Hello. I’ve been a lurker here for many years and have found excellent advice for nearly everything. Is there anyone who could recommend either resaurants or hotels in Seattle. I am taking my family to Washington for a vacation ths summer and I’d like to stay in Seattle for a day before going to Mt Rainier NP and Olympic NP. We’ll be in Washington for seven days. Any advice about Seattle or the national parks will be welcome. Oh, and I already have tickets to a Mariners game! I am really looking forward to our trip.
dave
Seattle has so much to offer, it’s hard to narrow down any recommendations.
If it was my trip, I’d find a nice downtown hotel for the day of the game and then head to the Pike Place Market and then south to Pioneer Square. Great shops and restaurants, and within a couple blocks of the waterfront. The stadium is close too. Buses downtown are free.
I haven’t been back for several years and don’t know if my favorite restaurants are still there.
I’ve been to the parks and there’s really no advice to give, except to try and do Rainier on a sunny day. It’s frustrating to drive all that way and not be able to see the mountain. 
We always went to Paradise and if we were energetic, we’d walk the trails. There are lots of turnouts where you can stop and relax and take pictures – very visitor friendly.
When you are on the Olympic side–stop in at Port Townsend or Poulsbo–both very nice little northwest towns that I particularly enjoy. My wife and I usually have a nice weekend in Port Townsend every year and enjoy that town quite a bit
As for restaurants, it depends on what sort of food you would like and how much you are willing to spend. I concur with AuntiePams recommendations about downtown Seattle. You can’t go wrong at Pike Place Market. I work in downtown Seattle, and commute from the Olympic Penisula. I love the summer commuting via the ferry, great views, etc. Wintertime–not so much!
The Seattle Underground Tour is fun, interesting, not too long, and is located in the central part of the city where there are other things to do.
Thank you AuntiePam and Hakuna Matata.
I was hoping to find a nice seafood place to eat in the afternoon before going to the baseball game. That will be the first day we are there. We’re a family of five so whenever I can get by on less than $100.00 for a dinner of some decent food I’m thrilled. So I figure I’d go $200.00 for a good meal in town. No need for fancy-pants, just some good food. The next day we are headed either south to Mt Rainier or west to Olympic. I figure we’ll stay three days in each area then go to see the other park. It’ll be a hit and run but we’ve never been there before so anything we can see or do will be great.
Well, there’s a sit-down Ivar’s on the waterfront. Ivar’s is very Seattle, and it should be between $100-$200 for 5 people. Eating there would keep you in the same area as the game (vs going to West Seattle to Salty’s or something). I’m not a huge seafood aficionado, but I’ve never heard complaints about the food at Ivar’s.
This is the place I’m talking about. You can look at the menu and even make reservations.
I like Anthony’s and there is one on the waterfront–if I recall they have three levels of restaurant there. The higher end on top, a more moderate priced in the middle and a fast food fish-n-chip place right on the street. McCormicks and Schmicks downtown does a decent job for a chain as well. I think both of those would work. Ivars as suggested isn’t too bad either, especially for the price range you suggested and five people.
You coming before or after July 4th? It seems it rains until July 4th and then the sun comes out! September is the best month here as far as I am concerned.
Geez, yes. I remember one 4th when it was 35 degrees.
Anthony’s and McCormick & Schmick’s are still around? Cool. We used to go there for special office events.
david, if your kids are small, they’d love Ivar’s. If you eat on the pier, the seagulls will take french fries right out of your hand. They’d do it if you eat inside too – that’s why they keep the doors closed. 
Thanks everyone for the advice. I just I’ll have to wish for good weather since we will be there the last week of June. My kids are in their early teens and have become very adventurous eaters. We were in Ocean City MD Easter weekend and I ordered oysters on the half shell twice during the weekend and my daughter, 15 and my younger son, 11 both ate them both times.
Both Ivars and the mid level of Anthony’s sound like they are what we want. Cool!
You can spend a large part of the day at the Space Needle, the Experience Music Project, and the Si-Fi Museum. All on the same piece of property. If the day is clear, the view from the Space Needle is awesome.
For a bite to eat anytime, try Beth’s Cafe Not far from the above attractions.
You won’t need 3 days at Mt. Rainier. The park suffered severe wind and storm damage this past winter and will not have much up and running. The road to Paradise is open but the visitor’s center is closed, it is being replaced. The lodge at Longmire will be open but getting reservations can be tough. There is not a lot in the way of lodging at or around the park and camping is going to be slim due to the damage to most of the campgrounds. I take the family to the mountain every couple years and it’s always been a day trip. It’s only a 2 hour drive from where I live in Kent. You can find more info here.
As an alternative, I can make a couple other suggestions. A trip to the Mt. St. Helens and the Johnston Ridge Observatory is a great way to spend a day. Just hope the weather is clear. Lots of volcano stuff and a ton of tourist stuff made from the ash.
Another spot of visit is the Washington Coast. Ocean Shores or Westport are about a 3 hours drive from Seattle, both have lots to do. Ocean Shores has an Indian casino for adult entertainment. A longer drive but much nicer beach can be found down on the Long Beach Peninsula. Over 20 miles of beach and you can drive on it. The town of Long Beach has enough to keep most families busy for a day. A trip to Fort Canby and the fishing town of Ilwaco can fill out the day. Any place on the coast is a great place to spend a few hours flying a kite.
This may be far too out of the way and/or too rustic/unplugged for teens, but we’ve had a couple of nice vacations in La Push. It’s a tiny town on the west coast (near Forks) which is the 1 square mile reservation of the Quileute tribe… which has maybe lived there for 1000 years. The Indians are not wealthy, but there are some decent cabins and the views are gorgeous. The coastline up and down from there for many miles is all part of Olympic National Park. it’s never crowded. We usually stay for a few days - a week would be a struggle with kids, I’m sure.
No TV, cell phone reception, etc., but terrific beachcombing, fresh salmon, driftwood bonfires on the beach, kites on the beach, etc… Not far from there (an hour, maybe?) is the Hoh rain forest , which is also part of Olympic National Park.
This itinerary has a fair amount of driving, but you’ll see a part of the country that few people experience.
I will second the Underground Tour as a neat thing to do in Seattle and also recommend the aquarium. If your family includes kids (of any age) they will probably love it. It’s close to Pike Market–you could probably spend a whole day at these two things.
No love for THE CRAB POT yet? 
Aw…I’ll give you Crab Pot love. Sit at a table, dump seafood, eat seafood. Might be better for a family trip, actually.
I’ll also second the Hoh rainforest. My parents took me there when I was smaller, and let me play in the creek/river until my limbs were red with cold. It is absolutely beautiful and I would drive out there every weekend if I had a car.
Wow. Thanks again everyone. Racer72, I am totally bummed about the condition of Mt. Rainier. I was hoping to do many hikes and stay in a cabin somewhere. I guess that needs rethinking. That does, however, possibly open up time for a trip to Mt. St. Helens. And it looks like we could spend more time in the Olympic NP area and maybe two days in Seattle instead of one.
Also, The Crab Pot might be the ticket. We love a good blue crab picking on the eastern shore in MD and the ‘seafeast’ sounds very northwest and we should check that out. Great, Great, Great!
I just want to say the weather is gorgeous today! The forecast was for rain. Maybe it is raining in Seattle – I don’t know – but it’s sunny and warm up here next to the Canadian border. I took the top off of the MG today and did a bit of topless motoring. Right now I have one of the back doors open and I’m looking at the sun on the trees.
As to the Mt. Rainier thing, yes, Paradise is closed for renovations, but, you can go up the other side to Sunrise, which is absolutely stunning. The easiest way to get there is to go up Hwy 410. Nice trails around there too. I prefer it to Paradise as it is usually less crowded.
You didn’t mention exactly when you were coming to the Seattle area, but mid July through mid-August is when the wildflowers bloom in the meadows there at Rainier. It really is lovely.
My wife and I spent a week in Washington five or six years ago. Remarkably it was sunny most of the time.
High points included the in-town stuff already mentioned. If you like REI or just need some outdoorsy stuff a visit to the REI mothership might be in order.
The Experience Music Project was great, but I thought it leaned heavily on ‘vintage’ 60s and 70s guitar rock and reggae, so if you’re not into that kind of stuff it might not be so great. Seattle has an oddball underground bus system that was nice but it closes up relatively early at night.
I can’t remember exactly where we went on Rainier. Glacier Vista or Panorama Point or both. It was clear day and the views were spectacular. The view from Hurricane Ridge in Olympic NP is not to be missed.
Low points were driving west from Mt. St. Helens (which was fantastic) out to the coast through Aberdeen. That whole area seemed to be really hurting. Also, the men’s room at the Pike Place Market was truly vile.
We spent one day taking a ferry to Victoria, BC, eating some great seafood at Nautical Nellie’s, going up to Butchart Gardens, and spending the rest of the day at a festival on the waterfront. We took a taxi from the ferry to the hotel just as the baseball All-Star game festivities were starting up. I was wearing a baseball cap and it was one of those scenes where everybody’s waiting for us to emerge from the cab with baited breath and it’s just little ole’ us and they turn away. 
Cross the street to the Post Alley market, the toilets don’t have doors either but not near as nasty either. I have complained often about the rest rooms at PPM, they are a true embarrassment to a place the city of Seattle promotes as a tourist destination.