From a tourists eyes... in Washington... (Seattle, Tacoma: crime, houses, buy)

[moonshadow]

Originally Posted by Harbor-ator

No one said what kinds of shops or restaurants they like to see. Do you like small mom and pop type places or big flashy type places? Bars? Wine tasting venues? Parks?

Ok, well in terms of shopping I was very keen to have my first trip to Macy's and was very keen to get to Pike's Place Market. I did hunt up music stores and book stores before we left but we ran out of time for a lot of things anyway. Oh and I had to go to Starbuck's (not normally my thing) simply because Seattle is the heartland.

In terms of restaurants we ate at cafe's, small diners and at a couple of places in Pike's Place, along with a fabulous little place off that alley (can never remember the name) called the Pink Door which we just stumbled across and loved that it had an outdoor dining room with fairy lights and overlooked Puget Sound. It was great too. We also went to a few fast food places.

In terms of other places around Washington on a few occasions we just wandered around the shopping precinct to see what we could see and we'd go in to a place to eat if it had an interesting menu and looked clean.

We specifically went to the restaurant at Alexander's Country Inn the night we came down off Mt Rainier because we knew we'd be staying there the night and the same when we hit Westport, Lake Quinault and Kalaloch. I'm just trying to remember where else we stayed and where we ate out or looked in the shops.....

Oh and we did go to Volunteer Park and The Olympics is that what you mean in terms of parks?

[Harbor-ator]

Originally Posted by moonshadow

That would be me too!

From a tourist perspective my biggest resource is the internet and I researched Washington pretty thoroughly and had planned a good deal of what I wanted to see before I arrived.

After I arrived I utilized the brochure stands in hotel lobbies, asked questions of hotel clerks, other tourist operators and people around me.

In terms of restaurants we had some places already scoped before we arrived, were guided by word of mouth for some others AND happily stumbled across a few randomly whilst we were adventuring.

I find hotel lobbies great for that kind of information as well. Our front desk staff are very well informed about what amenities are in our area.
Let me re-phrase the question though. If you could build the perfect tourist location, what would you put there? What would draw you to that area? What would make you stop and shop?

[Harbor-ator]

Originally Posted by moonshadow

Ok, well in terms of shopping I was very keen to have my first trip to Macy's and was very keen to get to Pike's Place Market. I did hunt up music stores and book stores before we left but we ran out of time for a lot of things anyway. Oh and I had to go to Starbuck's (not normally my thing) simply because Seattle is the heartland.

In terms of restaurants we ate at cafe's, small diners and at a couple of places in Pike's Place, along with a fabulous little place off that alley (can never remember the name) called the Pink Door which we just stumbled across and loved that it had an outdoor dining room with fairy lights and overlooked Puget Sound. It was great too. We also went to a few fast food places.

In terms of other places around Washington on a few occasions we just wandered around the shopping precinct to see what we could see and we'd go in to a place to eat if it had an interesting menu and looked clean.

We specifically went to the restaurant at Alexander's Country Inn the night we came down off Mt Rainier because we knew we'd be staying there the night and the same when we hit Westport, Lake Quinault and Kalaloch. I'm just trying to remember where else we stayed and where we ate out or looked in the shops.....

Oh and we did go to Volunteer Park and The Olympics is that what you mean in terms of parks?

Nice! You do a lot of traveling huh!

[moonshadow]

Originally Posted by Harbor-ator

I find hotel lobbies great for that kind of information as well. Our front desk staff are very well informed about what amenities are in our area.
Let me re-phrase the question though. If you could build the perfect tourist location, what would you put there? What would draw you to that area? What would make you stop and shop?

Ok well in that case, I'm a magpie and I love looking at the pretty stuff and buying it too. So jewellery, one of a kind clothing, glass art (IMO Washington has some of the best in the world) local flavour and it's great when you stumble across a place that has good food and a bit of everything from artists from the area.

I just got back from Massachusetts and while we were there we headed up to Woodstock Vermont (WHICH IS AWESOME for all the things I love) Vintage hats and clothing, antiques, art and craft and excellent restaurants. There was a place we stopped at on the way back but I can't remember the name of it but basically it was a mall of sorts and it had Vermont foods, art, jewellery, even antiques.

ANYWAY when MM wakes up later I'll ask the name of the place because it pretty much encapsulated the perfect shopping experience for me.

[moonshadow]

Originally Posted by Harbor-ator

Nice! You do a lot of traveling huh!

Seem to lately.

I've been very lucky.

[palepeople]

What would make me stop?

Clean & well-lit with good signs & nice parking

Something I can't get at home (I don't want a large national chain restaurant when I travel ) - Like Moonshadwo said - Local flavor

Being able to park & explore (food, nature, shopping all in close proximity)

Shade Opportunities (if it's summer)

[Harbor-ator]

Originally Posted by palepeople

What would make me stop?

Clean & well-lit with good signs & nice parking

Something I can't get at home (I don't want a large national chain restaurant when I travel ) - Like Moonshadwo said - Local flavor

Being able to park & explore (food, nature, shopping all in close proximity)

Shade Opportunities (if it's summer)

Yes, I agree with the park & explore. If the parking is inconvenient it get's frustrating. Well, we're working on it here, but in the meantime I'm collecting opinions. Thanks!

[Harbor-ator]

Originally Posted by moonshadow

Ok well in that case, I'm a magpie and I love looking at the pretty stuff and buying it too. So jewellery, one of a kind clothing, glass art (IMO Washington has some of the best in the world) local flavour and it's great when you stumble across a place that has good food and a bit of everything from artists from the area.

I just got back from Massachusetts and while we were there we headed up to Woodstock Vermont (WHICH IS AWESOME for all the things I love) Vintage hats and clothing, antiques, art and craft and excellent restaurants. There was a place we stopped at on the way back but I can't remember the name of it but basically it was a mall of sorts and it had Vermont foods, art, jewellery, even antiques.

ANYWAY when MM wakes up later I'll ask the name of the place because it pretty much encapsulated the perfect shopping experience for me.

I love those kinds of shops too, my problem with them though, they are extreme in price! EEK! We have a great jewelry store downtown called Wittamaki's that has all kinds of great things! My Lord, I could live in there!

[moonshadow]

Originally Posted by Harbor-ator

I love those kinds of shops too, my problem with them though, they are extreme in price! EEK! We have a great jewelry store downtown called Wittamaki's that has all kinds of great things! My Lord, I could live in there!

Well yeah there's that.

It's like you walk through the door of some places and you set off some kind of scanner and the registers all start going Ka CHING! TOURIST!!

The other thing I find really difficult is that a lot of the stores I would go to to buy things have a huge amount of things that I leave where it is simply because I know what a pain in the butt getting some things back into Australia through our Customs and Border Security is going to be.

When I flew back from Washington I arrived back in Australia via Japan at Brisbane Int Airport which is not my home port and had THE BEST TIME having to unpack the glass paperweights I bought because as the girl at the scanner said, "they come up real pretty on the screen but we'll have to check them" Okaaay.

Had to curb my urge to buy Atlantic Salmon because I could just imagine I'd not have made it home to my house with it and who wants to spend that kind of cash and "donate" it to Customs?

[Harbor-ator]

LOL moonshadow. I could just imagine the turmoil you would feel having to give away that wonderful salmon. Aaaww. So what drew you to Washington from Australia??? I've always wanted to leave Washington and visit Australia! hehe