Keep the Change: Pioneer Square

Since all my friends have jobs and have to go to work during the weekdays, I had a few days to wander the city alone. I was staying with some friends who had another friend in town from KC- I had met her a few times, and we decided to take a day trip into downtown and check out Pioneer Square.

I must say, I was underwhelmed. All the Pinterest pictures had me expecting a great little community just blocks from downtown. My friends had told me there were tons of homeless people there because there were some shelters that had gone up in the past few years in that area. There were tons of homeless people, and instead of being a quaint little area, it was rather sad to walk around.

One thing that is on my Seattle bucket list is the Underground Tours, and they do start in Pioneer Square and we did see a few of them going on. Pioneer Square is a big tourist area with the totem poles and tours and it has been a hopping place to be in the past. I will be back to do the tours and maybe even explore a bit more.

I did have a few places I wanted to check out though, so we skipped some of the rest of it and just went for what I had wanted to see rather than wandering around. First was the waterfall garden in the middle of the city. You can hear it as you approach, but it is completely hidden from the street. It was like a little slice of nature on the city streets. I was expecting it to be a little bigger, but it was still fun to slip in there and check it out.

Once you walk out from the waterfall garden, you get a great view of the Smith Tower. The Smith Tower was once the tallest building on the west coast but has since been passed up many times. It also happens to be celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.

The Smith Towers offers some great views of the city, and was inexpensive to get in and see the views.

This is looking towards downtown. You can see the ferris wheel, which is down by the market on 1st.

There's a ferry leaving... I think this is the Puget Sound. I think. I'll figure all this out one day.

If we looked straight down the street, we could see the space needle!

This was looking towards Pioneer Square neighborhood. (again, I think)

And the Stadium District where the Sounders/Seahawks/Mariners play.

Mt. Rainer again!

I would say the best part of the Smith Tower is that the viewing is all done from outside on the viewing deck, rather than inside and behind windows.

The viewing floor is all decorated in Chinese decor, complete with a wood carved chair, which is said to bring happy relationships and (gasp) marriage to the ladies who sit there.