Vacation in Seattle

its still pretty cold up there and rainy at that time of year but beutiful!!!! Lived there for 2 years. My suggestion is go to distruction island, follow through to the coast. Dinner on top of the space needle in expensive. Go to the columbia center building, they have a observation deck. I think that cost money now, it used to not. Then there is the seattle aquarium in down town and when your done there you can shop at pier 1. There is also the woodland park zoo, small but nice. Alot of other things you can do and lots of shopping malls. Just try to stay away from downtown seattle south of pikes place and broadway streets too many hookers. Hope this helps.

weather is a craps shoot- it could be 55 degrees and windy/rainy, or it could be beautiful.

Definately check out the usual tourist stuff- if you dont mind a pricy hotel the Inn at the Market is really special, and it puts you walking distance from everything downtown. See Pike Place, wander around downtown, and the waterfront. If you will have a car go to Discovery park or Magnuson park, drive through the UW (and go to the Ave if you want an adventure)

Cheap good food:

Agua Verde (right next to UWMC, always an hour wait but worth it)

Le Panier (across the alley from Pike Place, AMAZING bread and pastries)

hmm...may think of more later

I appreciate your ideas! We are also planning on going up to Vancover and Victgoria from there. I can't wait. So in the mid=end of May the weather will still be on the cool side?

yes it will still be cool, unless there is just a fluke and it is hot that day.....you really cant predict it. Although "hot" to us is like 75.

Vancouver is great too- be very very very careful if you are going to have a car there with American plates. Theives know that there is pretty much no way you can press charges, I have had several freinds get broken into, even when there was nothing to steal in the car. Find a nice hotel garage to park your car in, avoid the street and ground level lots. If you are driving a canadian car then no prob.

BTW- if you are driving to Vancouver form Seattle, watch for bald eagles right after the border, last month I saw 12!

The Seattle Aquarium is not to be missed- I went in thinking "Well, I don't care that much about fish" and came out astounded. Fabulous "Sea Dragons", an unusual type of sea horse that grows up to 14" long and that come in varieties called "Leafies" and Weedies". It includes a way cool sea otter park, a sea animal petting zoo, and very unusual octopusand jellyfish displays.

Also in the city is the Pike Street Market (three stories of unusual shopping and dining experiences), and Pioneer Square (the free Gold Rush Museum, and Seattle Underground tours). Pike Street and the Aquarium are within walking distance of each other.

On the Olympic Peninsula, we drove to the Hoh Rain Forest (a northern part of the Redwood Forest), to the top of Hurricane Ridge, and visited the Pacific Ocean around Ruby Beach. Outstanding. My MIL is an artist and has been painting these sites ever since. We almost couldn't get her to leave the rain forest- she said she had never seen so may shades of green.

Hi from Colorado,

My husband and I are thinking of taking a vacation to Seattle and then ferry up to Vancover or Victoria.

Are there some hotels/ sites that you would recommend we see? We are planning on the end of May-ish. What is the weather generally like during spring/summer?

Thanks,

Kris

Hi Kris, The weather here isnt always that bad....ask anyone who was here last spring and summer!! A fun way to travel to Vancover from Seattle is via the train. Very convienent location etc. I suggest that you pick up a book at the bookstore about best places in Seattle....there are so many it is hard for me to list them all! Another trip to Victoria would be taking the boat from seattle up....It is called the Victoria Clipper.

IF you like Seafood....make sure to check out the restraunts here!!

I love going to Mount St. Helens. It's really cool and amazing all the destruction that is still there. It's kinda far from Seattle though. About 3 hours South or so. (Maybe more.) But it's something you can't see just anywhere.

I appreciate your ideas! We are also planning on going up to Vancover and Victgoria from there. I can't wait. So in the mid=end of May the weather will still be on the cool side?

Hi, I live in Victoria and its beautiful here. May is a great time to come up! Actually , its been sunny a quite a few days in feburary. This is the life.

Check out Dallas road, its a long stretch of road along the ocean, great to have a lovely walk by the water especially on a sunny day and its free. Also , if you like pasta, Pagliacci's on Broad street is the best place for pastas and soups. Go at lunch ,soups are refillable. I like Thai food, great place at Shelbourne Plaza about 10 minutes out of town down Shelbourne street. If you want to take in a foreign film at the university there much cheaper than the other theatres too. Also the Roxy on Quadra street is even cheaper, actully the same owner of Pagliacci's. Have fun and enjoy this fabulous Victoria!!!

Thanks to allnurses, I hope to get some info also from those of you who live in Washington. My daughter and I and brand new grandbaby will be traveling there in June to visit my son who is stationed at Ft. Lewis. I am planning on traveling through on US Hwy 2 on the way in, and I-90 on the way out. Any chance the roads will be crappy in early June on 2? Also, we want to go to the Olympic National Forest, what are some good beaches/hikes around there that we could handle with a newborn? We are both very healthy and fit, though the daughter will be tired from the newborn, and I'll be tired from taking care of her ...

I appreciate any advice at all, thanks! and if you ever come to Illinois, I'll advise you.

Omg I could SO help you here...but you need to tell me specifically what you want and how much time you have. DO TAKE THAT loop (hiway 101) thru the Olympic Penninsula......if you have the time (its a 300 mi or so drive)----in that ONE drive, you will see the Rain Forest, the Olympic Mountains, and unspoiled and uncrowded North Beaches (Ruby Beach)! You will also get to see a beautiful view of the Hood Canal of the Puget Sound and gorgeous, sky- blue Crescent Lake. That trip alone could take you a week, seeing it all ....... :)

Let me know if you need more specifics. I have seen the whole of WA State from Canada to Oregon and in between. I love it here.

To the last poster - no problem this year - drought.

To those who want to go to Canada - passports will be needed in the future - but for now a license is OK.

I love the coast - especially the north coast - Cape Alava etc.

But Westport is still weird and funky as well - love the Harbor Resort room 3.

i lived in washington state for 18 years: 5 in spokane and 13 in seattle. i'd recommend taking the north cascades highway in june. the scenery is gorgeous! hwy 2 is nice in the western part of the state, but gets boring through the eastern part.

[color=#4b0082]be sure to visit pike's place market and see the fish tossing! there are lots of interesting little shops and restaurants there, too. the space needle is expensive for dinner, but the view is great! try just drinks there, or maybe coffee and dessert. the seattle aquarium (waterfront) area is great!

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[color=#4b0082]wander around west seattle. the main drag has beach on one side and shops and restaurants on the other. some of the most decadent desserts i've ever had came from coffee shops there!

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[color=#4b0082]when hubby and i were first dating, our idea of a romantic date was to ride the ferry from edmonds to kingston. if you walk on, it's pretty inexpensive. we'd have insulated cups full of champagne and stand out on the deck and watch the sun set or the stars. in kingston, walk off the ferry and up the street a couple of blocks -- there's a great place to have pizza on the left hand side of the street. after pizza, we'd wander down to the ice cream shop, then ride the ferry back to edmonds.

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[color=#4b0082]rent a kayak at agua verde (on boat street, next to the uwmc). if i can paddle, anyone can! we'd rent a double so my athletic hubby couldn't paddle away from me! it's fun to paddle around lake union and look at the houseboats! we had so much fun doing that, we bought a used kayak from them at the end of the season! now we're paddling on the chesapeake!

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[color=#4b0082]when my parents would visit, their favorite thing was an all day ferry ride around the san juan islands. dad also liked the waterfront seafood restaurants on the sound. ray's boathouse at shilshole has an upper deck with a bar -- perfect for watching the sun go down over the olympics. if you get chilly, they'll bring you blankets! the food is wonderful, too.

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[color=#4b0082]just a few ideas!

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