What is there to do in Seattle? (Vancouver, Bellevue: renting, neighborhoods)

[KaitSue]

My boyfriend and I are expecting a baby boy.. and now that I can't drink or enjoy the bar scene I have been soooo BORED! Any ideas? Please help us get out of the house!

[Masika]

Northwest folk life festival, not sure how you could live here and not know this lol. There is almost always some kind of festival year round. Not to mention Storm Basketball at the Key Arena all summer long. The possibilities are endless for non-drinking fun.

[CarlB328]

Science center, that fancy video games place, walk on the beach, take a ferry ride somewhere, go to a museum, go walk around Green lake, check out the view from the top of the Space needle.

[rbkoreaus]

Start preparing a lifestyle fit for the baby/family scene. Find some productive hobbies that you may like, whether jogging, hiking, yoga, learning to play an instrument, learn a new language, museum hopping, reading, fine arts stuff, community activities. If you find you lack motivation to get out and be productive, surround yourself with friends who are into things you feel you could enjoy and benefit from in the long run.

[sean98125]

There are just as many things to do here as there are anywhere else in the world. Is there anything that you've ever been interested in other than going to bars and drinking?

You are lucky enough to live in one of the most beautiful corners of the world, where you can drive a couple of hours in one direction and wind up in the desert, a couple of hours in another direction and stand a mile high on the shoulder of a volcano. Another direction puts you on the coast, and another puts you in one of the world's great cities in Vancouver. You can ski, swim, hike, boat, climb, snowboard, mountain bike, ride horses, raft a river or any other outdoor activity you can think of.

Seattle has tons of shopping and restaurants. There are great neighborhoods to walk through and visit. We have a lot of amateur athletic clubs where you can do everything from play adult soccer to indoor beach volleyball. You can even take up curling, lacrosse or go cart racing. There are associations for nearly every ethnic heritage that you can imagine. You can join the Mountaineers if you have any interest in the outdoors. There are tons of places looking for volunteers to help at food banks or tutoring in schools. We are blessed with some great parks.

You can take up camping. You can take up bike riding. You can take sailing lessons. You can invite friends over to play games, either around a table or around a TV set. You can have a dinner party at your home. You can take classes to help you get ready for parenthood, and start hanging out with other couples who are expecting. And after the kid is born you can join a PEP group. Buy a bunch of tickets for the film festival. Start looking for things to do with your kid.

You could make a plan to visit a different museum every week, from the Museum of Flight to the Washington State History Museum to the Naval Undersea Warfare Museum. You could throw a dart at a map of the Puget Sound area and go explore where it lands. You can take a look online to see what festivals and events are going on in the area. Have you been to the Highland Games? How about the rodeo in Graham? The Renaissance Faire? Borrow a friend's kid and take them to Remlinger Farms to go on the rides. Spend a day or a weekend exploring Mt. Rainier. Go to Chelan. Take the train to Portland for the weekend. Make a goal of visiting every state park over the next several years. Find some friends who'd enjoy going on picnics.

There are book groups. There are political action groups. There are movie clubs. There are friends out there that you just haven't met yet.

If you are bored here because you can't get drunk and go to clubs then you'll be bored no matter where you go. You are going to be a mom soon. Get out there are keep trying new things until you find the thing that you are the most passionate about, the thing that excites you. My sister-in-law was bored and she wound up training a search dog. She's been running search dogs for almost 15 years now and has been on nearly 1000 searches over the years. She loves it. And she volunteers with a group that rescues animals from natural disasters and puppy mills. Twenty years ago she had never dreamed about doing anything like that.

Open your eyes, open your mind and open yourself to something new. You'll find out that there is a lot more to life than bars and drinking, especially in Seattle.

[AlohaHuey]

Originally Posted by KaitSue

My boyfriend and I are expecting a baby boy.. and now that I can't drink or enjoy the bar scene I have been soooo BORED! Any ideas? Please help us get out of the house!

Pick up a Stranger and look for the weekend calendar. There are a million things to do. But you need to put in the effort to find the things you LIKE to do.

[Redline]

step 1: enroll in baby activities and meet other moms in the same boat you are in. Read parenting books ad naseum.

step 2: hire a nanny or beg parents to babysit

step 3: get married?

step 4: kiss the "good ole days" of having no kids goodbye

[eskercurve]

Go to the website meetup.com and check out local events and groups of people that like to hang out and do stuff together. The website allows you to search for specific activities and it returns results based on your preferences.

I'd recommend you find groups that have other new parents and others who share your interests besides clubbing. It sounds like you need to grow out of that mold and discover this great big world of opportunities we live in. There's a time and place for clubbing, drinking your brains out, and staying up until 5 AM with some random person you never met before. But that time is now gone, time to discover other parts of yourself.

[amark]

- Space Needle / Seattle Center / Pacific Science Center
- EMP (Experience Music Project)
- Seattle Aquarium / Waterfront Area
- Museum of Flight
- Boeing Factory Tour
- Woodland Park Zoo
- Pike Place Market
- Ballard Locks
- Underground Tour
- Seattle Art Museum
- Columbia Center
- University of Washington
- Washington State Ferries
- Seattle Public Library
- Parks: Kerry Park, Alki Beach, Gasworks, Washington Park Arboretum, etc.
- Outdoors/Sports: Skiing, Water Activities, etc.
- Shopping: Downtown (Westlake Center), Northgate, Alderwood, Southcenter, Bellevue Square, Seattle Outlets
- Sports: Mariners, Seahawks, Sounders, Huskies
- Unique Areas: U-District, Belltown, Capitol Hill, Pioneer Square, Ballard, Fremont, etc.

[KaitSue]

thanks for all the ideas and suggestions everyone!
We recently took the ferry out to Whidbey Island and drove out to Ft. Casey.. it was great!
We also have been visting the local dog parks more often due to the nice weather
There is a lot more to do around here than I thought!
Anyone read Jenny McCarthy's book Belly Laughs?
Hilarious... even if your not expecting!
Thanks again everyone!