Sightseeing in Seattle for Spring Break

One of the things we have learned from having 7 children is that each one needs some time to be an only child. 

Mackenzy had that chance this week. She and I took a "girls' trip" to Seattle, a city she has always wanted to visit, for Spring Break. Kregg volunteered to take care of our four youngest, since Caleb was also out of town. And so we left them all in Texas and took off, even leaving our computers behind so we could just "unplug."

The library was right around the corner from our hotel.

We left on Monday and began exploring that evening. Since our hotel was downtown, we didn't rent a car and walked almost everywhere.

Our hotel sat atop a serious hill which we climbed many times. Isn't she cute?

Mackenzy loves to take pictures, like all the rest of our kids

A sculpture in front of the Seattle Art Museum

The famous Pike Place Market

Mackenzy buying coffee

A lovely flower market

While she is in college, Mackenzy also works as a barista at Starbucks. And since Seattle is known for its coffee, she wanted to visit as many coffee shops as possible. She loves to taste all different kinds of coffees, brewed in different ways. Which is kind of funny because I don't drink coffee at all. Just don't like it. She doesn't understand. 

This is the very first Starbucks. It's at Pike Place Market, opened in 1971.

Humble beginnings . . .

Since Starbucks began in Seattle, she decided a couple of weeks ago that she would email the President of the company and just see if she could meet him while we were there. And do you know what? He was happy to schedule an appointment with a little barista from Texas. It was pretty cute. We went to the company headquarters and I waited in the lobby while she met Howard Schultz and was given a tour of the entire facility. She was excited. I love that about her. She is not afraid to try anything or meet anyone.

Isn't that a cool sculpture?

I decided that Mackenzy was going to get to plan our days and we would do whatever she wanted to do. So we spent time in dozens of coffee shops, the art museums, tea tasting, chocolate stores, parks and shopping.

You could buy so many beautiful fresh foods in the market

We stopped in and watched while these men were making cheese

This was fascinating. You can see the giant vat in the background with the milk being stirred. This tank in the front was filled with curds that they were measuring into these metal boxes with a shovel. Our lunch atop the space needle used this store's cheese in the food.

There are so many chocolate shops!

Mackenzy's beautiful dessert

We don't usually order desserts when we are out to eat as a family and so that was definitely something we did with just the two of us. And they were amazing.

The view from our room

We had lunch in the top of the Space Needle

The restaurant rotates once every 45 minutes, so your view is constantly changing

This was one of those things we just "stumbled" into and it ended up being one of our very favorite experiences of the entire trip. We arrived at the perfect moment and were seated at the perfect table with a perfect waiter, Matt, who "just knew" we were "sisters" in Christ. The food was incredible and the entire meal was spent looking out on the constantly changing views as the entire floor of the restaurant rotated around the Space Needle.

It was just a perfect lunch

Lots of fun architecture

We tried to visit the Science Fiction Museum, but they only had one exhibit open. So we settled for visiting their gift shop instead where Mackenzy bought gifts for her friends. My favorite was a bumper sticker she bought for her boss that says: My Other Transport is the Millineum Falcon.

My little photographer at work again

A view from the Olympic Sculpture Park

We found that most things in downtown Seattle closed by about 6 p.m., which we weren't expecting. So each day, we made an early start and fit in about as much as was humanly possible. Even so, we never were in a rush and we just did whatever we were in the mood for, which made it surprisingly relaxing. By the time we had dinner each evening, we were pretty tired and would usually get to bed fairly early.

What can you say about this piece of art?

We spent part of one afternoon exploring the Seattle Art Museum. It was very impressive. Especially this giant-mouse-sitting-atop-a human-in-bed-sculpture. I can honestly say I would never have thought of this one.

More displays in the Seattle Art Museum

Pioneer Square

This is a lovely section of Seattle called Pioneer Square. This area is filled with quaint, older architecture and an unique collection of fun shops. Of course, there were several interesting coffee houses.

The steps to the Fox Trot set into a sidewalk

Another area we enjoyed was Capitol Hill. It had more residential areas filled with large older homes. We walked for miles. Along one main street there were many quirky little stores and restaurants. We found a lovely place to have lunch and then several more coffee houses for Mackenzy.

I am so thankful for this precious time we were able to spend together. My husband is an angel for giving us such a priceless gift. And I got to know beautiful Mackenzy better than ever. It is a wonderful blessing to have such an incredible young lady as a daughter. 

This last picture is from the window of the plane as we were coming home to West Texas. Notice all the water and trees and mountains have mysteriously disappeared. Even so, it's good to be home.