See This, Skip That: Downtown Seattle

— -- My 9-year-old son loves Seattle. We visited this vibrant town last spring, on a memorable family road trip that included that beautiful drive across the northern border from Vancouver. And the combination of cool vibes, neat places to visit and tons of things to do had him clamoring about coming back ever since.

When the chance came up to have him tag along on a work trip this summer, I cashed in on 50,000 United miles and off we went. It was a quick trip: two full days and an overnight stay. But, with a short to-do list and open minds, we covered plenty of ground.

Seattle is a colorful canvas of a myriad of neighborhoods, each one offering special traveler experiences. Our focus, though, was specifically on downtown Seattle, an easy-to-traverse area from Pioneer Square to Seattle Center, including the newly-improved waterfront. If you’re a first-time visitor to the city, or if you’re here with your kids, here are some ideas for your own to-do list.

Skip the Avenues, Hit the Waterfront

Our first order of business, actually, was exiting the downtown core of streets and avenues and taking one of the various sets of steep stairs down toward the water. Seattle’s waterfront saw a series of improvements earlier this year, making this 1.5-mile promenade a stroller’s delight. As you walk between the piers, take up a spontaneous game of shuffleboard or bean bag toss. Food options abound -– we nabbed juicy hot dogs at Frankfurter -– as well as several cruise options. The popular Seattle Aquarium is at Pier 59. And don’t miss the abstract art at the gorgeous nine-acre Olympic Sculpture Park, bookending the waterfront by Pier 70; it’s free and open every day of the year.

Skip the Museum, See the Oddities

At the waterfront, we lingered longest at Ye Olde Curiosity Shop. There’s a ton of oddball, random, kitschy souvenirs to browse through here; my son liked stumbling onto 1990s baseball cards and shock pens. But this quirky stop doubles as a free museum of oddities, which are hung both along the walls and from the ceiling. The taxidermy two-headed calf and four-legged hen are fascinating, just like the embalmed eight-legged piglet, the shrunk heads and the costumed fleas. But the mummies were our favorite, including Sylvia, a dehydrated specimen of a Central American woman dating back to the early 1800s, and Sylvester, likely a Wild West prospector who’s considered one of the best-preserved mummies ever found in the U.S.

After SAM and EMP, Visit the Freebies

You can visit several world class museums in downtown Seattle, including the Seattle Museum of Art – you can’t miss it, just look for the 48-foot moving Hammering Man sculpture – and the EMP Museum, a design marvel that houses pop culture exhibits. But if you want to go cultural and stretch your travel dollar, consider a free museum. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Center, near the Space Needle, is family-friendly and features awareness-raising exhibits about the charitable work the foundation does worldwide. The Frye Art Museum, just north of downtown in the First Hill neighborhood, features 19th century paintings and sculptures that were once part of a private collection. By the way, the SAM is free to the public the first Thursday of each month and is always free for kids 12 and under.

Skip the Cab, Ride the Rail