Every year my friends from Elementary school meet up for an anniversary celebration of friendship. This year was our 27th year anniversary. Usually for big anniversaries we go big, like 20th anniversary: Costa Rica. #25: Santa Barbara. This year we chose Seattle.

Here’s a quick video of all the fun we had while in the city:

We all have been to Seattle before, and did the usual tourist stuff. So for those interested in doing other things… here are some “not so obvious” things to do in Seattle.

Recommended Touristy Seattle Sights

1. Go in the summer time. The weather is perfect and the sun stays up late. Everyone seems to be in an overall happy mood.
2. Pikes Place. Everyone has to come here at least once. The fish market guys toss fish around while everyone has their iPhone out to capture the fun toss. Next to it you can take a pic next to a fat bronze pig.
Just a few steps down some stairs you can chew some gum and stick it on the wall with all the other tourists. I don’t know if Seattle occasionally chips off the gum, but the wall doesn’t look dramatically different from a few years ago.
Piroshky Piroshky: absolutely the most delicious flakey tasty treats on the block. The store is guaranteed to have a line wrap around, But it doesn’t seem to take so long before you can start chomping down.
3. Seattle Needle. A great view of the Seattle skyline. I bought tickets online and was able to skip most of the line.
4. Fremont Troll. The troll under the bridge. At first when someone told me about this, I thought they were joking. Some say a volkswagon bus was about to fall the road and a troll appeared from under the bridge and grabbed the bus to save it. By doing this, the troll froze from the morning light and turned into stone.
5. Lake Union. This is a fun spot to picnic and hang out.  A few years ago I went to Seattle for the Fourth of July and was able to grab some kettle corn and watch the fireworks.

Off The Beaten Path Seattle Sights

1. Tacoma, Owens Beach. My first thought when I got here was that this would be a great “date” spot. Its beautifully romantic.
2. Mt. Rainer National Park. This isn’t really off the beaten path. Its just far away from Seattle. It costs $25 per car to get into the park and is about a 1.5- 2 hours to get there. Once you make it to the park, there are lots and lots of different hiking trails.  We packed a picnic and did a loop hike for about 3 hours and then had lunch at a nice shady picnic table.  Afterwards we drove to another spot for a quick hike by a river.
3. Warren G. Magnuson Park. Similar to Lake Union, this park is north of the city with plenty of spots to relax and lay down. We saw people swimming and playing in the water. However, we decided to keep the ducks company and hang out on the grass. Seattle has plenty of places to relax and enjoy nature.
4. Sund Rock. This is actually a scuba diving spot outside of Seattle. Check out my experience if you fancy a dip.