Is anyone else getting itchy feet to travel somewhere-ANYWHERE-and be swept some place far away right now? I’ve noticed some fantastic seat sales over the next few months and drizzly Seattle weather makes jet-setting so enticing. The last time I popped into the Sea-Tac Airport, I was just there for a visit, so I’m so excited that next month we’ll actually have real bags and tickets when we leave for our first trip to Amsterdam. (I found this booking through an Expedia search-I found that flights to Amsterdam, London and Copenhagen were quite reasonable out of Sea-Tac when I checked. Tokyo and Hong Kong had good prices from Vancouver Airport up north too.)
I absolutely love our Seattle airport. It has amazing local stores like Fireworks, Made in Washington and Subpop and we usually stop for breakfast burritos at Qdoba or Beecher’s Mac and cheese (and I’ve had their French Toast-I totally need to see if it’s still there because this is a unique airport item that they do NOT serve at the Pike Place Market location and it’s tasty) before we head off on trips. I appreciate that there is street pricing in this airport so things like bottles of water aren’t horrifically expensive either. I especially love that if you bring your own bottles there are lots of places to fill them up for free too. There is no shortage of neat design features in this airport; fish that lead to water fountains that make cute gurgling bubble sounds and beautiful art displays and gigantic windows. At Sea-Tac airport you don’t feel like you’re stuck in a giant holding tank-it is a travel experience in itself and there is such a sense of Seattle here that you feel like you are visiting the city even if you’re just passing through.
I was invited to a holiday party and store opening event in one of the airport terminals in December. It was fun to see Jen from Hello Rigby and Lisa from the Story of my Dress there-if you love to hear about fashionable happenings in Seattle and beyond, their blogs are so fun to read and I’ve learned a lot of style tips from these women. We rode the underground train and watched as ribbons were cut at the new MAC and Coach stores. We checked out the Duty Free store and learned that you can shop there if you are on a US Flight and can buy anything except for tobacco and alcohol. I found a pair of sunglasses that I need to revisit.
It was fun to see pictures from our fun day at the airport on the airport Facebook page. My family always arrives early when we go on trips so I’m excited to checkout these new stores again while we wait to depart from Sea-Tac Airport on our next adventure. I’m sure there will be other fabulous new things to check out too!
The coolest thing about the airport right now though? There is a coupon for a discount on parking and it’s good until March 31st 2017. We have taken MANY forms of transportation to the airport depending on the time and day we’re going. The boys like when we bus and take the train. I really enjoyed the one time we ended up in a limousine. But the good thing about parking in the Sea-Tac airport garage is that you don’t have to wait for a shuttle to get back to your car so it’s super convenient and this is what we’re thinking of using next time we go. (PS, I always take a picture of where we park so that I don’t lose my car.)
Are you dreaming of travels today? I’d love to hear where you’r headed in 2017! Have you ever flown out of Seattle airport? Or do you have a favorite airport we should check out one day? I’d love to hear too:) (I’m also a big fan of Changi airport in Singapore.….)
(PS. There is a playground in this airport for kids, but we usually just sit in front of the BIG window in the atrium and watch the planes, we visit the stores, ride the underground train, fill our water bottles and the kids always insist on playing this matching game on the airport wall across from Dilettante. And then we wash our hands…)
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)