Space Needle and Argosy Cruise

The Space Needle is a tower in Seattle, Washington also know as the symbol of Seattle. Located at the Seattle Center, it was built for the 1962 World's Fair, during which time nearly 20,000 people a day used the elevators, with over 2.3 million visitors in all for the World Fair. The Space Needle is 605 feet high at its highest point and 138 feet wide at its widest point and weighs 9,550 tons. When it was completed it was the tallest structure west of the Mississippi River. It is built to withstand winds of up to 200 mph and earthquakes of up to 9.1 magnitude, the tower also has 25 lightning rods on its roof to prevent lightning damage.

The Space Needle features an observation deck at 520 feet and a gift shop with the rotating SkyCity restaurant at 500 feet featuring Northwest cuisine. From the top of the Needle, one can see not only the Downtown Seattle skyline, but also the Olympic and Cascade Mountains, Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, Elliott Bay and surrounding islands. Photographs of the Seattle skyline often show the Space Needle in a prominent position, even appearing to tower above the rest of the city's skyscrapers, as well as Mount Rainier in the background. This occurs because the tower, which is equivalent in height to a 60-story building, stands roughly four-fifths of a mile northwest of most downtown skyscrapers. Visitors can reach the top of the Space Needle via elevators that travel at 10 mph. The trip takes 43 seconds, and some tourists wait in hour-long lines in order to ascend to the top of the tower. On windy days, the elevators are slowed down to a speed of 5 mph. The Space Needle was designated a historic landmark on April 19, 1999 by the City's Landmarks Preservation Board.


For 60 years, Argosy Cruises has been celebrating the breathtaking beauty of the Pacific Northwest as a Seattle attraction. Founded as the Spring Street Water Taxi and then through the years operating as Seattle Harbor Tours and now as Argosy Cruises, the family-owned and Seattle-operated company has become the Northwest's premier cruise company operating from the historic downtown Seattle waterfront, South Lake Union and Kirkland City Dock. We took the one hour Harbor Cruise, perfect for anyone and saw the historic harbor, the waterfront, the spectacular city skyline, one of the world's largest shipping terminal and the majestic Cascade and Olympic mountain ranges.