Hello everyone!
I am going on a short trip to Seattle in a few weeks, and am looking for some recommendations from all of you...
My BFF and her husband live out there, and we (my mom and me as well as BFF's mom) will be staying in their condo.
I took a trip out there with DH last spring, and we did some of the touristy things... ate at the top of the space needle and went to Pike's Place Market).
My mom has never been to Seattle, so we will probably do Pike's Place again... maybe the space needle.
What else is there to see? I'm open to some outdoorsy stuff, but I am not an experienced hiker/cyclist/etc. by any means.
Thanks for your ideas!
Re: Seattle Recs?
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.
Mark Twain
My Travel Blog
Here are a couple...
The underground tour is a lot of fun. We did the adults only version http://www.undergroundtour.com/
We also did this walking tour http://www.savorseattletours.com/tours/gourmetseattle/, which was great. The same company offers a variety of tours. The narrative provided by the tour guide was really interesting - there is a lot of history in Seattle.
Here's my standard rec list for Seattle, some things may have already been mentioned.
Things to do/see:
- Pike Place Market (a must)
- Original Starbucks (across from Pike Place)
- Pioneer Square (art galleries, bookstores, shops & cafes)
- Pacific Place & Westlake Centre (downtown shopping)
- Underground Tour (www.undergroundtour.com)
- Experience Music Project (www.empsfm.org)
- Argosy Cruises (www.argosycruises.com)
- Seattle Aquarium
- Woodland Park Zoo
If you have a car, go to Alki Beach, walk along the seawall and grab something to eat or drink at one of the cafes/restaurants or coffee shops along there:
www.gonorthwest.com/Washington/seattle/viewpoints/alki-beach.htm
One of our fave places is Green Lake, walk or bike around it or rent a paddle boat: www.cityofseattle.net/parks/park_detail.asp?ID=307
For shopping outside of downtown, I love U-village, I could hang out there all day with all the great shops and places to eat: www.uvillage.com
Food & Drinks:
Our fave restaurants for dinner downtown are The Brooklyn, great steaks & salmon (www.thebrooklyn.com), The Metropolitan Grill, amazing steaks (www.themetropolitangrill.com) and Elliott's Oyster House, excellent seafood, the crab cakes are to die for! (www.elliottsoysterhouse.com). We love this little Mexican place for lunch called El Puerco Lloron, so delish & cheap - love their salsa station! (www.elpuercolloron.com). Wild Ginger (asian food) gets rave reviews (www.wildginger.net). A cool place to go for dinner/drinks is The Pink Door (www.thepinkdoor.net).
For wine lovers: The Tasting Room (http://tastingroomseattle.com), also if you have a car, head out to Woodinville Wine Country, that's the place to go (www.woodinvillewinecountry.com).
For coffee connoisseurs, Vivace Espresso Bar (www.espressovivace.com/retail.html) is a must - rated the best, DH & I are addicted! I like the location on Broadway which is a really cool area, lots of unique shops and great people watching.
Side trips:
Snoqualmie Falls, just 30 min east of Seattle, is breathtaking. You can have lunch or dinner/drinks at the Salish Lodge while your there. Take a ferrry over to Port Townsend, Friday Harbor, Bainbridge Island, or the San Juan Islands - all cool places to check out for the day. You can go to Mount Rainer to do some sightseeing/hiking, such beautiful scenery. Also Mount St. Helens where the volcano was, super cool and interesting. Or, go over to the Olympic Peninsula, check out Hurricane Ridge, the rainforests, lakes and waterfalls.
Have fun!
Wow! Thank you for all of this! The Vivace Espresso Bar looks especially tempting
I just copied this whole post into an email to my mom--she is going to love all the ideas!
You're welcome! If you do go to Vivace, make sure to try either a latte or mocha, sooo good! Like I said, we're addicted
Also, I forgot to mention Portage Bay for breakfast/brunch, our new fave. All organic, delicous food, and they have an all-u-can-eat fresh fruit & nut bar that we love! They have 3 locations but the one close to downtown is the South Lake Union one on 391 Terry Ave. N. There's always a wait, so try to make reservations ahead of time: http://www.portagebaycafe.com/Portage_Bay_Cafe/Seattle_Breakfast,_Brunch,_Lunch_%26_Catering_-_Portage_Bay_Cafe.html
Anything else I can help you with? Seattle's my 2nd home...
Here's what I've blogged in the past:
SEATTLE
cafe campagne
dahlia lounge
palace kitchen
paseo caribbean
poppy
purple cafe & wine bar
restaurant zoe
serious pie
steelhead diner
sweet iron waffles
tilth
volterra
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homewood suites by hilton
hotel max
w seattle
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ballard farmers market
ballard locks
northwest trek
pike place market
space needle and seattle center