Journeys to the Emerald City, Part One

Part the first - The Mouse and the Meatball

 

Hubby and I promised the kids a holiday last year, which ended up going bust when our engine died on the way to our destination. So, we decided to try to make it happen for Spring Break.

We found a couple of great Groupons for hotels, enabling our family of six to stay at decent hotels for really cheap. But when we called to book the dates, it turned out that one of the hotels was booked solid for Spring Break. So, we booked the other hotel for March, and planned another, shorter trip for the Easter weekend in April.

First up, the March trip.


We knew we were on a budget, so we tried to pick things to do that had good play/entertainment value. We decided to hit our favourite toy store, Magic Mouse Toys first, as we really enjoyed our visit there during our honeymoon. As we expected, the kids loved it. I think there was a bit of sensory overload going on there, because the kids didn't quite know what to spend their money on. Thankfully, they are smart hobbitses and spent judiciously. We spent a good hour and a half there, and the kids were already talking about a return trip :)

For dinner that night, we decided to go with something familiar, and went to The Old Spaghetti Factory. It's food we know and like, prices within our price range, and they throw in free dessert!  Who wouldn't love that?

Hubby and the girls goofing off @ Old Spaghetti Factory

Secunda and Quarta hamming it up

Quarta thoroughly enjoyed her Spumoni!

We stuffed ourselves silly, marveled at the $60 price tag for all six of us to gorge ourselves on pasta *AND* have leftovers to bring back to the hotel, and rolled our full selves out to the parking lot. We got a bit of a treat once outside, as Boeing was transporting aircraft bodies on a train - Tertius was very excited!

Seattle's famous Space Needle at night

 
We drove through town, past the Space Needle, and over to the I-5 for the 20 minute drive north-west to our hotel, the Springhill Suites Seattle Bothell. 

I have to say, I really loved this hotel. From the look and quality of it, to the free coffee and tea 24/7, to the certifiably geeky evening desk person (hey, anyone that recommends that we check out AFK Tavern for an evening's entertainment and food for our geek family is cool in my book!), this was a class establishment. Our groupon got us the room for $80 a night, plus a $10 credit in the hotel convenience store daily. I know that the rack rate for the room we had is $189 a night, and while that's steep for us, it's worth it for what you get. The pool and hot tub were open until 11 PM; we hung out and soaked our weary bones until around 10:30, then headed back to our room with free hot tea to get a good night's sleep, as there was the promise of a delicious, free full breakfast to look forward to in the morning.

Stay tuned for the next installment - Acting Like A Bunch of Animals