Our Space Needle Date

We had a great date night at Seattle's most recognized landmark, the Space Needle!  The evening was absolutely perfect and we couldn't have asked for a better experience!  To top it off, Josh had checked weather several days in advance and decided that last night (Tuesday) was probably our best option for clear skies.  For February in Seattle, he truly picked the perfect time!  Not only did we ride the elevator to the observation deck, we also dined at SkyCity Restaurant, a rotating restaurant looking over the city from 500 feet above.  This is where we were able to enjoy the sights and flavors of Seattle!

The views were incredible!  One particular thing that we chose to do was make our reservations for the first dinner seating at 5:15PM.  That was the the best decision because we saw it during daylight, sunset, and dark!  Perfect!  

The food was great!  With tourist attractions, it's always a gamble if the food is good or not; however, we LOVED everything and we know why this restaurant received the restaurant of the year award a couple of years ago.  We shared crab cakes as an appetizer, Josh had filet mignon and crab legs and I had peking duck for entrees, and then we shared a dessert!  The dessert thing was pretty funny because Josh is all about some chocolate cake and I'm all about ice cream.  We weren't going to get a dessert at all until my wise-guy husband discovered the option where he could get a hot chocolate cake that came with ice cream!  ha!  And to top it off [literally and figuratively] they had Makers Mark ice cream!  Seriously!  You know this Kentucky girl was all about that!  It was really good......anyone know if they make this in Kentucky (or anywhere else for that matter?!)!

If you're interested, you can read history and fun facts of the Space Needle.  One particular fun fact that I will point out and I think is so cool:

"In 1966 11-year-old Bill Gates, now Microsoft chairman and co-founder, won a dinner at the Space Needle restaurant offered by his pastor. Gates had to memorize chapters 5, 6 and 7 of the Gospel of Matthew, better known as the Sermon on the Mount, and he recited the sermon flawlessly."

I think the following pictures can tell the story of our wonderful date night:

 

As you can see, we had the best time together as we enjoyed the Space Needle!  Here are some tips for those of you who might travel to Seattle and are thinking of doing this attraction.

1.  Do this attraction!

2.  Go for the gusto and dine at SkyCity Restaurant!  Yes, it's on the high-end of price, but it's so worth it!  So do what we have done and skimp and save in many ways, then go enjoy this place without restraint!  Trust me with this.....don't just go to the observation deck.  I promise that the views and experience in the restaurant are worth the difference! (and I am an extremely frugal person, kind of a tightwad to be honest, so trust me and do the restaurant too.....see #4 for further reason!)

3.  Make your reservations early.....as in days or weeks (in high tourist season) in advance!

4.  When you dine in the restaurant and spend the minimum (which is not hard to do), your observation deck tickets are included -- that's a value of $18 per person!  (which can go a long way toward your meal price)

5.  Depending on the time of year and the season, try to make your reservations where you get to see both daylight and dark while you dine.  Seriously.....this is one of the best decisions we made!

6.  They have daily specials (not cheaper, but a different and nice selection) that are not on the menu....which is what Josh ordered his meal from.  We didn't know this until we arrived, which is fine....but since I'm all about knowing info ahead of time, I would have called earlier in the day to ask what the choices were.

7.  Right now there is a $25 gift certificate (off a minimum of 2 entrees) for purchase on restaurant.com (after the coupon code I used, I paid $3 for it)....this definitely helps!  However, if Josh and I were going again we would stick to our usual behavior of sharing an entree when dining in a restaurant.  That is the only thing we would have done differently.....we would have split one entree instead of each ordering our own.  Add to that the appetizer and dessert, of course. Instead, they boxed up leftovers to go so I will warm those up for lunch today.

8.  It was also nice to go during a season where there are nearly no tourists in Seattle.  The place was not busy or crowded, so that was nice!

9.  The restaurant had a professional photographer come and make a picture of the table.  The cool part is that you don't even have to buy the picture from them.  If you want to order a photo you can or you can opt for the free email of your picture.  We did that and it arrived within minutes.

10.  The waitstaff was amazing!  They kept our drinks refilled and were very friendly.  Also, the waitress was so kind to take our picture multiple times.  On her own she came to us and said "The sun is setting, let me get another picture of you two!"  She grabbed my camera, put in on the right setting (on her own and without my instruction) and took the pictures!  I thought that was a very nice gesture!

*If you don't believe me and only care about the space needle for the views of the city and you absolutely refuse to dine in the restaurant......save your money and just go to the base of the needle to get pictures and then go to the Columbia center for the views.....Columbia tower is much taller so you can see more and it's only $5 per person.  But still, you should trust me and do what I already suggested! :)  

And since we have already been asked, this wasn't set-up as an early Valentine's dinner; however, I'm cool to go with that and say that we've already celebrated V-day!  That way we can just stay home since we return Friday night after nearly a month away.  :)

I am no tour guide, I am just really pleased with our evening and how much fun we had!  We knew it was a rare and blessed opportunity that we get to do this, so we took advantage of every moment!

Our trip is winding down and we have had a great time!  We are in awe of how blessed we are to share this opportunity together!  There are some things in our life that are far from perfect, but we have chosen to dwell on how we have been blessed by God and enriched through this experience!