MVP Summit 2025 – The Seattle Experience

This is the third and final post in my MVP Summit 2025 series, the first one is found here The MVP Summit Story. This isn’t about the latest tech updates. It’s about exploring an event city before the tech begins and me looking back, remembering a dot on the timeline.

This time, Jonas Rapp and I had planned one day of sightseeing in downtown Seattle before all the MVP buzz began in the Microsoft village of Redmond. Lucky me, Jonas happily (I think) followed my path wherever it took us. “I wanna see Kerry Park and Gas Works Park” was all I had to say when he asked how we should spend our one day in the rainy city.

If you ever travel to Seattle, here’s a list for you.

• Gas Works Park – A cool place with a great view, and easy to reach by bus.
• Kerry Park – I imagined it being… well, an actual park, with trails and a hidden viewpoint among the trees. Turns out I did too little research and just trusted the name. It’s more of a photo spot for catching the city skyline with skyscrapers and the Space Needle. Still, totally worth a visit! Bonus: you get a peek at the neighborhood and how people live there.
• Space Needle – I have not been up in it. Maybe on a future (cloud-free) day.
• Sky View Observatory – Have not made it up here either, but it’s on my list.
• Starbucks – You’ll find plenty of course. The store at Pike Place Market is famously known as the first Starbucks, but fun fact: the actual first location was a few blocks away on Western Avenue. Still, this one is the iconic spot.
• Pike Place Market – Founded in 1907 and one of the oldest and largest still operating public markets in the country. With fresh flowers, local produce, international foods, and handmade crafts, it’s a fun place to explore.
• Museum of Pop Culture – I’ve only seen it from the outside, but it looks like a cool place. On my Seattle adventure in 2023, I actually stepped just inside the doors to escape the rain for a few minutes. So technically, I’ve been inside.
• National Parks and Waterfalls – I have not experienced these, but I’ve heard they are stunning. If it had not been such a misty day, I might have spotted Mount Rainier, the active stratovolcano and highest peak in Washington state, from Kerry Park. Oh well, I did catch a glimpse from other spots, like the HQ campus.

One day of Sightseeing

A bit jet-lagged, I woke up with one big goal, to visit Kerry Park and Gas Works Park. We had planned to start the day with an American breakfast at Ludi’s restaurant, but it was too crowded. Instead we went to Bacco Café, the same place where we had American breakfast two years ago.

With paper maps (me, don’t ask why… because it was available?!) and apps (Jonas), we made our way to a bus stop that would take us closer to Kerry Park. We passed the Space Needle, watched people hop on and off, rode up the hill, and got off when it felt right.

Below is our bus stop and the spotted Space Needle. And no, this was not our bus I just have a thing for yellow school buses, thanks to every Hollywood movie ever made! I could not help but smile at the Seattle Times stand. I love writing, so seeing paper magazines still being sold out on the street made me unexpectedly happy.

Kerry Park did have the view, well, if it had been a sunny day, we might have seen the mountain even, but today, it was a grey day. That did not destroy our little adventure though. I found signs of spring to capture and then we went looking for the next bus to take us to The Gas Works Park.

It was equally grey over at the Gas Works park, but a nice view of the city skyline from another angle. We explored the place a bit and seeing a tree sign Butterfly and Hummingbird garden, I dreamed away to a colorful Seattle during summertime with hummingbirds and butterflies in this small place.

We found a nice place for lunch and then went back to downtown. We headed for the one and only first Starbucks (but oh wait, the story actually says this was not the first), too long queue, so we had afternoon tea at the Pike Place Market instead. We also saw the gum wall (why?). Such a nice day, the sky was grey but the company was not!

When spring arrived

It felt like spring arrived during MVP Summit. From budding trees to cherry blossoms in full bloom. My sightseeing day had typical Seattle weather: cloudy, grey, and a bit of rain. Not as bad as two years ago though. That time I ended up with wet shoes for a week.

This year had a bit of everything, from misty skies laying mystical shadows over the city skyline, to sunshine and 18°C by Wednesday, and then a thunderstorm warning on Thursday with talk of hail up to 1 dm. I didn’t see any hail, but the thunder was more intense than what I’m used to. It took me a bit by surprise!

Note to self for future Seattle adventures

• Check the forecast. Pack accordingly. Then pack a little extra, just in case.
• Don’t underestimate the power of dry socks (pack a little extra again).
• A little rainy? No worries, just keep moving and pretend it’s refreshing until it is.
• If the sun shows up, smile at it. If it doesn’t, keep going anyway!

Well, this series has come to an end. Hope you enjoyed reading it. The best part about MVP Summit 2025? The networking, absolutely the networking! Both with Microsoft employees (so grateful for all work related opportunities it brings ) as well as fellow MVPs from all around the world.

The sightseeing was the cherry on the top. This time, I did not rely on faith to get me to Kerry Park and Gas Works Park, I made it our goal for the sightseeing day to get there.

Time to set some new goals and start dreaming about what the future might bring!

Original Post https://carinaclaesson.com/2025/10/22/mvp-summit-2025-the-seattle-experience/