As I said in my last post, there is so much to do and see in Seattle, Washington! Day 2, Sunday, was a bit more sedate. We knew the downtown area would be crazy with Seahawks and Cowboys fans, so we decided to take the ferry and head over to Bainbridge Island. (Unfortunately, my sister isn’t a sports fan.) While waiting for our ferry, we saw a number of Seahawks fans disembarking the one that had just arrived.
The ferry to Baingridge Island was a short 35 minute ride and very inexpensive. Luckily the weather was gorgeous and the views of the Seattle skyline and the port area of the island were incredible. Bainbridge Island has a quaint downtown with a number of restaurants and specialty shops.
One of our favorites was the Mora Iced Creamery. With over 30 flavors to choose from it wasn’t easy to choose what we wanted. We settled on Raspberry Cheesecake and Italian Chocolate…definite winners! If we could have done one thing differently, it would have been to either rent a bike or have a car to see more of the island.
Underground Tour
That evening we did the Bill Speidel’s Underground Underworld Tour. What is it, you ask? It’s exactly what it sounds like, a tour on the seedier side of Seattle’s history (sex, drugs, and debauchery: the Red Light district). The Underground Tour itself showcases the physical history of the city and explains how Seattle was created on mud flats, therefore flooding with high tide and no place to run sewer pipes. Origianlly, the pipes were run along the streets, and during high tide, if you flushed the toilet, you got more than you bargained for. To fix that, the powers that be filled in the first level, making the second floor the new first floor. The Underworld Tour just makes it more interesting.
Bill Speidel wrote the book The Sons of Profit on which the tours are based. His book, however, was banned by the school district, as they don’t want the students to know of their city’s seedy beginnings.
Ever wonder where the term Skid Row came from? Take the Underground tour and find out.
You can find more pictures on Pinterest.
Contact Ingenious Travel today to book your trip to Seattle!
I loved the info on the Underground Tour! Next time I go to Seattle, I’ll go check it out!
The Underground Tour company offers a few different tours…all worth checking out!
I’m hearing that some people had some difficulty commenting here. Just checking it out to see what the issue may be.
Not sure what the issue could be. Thanks for the heads-up!
Looks like a wonderful trip! I would love to try that ice cream, lol!
The ice cream was amazing! Wish we had stayed longer to try more flavors. =]
Sounds a very interesting place to visit!
It sounds like you had an Amazing trip! Thanks for sharing it 🙂
I still haven’t been to Seattle. It’s near the top of my list for places to visit.
Looks like a great trip. Thanks for sharing!
Back in the 80s, I was offered a job running a business on Bainbridge Island. It was absolutely beautiful there. But my roots are in Latin America and Europe, and Seattle seemed much too far from my world, so I turned the job offer down. I often wonder how my life might have turned out differently if I had fallen under the spell of all that beauty!