OT-Vacation ideas in Seattle

[UCGal]

Echoing the suggestions for the underground tour.

Take a ferry over to Bainbridge Island and back. The ferry ride itself is fun. If you time it – you can walk from the Bainbridge ferry station into the “town” for lunch- there are some decent cafe’s there. (But it’s a small town. 🙂 )

Explore Pikes Place Market and Pioneer Square. I love both places. Watch them throw fish. Look for souvenirs at the little shops in the Market, rub the pig’s head. (Note – there are several levels of the market… tourists sometimes miss the lower levels.)

Check out the Seattle Art Museum. Laugh at or enjoy (depending on your perspective) the hammering man ouside the museum. It’s on 1st – halfway between Pikes Place and Pioneer Square. I love the architecture of this place.

Take the monorail from Westlake Center to the Space Needle. Go up in the Space Needle.

I love Seattle. I lived in Bellingham for 3 years and had friends in Seattle so I spent a lot of weekends there.

Skip the car – if you stay downtown you can walk to everything I suggested.

[sdrealtor]

You guys and gals are awesome. Its great to have you all around. Great tips from all and love that I can skip the car.

Is there some place you can take a cruise out to see orcas in the wild. That would make the trip for my kids.

[desmond]

When I travel with my kids we make it a habit to never eat at the same place you could eat at when your at home. I use yelp. We like to try the out of the way places, and we try the places from the food shows, Man v Food, Triple D’s, etc. then your kids can watch the reruns and say they ate there. google man vs food seattle and it will list all the places he has visited: http://maps.google.com/maps?rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-Address&oe=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=man+vs+food+seattle&fb=1&gl=us&hq=man+vs+food&hnear=0x5490102c93e83355:0x102565466944d59a,Seattle,+WA&ei=s-FfT4mFDYK0iQKK7cHWBA&sa=X&oi=local_group&ct=image&ved=0CAgQtgM

[sdrealtor]

Great idea and I wish I could do more of it. I have one very picky eater and another who eats little more than cheese and crackers. Of course that wont stop me from at least one or two meals out for dad.

[desmond]

Not to pile on, my son was recently transferred to Houston. I drove out with him and made a movie of the trip, it’s easy and you can post it on youtube, to be 23 again-check out his new roomates:

[svelte]

I’ve only been there on business so I haven’t had a chance to try it yet, but locals have told me the Boeing factory tour is awesome.

Kids might get a kick out of seeing those huge birds being built too.

[sdduuuude]

Check the season on the Orcas. Not sure when it is.

[sdrealtor]

I checked and it is the beginning of the season for orcas. I would have to rent a car for the day and drive an hour or two to the prime spot but its probably worth doing.

I just booked the train so its gonna happen! I’m bringing their Grandfather also so it will be particularly memorable for them and him.

Thanks again for all the tips!

[UCGal]

My best whale watching experience was on a small passenger ferry that used to operate between Bellingham and Orcas Island.

2nd best was on a state ferry from Anacortes to Orcas.

Extrapolating, riding the ferry to an island named for Orcas, improves your odds of seeing orcas.

[sdduuuude]

Cool – train goes all the way ? No busses ?

Through Berkeley ?

[UCGal]

[quote=sdduuuude]Cool – train goes all the way ? No busses ?

Through Berkeley ?[/quote]

http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?c=AM_Route_C&pagename=am%2FLayout&cid=1241245648567

[sdrealtor]

That’s the one. We should hit darkness around San Jose and sunrise around Mt Shasta which should be the beginning of the best part of the trip.

[desmond]

[quote=sdrealtor]That’s the one. We should hit darkness around San Jose and sunrise around Mt Shasta which should be the beginning of the best part of the trip.[/quote]

How was the trip? I just got back from my “spring break” with my daughter, she just got her SCUBA certification so she “dragged” me (and my wallet) down to the Grand Cayman Island for some diving. I had not dove for 20 years, made a ton of mistakes, got beat up physically, but had a great time.

[sdrealtor]

Sounds awesome and I look forward to the day my kids are old enough for trips like that. Kids 2 week break started today but we are going the week after next. I’ll let ya know how it goes. We are all very excited about it.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=desmond][quote=sdrealtor]That’s the one. We should hit darkness around San Jose and sunrise around Mt Shasta which should be the beginning of the best part of the trip.[/quote]

How was the trip? I just got back from my “spring break” with my daughter, she just got her SCUBA certification so she “dragged” me (and my wallet) down to the Grand Cayman Island for some diving. I had not dove for 20 years, made a ton of mistakes, got beat up physically, but had a great time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzEtYva2fJI%5B/quote%5D

NO, you didn’t “miss the boat,” desmond. That blue water in your video brought back a LOT of memories of the Pacific … from “back in the day,” lol. It’s always good to try something we haven’t for awhile to see if we can still do it. At least all your equipment still worked properly and you are here to tell us about it 🙂

Thanks for sharing new and old. Can I hire you to put together some “archive photos” for me for u-tube??

sdr, if you will be looking at a Mt. Shasta sunrise in the window of a train sleepcar, that is better than nothing. I understand you won’t be able to bring your telescope with you and it is your wish to get to Seattle on the train with your kids so have a GREAT time in whatever there is to do up there.

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