Visiting Seattle in March (Bremerton, Bainbridge Island: real estate, neighborhood, school)

[mea-oh]

Hi all:

I will be in Seattle in early March, after last visiting in August, and am looking for some suggestions.

First off, a wee bit about myself: I live in Ohio and my partner and I plan to move to Seattle in about a year. I'm visiting to hopefully do some networking in the community, meet with a real estate agent, and also see the sights. As I said, I've been to Seattle before (quite a few times), but I haven't done all the touristy things. But since I'm going to live there, the touristy stuff isn't that urgent. I'd rather get a feel for what it will be like to live there.

Although I don't know where I'll be living yet, one place we're considering is Columbia City. I currently work for an arts organization and will be looking for a job in the arts or non-profit sector, most likely. I won't start actively looking for a job until late summer/early fall, because I'm currently in grad school.

I'll be staying with a friend, plus I have family in the area as well. I'll be visiting with them too. My partner won't be with me on this trip, so I'll be exploring alone.

What might your recommendations be for me to see and check out? I am training for the half-marathon in May, so I'll need to do some running while I'm out there. Any good places for that? What else would be fun to do?

I've been to Pike Place Market many times, as well as other areas of downtown Seattle. I haven't explored the greater city, though. I've been up to Oak Harbor, Mt. Vernon, Deception Pass, etc. but haven't seen much in an around greater Seattle. I'll most likely have a car, so I can get to all the areas of the city. I'd like to try some public transportation as well.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[Kaciti]

Hi - for running - I would recommend Alki Beach.....it's beautiful with a great view of the City across the water. It also has many good restaurants, cafe's and coffee shops - and it's hard to get lost there If you like authentic, rustic Italian food - I would highly recommend La Rustica - it's right on beach drive - just south of the lighthouse, and you wouldn't feel uncomfortable dining there alone. It's a great place to take your friends and family as well - they don't accept reservations except for tables of more than 6. Have a safe trip out and I hope the weather is nice for you when you get here!

[AlohaHuey]

Originally Posted by mea-oh

Hi all:

I will be in Seattle in early March, after last visiting in August, and am looking for some suggestions.

First off, a wee bit about myself: I live in Ohio and my partner and I plan to move to Seattle in about a year. I'm visiting to hopefully do some networking in the community, meet with a real estate agent, and also see the sights. As I said, I've been to Seattle before (quite a few times), but I haven't done all the touristy things. But since I'm going to live there, the touristy stuff isn't that urgent. I'd rather get a feel for what it will be like to live there.

Although I don't know where I'll be living yet, one place we're considering is Columbia City. I currently work for an arts organization and will be looking for a job in the arts or non-profit sector, most likely. I won't start actively looking for a job until late summer/early fall, because I'm currently in grad school.

I'll be staying with a friend, plus I have family in the area as well. I'll be visiting with them too. My partner won't be with me on this trip, so I'll be exploring alone.

What might your recommendations be for me to see and check out? I am training for the half-marathon in May, so I'll need to do some running while I'm out there. Any good places for that? What else would be fun to do?

I've been to Pike Place Market many times, as well as other areas of downtown Seattle. I haven't explored the greater city, though. I've been up to Oak Harbor, Mt. Vernon, Deception Pass, etc. but haven't seen much in an around greater Seattle. I'll most likely have a car, so I can get to all the areas of the city. I'd like to try some public transportation as well.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Definitely visit Fremont. It has a robust arts community. Have a Red Hook beer.

Columbia City can be a bit dicey at night. Be careful.

Concur about visiting West Seattle/Alki Beach. If the weather is decent (only drizzling and winds less than 20 MPH) you can run at Alki.

Take a ferry across to Bainbridge Island (from downtown) or to Vashon Island (from Fauntleroy) and spend a few hours looking around. The Bainbridge ferry provides a nice view of the city.

Snoqualmie Falls is nice, maybe a trip to the Falls and a bit further to the Snoqualmie Casino for some gaming and dining.

Definitely choose some restaurants to visit...every neighboorhood has a selection of amazing restaurants. In Columbia City, Geraldine's Counter is a great breakfast place. La Rustica is a nice Italian place in Alki.

Enjoy your visit.

[tobester]

Columbia City is a great place ... it is vibrant - I've never considered it dicey.

If you're a runner, you might consider the nearby Seward Park area (where I live). There is no better place to run (IMHO) - you can do a 9 mile loop along a path where you are always looking at the lake and only have to cross one driveway!

[mea-oh]

I was checking out Seward Park on the Internet and also found some runs there on mapmyrun.com. That sounds like it could be a really cool place to run.

Alki Beach looks really pretty too! I might try running at both places during my trip, just to get some different experiences.

Geraldine's Counter sounds like a yummy place to try. When I was there in August, we went to The Pink Door. It was great! Any other must-eats?

I'm looking forward to just exploring around town. I'm so excited to be moving there soon. I wish it was today!

BTW, for all of you "it's too gray in Seattle" people, we've had about two weeks straight of gray here in Columbus. Two weeks ago it was in the teens for highs. Then it got warm but rained a ton. Today we finally saw the sun for an hour before it got cloudy, but the high was only 27. Supposed to stay cold for the foreseeable future. I'll take Seattle weather in a heartbeat.

[Ira500]

Seward Park is a great place to run. The main loop is around 2.5 miles, and many people continue north running on Lake Washington Blvd. Another great breakfast spot is the Hi Spot in the Madrona neighborhood, just north of E Union St on 34th avenue.
Columbia City has an amazingly good bakery. Not too far away at 50th and Genessee is Flying Squirrel Pizza, my favorite pizza place in Seattle. ( Trust me on that. I know pizza). They open @ 5PM, seven days a week.
Just a few miles south of Seward Park is Kubota Gardens, small but gorgeous.

[Nell Plotts]

For a ferry boat ride the route to Bremerton is hard to beat, great cruse for the $$.