Austin Nesties
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Seattle?
We're leaning heavily towards going to Seattle in September for a vacation. What area should we stay in? Must-dos? Trying to budget & figure out how much it'd cost us since we're working on a budget! 
Re: Seattle?
How much time do you have? Have you been there before?
You can get really great deals on hotels using Hotwire. Last year we payed $60 for the Westin by requesting a 4-star for that amount. It was very nice and in a great location.
Must see: Pike Place Market and the Space Needle. There are a ton of neat shops all along the piers in downtown Seattle around the Market. The Needle is in an arts district and there's a lot to check out there as well, depending on what your interests are.
Alkai Beach is a nice break from town, but very close.
There are quite a few breweries and wineries in the area. Last time we went we checked out Red Hook Brewery and Chateau St Michelle- literally across the street from one another. Both incredible.
There are sightseeing flights that take off and land in the Sound. I haven't been on one but they look super cool. I imagine that would be something your DH would enjoy.
If you have more time, you can hike on Mt Ranier. It's maybe a few hours drive from Seattle, only because of the windy roads, but it is gorgeous at the foot of the mountain. That whole area is stunning.
More time? Bring your passports and go to Vancouver or Vancouver Island.
We'll probably go for 5-6 days.
I was really hoping to use hotwire. We scored staying at the Intercontinental on Magnificent Mile in Chicago for like $70 two summers ago. When we checked in they only had suites! Double score!
We're using miles so I figure combined with hotwire... I can probably keep it pretty cheap!
We're going in August--I can't wait!
Here's a thread I started a couple of weeks ago.
We're looking at hotels near Pike's Place Market--it seems like that's a good area for lots of easy walking around, plus catching the light rail (or whatever). I've seen reports of people getting rooms at Edgewater for $75/night on Priceline. Plus, due to the location, it's easy to figure out if that's the hotel you're bidding on! (We are also looking at using points for a room, so we might end up at Westin or some national chain.)
We're thinking about going up to Victoria B.C for a day or an overnight; there are ferries or sea planes you can take back and forth.
In addition to the recommendations from the ladies here, I found some good recommendations for driving and walking tours on Frommer's.
We have so many "to do" and "to eat" and "to see" on our list, I don't know how we're going to narrow it down!
Rarely Updated Blog
sweet! thanks!
Growing up we used to go to the Edgewater Inn for brunch on special occasions- I still remember the butter sculptures.
I love, love, love the Ballard Locks and September is a great time to see the salmon climb the fish ladder.
***'s Drive-In has the best burgers EVAH. I swear.
Ivar's has the best clam chowder in THE ENTIRE WORLD. Other yummy seafood, too.
Whidbey Island and Orcas Island out in the Sound are really neat- take the ferry. Bonus- they used to serve Ivar's chowder on board but I don't know if they still do.
The aquarium is also really neat, as is the entire surrounding area.
I'm jealous, I want to go home so BAD. Even for a visit would be nice.
Definately need to check out the Space Needle and Pikes Place. Lots of fun! Also, if you're a geek like us, there's a sci-fi museum at the base of the Space Needle. It's a weird looking building that we had no idea was a museum until curiosity took us that way. It has a lot of props from a lot of sci fi movies like Star Wars, Alien, Star Trek and more.
I wish we had been able to stay downtown because there looked like there was just so much to do down there all within walking distance.
When in September are you headed there?
Just to warn you, there are 2 large conferences that happen the first weekend in September. I go every year to one of them, and finding hotels can be difficult and expensive!