Seattle Travel Guide
Seaport city on the West Coast of the United States is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of North America.
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Places to See in Seattle
Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Image Size Adjusted
The Spheres (Amazon Spheres)
Three spherical glass dome conservatories covered in pentagonal hexecontahedron panels comprises part of the Amazon headquarters campus
Burley Packwood, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Image Size Adjusted
Chihuly Garden and Glass
Exhibit in the Seattle Center showcasing the studio glass of Dale Chihuly
Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Image Size Adjusted
Gum Wall
Brick wall covered in used chewing gum located in an alleyway in Post Alley under Pike Place Market in Downtown Seattle
John Anderson, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Image Size Adjusted
Original Starbucks
The first Starbucks Coffee store, founded in 1971
Pike Place Market
Seattle's most popular tourist destination, the continuously operated public farmers' markets is famous for employees throwing three-foot salmon and other fish to each other
N i c o l a, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Image Size Adjusted
Seattle Great Wheel
Giant Ferris wheel at Pier 57 on Elliott Bay in Seattle, Washington, at an overall height of 175 feet (53.3 m)
Rickmouser45, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Image Size Adjusted
Space Needle
An icon of the city of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, the 605 feet observation tower has been designated a Seattle landmark
Seattle is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of North America. Seattle is situated on an isthmus between Puget Sound (an inlet of the Pacific Ocean) and Lake Washington. It is the northernmost major city in the United States, located about 100 miles (160 km) south of the Canadian border. It is a major gateway for trade with northern Asia.
The Seattle area was inhabited by Native Americans for at least 4,000 years before the first permanent European settlers. Arthur A. Denny and his group of travelers, subsequently known as the Denny Party, arrived from Illinois via Portland, Oregon, on the schooner Exact at Alki Point on November 13, 1851. The settlement was moved to the eastern shore of Elliott Bay and named "Seattle" in 1852, in honor of Chief Si'ahl of the local Duwamish and Suquamish tribes. Today, Seattle has high populations of Native, Scandinavian, Asian American and African American people, as well as a thriving LGBT community that ranks sixth in the United States by population.
Logging was Seattle's first major industry, but by the late 19th century, the city had become a commercial and shipbuilding center as a gateway to Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush. Growth after World War II was partially due to the local Boeing company, which established Seattle as a center for aircraft manufacturing. The Seattle area developed into a technology center from the 1980s onwards with companies like Microsoft becoming established in the region; Microsoft founder Bill Gates is a Seattleite by birth. Internet retailer Amazon was founded in Seattle in 1994, and major airline Alaska Airlines is based in SeaTac, Washington, serving Seattle's international airport, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The stream of new software, biotechnology, and Internet companies led to an economic revival. Seattle also has a significant musical history. Between 1918 and 1951, nearly two dozen jazz nightclubs existed along Jackson Street, from the current Chinatown/International District to the Central District. The jazz scene nurtured the early careers of Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, Ernestine Anderson, and others. Seattle is also the birthplace of rock musician Jimi Hendrix, as well as the origin of the bands Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Foo Fighters, and the alternative rock movement grunge.
Seattle is located between the saltwater Puget Sound (an arm of the Pacific Ocean) to the west and Lake Washington to the east. The city's chief harbor, Elliott Bay, is part of Puget Sound, which makes the city an oceanic port. To the west, beyond Puget Sound, are the Kitsap Peninsula and Olympic Mountains on the Olympic Peninsula; to the east, beyond Lake Washington and the Eastside suburbs, are Lake Sammamish and the Cascade Range. Lake Washington's waters flow to Puget Sound through the Lake Washington Ship Canal (consisting of two man-made canals, Lake Union, and the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks at Salmon Bay, ending in Shilshole Bay on Puget Sound).
The surrounding area lends itself well to sailing, skiing, bicycling, camping, and hiking year-round.
The Seattle area is the cloudiest region of the United States, due in part to frequent storms and lows moving in from the adjacent Pacific Ocean. With many more "rain days" than other major American cities, Seattle has a well-earned reputation for frequent rain. In an average year, at least 0.01 inches (0.25 mm) of precipitation falls on 150 days, more than nearly all U.S. cities east of the Rocky Mountains. However, due to the fact that Seattle often has merely a light drizzle falling from the sky for many days, Seattle actually receives significantly less rainfall (or other precipitation) overall than many other U.S. cities like New York City, Miami, or Houston. Seattle is cloudy 201 days out of the year and partly cloudy 93 days.
The Seattle Aquarium has been open on the downtown waterfront since 1977. The Seattle Underground Tour is an exhibit of places that existed before the Great Fire.
Since the middle 1990s, Seattle has experienced significant growth in the cruise industry, especially as a departure point for Alaska cruises.
Seattle has four major men's professional sports teams: the National Football League (NFL)'s Seattle Seahawks, Major League Baseball (MLB)'s Seattle Mariners, and Major League Soccer (MLS)'s Seattle Sounders FC playing currently, and the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Seattle Kraken beginning play in 2021. Other professional sports teams include the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)'s Seattle Storm, who won the WNBA championship on four occasions in 2004, 2010, 2018, and 2020
Seattle's mild, temperate, marine climate allows year-round outdoor recreation, including walking, cycling, hiking, skiing, snowboarding, kayaking, rock climbing, motor boating, sailing, team sports, and swimming. Many walk around Green Lake, through the forests and along the bluffs and beaches of 535-acre (2.2 km2) Discovery Park (the largest park in the city) in Magnolia, along the shores of Myrtle Edwards Park on the Downtown waterfront, along the shoreline of Lake Washington at Seward Park, along Alki Beach in West Seattle, or along the Burke-Gilman Trail. Gas Works Park features the preserved superstructure of a coal gasification plant closed in 1956. Located across Lake Union from downtown, the park provides panoramic views of the Seattle skyline. Also popular are hikes and skiing in the nearby Cascade or Olympic Mountains and kayaking and sailing in the waters of Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the Strait of Georgia.
Washington State Ferries, which manages the largest network of ferries in the United States and third largest in the world, connects Seattle to Bainbridge and Vashon Islands in Puget Sound and to Bremerton and Southworth on the Kitsap Peninsula.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Seattle", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
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