Full Description
Seattle has fueled the hopes, dreams, and imaginations of countless individuals throughout its history. Their energy, ideas, and inventions have influenced the city's skyline, the evolution of air travel, the music and art worlds, and even the very coffee we drink. They are the reason Seattle is gifted with so many unusual, offbeat, and truly compelling places for explorers to discover and enjoy, from a coin-operated attraction filled with enormous shoes, the world's greenest commercial building, and urban old growth forests, to a haunted staircase and museums dedicated to pinball, dialysis machines, and rubber chickens.
111 Places in Seattle That You Must Not Miss invites and inspires locals and visitors alike to seek out the Emerald City's hidden treasures, overlooked gems, and charming curiosities.
Contents
Acacia Memorial Park
Grand mausoleum with acres of stained glass | 10
Aerocar
This cute car could fly above traffic | 12
Arctic Club Hotel
A Gold Rush club left this gem behind | 14
Art at the Airport
SEA's museum-quality collection | 16
The Arthur Foss
The oldest wooden tugboat was a movie star | 18
Bakke Coffee Museum
Perky shrine to machines that make coffee | 20
Ballard Locks
Engineering marvel, fish ladder, botanical garden | 22
Ballyhoo Curiosity Shop
Head here for taxidermy possum butts | 24
Boeing Field
Measure the history and wonder of flight | 26
Boeing's First Flight
The B&W Bluebill flew from here in 1916 | 28
Capitol Hill Wishing Tree
Leaves of wishes left by passersby | 30
Center for Wooden Boats
Row, row, row a boat or go for a free Sunday sail | 32
Chihuly's Odd Collections
Colorful, curated, and quite kitschy | 34
College Inn Pub
Howard haunts a historic basement pub | 36
Colman Pool
Swim in a saltwater pool with Puget Sound views | 38
Connections Museum
The history of hookups and hang-ups | 40
Dialysis Museum
Chronicling the kidney failure fight | 42
Dino and Dora
Fremont's adorable, adopted, ivy apatosauruses | 44
Dunn Gardens
When the Olmsted Brothers went west | 46
Duwamish Tribal Longhouse
An ancestral site of Seattle's First People | 48
Easy Street Records
Music, meals, cocktails, and more | 50
The Edgewater Hotel
The Beatles slept here, and so can you | 52
Edith Macefield's House
Seattle's famous holdout house | 54
Elliott Bay Marina Dock Six
Free boat ride to a hidden, million-dollar view | 56
Emerald City Trapeze Arts
Fly, get fit, join the circus for a little bit | 58
Exclusion Memorial
First Japanese Americans exiled to camps | 60
Fair Isle Brewing
Coffee shmoffee - drink the beer | 62
Fantagraphics
Visual storytelling at its finest | 64
FareStart Restaurant
Help the community by eating great food | 66
Fast Penny Spirits
An amaro distillery in a shipyard | 68
Filson Flagship Store
Rugged gear made here, and a meat-vending machine | 70
First Gas Station
Roadside plaque honors a new way to fuel cars | 72
Fishermen's Memorial
Honoring those lost at sea | 74
Former Ford Factory
Model Ts moved along a multi-story assembly line | 76
Geocaching Headquarters
Mecca for modern treasure hunters | 78
Georgetown Steam Plant
Engineering marvel and electrical time machine | 80
Georgetown Trailer Park Mall
A hip place to shop, snack, or get hitched | 82
Gessner Mansion
A gambler's haunted home | 84
Giant Shoes Peep Show
Footwear to fit giants | 86
Grand Illusion
Eclectic films reel out in a quirky space | 88
Granite Curling Club
Not just shuffleboard on ice | 90
Great Wheel
Great spot for a spin or a proposal | 92
Greenest Office Building
Six floors of eco-goodness and sustainability | 94
Green Lake Murder Site
Enjoy your picnic, but remember Sylvia | 96
Greenwood Pencil Box
Supplies for creativity that support good causes | 98
Grossology Bathrooms
Lessons in the loos | 100
Hat 'n' Boots
A supersized howdy for visitors to Oxbow Park | 102
Hawaii General Store
A welcoming spot to find aloha and get a lei | 104
Hot Tub Boats
Rub-a-dub-dub, tour the lake in a tub | 106
Howe Street Stairs
Seattle's longest staircase is quite a workout | 108
International Fountain
Seattle Center's water feature has its own DJ | 110
Ivar's Salmon House
Spot the oosiks | 112
Jimi Hendrix Gravesite
The rock icon's final resting place | 114
J. P. Patches Statue
Celebrating Seattle's favorite clowns | 116
KEXP Gathering Space
Watch radio, drink coffee, see a show, buy records | 118
Kirke Park
Resurrected, but not as planned | 120
Klondike Gold Rush Park
Seattle struck gold with miners heading north | 122
KOBO at Higo
An homage to what came before | 124
Kubota Garden
A life, a home, and a garden built and rebuilt | 126
Kurt Cobain Benches
Unofficial memorial to grunge music icon | 128
Lake View Cemetery
Bruce and Brandon Lee's final resting place | 130
Last Resort Fire Department
Where to get fired up in Pioneer Square | 132
Lawless Forge
Hammer out a souvenir or a relationship | 134
Maury Island UFO Mural
Artwork tells the story of an odd encounter | 136
Metsker Maps
Largest retail map shop in the US | 138
NW African American Museum
Celebrating African American culture in the PNW | 140
Off the Rez Café
Modern spin on Native American cuisine | 142
Oriental Mart
James Beard Award winner with a side of sass | 144
Pacific Fishermen Shipyard
Bounty of Ballard's history in salvaged signs | 146
Panama Hotel & Tea House
Unclaimed baggage tells a tragic story | 148
Paramount Theater Library
Archive of Seattle's entertainment history | 150
Patent Tree
Lots of winning ideas | 152
Pilling's Pond
Everything at this pond is just ducky | 154
The Pinball Museum
Play through the decades | 156
Rage Industry
You're encouraged to bust stuff up | 158
REI Flagship Store
Prep for adventure and spot a time capsule | 160
Retired Air Raid Tower
A Cold War relic in the heart of Phinney Park | 162
Rubber Chicken Museum
All the wacky stuff at Archie McPhee | 164
Scarecrow Video
Be kind and rewind in the 21st century | 166
Schmitz Preserve Park
Old growth in the city | 168
Seattle Asian Art Museum
Heads of divine bodies and a weeping Buddha | 170
Seattle Chocolate Factory
Where tasting chocolate is an experience | 172
Seattle Meowtropolitan
Sip a catpuccino and adopt your new best friend | 174
The Seattle Room
A deep dive into local history | 176
Sicks' Stadium Site
Homebase to local baseball history | 178
Silent Reading Party
Mum's the word at Hotel Sorrento | 180
Sky View Observatory
Locals prefer these sky-high views | 182
Smith Tower
Seattle's first skyscraper | 184
SoDo Track Art
World's longest curated mural corridor | 186
South Willow Street End
Shoreline access for the rest of us | 188
Space Needle Secrets
Fresh views up top, retro souvenirs below | 190
Spice Bridge
Tastes of the world | 192
The State Hotel
Pike Place Market on the walls | 194
Statue of Liberty Plaza
A little Lady Liberty watches over Alki Beach | 196
Streissguth Garden
Lush hillside with a fairytale story | 198
Suzzallo Library
Hogwarts or the University of Washington? | 200
Ted Bundy's Dormitory
A serial killer slept in McMahon Hall | 202
Two Big Blondes
Oldest, largest, plus-size resale store | 204
Unicorn & Narwhal
Colorful and conjoined carnival-themed bars | 206
Volunteer Park Conservatory
Horticultural Heaven | 208
Waterfall Garden Park
Pocket park marks the birthplace of UPS | 210
Wedgwood Rock
Giant geological souvenir and local landmark | 212
West Boston Staircase
19 scary steps | 214
West Seattle Bridge Saga
A busted bridge, a replacement, and a murder | 216
The Wildrose
One of the last lesbian bars | 218
Wing Luke Museum
The Asian Pacific American experience | 220
Wonderful Whirligigs
Artistic energy transforms electric substation | 222
Woodland Park Zoo
Gorillas and why zoos now have natural settings | 224
Woody Guthrie's Legacy
A fascist-killing guitar at MoPOP | 226
World Flight Monument
The first round-the-world flight started here | 228
Ye Olde Curiosity Shop
Century-old shrine to the world's oddest wonders | 230
