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I can't tell you how much I appreciate all your help!!!!
I can't tell you how much fun LMB and I are both having, helping you plan this lovely adventure. Thank you so much.
I wanted to find a place of birds that you both might go in Seattle, but the best place is Woodland Park Zoo, just north of downtown, which is really marvelous (like the San Diego Zoo) and is home to many different kinds of birds, including Penguins . But their, in my mind, bestestest bird "event" is an introduction, face to face, with tiny owls and larger owls, and an eagle and hawk and kestrel and, if she wants to, a Peregrine Falcon. Called Raptor Training Session, it's very gentle and lovely and unpredictable and sends thrills through my being every time I'm there. But both you and your husband will arrive too late to see them. And the zoo closes at 6:00 daily. Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle WA
Other than that, I can't think of or find any downtown Seattle bird experience, other than the many Seagulls you will see downtown (I know where a couple each year have a nest almost in plain sight, that no one knows about but me and a friend of mine!). You won't know it, but there is a nest that's been maintained for many years of Peregrines -- well, of Belle and her current consort! -- right in downtown, and the building management has a webcam trained on the nest every spring to watch the family...
I keep telling hubby all the things we can do, places where we can stay, places where we can eat, ferries we can take, birds places we can visit and he keeps asking, "How are you getting ALL this information??" I keep telling him that these great people on this forum are supplying my need for information and amusing me at the same time !
Thanks for all the restuarant links -- the Teatro ZinZanni looks wonderful! After hubs gets back from his current business trip (this time it's Chicago; in two weeks it's Las Vegas,) I will ask him about that. There are still tickets (I checked.) He lived in Oregon for awhile (was a professor at Oregon State U) and really misses the west coast salmon, so I know that's something he'll be yearning for while he's there. And I'm curious to see how west coast crabs compare with my home state Chesapeake Bay blue crabs!
Hubby and I have managed to get away about once a year together, though after our second child Nina came home in 2005 (first one, Elena, came home in 2003,) we didn't go anywhere for awhile. She was an all-consuming child for months (her adjustment was not as easy as our first child's) and we did not want to leave her at all for a long time. Our first trip away from her was last May when we went birdwatching in Canada. The girls also love birdwatching (at least for now we have them convinced it's a great activity!)
I have been searching for "something to do" between about 3:30PM and midnight on Friday, May 9! The fun touristy stuff, like the Underground Tour of the buildings from the gold rush days (the miners bought their equipment in Seattle, then went by boat to Alaska, but before they got on board they got drunk and a lot of scullduggery went on) -- and the Seattle Aquarium which is delicious and has resident Sea Otters, and other fun stuff:
either the last tour leaves at 5PM in May, or the place closes at 5PM in May. Sigh...
There's always Pike Place Market which is a long-standing, world-famous farmer's market and craftsperson place. But if you have a general idea of what vegetables and dead fish look like, well....
It does have some killer restaurants, overlooking Elliott Bay (which is part of Puget Sound, which is part of the Pacific Ocean). One is Maximillien's -- French, very special, expensive, maaahhhvelous. DinnerBroker
SALMON
Do not eat a salmon dinner at the restaurant in the Space Needle. It is a restaurant for tourists who are looking for views, not splendid food, let along salmon.
A seafood restaurant, a Tom Douglas restaurant (notice how I'm aiming you toward Teatro ZinZanni...) will give "hubs" (love that!) the salmon he longs for.
CRABS
I remember long long ago Chesapeake Bay blue crabs. Several lifetimes ago I was a New Yorker. West coast crabs are a, well, crab of an entirely different ilk. In restaurants here there will be several types of Alaskan crabs (you've seen them wiggling on "Deadliest Catch") from the Bering Sea. And our local magnifico, Dungeness Crab (pronounced DUN-jen-us) which come from -- tada! -- where the wild birds hang out on the Olympic Peninsula, Dungeness Bay, Dungeness Spit and Dungeness Harbor. Sweet. Lovely. So that's what you'll see on menus here, Alaska Whatever or Dungeness.
Don't worry about the girls and birdwatching. Even if they grow up to never keep a log or buy a pair of binocs, you gave them birds and you gave birds your girls, you made the connection for all of them, and birds will always be with them and they will always smile and say hello, and the girls and the birds will add love to the universe... You did that. You are doing that
we stepped into the Quinault Rain Forest on that bright sunny July day, and the sky disappeared above the incredibly tall trees and the light all around us actually turned to gold, we felt like we'd stepped into an enchanted forest. We DID expect to see unicorns step out from behind those huge trees!
LMB and I haven't said enough about these two places. Suffice it to say: you MUST give yourselves the gifts of these two places.
Lake Crescent looks like hundreds, thousands of lakes in Alaska, thrill in itself, especially for a man who fancies he lives with a (very small) Iditarod team.
On Hwy 101 Lake Crescent is just at the turn from westward to southward. The one of you being the navigator must find a way to turn into a place to stop. So there. A half-hour to sit on the ground and gaze in joy.
The Quinault Rain Forest (which LMB and I both love more than the more famous Hoh Rain Forest) is an experience of beauty, stillness, magic, and transcendence such as exists nowhere else on Earth... You know how much trees do restorative and centering and uplifting work for humans; some of these trees have been around since the beginning of Treeness. They hold, and give freely, such wisdom and peaceful joy. You will never be the same...
The north road at Milepost 129 is more scenic and goes past Lake Quinault. But easier entrance by foot and parking area is Milepost 126, south road. A couple of hours at least, to be.
All outdoors walkabouts out of direct sunlight will be cool. Okay, chilly. Okay, cold! Wear layers, with a top layer that will shed dew, mist, drizzle and something for your head. Hoodies are very popular here.
2 blocks from your hotel, PACIFIC PLACE vertical shopping mall; glitz, glamour and ostentation, designed to drain college funds. Does contain PIKE PLACE CHOWDER restaurant, with world-renowned chowder. Pacific Place - The Ultimate Shopping Experience
SEATTLE OPERA is having a day off on May 9!!! How dare they! (They are Wagner specialists, and world reputation holds their amazing Ring Cycle as finer than that of Beyreuth!)
4 blocks from your hotel the excellent MOORE THEATER has "exceptional local teen musicians representing diverse music genres" at 7:30. The Moore Theatre
Lake Crescent looks like hundreds, thousands of lakes in Alaska, thrill in itself, especially for a man who fancies he lives with a (very small) Iditarod team.
It's funny you should mention Alaska -- our very best friends (they also have 2 little girls, both from Russia, same ages as ours) moved to Alaska last week (he works for Dept of Defense and is a Ukranian/Russian translator -- that's about all I know about his job because he can't talk about it.) He was employed by NSA here in MD but his division, the Ukranian language division, was abolished. Our friends felt like making a HUGE change, so he took a position in Alaska. I first came on this Forum seeking answers for them when they had questions and concerns about living in Anchorage. So I can thank them [very circuitously] for leading me to you guys and to all this great Oly Pen information!!
Our big family trip in 2009 will be to Alaska to visit them for several weeks (if we can manage to save up -- I already have an Alaska trip fund set up.) Either before or after, don't know which yet, we'll somehow do a cruise. I'm looking into the Alaska Maritime Highway and the ferry system because we'd like to have the freedom to get on and off where and when we'd like, but the thought of roughing it with the girls (who will have just turned 5 and almost be 7) is what holds me back from that idea. Cruises with the major cruiselines do not allow for that. However, the luxury that major cruiselines offer is quite alluring.
In any case, I was interested to see that you like the Quinault Forest more than Hoh. We'll keep that in mind. I am the vacation planner in our marriage and, as you can see, I like to plan out every detail which is weird because (if you know Myers Briggs typology,) I'm NOT a planner. However, for vacations, I am to the nth degree. You guys are helping me with my vacation planning obsession!
It's funny you should mention Alaska -- ... I first came on this Forum seeking answers for them when they had questions and concerns about living in Anchorage.
Yes, I know. I first saw your ID on the Alaska forum and was surprised when you showed up on tada! WA!
Quote:
Originally Posted by cmacf1
... Our big family trip in 2009 will be to Alaska ... Either before or after, don't know which yet, we'll somehow do a cruise. I'm looking into the Alaska Maritime Highway and the ferry system ...
The reason I can say that Lake Crescent looks Alaskan is I go up to Alaska fairly frequently. I love Alaska. Wrote a report for class when I was 10, a million years ago, and have felt "connected" ever since.
I fly up, because between Seattle and Fairbanks it's only 3-1/2 hours. Less time to Anchorage, of course.
I know your great adventure up there will be wondrous! Alaska.... beyond your dreams... within your reach. That's the slogan they use in their advertising in WA.
For your logistics, you're in good hands on the Alaska forum. Rance, its moderator, knows everything. Truly. Barkingowl and Xa'at are other wonderful sources of information.
My first time to Alaska I took a Holland America 7-day cruise from Seattle. First "stop" was spending an entire day in Glacier Bay; I couldn't stop crying, it was so wonderful, and icy, and cold, and mountainous, and ---- Alaskan!!! Little icebergs in the water.... big huge white and blue glaciers.... saw the Margerie Glacier calve a few times ... wondermous... The next day was Juneau. Next day, Sitka. Next day, Ketchikan. Next day, Victoria B.C. which I know well so I didn't go roaming. Fabulous, wonderful cruise.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cmacf1
In any case, I was interested to see that you like the Quinault Forest more than Hoh.
LMB and I have discussed this in emails to each other. The Hoh is world-famous, and all the tourists go into the Hoh. Not that there are hordes of people there, but... LMB and I both entered the Quinault first, and the magic and wonder of the energy of the place enchanted us both. I have no interest in the Hoh; I belong to the Quinault. As an almost "unknown" rain forest, it has few human visitors, but those people are serious about being there. The Quinault begins right there at the highway; you have to drive several miles to get in to the Hoh. The rain forest is exactly the same, in terms of vegetation and "livestock", as the two are physical extensions of each other; they're one forest. It's just a matter of magic ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by cmacf1
... I like to plan out every detail which is weird ...
Not at all -- Geminis are great planners, organizers, jigsaw puzzle solvers, detectives, all of which you're being! When you plan vacations, you're just giving voice to a song that's in you Have fun planning!!
AFC and I we were each led to the Quinault by different means, but this special place affected us in very similar ways. My husband and I were exploring the Oly Pen for the first time, and had underestimated the allure and beauty of this area. We were on a 3-week Pacific coast road trip five years ago from Seattle-San Diego--and realized on our first day out we weren't going to have time to get to the Hoh Rainforest. I expressed my disappointment to a ranger at a park information center near Hurricane Ridge. She was a "Quinaulty" and she explained (just as AFC said) that although the Hoh was the largest and most well known rainforest, the Quinault was a real hidden gem and right on our way south the following day. The look on her face convinced us. So that's how we fell under its spell.
We'll be heading back to the Quinault RF this summer, but this time it won't be as a 2-hr sidebar attraction on the way to something special. Sometimes the truly special stuff is what you experience along the way.
So that I don't sound like the tourist that I will be, can you guys help me with the pronunciation of Hoh and Quinault? I'm thinking Ho as in Santa's ho ho ho. And Quinault could either be the French pronunciation: Quin - no, or Quin -alt (as in ALT-ernator.)
Since DH and I are defninitely into visiting the spots on earth where fewer people go, I think we may be "Quinault-y" as well .
This trip is a piggy-back onto DH's conference in Seattle. Our last piggy back trip was last November to San Diego with the girls. While not the place with the fewest people, it sure was beautiful and we LOVED the zoo and Balboa Park.
AFC -- my first cruise was on Holland America with just my older child. My best friend, a single woman with no kids, called me one day 3 years ago and said, "I have to take my parents on a Caribbean cruise and either I will kill them or myself if you don't go with me. I'll pay." I said I couldn't due to Elena. She said, "I knew you would say that. Bring her, too!" So Elena (at 29 months old) and I joined her and her elderly parents on the Zuiderdam. We were on the younger side on that ship and Elena was one of only 10-15 children, but we LOVED it. If we do a large cruiseline Alaska cruise, it will be on Holland America probably. We also want to go to Glacier Bay AND Sitka (wonderful birdwatching there!) but the itineraries don't often include these two ports in one cruise. I haven't seen many itineraries for 2009, though. I'll keep looking!
Oh, gotta get the girls ready for preschool and myself ready for my one day of complete freedom all by myself during the week . Have a wonderful day!
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Pronunciation?
. Have a wonderful day
