Today we had two tours booked that I have been looking forward to the most on this trip. In the morning we visited the Boeing Factory for a tour.

Unfortunately they didn’t allow any cameras on the tour so we don’t have any photos of the actual workshop. The factory/assembly line floor is the largest single building in the world. Once inside you can see who – there were over a dozen planes in various stages of completion. We also got a drive around the premises and got to see parts being brought in by train, bus and planes. They had a small museum which detailed the history of the 747 and the role it played in making commercial travel more affordable and viable.

From there we went to the Space Needle and bought tickets to get to the top. There was quite a line to get in but that was mainly because of the size of the individual lifts. Our lift attendant was a character and spent the 45 seconds giving us a very fast insight into the views. They have just installed new glass doors which the kids loved standing on. It was even more impressive as it rotated gently.

Years ago I had done the Underground Tour at Seattle and really wanted to do it again with everyone. Over a 100 years ago after a great fire Seattle was rebuilt. And to protect from the tides the cliff faces were demolished and the height of the city increased. This resulted in older parts of the city ending up underground. About 50 years ago a historian started this tour and preserved a lot of the sights under the city. It was quite surreal seeing shop fronts and banks existing under the pavement and below new buildings and sky scrapers.