Visiting Seattle in a few weeks (Tacoma, Pacific: apartment, hotels, buying a house)

[dpgtfc]

My wife may have an interview set up in the beginning of March, so we are going to fly out there on a Saturday and leave on a Tuesday. Since we are planning on moving there and possibly buying a house, we aren't really looking for things to do as a Tourist, but more of trying to find out what the area is like.

Things we absolutely HAVE to do:

Eat at a Seattle only restauraunt. Not like 5 star or anything expensive, but no chain restaraunts (unless it is Pacific NW only and good).

Visit Tacoma (Her job may actually be there, we aren't sure which clinic she would be working for).

Get a sense of the city - Driving around seeing the good neighborhoods and spotting an apartment near where she may be working. Obviously we plan on buying this year or beginning of next year, but living in an apartment for ~6 months or so will give us an idea of where to buy. I'm not comfortable doing all the things it takes to buy a house from Missouri, so being local is best.

I don't know what else to do though. Her interview may include some shadowing, so all of Monday will be taken up with that. I may need something to do, find a good bookstore/coffee shop and lounge all day, or go to a mall, or just drive around.

I am VERY open to suggestions.

[Ira500]

If you're in Tacoma, drive/walk around the Proctor District. Nice neighborhood...Also check out Point Defiance Park while in Tacoma...
A unique Seattle eatery not insanely expensive would be Ivar's Salmon House on Northlake Way on Lake Union...if you can get there for Sunday brunch so much the better...It's not fancy by any stretch but it's quite good, and in my opinion far better than the other Ivar's restaurants..

[dpgtfc]

I'll check those out, thanks for the suggestions.

We purchased the flights last night, and reserved some rooms. I didn't really know what was the best, and don't know the neighborhoods, but I found a Travelodge a few blocks from the Space Needle that was relatively inexpensive. (We often use Hojo's but the ones I found looked more like Motels, and I prefer hotels)

If you guys tell me it is a bad neighborhood (looked OK on google street view, but what can that really tell you), I can cancel it and find another place. Would be cool to walk to the needle though, but was hoping to find something around 70-75 a night with a decent view of some mountains, oh well.

[Heiwos]

The Travelodge should be okay. That area and all of downtown is a "be careful at night" zone. One time I checked Seattle proper hotel rates and was surprised at how expensive they are.