Visiting Seattle, looking for suggestions

Kyle,

If you intend on driving while in the area, here are a few suggestions that you can also Bing/Google for more information:

Mt. Rainier and Paradise Lodge http://www.nps.gov/mora/index.htm

Chuckanut Drive and Oyster House Restaurant (Take I-5 North to Bellingham, then head back via Chuchanut Drive.) http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/LocalPrograms/ScenicByways/Chuckanut.htm

Then head over to Anacortes (only if you have time to jump on the ferry to see some of the San Juan Islands. This will take you all day to do and maybe then some. Many nice places to stay on the islands.) http://www.visitsanjuans.com/

Or...

From Whidbey Island, via Deception Pass, take the ferry (Coupeville) to Port Townsend. PT is a nice small community with lots of interest and good shops/restaurants. From there, head to Sequim and Port Angeles. Lots of good roads on the Olympic Peninsula. Head to Hurricane Ridge for some very nice views and a great road to the top of the ridge. http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/info_desk/route-maps/index.cfm?region_id=2
http://www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/visiting-hurricane-ridge.htm

Tons of stuff to do in Seattle as well, but I'll let the guys that frequent the city (I do not unless it is absolutely necessary) like FOS for service on the 355. Many really top tier places to eat and some interesting local sights like Pike Place Market. http://www.seattletravel.com/pike-place-market.html

Have fun on your trip and welcome to our fair state of Washington.

DJ

 

Downtown: Experience Music Project, Space Needle (NOT cheap however), 1.5 hour
"Duck tour" - leaves right at the EMP and is 1.5 hours on land and water - nice way
to see the city as a tourist and not have to battle traffic.

Take the monorail from the Space Needle / EMP area downtown to Westlake Mall
(the monorail has only 1 stop each way - you can't mess it up ). Nice mall
to wander - then head out the South doors and go right (West) about 4 blocks
and wander through Pike Place Market - see the legendary "fish tossing".

If you go out the very back of the Pike Place Market and do the "pike place
hill climb" stairs, you're right on the Seattle waterfront and all the pier shops
and restaurants, and other attractions.

ALL of this can be done by just parking at the Seattle Center - leave your
car and do all of the above for a good 5+ hours of pretty comprehensive
Seattle sight seeing from a tourist perspective.

Jedi

 

Welcome to our humble corner of the world where this 70+ degree sunny weather won't last for much longer.

- Cheap eats @ Dick's Drive-In and Top Pot Doughnut (multiple locations around the city) - http://www.ddir.com/ & http://www.toppotdoughnuts.com/

- Pyramid Alehouse Restaurant & Brewery in SoDo (South of Downtown) near the stadiums is a great place to hang out and dine. - http://www.pyramidbrew.com/alehouses/seattle

- Alki Point in West Seattle and Kerry Park on Queen Anne are some wonderful photo ops of the skyline.

- Drive on I-90 or 520 if you want to experience the floating bridges (good excuse to check out Lamborghini of Bellevue and Park Place Ltd. across the street). - http://www.autocenternw.com/ & http://www.parkplaceltd.com/

- Museum of Flight - http://www.museumofflight.org/

- If you can stand a short 15-20 min. drive be sure to check out Cats Exotics in Lynnwood. - http://catsexotics.com/

I forgot to mention, Downtown Seattle on the bus has a generous ride free zone. - http://metro.kingcounty.gov/tops/bus/area_maps/m_seattle-rfa.html

Some other resources: http://www.seattlewaterfront.org/ & http://www.seattle.gov/tour/water.htm

Hope you have a fabulous time in Sea-Town!

 

I'd have to ask outside of F cars what are your other interests? Then how much spare time do you have to spend on any particular day?

Most of the drives or trips suggested above are full day trips and can't really be done in a couple of hours after a day spent at a conference.

Pikes Place market is a must do along with poking around the waterfront. Expense is what you feel like spending from zero to whatever.

We just spent several days at Friday Harbor on San Juan Island and if you don't mind walking up hill and down it's a great destination for a day trip. You can park the car at the ferry terminal at Anacortes and walk on the boat for 11.50 (less for seniors) and spend the day in Friday Harbor. The Marina has miles of docks to walk on and everything from 15 foot fishing skiffs to mega yachts show up there. Herb's Tavern has far better fish and chips than the hungry Clam above the ferry dock that tends to over batter an over cook their fish and fries.
It is a very typical tourist town with lots of trinket shops and coffee and food vendors though. The best coffee deal and best coffee I found is at the The Doctor's Office Cafe right above the ferry dock.
We took the car and spend a couple of days touring San Juan Island from Cattle Point at the South end to Roch Harbor at the North end and the scenery is spectacular but rooms are non existent without reservations this time of year.

Another day trip would be to take the ferry across to Bainbridge and then drive up to Port Townsend for the day. A stop in Poulsbo on the waterfront would be a must on that trip.
Or just buy a walk on ticket and ride the ferry across to Bainbridge or Bremerton
just before sunset on a clear day.
A guy could spend a day just hitting the interesting exotic car dealers such as Cats, FOS, Parks place and then down to Tacoma for a stop at Griot's store.

The biggest problem for most of us in the PNW is deciding what to do rather than finding something to do.

 

Go hang out with my dad. One story will take up your entire vacation.

 

Mine too, if you like airplanes.

 

Hey - your dad tells AWESOME stories!



Jedi

 

We're having an unusually nice stretch of good weather so definitely go to a game. The Mariner's are playing the White Sox on Fri/Sat/Sun. Start in Downtown in the morning and wander your way down to the ball field for the 7:10 game start. You'll find lots of local brewpubs along the way going through Downtown and Pioneer Square.

As for the outdoors, take a drive on the Mountain Loop Highway. It's a nice scenic drive and there's lots of hiking all along the way. REI flagship store? Big, yes. Impressive? Maybe, if you've never been to one of their flagship stores.

 

Bob is the man! This post needs a "like" button LOL

 

You guys are full of it! Just to show you that I take to it kindly I'll be displaying a lot of art at the Fresh Paint Art festival Aug 20-21 on the Everett Pier. Good Food too!.

 

Aug 20-21 there will be a big art show on the Everett pier, free. Good food too.

 

Do the Museum Of Flight. Your fix will last for days. DJ

 

+1

AWESOME experience. Don't forget to cross the skybridge to go aboard the
Concorde and Air Force One.

Jedi

 

For further reference on tours, yes, Boeing has a pretty good one in Everett (Paine Field) that starts at the Future of Flight and takes you to the main assembly building (largest in the world by volume) which houses the 747-8, 767, 777 & 787.
At the south end of the airport in Everett (Paine Field) you have your choice of Paul Allen's Aviation museum, http://www.flyingheritage.com/TemplateHome.aspx?contentId=1

Or John Session's Museum next door, http://historicflight.org/hf/

Both collections are AWESOME! And they fly them too.

There is an operation near by that builds Me-262 replicas as well, http://www.stormbirds.com/project/index.html

 

Glad you had a good time.
The Dreamlifters are purpose built, ugly but get the job done.
Good you took the tour (I work on the 777)
Yes, the Mariners are pretty bad....................
You lucked out on the weather, it rains 10 months out of the year.

 

Shhhh!!! Don't say that out loud! We have a rainy image to uphold. Keeps the riff-raff away

 

No, I get to research and document the damage they do when they screw up...........................