Downtown Thanksgiving Staycation, 2024
Topics Covered: Thanksgiving, Downtown Seattle, Child-Friendly Activities, Holiday Schedule, Mother-Daughter Trip, Seattle Tourism, Holiday Travel
Event Overall Ratings: Venue (5/5) - Food (5/5) - Speaker Content (5/5) - Networking Opportunity (3/5) - Likeliness to Return (5/5)… for details, see the end of the blog
Initial Conference Overview - Why go? There was nothing going on this week, but yet, so much going on for the hoildays! It was nothing too business-related, but a million things for Thanksgiving/kicking off the holidays! So, with that in mind (and my daughter not having daycare open for a few days) we really went for it and found a last-minute hotel right in the heart of the city for under $90/night). It was a risk, because I was worried the bed would not be comfortable, or she’d not enjoy a hotel, etc etc - but, worse case we just come home. We got very lucky. The beds were comfy and we both extremely had a blast
Itinerary for Five Days
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Arrive & get groceries. Take it easy.
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Thanksgiving Day. Go to the movies, visit the playground, walk along the waterfront, visit the aquarium.
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Visit the Winter Festival & Market in Seattle Center, visit the Children’s Museum, watch the Magic Show, watch the Tree Lighting.
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Go to the movies, visit the pier-side bonfire, ice skate and explore at the Enchant Winter Festival.
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Visit the Aquarium and spend time at the playground outside of Pike Place Market. Then head home.
Photo Collage & Commentary
Notes from the Events:
Day 1 / / / WEDNESDAY
AFTERNOON: We walked from daycare to the train and headed over to downtown. The walk is about 25 minutes then the train is just about the same. When we arrived at the hotel we had self-checkin. I like how the hotel was really good at texting and giving instructions, but also you didn’t have to talk with anyone too much. I was pleased with the room when we got inside. The setup was so nice. The living room had an extra pull-out bed that we hung out on a lot. The TV was fantastic - it only showed a screensaver when you turn it on, which was great since we rarely use screens at home. It made the room kinda efficient but “boring”. So we were always motivated to get outside. At the same time, we had the best time each night reading books and relaxing before bed. It was a really great “nest” for while on holiday. I loved being able to cook most of the meals and recharge anytime, central to everything.
EVENING: In the evening we mostly just hung out at the place. I did want to get some supplies I’d forgotten for making breakfast the next day (I didn’t have butter!) so we went outside to the grocery store nearby. I was pleasantly surprised by how lively it was, also not too scary/sketchy. Around 7:30pm we went to the grocery store and bought some random food. This grocery store was Korean, with no organic section, but an impressive variety of fruits. It made me wonder where/how the fruits were grown. Then again, I decided to live in ignorant bliss and bought out-of-season cherries. Then we returned home, hung out, slept.
Day 2 / / / THURSDAY
MORNING: We had an amazing breakfast. I cooked chocolate chip pancakes (dark chocolate! 90%), my daughter helped me. That was actually a goal of this trip - let her help me cook the whole time. We also made eggs, toast, had fruit. I left a lot of the food easily accessible for her in the fridge this trip. It worked out so well, and I’ll do it at home. She is enjoying her independence lately. This was thanksgiving day, too! so we walked around Pike Place Market but everything was closed. Almost everything.
NOON: We spent the day at the aquarium and the playground near pike place. They’re building a playground near the aquarium that should be open soon, so don’t be confused. The playground we visited is built on an incline, behind Pike Place Market, on your way to the aquarium. It’s truly a FANTASTIC playground that should be made not of worldwide, no joke. It’s built on an incline, so it’s just like 2 slides, some climbing walls, some rock area, a few other things. It’s incredibly entertaining and efficient and everyone loves it. The aquarium was fun - but I’ll admit, my first time walking into the lobby of the new aquarium, I thought to myself “was this sorta money laundering a bit or something?” cause it looks so incomplete once you get through the first hallway (and the entrance is so amazing!). It’s just like so unfinished inside with the projectors only covering some of the wall, but then the part they don’t cover is white and looks unfinished. Then you go to see their like “animal rehab” area that just looks like a decorated excuse for an aquarium. Then you walk around and you’re like “okay - so they just added more boring parts of the aquarium and put it here?” Later when you see the shark and stingrays, you are really impressed… and different angles of the aquarium make it make a lot more sense (the new tier of the aquarium, I mean, not everything). Certain places you go and you’re like “okay, I see how they thought this looked/looks good” but definitely parts look unfinished. When we returned the next time, later this trip, I figured out that actually - YES - they’d moved parts of the aquarium over here, and actually it was more fun to look at over here.. .then they’re going to add NEW things to the other aquarium, where they took old exhibits. So actually, they probably have a good plan. Just they really should consider making that interior look better… it’s so “unfinished”looking.
AFTERNOON: It was so awesome to go back and take a nap! Then we went to go see a movie. Moana! We only stayed for part of the movie, which never is annoying - since I get 3 free movies a week with A-List. How many movies can you really go see a week? And sometimes it’s really fun to go see a movie multiple times, especially if you leave early, the next time you go see it there are still more surprises to see. But, yeah, a 2 year old doesn’t have a huge attention span.
EVENING: We took it easy Thursday night and cooked dinner at home.
Day 3 / / / FRIDAY
MORNING: We cooked breakfast and then woke up early and walked all around Pike Place Market. I think we were some of the first people there, and we ended up even getting lost a bit. I was trying to find the playground for a long time, but eventually we found it. Seriously, if you get lost in Pike Place Market, don’t be embarrassed, it’s so easy to do. Finally, we went to walk to the Seattle Center for the Christmas Market Festival opening in just a bit.
NOON: We enjoyed the Christmas Festival at the Seattle Center. For ~$25, I was hoping for more kid-friendly activities than only a carousel. Their ~$25 ticket price is just to go walk around a market and spend more money! But no… just the carousel. We went on it four times… on the dolphin, seahorse, reindeer, and zebra. But I was really disappointed there wasn’t anything else for kids to do there. Even a part was labeled “lovers lane” so I said, okay… let’s go check that out. Maybe it was a fun place to ride on something and go in a heart-shaped tunnel. No…. just a tunnel to walk through, heart shaped, but not too cute. Plus they had a staff there you could awkwardly talk to and then write you name on a lock and put it on the tunnel… but it’s like, who wants to do that? You can’t return, it’s a temporary site. They did have a Santa you could take pictures with. The Santa tried to make small-talk with my daughter but she wasn’t interested. The picture was pretty cute though. Then we had seen enough there and went into the Armory. I remembered hearing there was a magic show around noon. So, we had extra time and visited the kids museum down below in the basement, then about an hour later headed upstairs for the magic show. It was really fun.
AFTERNOON: A nap was super needed by everyone after that packed morning! It was so nice to be nearby, cause on the way home, we saw a huge commotion going on by the mall downtown. I asked the police what time the festivities were starting and they said 5pm. It was so good she could go home, take a two hour nap, then we came back out for the tree lighting. How cool is it to stumble upon something like that? Such a perk of being in the city! Again, making it really worth it.
EVENING: We headed back out for the surprise plans that we’d stumbled upon. Go watch the tree lighting! I had no idea what to expect, but they had lots of music, performers, even the mayor spoke (but he sounded drunk to be honest—- and his intro/exit were both awkward, I feel like they need to watch a video of how that looked from the audience perspective and they could give themselves so much feedback on how to make it better next time. Even the guy next to me said, “no way that was the ending” but it was). But I was so surprised to see the fireworks go off in the middle of the city, while the Christmas tree lit up and a few other coordinated things. We both had an extremely fun time watching this event!
Day 4 / / / SATURDAY
MORNING: We woke up early again this day, and I decided it would be fun to go to a movie again. Our plans for today were all later, so why not! We went and saw part of Wicked. It was super good from what we saw, and I’d like to return and see the full movie on my own, but we didn’t stay long with her.
NOON: We walked more around Pike Place Market after the movie and then headed home to go take a nap. This afternoon/night would be busy.
AFTERNOON: We started the evening at a bonfire by the pier. The bonfire was advertised to have local food and entertainment. It wasn’t too entertaining, but it was really nice even still. I loved being by the water, the heat from the first but also the breeze. We really enjoyed this. There were some musicians out nearby as well, so we listened to music. Then we started walking about a mile or more to the baseball stadium.
EVENING: I was overly confident about my knowledge of the baseball stadium’s logistics, so I ended up getting lost nearby. It’s not the easiest place to find when you get closer.. but it’s still good to walk there from downtown. It only took us about 15 minutes out of the way to find our way back again and then find the entrance and it was good to get the exercise. When we arrived, I was not sure what to expect (I overheard there was a maze you can ice skate through). I heard people talking about this event a few weeks ago while I was riding the subway (another amazing feature of public transit, you get second-hand recommendations). I was extremely excited to take my daughter ice skating for her first time. We also enjoyed all of the food, decorations, etc. I, again, thought they may have more kids activities - but this is typical for America…. just don’t give kids enough to do and then scold them for being misbehaved. lol… We had more than enough to do during our stay there, but it was definitely just a place to go and spend lot of money! We didn’t spend too much, and for sure the highlight was ice skating. Besides that, they had a maze (which may have been fun on a date or something), lots of music, and cool shops. It’d be fun to return again without my daughter haha.
Day 5 / / / SUNDAY
MORNING: We planned to attend a parade later this day, but then I realized the parade was part of the Winter Festival downtown by the Space Needle.. but that event just wasn’t that fun and I didn’t want to possibly spend $20+ on more tickets to go watch a parade. Of course, probably I had this info wrong and the parade was free, but I didn’t want to risk it. Instead, we had a bit of a “best of nearby” hangout. First, we went back to the aquarium. My daughter really loves the new section of the aquarium, (and, yes, this second visit, knowing more of what to expect, I warmed up to it a lot. It’s super great for her to run around inside). Also we had good food this whole day, I cooked everything we had left and we ate throughout the day from that food.
NOON: We revisited the best playground on earth. It’s really fun and so many people are surprised to find it. I love hearing everyone’s reaction, cause it’s a playground in the middle of everything. There are so many kids here and everyone’s in a good mood for the most part. We were here almost two hours, when finally I decided it was enough. It was time to head home. Time to end on a good note, and even why not let my daughter nap in her own bed
AFTERNOON: This was so fantastic to return home by subway. Then just walk home, and again, on the way home we stopped by the grocery store. I’ve never had a trip so easygoing in my life. And it’s really tough with a 2 year old to feel relaxed on holiday. But, I think the “traveling by train/subway” is so nice, no car or plane involved. It just felt very “time is yours” and “do what you’d like”. We’d 100% return - maybe even for Christmas, to see more events put on by the city to celebrate the holiday and enjoy times as a family! I loved spending this time downtown… and actually, many features of this hotel were very great for the dynamic of me and my daughter. I ended up rearranging and cleaning my house a bit with city-inspiration :). Can’t wait to return. They also said returning guests get 20% off!
By the second-to-last day, I already started missing this trip and didn’t want it to end - cause we were having so much fun. It was surprisingly great and a true holiday. We had a fun time hanging out together and enjoying the city. I’m excited to return again.
Conference “Overall Rating” Further Elaboration:
VENUE - 5/5
Allow me to ElaborateI loved this hotel. It was a fantastic location - even better than I expected in so many ways, especially the location. I’m used to the city, so I know it has homelessness and a lot of crazy. If you don’t expect that, you may be surprised… however, with that in mind, it was WAY better than I thought it would be (just traveling with a stroller downtown, at night, with my daughter.) These days sunset is at like 4!! Lol. It’s like, gimme a break, how early can you get home and not walk in the dark in the city lol. 3:30 curfew? So, I was just really happy to be able to go to the grocery story (even one night we went at 7:30pm) and we traveled home from maybe the movie, or that Christmas Tree lighting, or whatever… and it never felt spooky or scary at all. Then besides that, the room was really great. I think for the price and situation, it could not have been better. I think we can return again. It was super ideal for traveling with a kid.
FOOD - 5/5
Allow me to Elaborate: Two things made the food a complete success: 1. I’m “local” enough that I knew where to eat for great, affordable, healthy food! I knew a grocery store nearby, discovered a few more, and then my favorite restaurant was like two blocks away. This was great to get random food. It’s super healthy and delicious and fair prices. 2. This place had a well stocked kitchen.
SPEAKER CONTENT - 5/5 -THINGS TO DO OVER THE STAY -
Allow me to Elaborate: We were busy every moment that we were there. There are so many fun things to do in the city at all levels of expenses. If you wanted to hang out for free, there’s so much to do. You can go to the playgrounds, look at art, walk around the market, visit free museums (there are a few), the library, etc. If you don’t mind to spend a little money, the different attractions are fair priced (of course you can find things that are expensive, too - and some things here and there we splurged, like the $40+ winter festival admission ticket + $30< ice skating. But, that was part of the cost/reward of being right in the city. It was so fun to be near everything, run back for a nap or snack, then head right back out. Very very very ideal for a trip with a 2.5 year old kid!
NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES - 3/5 -MY DAUGHTER’S ABILITY TO BE HERSELF -
Room for Improvement: As much as there are so many amazing “things to do for kids” around the city, there could have really been more at some of these places. Kids need to run around, feel free, and burn off energy. I feel like the Christmas Market had nothing at all for kids except for the carousel (and we went on that 4 times!! I was getting dizzy!) In general, there is not enough stuff around the city for kids to really run free. I would not have this perspective if I had not been to Turkey. The country. The country of Turkey is incredible for kids. Even the ferries have play places inside of them. All of the restaurants have play places inside of them. There are kids toy shops and such everywhere. In China there is a lot more attention to kids as well.. probably many other places I’ve been (just didn’t notice as much till becoming a mom, myself) . If kids had more outlets to be kids, they’d be more easygoing (and less annoying). Cause they can get their energy out and just “do their thing”. I think it’d make everyone even like kids more, if there were more places for them to just go crazy and hang out. Instead, they’re almost all the time being managed by others, because of the environment.
LIKELINESS TO RETURN - 5/5
Allow me to Elaborate: 100% this trip really felt like a holiday. As I said, it was the first of its kind. We’d never really had a trip together, where going into it, I knew it’d be easygoing. We didn’t have too much of a strict schedule (though I did have some fun things planned and ideally in mind). It was just so nice to have this time together and experience more events in the city. It was so fun to do all of these cheesy family-friendly events and see more
Kelly’s Remaining Questions:
Where does the City of Seattle feel like is the best place to look for its events?
How actively do they plan events?
Is there someone keeping in mind the kids for these events?
How could events be more encouraged to make kid-friendly events (and venues and businesses)?
Are certain businesses looking to better advertise parent/child tourism experiences? Especially on various budgets? If so, there’s something to this!
Final Thoughts: This event offered practical insights on navigating tax complexities for small business owners, including tracking expenses, seeking credits, and staying updated on evolving laws. Despite some logistical challenges, it was a valuable opportunity to learn strategies for managing taxes more effectively.
Until next time, I wish you the motivation and success to search for opportunities around your area. Search and explore: Who is out there giving talks? There are new things happening all of the time
Find relatable or interesting topics you like and check them out! Maybe even something hosted at a cool venue, if there’s no other reason to go. Let’s see what you can learn and discover not too far from home. 😊
