A View or Two

On Tuesday Mom and I submitted our paperwork to get our truck through the King Co. Health Department. After paying a huge chunk of change to get our inspection, we decided that such a lovely day would be best viewed from the Columbia Tower which was two blocks from the health department. We needed our spirits to be lifted after we are both flirting with being completely broke. 

Source

Now, I know that part of the experience of going to Seattle is most definitely the Space Needle- it's an icon, it looks like a flying saucer, and was part of the 1962 World's Fair. But, let me tell you, it doesn't even rival the view you'll get of the city from Columbia Tower. It was just remodeled last year to go from 270 degree viewing to a full 360 degrees. 

Standing at 76 stories tall, Columbia Center stands as the tallest building in Seattle and in the state of Washington (and the second tallest on the West Coast, second to L.A.'s US Bank tower). Because of this, according to the 9/11 Commission, Columbia Center was also going to be a target of the 9/11 attacks. 

The Sky Deck will cost you a mere $12.50 (or $9 for Senior, Student or Military) which is less than what the Space Needle will cost you ($17-22) and it's usually never as busy as the Space Needle, the view is infinitely better, and you can view the city any day comfortably regardless of the weather outside (the Space Needle has an outside and inside observation deck but the view inside isn't that great). 

Now, I'm not knocking the Space Needle- I DO love it there but if you have to pick between the two in terms of paying for a view of Seattle- Columbia wins hands down. 

Port of Seattle!

Mt. Rainier stands at 14,400ft and I've seen it as far away as 80 miles!

And you can see the Space Needle prominently from Columbia Center!

I also went there in January during sunset and the view was even more breathtaking. In the bottom lefthand corner of the next image you can see the ferry leaving the dock.