Back in December 2022, I travelled to Seattle for a one-night trip. My boyfriend, Tavis, and I went to the Museum of Pop Culture, Pike Place Market, Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum and the Space Needle. Some of these attractions were awesome; others… less so. Keep reading for what to hit and what to miss on a one-night trip to Seattle.

After checking into our room at Hotel 5 Pineapple, we dropped our bags and headed towards the ocean. I had a craving for clam chowder soup and Pike Place Chowder provided tasty New England clam chowder made with clams, potatoes, onion, celery, bacon, thyme and white pepper in a creamy broth. Delicious.

As the sun began to descend, we rushed to the Space Needle. I hoped to see the city from the tower both in the daylight and dark, and, as a bonus, maybe catch a sunset, too. But the sky was cloudy and we were too late—the next time slot to go up the Needle wasn’t for a few hours.

While we waited, we decided to check out Chihuly Glass and Gardens. Purchasing the tickets together gave us discounted admission, but we mostly just wanted to kill some time.

Past the first room of sculpted glass bowls, a six-metre-tall, ocean-blue Sealife Tower twisted towards the ceiling. On it, glass-blown star fish, kelp, sea urchins and other sea creatures floated as if moving along a current of water. My jaw dropped. It was mesmerizing.

Throughout the museum, we gawked at increasingly detailed, colourful and mind-bending glass artwork. I stood beneath misshapen disks, lit from above to cast an eerie, underwater-like glow on visitors. Outside in the garden, the magic continued—we stood next to glass structures as tall as trees, looking like something out of Dr. Seuss’ imagination.

But my favourite was the Glasshouse. Elegant orange flowers “blossomed” in spirals, suspended in the air above our heads. The yellows, ambers and reds reflected in the windows and contrasted against the darkening blue-grey sky. We sipped a Space Garden Hazy IPA from the local brewery Stoup as we waited for our Space Needle time slot.

After a quick stop in the gift shop (where I found delightful wooden umbrella earrings and, of course, an actual umbrella), we rushed to the gate for our time slot. We ended up spending an entire hour in line just to get to the elevator.

I wish I could say the view from the top made it all worth it, but it was raining and gloomy. The outer deck is surrounded by glass, which made me feel safer but obscured the view. Splattered in raindrops, the city lights smeared like an abstract painting. I peeked between the glass slates to snap a few photos before getting in the lineup to go back down the elevator.

The next day, we walked back to the same area, but with a different destination in mind. Our final tourist attraction on our sleepover in Seattle was the Museum of Pop Culture.

Tavis had been raving about MoPOP since we started dating three years ago, so I had high expectations—and it didn’t disappoint. We spent a full three hours (and could have spent more) admiring exhibits on famous musicians of diverse genres; exploring the worlds of fantasy, horror and sci-fi; testing instruments and playing indie video games. It was a huge museum with interactive exhibits and more than enough to satisfy our curiosity for the day.

Before our short drive back to the border, we made one final stop (like most Canadians do) to stock up on snacks at—you guessed it—Trader Joes.

Have you been to Seattle? What was your experience like? Comment below!