I'm going to Seattle (via Calgary)!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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My husband travels a lot for his job, and in December he has to go to Seattle for a project, and he invited me to come along. His trip falls during the 10 days I have off leading up to my last final exam, so the timing is perfect. On top of that, he has accumulated more than enough Aeroplan points to pay for my flight, and since the hotel and rental car are paid by his company, and he has a generous per diem that can easily feed the two of us, all we have to pay are airport taxes and fees.

So, round trip to Seattle from Montreal; 140$. I think it’s only that expensive because of Pearson Airport… hehehehe!

We leave the morning of Saturday the 8th, and fly to Calgary, but then we have a seven hour wait before we can fly down to Seattle (this is a consequence of available Aeroplan flights).

Calgary Dopers: Is there anything we can do in a couple of hours in Calgary, near the airport and using public transportation/not too far in a taxi, while dragging our luggage with us (unless the airport redirects it to the new flight without us having to pick it up)? A good neighbourhood for lunch, maybe?

We’ll get to Seattle Saturday evening, and we are there until Thursday, when we fly back via Toronto (with a 3 hour wait at Pearson).

Seattle Dopers: So what do we do there? We will be staying at the Residence Inn, Tukwila, if that affects any of your responses! Hubby has to work, and his hours there are going to be irregular, but I’ll be free to do what I want. He’ll have a rental car but I don’t know if it will be available to me that often. Is there decent transportation from that hotel to anything of interest? Are there visitor transit passes I should look into getting?

We want to go to the flight museum, but other than that, what else is worth doing? We will certainly be shopping, seeing as we can each bring back 400$ worth of stuff, duty-free, and with the dollars as they are, we’d be crazy not to shop while there! Any recommended shopping areas? What about night life - dinner and music?

I am so excited about this!

With the Aeroplan points he gets every year, we ought to be able to do trips like this once or twice a year… we owe my sister a visit out in PEI this summer…!

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To make sure I understand this, you will be in Calgary for seven hours on Saturday, December 8th, from some time in the morning until some time in the afternoon? My husband and I live right near the airport - we could possibly join you for lunch if that would work for you.

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Hmmmm, Tukwila is actually just a bit south of Seattle. There’s lots to do in Seattle proper, Pike Place Market, Seattle Underground Tour, Seattle Center, etc.

I don’t really live in Seattle proper, I’m about 30 miles south, but I’m sure the “real” Seattleites will be popping in soon to give you the skinny on what to do.

Oh, you can actually buy Bacon Salt at the Pike Place Market.

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Taters beat me to it. I was gonna say buy bacon salt. :smiley:

mnemosyne I had the priviledge of meeting a buncha Seattle/Seattle area dopers when I was there a couple of years ago. We did the tour of Underground Seattle and had dinner at a nummy place but I don’t recall the name. Anywho, the tour of Underground Seattle is a hoot, so you should do that while you’re in the area. Pike Place Market is also really cool. You can watch fish gettin’ thrown around. Plus buy bacon salt! What more could you ask for in one place!

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Tukwila is mostly one big shopping center, you name what you want you will find it nearby. Southcenter mall is about a mile or so from your hotel. There are other malls not to far away, Bellevue Square, The Supermall in Auburn, Westlake Center in Seattle. There is an outlet mall in North Bend, it’s about a 45 minute drive from Tukwila. You will also be near an Ikea too.

You will find every chain restaurant closeby too, if not in Tukwila it’s in nearby Renton. I will recommend a couple of seafood restaurants, either Dukes near the locks or Salty’s in Redondo. Tom Douglas, a local chef of some national fame, has some restaurants in Seattle with outstanding food. Mr. Douglas torched Bobby Flay’s buns when he appeared on Iron Chef.

Most of the Seattle nightlife is centered around the Pioneer Square area in Seattle. It tends to be a younger crowd and thing tend to get rowdy after midnight. There are lots of local card rooms, for a full service casino the Muckleshoot casino is about half an hour south. I live in Kent and work in Renton and know Tukwila fairly well, ask away if you have any other questions.

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Your hotel is about 12 miles from the southern end of the “interesting” parts of Seattle (the only thing within walking distance that might interest you is the Southcenter Mall, as mentioned by racer72). However, the Tukwila station of the local commuter rail line (Sound Transit) is within 0.5 miles of the hotel (go 0.2 miles North on West Valley Highway, then 0.2 miles East on South Longacres Way). Train schedules are here (5 trains into Seattle each weekday morning, 5 trains back to Tukwila each weekday evening, $3.25 one-way fare). In less than 20 minutes, you’d arrive at Seattle’s historic (Venetian-influenced) King Street Station, on the edge of Pioneer Square (historic neighborhood, including the Seattle Underground Tour).

So, on a day when your husband needs the car, get him to drop you off at the Tukwila station, then once in Seattle you’re right by the International District (wonderful stuff from all over East Asia – don’t miss Uwajimaya!). Buses are free within the Downtown Seattle Ride Free Area (King Street station is at the southern end of the Zone; note also the locations of the Ferry Terminal and Pike Place Market – the latter’s well worth a visit even apart from the Bacon Salt). Seattle bus maps in PDF are here, or pick up a hard copy and get other transit info at the Metro Customer Service Office one block from King Street station.

Downtown Seattle is very walkable (but hilly!) and well worth the effort, but public transit is fairly good too. Once you’ve oriented yourself, explore Belltown, the Seattle Center, Queen Anne, and Capitol Hill. After you’ve spent the day exploring and your husband’s work day is over, he can drive into Seattle to meet you for dinner – parking in downtown areas is easier in the evenings.

Don’t forget to take a ferry ride! [I’d recommend Seattle to Bremerton and back.]

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The restaurant was Chinook’s
Here’s a virtual tour of the Seattle area.

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Sorry for the delay in answering - I wanted to run this past my husband before replying! I wouldn’t want you to go out of your way for us, featherlou, but that does sound like fun! I just got the flight itinerary today, and it looks like we’re scheduled to land around 11am in Calgary and our flight out leaves a little before 6pm. We can obviously make more detailed plans closer to the actual date (and I totally understand if something else happens to come up for you!) - I just made my email public in my profile, we can talk that way!

As for Seattle… wow, that’s a lot of information!

I think the idea of a Downtown Ride Free Zone is probably one of the most brilliant things to pass through a city council vote in the history of… well, ever! I think we will certainly be taking advantage of that!

I will have to track down this legendary Bacon Salt… I’ve read the thread, I’ve been tempted, but I didn’t want to pay for shipping. If I can just walk into a store a buy a bottle… I just might be the next convert to the SDMB Church of Bacon Salt!

I’m going to have to read all those websites and print some things out and maybe come up with some sort of itinerary for my visit! Ferry rides sound fun - I love being on boats! Definitely some Christmas shopping; we are seriously considering buying ourselves a Roomba… this is why! What store names should I be looking for to buy one?

And the Underground Tour sounds really good too!

So many choices, so little time! Thanks so much for all the advice!

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Update: A fun time was had by all Saturday afternoon in Calgary. Here’s proof that some of us actually leave the basement once in a while. :smiley:

(Those smiling people are mnemosyne and her husband. The background is the Calgary downtown skyline, with the Saddledome and Calgary Tower. Notice at least a couple of cranes in the shot - we counted somewhere around 10 cranes in a different view of downtown. Jim figures there are probably around 30 cranes operating downtown at the moment - there’s a lot of work going on there!)

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Have breakfast at either Etta’s (huevos rancheros), Lola (try the pancakes; seriously) or Dahlia (all owned by the same guy), or pastries and coffee at Le Panier. Avoid the crapfest at Lowell’s on the waterfront; it’s overhyped and under-quality. Have lunch at any of the above, or at Salumi, which is a terrific little deli. Have dinner at Wild Ginger (Asian cuisine; try the seven-flavored beef; it’s to die for).

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We did in fact have a great time, and I just wanted to say that featherlou and her husband are two of the nicest people we’ve ever met! Calgary really is a beautiful city, and I’d love to try and make it back there someday.

So far Seattle has been pretty relaxed, since my husband works 12 hour nights (6-6, more or less), and I have to finish one last school assignment before tomorrow. We did some shopping at Southcenter mall yesterday, and we will likely head downtown (at least to Pike Place Market) tomorrow. Wednesday will also be touristy stuff, and then we fly back out on Thursday. I’m not sure what I want to do this afternoon yet. We’ll see how the homework goes!

Even if we only see a couple of things mentioned in this thread, it’s a lot more fun than me sitting at home while hubby is out here!

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Tuesday nights, a bunch of Dopers usually get together at a bar and play pub trivia. You interested in a couple of beers and some hilarious conversation?

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You know, that could be really fun! Where and when do you meet up - I’d have to figure out the best way to get there (and back to the hotel after!) It’s unlikely my husband could join us (I doubt he’ll finish his work tonight), and the car arrangement is really inconvenient for me.

Let me know how things go, and I’ll confirm tomorrow!

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We will discuss our arrangements in this thread. Add a post there, or subscribe, or whatever, and let us know if you’re able to make it, and we’ll see about figuring something out.