freshen up, Maria and I headed to the lobby to catch a shuttle over to catch the Sea-Tac light rail to downtown, as it has a stop at the airport.
Getting our passes at the platform was relatively painless and took less than 5 minutes. We opted for the full day pass which was around $6 each and everything is done through an automated pay station. The trains are very clean and being a game day in Seattle, we headed downtown, picking up excited Seahawks fans at every stop along the way. Meandering through various suburbs and districts of Seattle, with the train operating above ground the majority of the way, the ride took us about 40 minutes before we arrived at our destination. Views of Mt. Ranier are front and centre throughout most of the trek.
We really had no set plan in mind, but given we only had a few hours to spend we knew we wanted to check out Pike Place Market and of course, the famous fish market contained within. We spent about 2 hours just wandering through the market. We stopped for a late lunch at one of the seafood restaurants and had some great shrimp. And yes, we watched the fish mongers tossing the fish back and forth to each other and generally entertaining the crowd as they did. The whole vibe in the market is fantastic. Vendors are extremely friendly and the crowd of tourists moves throughout in a well behaved manner, as if fully acknowledging and respecting that others are there to do the same as them. And that is a welcoming experience when you are so used to somewhat obnoxious behaviour in heavy tourist areas, where people tend to push and shove to be first in line.
After grabbing some fresh fruit and other goodies at the market, we walked past the long lineup at the “original” Starbucks and then settled down for a rest in Victor Steinbrueck Park. The park offers great views of the waterfront and the harbour, the Aquarium, the Great Wheel and both Century Link Field (home of the Seahawks) and Safeco Field (home of the Mariners).
We ventured back into the the downtown core and Maria decided she wanted to check out Nordstrom’s and a couple of other stores. I took the opportunity to venture up to the Space Needle. It was about a good 20 minute walk from where we were, but I was determined to see it up close. While I opted not to take the tour to the top this time around, I snapped a few photos and then grabbed the monorail back to the downtown core. I got to sit right at the front of the train, which while pretty cool, was also a bit scary to see think of how that single rail in front of you controls this massive vehicle.
After a nice dinner, we jumped back on the light rail system back to our hotel near the airport. And while it was a brief 1/2 day visit, we both walked away with the same observation. We would like to go back for a longer stay.
If you’re heading to Hawaii and you don’t like long flights, I highly recommend a layover in Seattle. You won’t be disappointed!
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