Seattle is a great place for a day trip, and I couldn’t believe the Boyfriend had lived for 2 years in Vancouver and never made the trip to the next town. Returning from a weekend in the mountains, we determined to do Seattle in a day and show him what he’d been missing.

The only place to start is Pike Place market in the morning, provided you can stomach the Famous Fish Flingers! Fishmongers on either side of the market throw orders to each other over the heads of the inevitable crowd. It’s hilarious to watch unsuspecting visitors shriek in horror as a 100-pound tuna sprays them with ice as it flies overhead!

On the lower decks of Pike Place, all manner of kitsch, novelty and general tat is sold in a warren of characterful shops, and respite is in the tiny balcony cafes that overlook Puget Sound.

A stroll past the commercial piers and the wonderfully macabre Curiosity Shoppe (an entire Victorian freak show on display in glass jars and cabinets) led us to Pier 52 and the downtown ferry port.

We jumped on the 30-minute ferry ride to Bainbridge Island to have lunch by the pretty marina and take in some views of the city. Unfortunately, it was a typical ‘no-show’ day for Mt Rainier, but I assured the Boyfriend there was a beautiful big volcano in the skyline on a good day.

Returning on the ferry two hours later, we were lucky to spot some humpback whales in the Sound. Later in the year, it’s not uncommon to see orca (killer whales) – a genuine treat!

In the late afternoon, we headed to Seattle Centre (the World’s Fair site) to visit the Experience Music Project, known colloquially as the ‘Hendrix Museum’.

I (a muso) was absorbed in the great rock memorabilia and guitar gallery, but the Boyfriend (an actual musician) was blown away by the ‘Sound Lab’, where he got to lay down a track in a private studio and come away with his own CD for the price of his entry fee.

Dragging him away from the ‘EMP’, which incidentally is the most architecturally interesting building in Seattle, we topped off our day in the revolving restaurant at the top of the landmark ‘Space Needle’. Even without the scary elevator, it had been quite a ride.