leah's » Seattle, WA

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Pioneer Square is actually a district built on top of a district. After the great fire of 1889, drainage problems forced rebuilding to occur on top of Seattle’s first neighborhood, which you can descend to on the popular Underground Tour. But this is not a neighborhood merely preserving its past; the Romanesque Revival buildings house the toniest advertising and architectural firms in town. Galleries and nightlife can be found around every corner, and don’t miss the Elliott Bay Book Company and its downstairs café among the stacks. You can catch a ride on a vintage streetcar, enjoy the view from the top of the Smith Building and relax at the Waterfall Garden, which, in typical Seattle style, has outdoor electrical outlets where workers stay high tech on their lunch hour. The area’s Klondike Gold Rush exhibits give you a sense of the city’s juicy history of vice versus virtue; MP3 audio tours are available at information stations. You’ll want to check out the totem pole donated to the city by the Tlingit Indians, the Victorian Pergola walkway and the Fallen Firefighter’s Memorial. From fine dining to pizza to boutique hotels, Pioneer Square remains the city’s most important and charming hub.

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