A Tour of Seattle from 3000 feet
When the clouds decide to take a breather for those 71 days out of the year, Seattle is probably one of the most gorgeous cities in the entire world.
On these days most would head to Gasworks park or Alki for frisbee and a picnic, but here’s a proposition, why not head into the air?
Hear me out. A few days ago I decided to petition a local pilot into giving a ride to Hoquiam for lunch. Why? Because it sounded awesome.
We took off from Boeing airport right behind a 787 Dreamliner and circled around to the waters south of downtown Seattle. Down below ferries were bustling back and forth, and the sun shimmered down from the Olympics, across the water to the beautiful skyscrapers along 99. As we chugged along in the little Cessna 150 the view went from stunning to absolutely breathtaking. The Olympics drew closer and closer like something out of Lord of the Rings, and as Seattle grew farther and farther away it began to look more an more like a glistening Emerald. (Thank god I finally solved that mystery).
Fast forward 30 minutes of me ooing and ahing and thoroughly annoying the pilot, and we arrive at Hoquiam airport for lunch at Lana’s Hangar Cafe, a small diner off the runway.
I’d love to say the food here was a transcendental experience, and that I’d uncovered some sort of hungry pilot conspiracy to keep it hidden away from us mere groundlings, but alas, it just ok. I ordered the Ruben, my all-time favorite sandwich, and it was neither good nor bad, rather refreshingly normal like most diner food. What did make this lunch relatively extraordinary was watching the airplanes, one right after the other, land in front of us and off load hungry dogs, kids, parents and grandparents into the little diner. There was a sense of community in the restaurant that was fascinating to experience because this seemingly bustling world of private aviation was previously unbeknownst to me. If only the food were a little better, I might have been motivated to pick up flying myself.
After filling up, we headed back to Seattle, this time from the North. As we slowly made our decent, we flew over Magnolia, the bridges of Ballard and Fremont, past Lake Union and Queen Anne to Capitol Hill, and finally past the stadiums where we shortly after landed back at Boeing Field.
It was in a word… incredible, and something every single person in this city should try at least once. So next time you see a deal come along for an introductory flight lesson, or tour – just go for it.
*Some options for flight sightseeing are Kenmore Air and NW Seaplanes. Or book a discovery flight with Alternate Air or Wings Aloft.
