Is there a reason for a tourist to visit Tacoma? (Seattle: high school, camping)

[Losfrisco]

Originally Posted by leastprime

You can take a Sounder train but there limited service hours limited morning and evening commutes.
You can take the Amtrak trains, 12 bucks one way. About 1hr. Runs daily.
You can take a express bus. I forgot the number. About 1 hr. Runs daily. Less so on weekends and holidays. I forget the card because I am a senior and use an Orca card.
Bus and trains use the same location in Seattle and Tacoma. Bus and Trains you may have to walk a 1-3 blocks, pretty much terminal. Tacoma has a shortline street-car that runs from bus/train to downtown Tacoma. Free.

Recommend that you buy an Orca card by mail, at SeaTac, or at International District stop at vending machines or at Soundtransit HQ,

Got an Orca card at Seatac, worked incredibly well thank you. I think I took like 8 separate bus trips on the first day, it was so easy. The app "One Bus Away" works in both San Diego and Seattle, it's great. I took the C rapid bus to the West Seattle farmers market on Sunday, which was the fastest BRT I"ve ever taken

[Losfrisco]

Originally Posted by leastprime

Pacific Galleries, a whole block of junk and stuff. Flea Market. SoDo, nearby Starbucks HQ.
World's Biggest Goodwill Store, corner of Dearborn & Rainier. Just down the hill from Little Saigon.
Little Saigon on Jackson. Up the hill from Goodwill.
Danny Woo Park and neighborhood garden. Horiuchi Park and neighborhood garden. Both are asian style. Interesting. Asian plants and trees. Both in Chinatown/Japantown.
Rent a electric assist bike (Lime or whatever on every street corner in downtown Seattle) and go everywhere fairly fast and cheap.
Several distillers and brewers.
Seattle Underground, Oldtown.
Klondike NP, across the street from SoundTransit on Jackson St & 2nd (?)
Waterfall Park. Site of the founding of UPS. Oldtown.
Washington Convention Center, Freeway Park.
REI Flagship store.
Mtn Bike trail Park under I-5, near REI.
Beacon Hill Park. Catch the bus in 14th & Jackson at Little Saigon. Used to be a navigation beacon site for ships and airplanes.
Seattle Main Library.
https://townhallseattle.org/event-calendar/ lectures and concerts
http://www.city-data.com/forum/seatt...-cultural.html by HomesinSeattle.

What you really need is a companion(s)

I got off at SoDo Tuesday and I'm wondering if I missed anything. What was the huge building with the Starbucks logo on top?

[Losfrisco]

Originally Posted by leastprime

So did you do anything in Chinatown-little Saigon? See the Klondike Museum? the Waterfall Park? Eat some oysters? Clam Chowder?

The ID turned out to be somewhat of a dud for me, perhaps because of the times I went. I had already eaten a huge meal at Biscuit ***** in the morning, then took the Link to ID. I walked up to Dim Sum King, looked at the menu, and realized I couldn't stuff down more food, particularly Chinese. Made the HUGE mistake of getting out at Rainer Beach (why did I do this). We have great Asian food in San Diego and Los Angeles so it was hard for me to get too pumped up for the ID this time. I was way more into just the standard Seattle bar food this time. If you had named off some Korean BBQ's, might have been a different story...

[leastprime]

Originally Posted by Losfrisco

I went back to Broadcast on Sunday morning. The morning began in the ID-almost deserted, I guess that's just Sunday. I was going to take the bus until I realized it was like a 15 minute wait, took a Lyft Line. Broadcast was just as cool as I remember! Went to take the Streetcar back, it wasn't running yet. Had no idea there was a 2nd streetcar line in that part of town.

Its a 15-25 (10 if you run) minute walk to KingStreetStation from Broadcast Coffee. It's all downhill, and you could've stopped in Little Saigon to grab a bite. Zeitgeist Coffee at corner of, 171 S Jackson St, is even more funky.JMO

[leastprime]

Originally Posted by Losfrisco

I got off at SoDo Tuesday and I'm wondering if I missed anything. What was the huge building with the Starbucks logo on top?

Starbucks, of course. Their HDQR. Nothing to see there. They have a little store there, overpriced curios. Wayback when, it was Sears

[notnamed]

If you’re into military history at all there’s the Lewis Army Museum just outside of Tacoma.

[bartonizer]

Losfrisco, please, tell me where I claimed Bellingham was culturally autonomous from Seattle. I said that it has its own flavor. And compared to places like Kent and even Everett, I stand completely by my assertion. You visited several commercial centers of activity (historic Fairhaven and downtown) and went into independent stores and restaurants, and nothing you visited here looks remotely like a suburb. The fact that places in Bellingham support the Seahawks and coffeeshops sell the Seattle Times is kind of silly proof that we're somehow beholden to Seattle. Again, you'll find Seahawks flags flying throughout the entire NW, so....

Here's a review of things you griped about:

1) It was too sunny for you (60 degrees, clear and gorgeous)

2) Bellingham is more of an scenic, outdoorsy destination, not a big city/cultural hub

3) One of the great parks in the area isn't within a cheap Lyft away from the train station (again, other parks are, but you never asked how to get to them)

4) It wasn't crowded enough for you on a Monday afternoon (though you gave a pass to places in Seattle for being deserted because it was Sunday)

5) We don't have our own NFL franchise, and support the team 100 miles away (wait....isn't that kind of like you as a Chargers fan now?)

Apparently, those things don't sound too bad or abnormal to me, or many people from Seattle.

Again, I misjudged what you were interested in, and assumed that a casual day trip would be a good recommendation. You could have asked for suggestions for specific things to see (museums, parks, landmarks, other neighborhoods, better restaurants) and I would have gladly given them to you. And I would have certainly informed you of other transportation options to get you back to Seattle before it was too late at night to go out. But you didn't.

Earlier in the thread, you mentioned all the places you'd visited in Seattle (which I give you plenty of credit for) and seemed to be souring on the idea of Tacoma, which does have a good amount of things to do and see, and looks good on paper as a destination. But, as other posters pointed out, a) getting to Tacoma from Seattle isn't nearly as seamless as it should be and b) isn't that common of a recommended tourist option from Seattle, especially for someone without a car.

Ultimately, it seems that you simply expected something different than what you experienced, and with some of the inconsistent assessments you've made over the course of this thread, I have to conclude that you just simply prefer a bigger city environment.

My recommendation for you: Visit Tacoma next time.

[leastprime]

The Dim Sum is for the airplane/airport. I load up on this or the combos for my return trip on Amtrak. My trip back to Oregon can be anywhere from 5.50-7.0+ hours.

[Losfrisco]

Originally Posted by bartonizer

4) It wasn't crowded enough for you on a Monday afternoon (though you gave a pass to places in Seattle for being deserted because it was Sunday)

5) We don't have our own NFL franchise, and support the team 100 miles away (wait....isn't that kind of like you as a Chargers fan now?)

These are really good analogies, especially when you consider that if you get bored in downtown Bellingham, there are places equivalent to Belltown, Capitol Hill, Pioneer Square, etc. right there next to it! Also, don't forget that the Seahawks actually played in Bellingham from the 1960's up until a few years ago.

[leastprime]

So, what's to do in SanDiego?. Noticed that it's an inexpensive RT via AlaskaAir.