[Paige CPM]

Hi All!

I will be visiting Seattle in a couple of weeks and wanted your input...

1) What should I not miss when I am there?

2) What are great places for kiddos that my cousin with her sweet 2 1/2 yo twins might not know about?

3) My cousin and I have a plan to go hiking one day while her hubby has the cuties; my fantasy is to go to a rainforest. I am guessing that is too far away from downtown, where they live, for a day hike...so what would you recommend?

Can you tell I haven't done my research yet? I will go to the bookstore next week and grab a few travel guides...

TIA for any input!

Paige

 

[maxmama]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paige, CPM Hi All! I will be visiting Seattle in a couple of weeks and wanted your input... 1) What should I not miss when I am there? 2) What are great places for kiddos that my cousin with her sweet 2 1/2 yo twins might not know about? 3) My cousin and I have a plan to go hiking one day while her hubby has the cuties; my fantasy is to go to a rainforest. I am guessing that is too far away from downtown, where they live, for a day hike...so what would you recommend? Can you tell I haven't done my research yet? I will go to the bookstore next week and grab a few travel guides... TIA for any input! Paige

The Olympic Peninsula (rain forest) is, sadly, too far away for a day hike. But if you can stay overnight it's VERY doable and truly amazing.

What not to miss...well, it depends a lot on what you like. I think the EMP is not worth the money, but a lot of Seattle visitors seem to go and have a good time. Pike Place Market (or just "the Market", if you want to be all insider-ish) is great, and with kids it's easy because there's always something to look at and really good street food (I'm partial to the hum bao in the Sanitary Market myself). If it's hot, Pratt Park in the Central District has an amazing splash playground, with all kinds of water toys for kids and places to cool off. Seattle Children's Museum is pretty good, and it's close to the Market if you want to combine activities. (Remember that the buses downtown are free!) Max loves both the Aquarium (also downtown) and the zoo, but they're pretty spendy without a membership (I think $15-ish per person -- we have memberships so I'm not sure).

Our favorite big park near downtown is Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill. It's about a 20 minute bus ride or a quick drive.

If you're there on a weekend, a lot of places around Seattle have outdoor movies. My favorite is Fremont, but there are many to choose from. Pick up a copy of the Thursday Seattle Times to see what's going on, and definitely pick up a copy of The Stranger. The personal ads alone are worth it.

If you're a coffee drinker, do not, under any circumstances, drink Starf***s here. It's an emergency-only coffee for a lot of Seattleites. Buy yourself some beans from Victrola or Lighthouse to take home.

Okay, I just realized that other people's obsessions with my hometown may not equal my own, so I'm sorry for all the excess info. Have fun -- August is a good time to come -- and tell everyone when you go home how much Seattle sucks and why they would never want to move there!

 

[bookwormommy]

Seward Park in south Seattle has old growth forest, very wild, and some great trails - just 10-15 minutes from downtown. Not exactly a day hike, but you can easily get lost up in the woods for a couple hours.

Erin

 

[boongirl]

1) What should I not miss when I am there?

If I think about the things that make Seattle special, I would think a ferry ride would be right up there on the do not miss list. I would take a ferry to Bremerton and back. It won't take all day and you will get to see some lovely islands and the waterfront areas. Kids usually love running around up top on the upper decks.

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/

The whole Seattle Center is fun for visitors as they have a lot of sculptures the kids can climb on, a fun carnival with rides, lots of food, a great, huge fountain to sit on or run under. Kids love that. There is lots of open space to run around and you can go to either the Children's museum, the science center, or the EMP. (I think the EMP is cool but not worth the $20) My friend with school age boys says her boys love the science fiction museum. If you go to both emp and sfm, you pay less overall. The Seattle Center can get very busy in summer so check first before you wander into a festival with 100,000 people.

http://www.emplive.org/
http://www.seattlecenter.com/

2) What are great places for kiddos that my cousin with her sweet 2 1/2 yo twins might not know about?

Well, see above. I would also recommend Chinook's at Salmon Bay at the Fisherman's terminal for dinner as it is loud, but not too, fun, has great food, and plenty of distractions for both the 2.5 year old and the older kids. And, you will get great seafood at a not too expensive price.

http://www.anthonys.com/restaurants/info/chinooks.html

3) my fantasy is to go to a rainforest. I am guessing that is too far away from downtown, where they live, for a day hike...so what would you recommend?

I would go for a hike at Discovery park, in the city. It is huge, has lots of trails, is on the water, and has loads of animals and other great stuff to experience.

http://www.seattle.gov/parks/Environ...vparkindex.htm

If I had visitors and I wanted them to experience coffee Seattle style, I woudl take them to an Uptown Espresso. YUM!

http://www.uptownespresso.net/location.html