Odyssey Maritime Discovery Center

This unique museum in Waterfront Park is part of the Bell Street Pier, a huge complex that also houses convention space, restaurants and a marina. A haven for boat enthusiasts, the Discovery Center is also a wonderful place for families. The four galleries and more than 40 hands-on exhibits include a simulated kayak trip around Puget Sound, a chance to navigate a virtual ship through Elliott Bay and a visual re-creation of the cruise up the Inside Passage to southeast Alaska. You can find out about boat construction and high-tech contributions to boating, learn about oceanography and environmental issues and hear audio simulations of ocean animals. One section of the museum is devoted to fishing and another to ocean trade. Anyone with a nose for the nautical should check this place out.