Such a fun little stop in Seattle! My friend and I had a cute photo op here using our phones and…read morethe fisheye lens on my camera, and the pictures turned out great! We also took a walk along the side trail at Troll's Knoll Park, which was a nice little bonus. The mushroom sculptures along the trail added a whimsical touch to the whole experience. The Fremont Troll itself is such a unique piece of public art. I thought it was pretty interesting that it's been sitting beneath the Aurora Bridge since 1990, clutching an actual Volkswagen Beetle! Even cooler, the sculpture was selected through a community vote. Definitely worth checking out if you're visiting Seattle. It's a fun, quirky landmark, completely free to visit, and a great spot for some memorable pictures!

A Seattle icon, the Fremont Troll is a must-visit. We went on a weekday and there were still a good…read morenumber of tourists coming around to take photos. Many of them even chose to climb onto the troll itself, but I didn't dare. Parking can be super hard to find as the troll is nestled in a residential neighborhood, but after circling around quite a few times, we finally found a spot. Even with the waves of people visiting, I still managed to capture photos of Newt with the troll without anyone in the frame, and my husband even captured a nice photo of us performing our iconic piggyback trick, as well as the cutest shot of me looking up at Newt as he sat on the troll's hand. Caveat: unless your dog is well-trained and can hold a distance AND duration sit-stay (especially on an elevated, uneven surface), I would not attempt to recreate that shot. When you visit the troll, don't forget to look behind you and admire the architecture of the overpass too. It's breathtaking in itself. While we were there, many of the tourists asked me to take photos of them with the troll with their phones or cameras, since they saw I had brought my DSLR with me. Of course I happily obliged. We did not spend too much time at the troll as there wasn't much to do outside of taking photos with it, and as we were leaving, another wave of tourists showed up. The Fremont Troll is a fun spot to take photos at/with, and a cool art installation. I wish we had something similar in the bay or Sac!

Ah, yes, The Gum Wall. One of the most exciting and disgusting things to see. And for me, it was…read moreone of the hardest/confusing places to find. Not because it is, but because I had no idea where I was in relation to this place. I was mere feet away from here and still somehow took the long way to get here. When I realized this, I wanted to kick myself. Who knew a wall covered in gum would be such a tourist draw. Located in Post Alley just off of Pike Place Market you will find this Seattle marvel. What started as an unexpected way to discard gum, became a well known city landmark. When the nearby Market Theater would not allow patrons to enter with gum, this became an area where that gum would go. At first, the gum had pennies pushed into them, later being removed, but the gum remaining. This wall extends over fifty feet and is as high as eight feet. It has been cleaned on several occasions. Reasons being to preserve the bricks. Not to worry, it returns after each cleaning. One cleaning it was said that 2 tons of gum was removed from the wall. Some contributors to the wall will put designs in their gum. Others, just push it into a mess that ever grows. Mostly on the wall, but anything near the wall can end up with gum on it, including street posts/signs. Great distraction, and definitely earned the tourist trap honor. One of a kind attraction to see.

A little bit disgusting but fun at the same time. Lol! It is located on the street below the big…read morePublic Market Center sign. We purchased gum from the window of the shop at the entrance of the gum alley. After a few minutes of chewing, we were ready to add our contributions. Haha! We went on a Monday around noon and it wasn't crowded at all.

Space Needle, who? This is about 300 feet higher than the…read moreSpace Needle and about half the price. You get some amazing views up on the 73rd floor. They don't give you a time limit you can spend as little or as much time up top as you'd like. The ride up the elevator gets you to the top real quick. Be ready for your ears to pop lol.

From everything I could read online, the consensus seemed to be that the Space Needle is a…read morehigh-priced, low-value tourist trap, so I'm pretty happy to have bypassed it for Sky View Observatory. The view is outstanding in all directions -- a natural result of taking Seattle's tallest building and emptying out the top floor. It towers over the Needle (you can see it in the near-distance) and it also costs less -- $30 instead of $55. That still seems expensive (hence no fifth star), but at least it's competitive in relative terms. Just a nice place to comfortably chill with a view for a half-hour or so.

The Pergola is an outstanding landmark in Pioneer Square. It was originally built as a shelter for…read morethe Yesler and James St. Cable Car Co. It's located at the intersection of James St. Yesler Way, and 1st Ave. It is made of cast iron and glass. There are a couple of street lamps that also serve as ventilation shafts for the abandoned public restrooms below. These are exquisite restrooms with marble dividers, terazo floors and brass fixtures. A description worth reading can be found here: http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&File_Id=2950. It was knocked down by Pete Benard in his 18 wheeler on January 15th, 2001. He was an inexperienced truck driver working for U.S. Xpress Enterprises of Chattanooga, Tenn. On August 17th 2002 the rebuilt Pergola was celebrated. It took 3.9 million dollars to put it back together again, a task that some believed impossible.

Worth popping in for a few minutes. Saw some rare frogs and interesting architecture. Nearby a free…read morebanana stand. Hostess was friendly.

BIOPHILIA...Sponsored by PRIME.... never heard of it till…read morestumbling across this place. Located in the heart of downtown Seattle, an Amazon Company satellite office (i guess where Amazon Corporate employees can go when the need to connect with nature arises during work day)...cool concept, wish my job offer a green house. -lower level open to the public. Cool display of frogs and crystal shrimp. -Staff was knowledgeable and seem like they like their job and sphere concept. -Verdict: worth checking out when in the area....BIOPHILIA for LIFE......

PERFECT DAY FOR VIEWING! 4.7…read more Our visit to Seattle coincided with one of the most beautiful times of the year. By late June, locals were out in shorts and tank tops, soaking up the summer sunshine. Coming from California, we weren't quite ready to break out our tank tops just yet, but a comfortable 70 degrees made for fabulous sightseeing weather. The Space Needle was built as the centerpiece of Seattle's 1962 World's Fair and has since become the city's most recognizable landmark. Today, it is operated by Space Needle LLC, a company privately owned by the Wright family. The adjacent Chihuly Garden & Glass is another must-see attraction (see my separate review) and is also owned by the same family. We purchased combo tickets for the Space Needle Observation Deck and Chihuly Garden & Glass. Despite having a reserved entry time, we still faced a wait of more than 45 minutes just to get into the building on the first floor. The line looked daunting, and we watched some visitors take one look and turn right around. Fortunately, it moved at a reasonable pace, so we stuck it out. After all, we weren't about to walk away from the opportunity to experience Seattle's most iconic attraction. Once inside, we encountered another winding queue that snaked around the perimeter, overlooking the gift shop below. This wait lasted approximately another 30 minutes, but the time passed surprisingly quickly as we browsed the souvenirs from above and mentally shortlisted a few mementos for later. A super-speedy elevator took us to the top, where we were amazed by the picture-perfect panoramic views beneath clear, sunny skies. Seattle's skyline, surrounding waterways, and distant mountain scenery made this trip well worth the wait. Here are a few fun things we enjoyed while at the top of the Space Needle: *Skyhigh Selfie Stations. These stations let you capture fun photos of yourself against the backdrop of Seattle. Some offer creative photo effects, including 360-degree images. You can access your complimentary digital photos through the official Space Needle app, and instructions are provided at the stations. *The Loupe Lounge (additional cost). Located one level below the outdoor observation deck, this is a great spot to enjoy drinks and snacks while taking in the views and experiencing the rotating floor (see my separate review). *The Skyriser glass benches. These tilted glass benches are not for the faint of heart! You know that feeling when you have to trust someone behind you to catch you during a free fall? Thankfully, there's no actual falling involved. As you sit down and lean back against the angled glass, you're placing your trust in the structural engineering beneath you. It's a thrilling way to pose for photos while suspended high above the city. Many years ago, I dined at the Space Needle when it still had its famous rotating restaurant, but the SkyCity Restaurant closed in 2017, and in 2018, the observation experience reopened. Today, The Loupe offers a very different experience, with a rotating glass floor that reveals mesmerizing views straight down to the structure, elevators, and streets far below. It's a fascinating perspective you simply can't get from an ordinary observation deck. On your way back down, the large souvenir shop is impossible to miss. With its generous floor space and extensive assortment of merchandise, you'll find plenty of ways to commemorate your Seattle adventure. Needless to say, we didn't leave empty-handed.

Space Needle was the main event of our day 1 in the city of Seattle. it's located in Seattle…read moreCenter, and u can see the Needle from multiples parts of the city this biiihhhh is over 600 feet tall, and once you fully make it inside, it's worth it. on your way up, there is wait in line, depending on the day u pull up. as it was a saturday, it was packed, so wait was close to 25-30 min, but u have fun things to see and fun facts on ur way up once there, there is a bar, u can walk around the needle and get a full overview of the beautiful city of Seattle. if u buy combo ticket for glass museum /imax experience, they are right next door, after u exit heights aint for me, but needle was littt

The I-90 Floating Bridge straddles both the cities of Seattle and Mercer Island. I'm sure the…read moreboundary is somewhere in Lake Washington, just as the boundary between San Francisco and Oakland is somewhere along the Bay Bridge in the middle of San Francisco Bay. However, for convenience's sake, I've added the zip code for the Mount Baker/Beacon Hill neighborhood in Seattle, where I-90 "disappears" into the Mount Baker Tunnel. There is no doubt that this a 5 star event. A visitor to Seattle really needs to veer east of Pike Place Market, the waterfront, downtown, Belltown, Seattle Center, and Queen Anne Hill to see this engineering marvel. Even if you drive over it every day, it never fails to impress. It's best to think of the I-90 Floating Bridge as a system and there was no listing for the engineering and architectonic aspects of this major project. It's not just a floating bridge. It is more than that. First, with the upgrade of 1990, there are now two bridges. The westbound traffic and the reversing express lanes travel on the Homer Hadley Bridge. The eastbound traffic travels on the Lacey Murrow Bridge. A wide path which accommodates pedestrians and cyclists is at its northern edge, offering a view of the other floating bridge on Lake Washington, that being the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, or simply the 520 bridge. When light rail will connect Seattle to the Eastside suburbs, it is planned to cross on I-90 and not on the 520 bridge. This was one expensive stretch of interstate. In addition to floating concrete pontoons, both sides of the floating bridge, be it in Seattle or on Mercer Island, have some impressive structures, amenities, details, and landscaping. The procession is much more fascinating going from east to west, as would be the case in going from Oakland to San Francisco. One descends from Bellevue onto Mercer Island on the East Channel Bridge and gets a peekaboo view of the lake and parts of Seattle in the distance. Once on Mercer Island, the detailing on the concrete retaining walls is simple but really nicely done, as are the evergreen studded medians. Before leaving Mercer Island, one enters the Mercer Island Lid, which is a cover for the freeway and construction above it. It is even more interesting because it curves. Upon exiting the Mercer Island Lid comes the icing on the cake: crossing Lake Washington on the 1.5 mile pontoon bridge. As Seattle comes into view, so does the Mount Baker Tunnel, which is deep beneath the hill that contains this lakeside neighborhood of the same name. Within the Mount Baker Tunnel, traffic appears to be divided into different "chutes," depending on the time of day. Upon exiting the tunnel, Seattle's downtown skyline comes into view and the junction with I-5 is at hand. Whew. That is some sensory overload. For a while, this was reputedly the most expensive stretch of interstate, in terms of cost per distance, in the U.S. Then, it was reportedly eclipsed by Boston's "Big Dig," or the placement of a lid over the Central Artery as it wound around the CBD of Boston. Boston definitely benefited from it and there are green spaces above that project as well. However, the Boston project was under the spotlight more because of its huge budget overruns and other controversies and mishaps. Not only that, going right through a downtown area had to have been more complicated. Keep in mind that, while different projects, they have something in common. These projects are found at roughly both ends of I-90, being that I-90 crosses the U.S. from Seattle to Boston, though the "Big Dig" or Central Artery is technically on north-south I-93. Visit both if you can. However, if in Seattle, this is a must see attraction which you can just drive across. Better yet, if it's a sunny or temperate day, you should walk, run, or bike across the flanks of this incredible stretch of roadway!

When I was in Seattle for a few days before our Alaskan cruise I loved running back and forth…read moreacross this bridge each morning to keep my marathon training going. Running the Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge offers a great view of Lake Washington as you run 1.1 miles each way back and forth from the park to Mercer Island. There is a bicycle and pedestrian path on the north side which I was on. It's a good 2.2 mile run that is easily turned into a 5K running the extra around the picturesque park back on the Seattle side. This is actually a floating pontoon bridge opened on 1989. Pretty cool engineering feat. One of the widest floating bridges in the world.

In short Well, you have to think of a cemetery as a place…read moreyou can visit and pass some time, but, if you have that in you, it's a very powerful remembrance of 2 remarkable sons of Seattle. In long This place is where the founders and scions of Seattle have been laid to rest. It's prime real estate, with spectacular views of the lake and a beautiful park (and impressive art museum) on the other side. It's open to the public. It's the appropriate place for Lee Jun-Fan to find his rest, since he very much put Seattle on the map for a certain generation of film fans. That happened before my time, but a lot of us still idolized him when we came along--tons of my friends and I, to say the least. After I got a little older and moved up the freeway to Seattle for school, a couple more years passed and gradually I heard about the park and after Brandon Lee passed, I heard about their gravesite. Back in the day, I didn't see the inscription on Brandon's stone until I sat in front of it. There was no public internet offering spoilers like that. So I can't guarantee that it'll hit you the way it hit me, but it does what a marker like this ought to do. It reminds you to live your life well, because it is not limitless. Take it from 2 great sons of Seattle who did a lot and barely made it through 3 decades of life, dying in senseless and preventable ways. It can't rain all the time.

'The Fading Nature Of Life Is Just Crazy and one ICON is buied and another rising ICON is laid to…read morerest next to him ! Welcome to THE HOUSE OF LEE ! Here lies the body's of The Master of Jeet Kune Do the one and only BRUCE LEE & son actor aka THE CROW Star Brandon Lee.... Nobody's Kung Fu Fighting here yet fans flock to the graveside to pay respect....In recent year the site has been modified to a much more prominent site. I prefer orginal gravesite yet I get why it was done... You'll wanna come in East Gate but you'll need to be patient when locating the exact spot... Be respectful folks it is a cemetery...

Berlin Wall Marker [Seattle WA]…read more Headed down Troll Avenue and right around the corner from the Fremont Troll is a chunk of concrete... but not just a chunk of concrete but a piece of history. Located under the Aurora Bridge (aka WA-99) and next to Cafe Turko is a priceless narrow piece of wall from the Berlin Wall. There is an inscription next to the slab of wall. It was placed there to commemorate the role of Boeing/Seattle in the 1948 Berlin Airlift... but wait, wasn't the Berlin Wall built in 1961? The piece arrived in Fremont in 2001. Review #3619

Went to see the Troll under the bridge and walked down toward the water and discovered this piece…read moreof history before I got to the water. It is the largest piece of the wall I have seen.

Cool Landmark in Seattle, Washington…read more.. I've had "The Center of the Universe" bookmarked for a while. It's a good thing to look at the bookmarked items on the Yelp app once in a while. I totally forgot about this novel and unique piece of Public Art! I should have visited it when I saw the Troll and the blue Fremont Bridge yesterday... darn! Anyway... I parked across the street and got a good shot of this directional sign! As I drew closer, I saw places on the sign that I would like to see - such as Machu Piccu and Rio de Janeiro. Other interesting places include The North Pole and The Milky Way. What a fun tourist stop! Check it out when you have time! It's free, quick, and a good break from daily routine!

One of the few photo ops (like the Rocket, dinosaurs, the Troll, etc) in Fremont…read more I saw the sign. It opened up my eyes. Life is demanding without understanding. To reiterate, I saw the sign and it opened up my eyes I saw the sign. No one's gonna drag you up To get into the light where you belong But where do you belong? Now if you excuse me, all that she wants is another baby, and she's gone tomorrow, boy.