Seattle

[larig]

Pike Place Market is fun, but best during weekdays midday. There is a great Vietnamese shop that I can't remember the name of there that was featured on Anthony Bourdain. Matt's in the Market is also superb. The original Starbucks is at the north end of the market. Great downtown restaurants: Lola for brunch, Serious Pie for unusual pizza, Dahlia Lounge for triple coconut pie and doughnuts as well as food, Shiro for sushi, Tavolata for italian, Japonessa. Hit Fran's chocolates at the Four Seasons (it's Obama's fave, the sea salt caramels.... mmmmmm). Flying Fish on westlake for seafood. Drive up to Shilshole and eat at Anthony's on the deck (also seafood) or Palisade in Magnolia and see the cruise ships. In West Seattle, Salty's has a major brunch and the best bakery - Bakery Nouveau. Via Tribunali for wood fired pizza. Oh, and if you like Man vs Food, Beth's Cafe on Aurora is the site of the 12 egg omellete.

Sites: The aquarium is great. The Seattle Great Wheel is new and offers an amazing view. In Seattle Center, the science museum is awesome, EMP is amazing, the children's museum is skippable, the Chihuly Glass Museum is supposed to be astounding though I haven't seen it. The Space Needle tour is overrated but you still have to do it. Don't eat there. Take the Monorail back downtown. MOHAI (museum of industry) is on South Lake Union and is lots of fun, plus pretty to see. The zoo is very good, though a little further away. Museum of Flight is pretty far south near the airport but is amazing and has a shuttle simulator. Seattle Art Museum is great. See the library downtown for the architecture. Kids love the duck boats, but if you see a scowling lady in an Audi with a Foonf in the back, that's me annoyed with the duck boats.

Other cool sites- Crocodile in Belltown, where many of the grunge bands started off early. In Capitol Hill, Unicorn and Value Village were the sites of Macklemore video for Thrift Shop. Dave Matthews shops all the time at the QFC in Wallingford.

Hope that helps

I'll springboard off sntm's...

West Seattle is a great place to spend an afternoon or morning (and you might run into our neighborhood's most famous resident, Eddie Vedder--my coop friends' boys played soccer against his daughter):

you can get there by taking a water taxi from near the Ferris Wheel, http://www.kingcounty.gov/transporta...ttleRoute.aspx There is also a shuttle that runs around West Seattle from the water taxi dock up to the "Alaska Junction" and around on alki beach. (Salty's that sntm mentioned is near the water taxi doc as well).

Alki Beach is there--nice place to walk, have a picnic and explore in low-tide http://www.seattle.gov/parks/park_detail.asp?ID=445 you can eat at the local institution (at its original location), Spud, for great fish and chips--we LOVE their fish.

Schmitz Park is great for short, scenic hikes (an old growth forest in an urban city!? YEP! easy to get to from Alki--it's one of my favorite spots in the city) http://www.seattle.gov/parks/park_detail.asp?ID=465

I'd second the Bakery Nouveau rec highly. Think traditional french bakery. http://www.bakerynouveau.com/ourstory/

There are loads of great places to eat in WS, happy to rec some if you're interested.

if you're near the Market I can rec 2 restaurants highly--the Pink Door and Le Pichet (a charming french place). Everyone raves about this place Mario Batali's dad owns--http://www.salumicuredmeats.com It's in pioneer square (just south of the market), but I've not been.


As far as things to do go...I'd agree with most of what sntm suggested. As far as the Tom Douglas restaurants, I'd pick Lola. It's great. We also really like the Palace Kitchen (although it can get a little loud). I am lukewarm on Dahlia. I can take or leave our art museum, I feel similarly about our aquarium (there are bigger and better in bigger cities, not that ours are bad, just that others have more to offer, IMO--chicago's Shedd and Art Institute come to mind)--I think time could be better spent doing other things if you've seen other great museums or aquariums. EMP is great, and unique to seattle. REI's flagship store is a great place to visit--you can test a bike on their mountain bike test track or use their climbing wall. Seattleites love their Dick's Drive-in burgers (there are several locations). I think I'd rent a car for a day and drive to Rainier or west into the mountains or if you liked Northern Exposure go to "Roslyn" (there are at least 2 rental places downtown--the one we usually use is in the hilton). If you want to do some shopping, I find the shopping at University Village in Seattle's NW neighborhood to be some of the best in the city (you can even see the Apple Store and the new Microsoft Store right across the parking lot from one another). Seattle really shines when you're seeing it outdoors, so I'd look for activities that get you in our parks and on our paths.

And if you're into seattle music, this will be up your alley. http://www.seattle.gov/music/map/

And, do yourself a favor and go see the Fremont troll. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fremont_Troll

And, dress in layers. I wear a tshirt + cardigan/hoodie most days of the year here with a breathable raincoat as my coat in the winter.

[urquie]

We also ate at a couple of Tom Douglas restaurants (Lola & Dahlia Longe). You have to get the donuts at either of those restaurants or at the dahlia bakery...amazing!!

Great downtown restaurants: Lola for brunch, Serious Pie for unusual pizza, Dahlia Lounge for triple coconut pie and doughnuts as well as food

You can buy gift cards at costco, for the Tom Douglas Restaurants, $80 for $100 value. Good happy hour hopping too... Serious Pie pizzas from 3-5pm, then across the street to Lola for great kebabs (served fajita style with ouzo poured on top) pita and skordalia from 4-6pm. Then back across the street to the Dahlia bakery, they often give discount right before closing at 7pm, get the coconut cream pie bites. :-). Yum, fun and not too pricey.