Oh My Gosh It's October!

It's day 6 of the October Ultimate Blog Challenge and I'm still here! Hope you have been following along with our Seattle Adventure.

Today we are going to take the Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour of the city. This is a big bus that goes to several (18 to be exact) places around the city. You can get off the bus at any of the stops and then when you are ready to leave that spot you just wait for the next bus to come and continue your journey. We only got off at 2 of the stops but it was still a really fun thing to do. They have these tours all over so it's something to consider the next time you visit a new city. 

Our starting point was the Space Needle so we walked up the street and got on the bus. We sat up on top so I could take pictures of everything we saw. The first street we went down reminded me of the steep hills in San Francisco! We were heading down to the waterfront. Since we had already taken the Argosy cruise, we didn't get off here, although I almost wanted to so I could go get that necklace from Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe! 

I was taking pictures of all the interesting things we saw along the way. Had to get the Howl at the Moon sign since I am always snapping pictures of the full moon. One of the stops was Chinatown but we didn't get off there. I do love the entrance pagoda though. The building in the bottom right corner reminded me of some of the buildings we have in San Francisco. Keep in mind the spire from the clock tower. And where else can you find a horse hanging on the ledge?

We did want to see the Sky View Observatory so we got off at that stop. You can get all the way up to the top floor through this elevator!

The Sky View Observatory is another building where you can walk all the way around and get a 360 degree view of the city. See the spire below? That is the top of the clock tower. 

Football and baseball fans will recognize the stadiums below. I don't care much about football but if the Seattle Mariners had been playing at home I would have tried to get us tickets. The picture in the lower left shows just how far up we really are. 

When we were done with the observatory we were fortunate to get down to the bus stop right as the next Hop On Hop Off bus was loading. I was able to get some more pictures of the scenery even though we didn't sit on the outside. Some really pretty murals on the walls and those legs reminded me of the ones sticking out of the window in San Francisco.  

The next stop that we wanted to get off was at Pike's Place Market. It was amazing to see all the different vendors inside and of course we got a picture of the original Starbucks. The flowers at the market reminded me of the glass pieces we saw at Chihuly and those really were some pretty big a$$ lobster tails! I had to keep my wits about me because I found SO many things that I wanted to buy there. I did end up getting a silver Washington State charm for my charm bracelet and a necklace with a moon and star. I was sad that we missed the bubble gum wall but hubby was getting tired with all the walking and I didn't want to keep searching for it. 

After walking around the market it did take us about 45 minutes before the next bus came along but we made it home in time for hubby to watch his Cowboys on Thursday Night Football. Sadly it didn't turn out well for them. 

Also sadly it was our last night in Seattle. We were set to be at the train station the next morning to catch our Coastal Starlight ride home. Have you ever taken a Hop On Hop Off bus tour?