This morning we had a fast paced walk down to the city for an early (well be holiday standards early) morning tour to the Boeing Factory. I must admit up front that while I love safe planes (they take me on holidays) this was a tour that I was a bit mah about before we went along.

Seattle is one of those cities that obviously inspires people to think in an innovative way, we have Boeing, we have Microsoft and we of course have Starbucks all starting up in this little part of the world. Little by big city standards with only 2.1 million calling it home.

For me there were a few highlights of the tour. I should also say upfront that getting into Boeing only costs you 25 bucks it’s the transfer there and back that really whacks you with the tour costing us $75 each.

It was $150.00 well spent and here are some of my highlights..

Highlight one – Dave the bus driver. If you google Cab driver Elvis you will find Dave, there I has even made a short film about him. Hilarious it is so…. anyway as well as providing us with details of his escapades ending with his tale of woe which was being fined by a bureaucrat for dressing as Elvis while being a cabbie – as there is a dress code 😜 he provided me with a long list of information about Seattle.

Highlight two – walking through the tunnels under Boeing felt a little bit like déjà vu… but no we hadn’t been there before but it was uncanny how much these tunnels looked like the ones that the kids were running through in the latest season of Stranger Things…what do you mean you aren’t watching this – it is strange but really cool.

Highlight three – seeing three Dreamliners parked next to each other was awesome. We flew over on one of these and it was a pretty good experience.

You aren’t allowed to take anything in with you on the tour of Boeing which makes sense as apparently years ago someone dropped something from the viewing platform and did a huge amount of damage to a piece of equipment but this does mean that I don’t have any photos of new aircraft being built.

It was really interesting and I’m pleased we did it and there were a heap of people on the tour who were really into their aircraft and had an awesome time. Oh yeah and we didn’t talk about the 737 Max!

It wasn’t NASA but hey these guys are going to help get us to Mars….Oh and apparently Boeing started as a boat company 😀and that aren’t responsible for the configuration of an aircraft that is all up to the carrier who buys it (good to know).

From Boeing we again wandered the streets and I continued to learn more about this place, so here are some facts:

• The first petrol station was in Seattle.
• Seattle is sinking faster than Venice – so y’all need to visit soon.
• The worlds longest floating bridge is here in Seattle.
• The first police officers on bicycles happened here in you guessed it Seattle.
• Lou Graham a madam of the “fanciest brothel in town” (taking care of those seamstresses) in old Seattle in the late 1800’s was one of the wealthiest citizens of the city. Sadly she died in her early 40’s of a career related illness.
• The fare enforcement guys on the trains carry batons and guns.

Tonight we made it to the Space Needle (which is right here in our neighbourhood) we got there just on sunset so that we could capture some shots of this beautiful city.

The Space Needle was built in 1961 to coincide with the 1962 World Fair. In the last 12 mouths they have renovated to include floor to ceiling glass walls so that you have a 360 degree view of the city. They even have glass benches that you sit or stand on so that there is a completely unobstructed view..even for a wuss like me it was pretty spectacular.

They also have a rotating glass floor, so that you can look down and see what is (or isn’t) holding this massive structure up.😫😫 It is a magnificent piece of architecture and if you go after 8.00pm it’s a little bit cheaper.

We’ve got one last full day here tomorrow … can’t wait to see what we find🥂.