A trip to the north west of the USA was conceived when Anna found a deal, 10 months ago, to fly Business from Heathrow! This opulence isn’t the way I usually roll but when I’ve previously embarked on a long haul flight and trudged through the fuselage to the cheap seats in ‘stowage’ I’ve often cast an envious eye to the luxurious spaces in Business. On my 12th flight of 2026 (!) this was going to be my turn. However, into every life a little rain must pour and whilst the journey was comfortable to Seattle it would have been better if our luggage had been on the same flight…

So our first task in downtown Seattle was to buy some clothes to tide us over until BA despatched our bags. The next day obvious battered by jet lag, there’s an 8 hour difference, we came too at 3:25am and were nicely in time for breakfast that started at 6:30am. We started the day with a Walking Tour down by the waterfront. The guide explained how Seattle got its name – a corruption of a Native American’s name, how the city got started with lumber felling, a great fire that levelled it all in 1889 and something about a notorious very large octopus in a big tank in an aquarium eating sharks in another large tank nearby. He prattled on, thinking he was hilarious, for two hours and left me convinced Seattle was slightly undersold by his efforts.

My mind was on the missing luggage all the while and calls were made to customer service numbers and I either got no answer or someone whose quality of English was dire. “Sorry, can you repeat that, por favor?” Needless to say no information.

In the afternoon we visited the Chilhuly Gardens. This Slovakian artist has designed wonderful creations in blown coloured glass. The works reflect underwater vegetation or flowers. With the lighting, presentation and setting they were all stunning. A 5 Star unmissable attraction.

One common US benefit is differential pricing for Seniors. That is pensioners/old people. Our entry was discounted down to $40 each but sadly when seeking this admission charge we weren’t challenged to prove it.

We strolled back to the hotel down a leafy avenue, absorbing the cannabis aroma that permeates the city, and got back to the hotel to find still no luggage. More calls ensued to indifferent customer services staff. The information was that the courier had collected 12 bags and could be ‘anywhere in Washington State but you will get them tonight’. I was still not consoled. However, when we returned from dinner at the waterfront at around 9pm they had just arrived. Tony was a happy boy.

You may be aware that the World Cup is underway with games being played in the USA, including Seattle. There were fans strolling around in team kits, but not many. The city had some advertising and several bars had TV’s showing the games. The usual presentation was the ‘FIFA World Cup’. In the UK the term FIFA is not referred to and often viewed as toxic. As we’ll discover it got more toxic. I think in such a large nation then soccerball has a following but the mainly interested parties seem to be the Latino, European and Asian immigrants. FIFA’s wish to get the USA more interested has probably failed but their coffers have swelled.

The next day, with our luggage, we took an Uber to the airport and picked up our Nissan Altima and headed north. Our destination was the Boeing Everett factory where the 747, 787, 777 and 737 are assembled. 

We were not allowed to take photos and so nothing to show here. The site was massive and we were taken into an enormous hanger at a high level and looked down on a long line of partially built aircraft that as they progressed from right to left became more complete. Then they were then moved out to another building for painting. The size of the aircraft was impressive as was the variety of specifications ie. some were passenger planes but others may be for freight shippers. All the while we’re getting a commentary from a guide that was detailed and interesting. In our group of about 40 the majority were either Chinese or Indian and I, frankly, don’t think they listened or understood the fast talking narrative which was often quite technical but just gazed down at the partially built giants beneath us.

Next it was whales. Now please take heed, never go on a whale sighting cruise. We’ve done it twice around this coastline and it’s six hours of our lives we’ll not get back. People get on board to see Orcas or Killer Whales. They’re as rare as hen’s teeth despite the promotional spiel. So over our three hours we saw some wildlife – one grey and one humpback whale, some harbour seals, the odd sea lion or two and a bald eagle. We paid £135 (plus £10 for parking) for this. Stick to YouTube is my advice.

From here it was continuing north to Bellingham to a motel for the night.