Shortly before beginning as assistant editor at Global Traveler, I traveled across the country to Seattle. While I have traveled to other countries in the past, it was the first time I had been to the West Coast, and it was sure worth the trip.

While in the city, my family and I did all of the normal touristy things. We saw and ascended the Space Needle, we rode the Seattle Great Wheel, and we sampled some of the local beer. It was a packed trip, and every day afforded new ideas and things to do. My favorite pieces of the trip weren’t the things tourists normally do. Rather, exploring the lesser-seen parts of the city and venturing to the relatively nearby Mount Rainier National Park were the true standouts of my trip.

My family took a daytrip about an hour and a half from Seattle to see “the mountain,” as the locals refer to it. The drive from the base camp, where workers get and relay weather updates from the top of the mountain to travelers, to the highest drivable point took about 45 minutes. Scenic stops along the way made great photo and sightseeing opportunities. The top of the drivable mountain, called Paradise, was still covered with nearly six feet of snow in the beginning of June.

Looking inward to Seattle proper, a morning trip to Seattle’s Chinatown, where the Seattle Pinball Museum is located, was another highlight of the trip. We ate at a local restaurant before making our way to the museum, where a $15 entry fee allowed visitors to play as much pinball as they want on machines dating back to the 1960s.

The trip clocked in at just a little shorter than a week. Looking back, it is clear Seattle offers much more, though. The days were full of adventures and new experiences, but it is impossible to experience everything a city has to offer on the first go-round. It is clear I will return to the city at some point in the future.

— Erich Martin, assistant editor