Alaska Cruise/Seattle First

We arrived early at the airport so there was plenty of time to check our bags and go through security without any problems.  And I was very proud of ourselves as we were able to only check one bag and have one carry on each for our 8 night trip.  Feel free to contact me  if you would like to know how to travel with less.

I made arrangements with Shuttle Express in Seattle for our transfers to our hotel and they were waiting for us when we arrived at the Seattle airport.  When we walked in at the Hotel Monaco I was amazed at how friendly the staff greeted us.  It was like they were waiting on us and happy to meet us.  Our room was ready by 11:00 a.m.  I had let them know we would be arriving early but it is unusual for a hotel to actually have your room ready early.  And they even told us ‘Happy Anniversary’ and gave us a VIP room which was on the 11th floor away from the street noise.  And a bottle of sparkling wine and chocolates were waiting for us in our room.  The concierge also greeted us and made dinner reservations for us. 

After we checked in and rested a bit we headed to Pikes Place Market which was only about 6 blocks away.  One of the first things we saw was the famous ‘flying fish’ in the fish market.  When someone would order fish they would yell out the order and toss the fish to each other through the air.  People would cheer and clap, fun to watch. 

Street musicians were entertaining everyone in the Market by playing violins, guitars and some were playing saws.   

It was crazy crowded at Pikes Place Market and this was on a Thursday early afternoon.  I can’t imagine what it is like on the week-ends.  But we had so much fun and there was so much to see.  Beautiful bouquets of flowers and you could get a nice size bouquet for only $5.00.  Then there was fruit, vegetables, jewelry, clothes, toys-just about anything you wanted.  We found a little place that had some fried shrimp that we took outside by the water and ate and a musician came up and serenaded us while we ate.

We found one section right outside of the market where vendors were set up and we found out that these vendors were only allowed to sell things they made locally.  Beautiful paintings, hand blown glass, clothes and homemade food could all be found here.    Next I will tell you about Pioneer Square and Underground Seattle.