Seattle Center, located north of Belltown in the Lower Queen Anne neighborhood, holds some of Seattle's top attractions.  It is home to KeyArena, Pacific Science Center, Experience Music Project | Science Fiction Museum and the Seattle Center Monorail. The Monorail was built for the 1962 Seattle World's Fair as a link to downtown Seattle. Locals use the Monorail to get to theatrical events, cultural experiences, major festivals and sporting events at the the Seattle Center and the trains carry approximately 1.5 million riders a year. It's a one-mile journey from the Westlake Center, along 5th Avenue to the Seattle Center. Each trip takes two minutes to travel the one-mile route. 

Discovery is the keyword here. Pacific Science Center teaches children and adults, environmental stewardship, wetland ecology and nature awareness. Like many museums, Pacific Science Center creates, builds and rents many traveling exhibits. We suggest you see an IMAX film or visit the Tropical Butterfly House and take a ride on the Morphis Motion Simulator. 

Within walking distance from the Space Needle and EMP|SFM there's a multitude of exhibits including a tide pool exhibit. There are amazing Live Science Demonstrations, Planetarium Shows and IMAX films. 

The museum is composed of eight buildings, including two IMAX theaters, one of the world's largest Laser Dome theaters and hundreds of hands-on science exhibits. In addition to the many permanent exhibits, Pacific Science Center has offered a constant rotation of traveling exhibits, including "China: 7,000 Years of Discovery", "Titanic: the Artifacts Exhibit", "Discovering the Dead Sea Scrolls", and most recently "Lucy's Legacy: The Hidden Treasures of Ethiopia".      

Seattle Center - Experience Music Project

The Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame is a museum dedicated to the history and exploration of both popular music and science fiction. The Frank Gehry-designed museum building is located on the campus of the Seattle Center, adjacent to the Space Needle and the Seattle Center Monorail, which runs through the building.

Experience Music Project (EMP) was founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, and opened its doors in 2000. Allen also established the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (SFM).

Permanent exhibits include the history of popular music in the Pacific Northwest. Exhibits include Bing Crosby (Tacoma, Washington), The Kingsmen (Portland, Oregon), Heart (Seattle, Washington), Sir Mix-a-Lot (Bremerton, Washington), Nirvana (Aberdeen, Washington, via Seattle), and Pearl Jam (Seattle, Washington) .

The museum contains rock memorabilia and technology-intensive multimedia displays and showcases rare artifacts from popular music history that allows the visitor to experience music through interactive exhibitions like Sound Lab and On Stage. 
 

Seattle Center - Science Fiction Museum
 

The Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame is one of the two public science fiction museums in the world.Founded by Paul Allen and Jody Patton SFM opened to the public on June 18, 2004. The Advisory board includes Steven Spielberg, Ray Bradbury, James Cameron, and George Lucas. Artifacts range from Captain Kirk's command chair from Star Trek, the B9 robot from Lost in Space, the Death Star model from Star Wars, the T800 Terminator and the dome from the film Silent Running.

The museum is divided into several galleries with a common theme such as "Homeworld," "Fantastic Voyages," "Brave New Worlds" and "Them!". Each gallery displays related memorabilia (movie props, first editions, costumes and models) in large display cases, posters, and interactive displays to sketch out the different subjects. "From robots to jet packs to space suits and ray guns, it's all here."

Seattle Center - Space Needle
 

At approximately 605 feet (184 m), the Space Needle was the tallest sttructure west of the Mississippi River at the time it was built but is now dwarfed by other structures along the Seattle skyline, among them the Columbia Center, at 967 feet (302 m).

From the top of the Needle, there are views of the Downtown Seattle skyline, Olympic and Cascade Mountains, Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, Elliott Bay and surrounding islands.  

The Space Needle was built to withstand severe earthquakes but an earthquake registering 6.8 on the Richter Scale jolted the Needle enough in 2001 for water to slosh out of the toilets in the restrooms. The Space Needle can escape serious structural damage during earthquakes of magnitudes below 9. Also made to withstand Category 5 hurricane-force winds. Space Needle photo above by Jason Hoover Photography©.