A couple of days in Seattle-on-Sea

After more than three weeks on the road camping and sightseeing our way across America we needed to get some housekeeping done. Chiefly some good sleep, baths for everyone, washing all the clothes we own and catching up with some serious homeschool action. The treat of an AirBnB saw to all of those things, but Seattle of course has a lot more to offer than proper beds and hot running water. These couple of days in Seattle were a great way to finish up the road trip.

Pike Place and the Space Needle

No visit to Seattle, no matter how fleeting, would be complete without visiting these two iconic landmarks of the city. The primary attraction for us at the space needle were the extensive playpark and the accompanying benches on which we lounged as the kids got about completing all the park had to offer. Lunch nearby at the Five Point Cafe was notably excellent. The food was good but the characterful service really made it – well worth a visit.

Pike Place market on the quayside has been the centre of Seattle affairs since it opened in 1907, and it continues to hold that same iconic position in Seattle today. The stalls still offerin the freshest seafood and other goods see to that. But the crowd these days is also bolstered by a line of people queuing for a (standard, like all the others) latte and a selfie at the original Starbucks cafe across the street from the market. Every generation finds its own heroes.

North Beach

We had the great fortune to land an AirBnB in this leafy residential suburb north of central Seattle. Remarkably it was one of the better value options and yet we found ourselves in a quiet locale surrounded by beaches and monumental views across Puget Sound. Jim decided a long run was in order and swiftly discovered that the tradeoff for those views is a lot of hills. Long walks were taken along the beach between the rail line and sea. Our first sea lion was spotted basking on a rocky outcrop while well-fed looking herons perused the waters for a second course.

Museum of Flight, Boeing Field

When it comes to aircraft museums this was not our first rodeo. But nevertheless, with our route north from Mount Rainier and through Seattle passing right by, it made sense to pay a visit. Rafe was instantly engaged as the museum itself sits right beside Boeing Field, the airfield that Boeing uses to fly out aircraft to their new owners. Given the traffic we saw while we were there, Boeing’s sales are strong.

The aircraft displays were excellent. The massive B52 with its massively wide span stretching out over parked cars was staggering to behold. The opportunity to sit in the cockpit of a SR71 Blackbird was both rare and something the kids really enjoyed, Odessa taking to the controls like a pro.

One of the more unusual exhibits was the nearby Lockheed M-21 mothership with its associated autonomous reconnaissance drone the D-21 attached, riding on its back. The M-21 was our third similar plane that we’ve seen in the past few weeks – we saw the CIA-operated A-12 on the Intrepid in New York, and the more well known SR-71 at the SAC Museum in Nebraska, and the M-21 completes the set. The M-21 though is certainly the rarest of these birds. Only two of the already scarce A-12s were converted to perform the M-21 mothership role for the D-21 drone, and one of those was lost in a testing accident making this a unique airframe. The D-21 drone is also very rare, not least as it was intended to self destruct at the end of each secret imaging mission overflying China. Amazingly it would release its photographic package before destroying itself, with that package then descending under a parachute which would be hooked mid-air by a C130 Hercules! You won’t be surprised to read that the D-21 was not a success in operation.

It wasn’t all aircraft in static displays here. Rafe and Odessa flew simulators and spent most time pump priming pressure rockets to see how high they could launch them. Ultimately, they got it right to the top of the display.

Fully rested, reinvigorated and abluted – and our love of Seattle reaffirmed – it was time to set off south down this storied coast.