Four Itchy Feet

July 14, 2025. Tacoma, Washington. Day 54 of 170

Today marked our first of many days in the Seattle area. We’re staying in Tacoma, just to the south, which offers a great base for exploring. We wasted no time and immediately visited the Boeing Everett Factory. This is a truly unique opportunity, as the factory is the largest building in the world by volume, allowing visitors a firsthand look at how airplanes are built.

We arrived at 1:30 PM and were promptly booked for the 2:00 PM tour. While we were “winging it” (pun intended!), it’s highly recommended to book your tour tickets online in advance to avoid potential long waits. We found the tickets to be a bit expensive, at $46 for adults and $32 for children.

The tour is advertised as 90 minutes, but much of that time is spent in the theater, riding the bus to and from the factory, and waiting for an elevator. You only get to spend approximately 15-20 minutes observing the airplane manufacturing process on the factory floor. (No cameras, cell phones, or pictures of any kind allowed during the factory tour) Boeing’s Everett facility is where wide-body aircraft like the 747, 767, 777, and 787 Dreamliner are assembled. It’s fascinating to see the scale of production and the precision involved in building these massive machines.

The remaining portion of the visit is dedicated to the Strato Deck, which includes the Gallery and Sky Deck. The Gallery features wonderfully curated exhibits with engaging interactive displays, particularly enjoyable for children. We especially liked the Space Station section and the “life support in space” game. The Sky Deck offers a spectacular vantage point of the sprawling factory and Paine Field, the adjacent airport. It was incredibly cool to see aircraft, some still in their distinctive green protective vinyl, awaiting their engines before returning to the factory for final assembly.

Despite the cost, this was a truly wonderful experience and one that every air traveler should consider. I will certainly remember the immense effort of the thousands of dedicated individuals busily moving about, meticulously building these airplanes, the next time I board a flight. Boeing, established in 1916, has a long and storied history of innovation in aerospace, and seeing their operations up close provides a profound appreciation for modern aircraft manufacturing.