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Old 08-14-2015, 06:39 PM
 
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
595 posts, read 594,680 times
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Hello,

The wife and I have been wanting to visit the Pacific Northwest for years. We originally wanted to honeymoon there 6 years ago when we were married (Portland/Seattle/Vancouver tour), but it never manifested.

Anyway, our 6 year is coming up (Labor Day Weekend) and I planned on surprising her by packing our bags and heading to Seattle for a day (arriving around 11am Saturday the 5th, leaving mid-day Sunday the 6th) and are looking for general trip ideas. We'll be staying downtown (probably at the Westin) and am looking for recommendations on what to do.

We currently live in Pittsburgh, so we enjoy scenic views (I'm assuming we'll visit the Space Needle), good beer, and fun neighborhoods with cool things to check out. We're more of bar-flys and less of club scene type people. Good dinner recommendations would be nice too, but something preferably not too far from downtown since we'll be Uber/Lyfting everywhere. Also, if there's any "true to Seattle" like places (not Applebees or Olive Garden, but not a 5-star place - something unique to Seattle) that are worth checking out, that would be nice.

Feel free to ask questions to get more of a background on us if it helps. Look forward to visiting your wonderful city!
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Old 08-14-2015, 06:47 PM
 
21,988 posts, read 15,603,722 times
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You should take the Argosy Lake Union, Ballard Locks Tour

Seattle Locks Cruise and Sightseeing Tour : Argosy Cruises In Seattle

Tons of places to eat from the top of the Space Needle while the restaurant revolves to Palisade

Palisade Restaurant - Seattle, WA and a thousand others.

Take a ferry to Bainbridge Island and back, one day is not a lot of time.
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Old 08-14-2015, 06:59 PM
 
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You might consider staying in Ballard, no clubs but lots of excellent, highly rated local restaurants and 10 breweries. Ballard has become the premier neighborhood for food and drink over the past few years, it's aimed at all ages, and doesn't have an overly tourist vibe although it draws in people from all over.

I live about 2 miles from there and there's rarely any reason to go dine elsewhere with a hundred restaurants to choose from - virtually all of them are local - with that kind of competition an Olive Garden wouldn't stay in business for a month.
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Old 08-14-2015, 09:58 PM
 
Location: Independent Republic of Ballard
8,061 posts, read 8,284,170 times
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Give her a night she'll remember (sea cruise and dinner with a view):

1. Sea Cruise (15 minutes):

Catch the West Seattle Water Taxi from Pier 50 to Seacrest Park ($4.75/each, leaves on the half-hour):

West Seattle Route

2. Dinner with a View (Marination Ma Kai - Korean/Hawaiian/Fusion):

Marination Ma Kai - 523 Photos - Korean - Seattle, WA - Reviews - Menu - Yelp

Featured in: 36 Hours in Seattle - Video - NYTimes.com
(Good source of other ideas)

Water-Taxi returns on the hour. Saturday the 7th (Labor Day) will be on a Sunday schedule, so last boat leaves at 8pm.

The view:



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Old 08-14-2015, 10:39 PM
 
Location: Seattle
1,880 posts, read 2,059,490 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lprmesia View Post
Anyway, our 6 year is coming up (Labor Day Weekend) and I planned on surprising her by packing our bags and heading to Seattle for a day (arriving around 11am Saturday the 5th, leaving mid-day Sunday the 6th) ... (I'm assuming we'll visit the Space Needle)...
At the Space Needle you'll have around 100,000 fellow visitors as Labor Day weekend is when the big Bumbershoot music/arts festival occurs at Seattle Center. The whole area will be exceedingly congested, so you might want to look at other viewpoints (of which there are many.) Of course if you're into current music, it's terrific.
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Old 08-15-2015, 08:44 AM
 
Location: Alamogordo, NM
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That is one sweet shot of the downtown of Seattle from West Seattle. Nice!
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Old 08-15-2015, 09:23 AM
 
Location: Seattle
8,154 posts, read 8,198,114 times
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I second the Ballard idea, lots to do, ranging from great farm to table restaurants to little dive bars, also one of the excellent Seattle music venues, The Tractor Tavern. Ballard is a short hop to glorious sunsets and bonfires at Golden Gardens Park. You can walk to the exceptional Ballard locks, see the ships, salmon and sea lions. Super Fremont and all of its funkiness is close by.

Downtown Seattle is just an Uber away. Don't miss the Wing Luke Museum and International District while you are here, if you could catch a Seattle Sounders professional soccer match you would love it. So, have a great trip!
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Old 08-15-2015, 11:47 AM
 
Location: Seattle
1,880 posts, read 2,059,490 times
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A couple of logistics items...

First, I've already mentioned Bumbershoot. If you're staying at the Westin and want to visit the Space Needle, I would do so on arrival on Saturday. Use the monorail from Westlake Center (across the street from the Westin) and if you want to see the Chihuly Ego garden at the same time, use the combination ticket they sell. Seattle Center will be packed, but not as bad as it will be later in the evening. (The Space Needle and Chihuly are segregated from the Seattle Center grounds so you don't need to buy an Bumbershoot ticket to see them.)

Second, on the evening of the 5th the local soccer team, the Seattle Sounders, will be playing at Century Link Field, on the south end of downtown. Even though the team isn't doing very well this year, the Sounders draw enormous crowds - 50,000 plus, so the entire Pioneer Square area will be hopping before and after the match (starts at 7, so say 4 - 6:30 and 9 - midnight.) Lots of bars and cafes in the Pioneer Square area that will be mobbed with green and blue scarves and face-painted people chanting. Quite the European scene, in fact.

My "schematic" suggestion (one of many alternatives) would go like this:

Saturday - arrive at Westin. Monorail to Seattle Center, visit Space Needle/Chihuly, then walk down to the Olympic Sculpture Park on the waterfront. Make your way south along the waterfront (roughly a mile) to the Washington State ferry dock, and take a ferry to Bainbridge Island. On landing, walk 15-20 min. to the Harbour Public House or Doc's Grill for a pint or three and a meal overlooking beautiful Eagle Harbor.

Then if possible time your return to Seattle so that it's close to sunset (around 7:40 PM) when the lights of the city start coming on, and the Olympic mountains are in silhouette to the west. It's a magical experience.



Finish the evening off around Pioneer Square (next to the ferry dock) with the footie fans, or else head back to the Belltown area near the Westin, or around the Pike Place market, where there are many music/beer venues. If you're coming straight from Pittsburgh, remember the 3 hour time change.

Note I haven't included either Ballard nor the West Seattle/Ma Kai options. These are both splendid ideas, but the water taxi doesn't run late enough for West Seattle, and if I had to choose between a pub crawl in Ballard or a ferry ride to Bainbridge, well, no disrespect to the Ballard fans, but... duh.

Sunday: Given it will be 3 hours earlier on your body clocks, get up and head to the Pike Place market for breakfast. My recommendation is Lowell's - basic American breakfast with a killer view, but you could also go to the Athenian next door, or Le Pichet on First Avenue (no view) or any number of other places in the market vicinity. Then explore the market while it's setting up. The thing is, you need to be gone by 10:30 or so because by then the crowds will become oppressive.

By then it's probably time to head back to the hotel and on to the airport, your 24 hours in the books.

Obviously much has been skipped, but in 24 hours you can't even begin to skim the surface, much less go below it. Stay longer next time.

Last edited by Gardyloo; 08-15-2015 at 12:05 PM..
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Old 08-15-2015, 12:01 PM
 
Location: St Thomas, USVI - Seattle, WA - Gulf Coast, TX
811 posts, read 1,134,340 times
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Amending the good ideas above...
Ballard brewery info:
Ballard Breweries

Restaurant-wise, it's hard to know where to even start. Ballard is loaded with delicious, character-filled spots. Homesinseattle just mentioned the International District which is a delicious tour around the world (I miss Vietnamese food so much when I'm living on the other ocean that it's one of my first stops when I get "home" to Seattle). I also think you might enjoy checking out one of Ethan Stowell's or Tom Douglas' restaurants. Locals are probably a little tired of hearing about them, but they really deserve the attention, honestly. Both are great, local chefs who have had a big impact on the Seattle food scene and created their own mini empires of unique restaurants (delicious, interesting food, great ambience...) that are peppered throughout Seattle, and range from casual to fine-dining (but not stuffy or overly fancy). Two of my favorites are Ethan Stowell's Staple and Fancy (in Ballard, so another vote for that area), and Tom Douglas' Palace Kitchen (down the street from the Westin, downtown, if you do end up staying there). All of their restaurants are different from one another and worth checking out though:
Ethan Stowell Restaurants | Seattle
Tom Douglas - Home

I have to mention the iconic Salumi too, as an awesome lunch spot. They're an antipasto/cured meats shop that makes AH-MAZING sandwiches. The place also happens to be owned by Mario Batali's parents. It sort of endears me to them more that (even though everyone probably does already know it...) they make no mention of it as a selling point on their website or elsewhere. The spot is in Pioneer Square. Salumi Artisan Cured Meats

That's just a tiny drop in the bucket as far as great restaurants in Seattle goes though... All of the ideas you've received from others are really great too (another strong vote here for Le Pichet, Ma Kai...) and there are plenty more where those came from.

Have a great visit!!
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Old 08-15-2015, 12:42 PM
 
Location: Seattle
8,154 posts, read 8,198,114 times
Reputation: 5957
IslandCityGirl, sounds like you need to come back to us !
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