I disagree with this assessment. Downtown Seattle has some issues with drugs and homelessness, but there isn’t a big city in America that doesn’t have those problems, and downtown took a big hit from covid just like every downtown in every city has, but things are improving, no matter how much the Sinclair propagandists on KOMO fearmonger about how the city is rotting from the inside because there are too many poors these days. Even Third Avenue, which looked like a scene out of a post-apocalyptic movie in 2021, is gradually healing. My favorite place to stay in Seattle is an AirBNB in Pioneer Square and I’ve walked around in that neighborhood at night and never feared for my safety.
That part I’ll agree with. There are way too many one-way streets, the streets are too narrow, parking costs an arm and a leg assuming you can even find it, and despite the fact that it rains ten months out of the year the locals seem completely unfamiliar with how to drive in the rain. If you do stay in Seattle, I recommend parking at the hotel and taking the bus or the subway (yes, Seattle has a subway) to get to your destination.
Victoria itself is a good afternoon walk. If you like arboretums (arboreta?) then you owe it to yourself to drive up to Butchart Gardens less than 30 minutes away. In Vancouver there are a ton of great museums and I’ve heard that due to that large Chinese population that it has great Chinese restaurants although I’ve never tested it out.
So you know, it is pronounced “Squim” not “See-quim”. You might think about popping up to Dungeness and hiking along the spit to the lighthouse or eating dungeness crab fresh off the boats in Port Angeles.
Then you might be disappointed. When I went on the Tour, yeah they were mostly basements. Think about going to Ballard Locks. Salmon should be running at that time. If downtown there is of course the Space Needle and Pioneer Square but check out the Chihuly Museum and the Science Center.
If you are coming in on the 90 and going to do Seattle anyways, then see if the Bremerton ferry from Seattle will fit into your plans. When I took my 10 year old to Seattle, he was hugely impressed with the ferry and being in the middle of Puget Sound. Even if you don’t use it to get to the Kitsap Penninsula, maybe use it to get back to Seattle.
If you go through Tacoma, you will go over the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, the replacement for “Galloping Gertie”. And I always loved the drive up the 16 (and the 3 and down Longbranch) but by that time you might be thinking, “I need to stop driving and get the Hell out of the car.”
Speaking as someone who lived in Seattle, Colorado Springs and now Denver, yes Mt. Ranier will be impressive as you see it during your drive but it would be anti-climatic for you to go to it. I’d plan a trip to The Springs and include Pikes Peak or pick any of our easy 14ers for a day hike as a better option.
Unless you are a Starbucks fanatic so you can say, “OMG, I drank Pikes Peak blend at the original Starbucks!”
In the helpful spirit of pronouncing Sequim correctly, do not ever use “the” when referring to a highway. I know it’s second nature to some, and no offense intended to Saint_Cad, but doing so will (rightly or wrongly) mark you as a Californian — worse yet, a Southern Californian. You may as well carry an umbrella.
Far longer than that (I got my license in 1964, and they were building I-5 through Tacoma then). And I have an internal bet as to when they start a new project requiring tearing everything up again; I’m guessing no more than two years.
Pikes Peak is in Colorado. Maybe Pike Place Blend?
Regarding the Edmonds/Kingston ferry, it can be bad at any time, due to sick outs, weather, or if there’s a shortages of ferries, or someone ran into the dock.
But do do a ferry ride on the Puget Sound. It’s the largest ferry system in the United States. And, if the weather’s good, you can get view of Mt. Baker to Mt. Rainer, depending on the ferry route. And if you’re really lucky, you might see a seal or a whale.
As the OP is from Denver, I would concentrate on visiting things other than the mountains. Such as seeing tidal pools at low tide and the Hoh rain forest. We’re planning to go see Mt. St. Helens again - we haven’t been there since 2004.
As a native Seattlite, I’ve never been on the Underground tour, but hubby’s been, and he liked it. I just mentioned it, and we might go on the tour when we’re there in July/August.
Husband’s from the Philly area. If we do the tour, we’re stopping, and I’ll report back.
We’re probably going to the locks again, and then stopping at Little Chinook’s for fish & chips.
Hadn’t heard of that before, might try it. Also does charters, which does give me an idea for my parents’ desire for a party. And it sets off from the Museum of History and Industry, which I’ve been meaning to visit.
We’re also planning to take the Clipper to Victoria from Seattle (or might leave from Port Angeles - haven’t decided), and then spending a night or two. It’s possible to get a bus (tour? not sure) to Butchart Gardens, so it’s definitely possible to visit the gardens without a vehicle. Now I’m wondering if I can convince my husband to go twice - once during the day and once at night. Probably have to schedule one of those visits for a future PNW top.
I don’t think we’ll be going to high tea at the Empress. $95 per person!
Yes, I think the Seattle plan will be to stay near the airport, where hotels are much cheaper than downtown, and then take the light rail up. Is that the same as the subway? My wife has friends she wants to see in Seattle, and I don’t know where they live, so that plan might need adjustment.
I asked my kid, and she said, “yeah, I’ll eat crab!” So I think that is a winner. Any specific restaurant suggestions? There are several places an easy bike ride from the campgrounds, but taking bikes simply won’t work for this trip.
My wife loves Chihuly. We spent so much time staring at the ceiling in the Bellagio. The Pacific Science Center and the Museum of Flight both have reciprocal membership with the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, so those are high on the list of possible destinations.
I love the ASTC museum reciprocity program. It would cost about $65 for us to visit PACSCI, and a family membership at DMNS is $112. It’s already paid for itself this year with visits to the Thinkery in Austin and Johnson Space Center, not to mention a visit or two to DMNS itself.
I’m not so cheap as to skip someplace just because we have to pay admission, but economizing is good.
With the Sunrise Visitor center at about 6,000 feet, and then having to walk up another 8,000 to get to the top of Ranier, it’s not going to happen. Driving up Mount Evans (soon to be Blue Sky, maybe) is on my list for things to do this summer. My kid would like to see a volcano, but that’s more the Hawaii or Iceland style bubbling lava than just a quiet (for now) Cascade Range cone.
I was thinking of taking the car to Victoria, and then the ferry from Sydney back to Seattle. Due to a shortage of boats, that route is suspended until 2030!
Unfortunately that is on the wrong side of Olympic National Park, and is a 3-4 hour drive from where we’re staying. If we did that, it would be a western loop on the way home, doing Hoh and Mt Saint Helens. There is a strong preference to do Victoria, instead. There is absolutely no shortage of things to do and see, it is much more a matter of picking the few we will actually aim for.
I’m definitely more inclined to seaside nature than mountain nature, but it seems silly to be across the street from Olympic National Park and not stop by. It is a different kind of forest than what we get here, so it will be new.
Thank you everybody for all of the suggestions. Keep them coming, especially tips for specific restaurants in Sequim, PA, Victoria, Seattle, Yakima, and Boise. It’s very easy to search for “best brunch in Victoria”, but difficult to tell the difference between some trendy place that is overrated and a trendy place that deserves every bit of praise.
It’s a light rail train. It’s okay, but pretty slow. I think it’s about 40 minutes from the airport to downtown. It goes underground in Seattle, but it’s not a subway in the traditional sense.
I was going to mention that. If the OP has any engineering or history geeks, they might appreciate seeing where the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapsed.
For anyone else, a ferry is probably a more enjoyable option.
If there are any film buffs on the trip, that’s where An Officer and a Gentleman was shot.
There’s a Museum of Glass in Tacoma. Don’t let the Seattle folks fool you, Chihuly is from Tacoma. There’s a McDonald’s in Tacoma with a Chihuly.
Hell, if you want to dig through 10-year-old posts, you can find the thread where I found out one of my grocery store coworkers in Tacoma was involved in a plot to steal Chihuly pieces from his warehouse and sell them on the black market to fund the ringleader’s pill-popping habit.
They eventually got caught when one of the buyers had his new purchase appraised and the appraiser IDed it as stolen.
In Yakima, Miner’s is famous for their burgers. The burgers and fries are huge. They don’t have kids meals, and it can be super busy, especially when there is a kids sport bus. Alternate for good burgers: Major’s.
If you’re staying in Yakima, I recommend the Oxford Suites. It’s close to the highway, the greenway, and Walmart if you need something quickly. Do NOT stay on N First. The trains run behind the hotels, and it’s just an overall crappy area. Alternate hotel: Ledgestone Hotel.
If you want a quiet hotel you can stay in nearby Selah, but that town is full of racist fucks and there’s nothing to do.
Depending on the night you are here, there may be free concerts downtown or at Franklin Park.
Ooh, cool. I didn’t realize we have a poster here who’d had a brush with international art thieves.
I may have seen Chihuly, once. I went to an installation of his (100,000 Pounds of Ice and Neon) at the Tacoma Dome in 1993. That was years before most people had heard of him.
Thanks for the tips about Yakima. Ledgestone has the supercharger in their parking lot, so it is on my list. I’ll probably end up at the other hotel across the parking lot, or one of the ones down the street, just because of price. As long as they’re reasonably clean, I don’t need anything special.
I see the strip of hotels to avoid on N First.
We’ll be there on a Wednesday night, so our best bet for entertainment is probably letting the kid splash around the hotel pool.
Great tips about the burger places, too. I don’t like major chain fast food burgers (probably because I’m a food snob of some sort), but I do love the smaller places that really know how to use a grill and fryer.
They have a full menu of hot and cold subs, but the cheesesteak is the house specialty and it’s the only thing I’ve ever ordered there. The owner is a Philly transplant and I believe he has the hoagie rolls shipped in from the east coast. They have Cheez Whiz available if that’s your jam, as well as several other choices of cheese (I usually get mine with pepperjack, which is unconventional, but quite tasty), and you can add your choice of onions, mushrooms, jalapenos, sweet peppers, fried bell peppers, or marinara, or cold veggies for no extra charge. If you do go there, I recommend ordering them to go even if you plan on eating them at the restaurant - something about the process of wrapping them up compresses them and makes them hold together and blend the flavors better than when they serve it in a dine-in basket unwrapped.
Be advised that their hours are limited - 9 AM - 2:30 PM most of the week, except for Saturday when they stay open until 6, and they’re closed on Sundays unless the Seahawks or the Sounders are playing a home game.
Here’s their menu if you feel inclined to drool over it.
Well, a tangential brush at best. The ringleader, one of Chihuly’s many apprentices who do the actual glassblowing (he hasn’t been able to physically handle the process since his accident in the '70s which partially paralyzed him and cost him an eye) would mark the pieces as damaged on the official paperwork, then smuggle them out of the warehouse and give them to my coworker for storage while their other partner brokered the sale. All of this came out during an idle discussion in the breakroom while the overnight crew was on lunch break, wherein he decided to brag that he had $20,000 worth of glass art in his garage and proceeded to describe the entire scheme to me and the others in the room. I asked the board for advice on how and to whom I could report this crime but never did because I was worried I’d wind up getting the attention of some bad people if I got involved, but they wound up getting busted without my dropping a dime on them.
Here’s an article from when they got busted;
Anyway, the Chilhuly Garden at Seattle Center is very impressive and includes a collection of works from many of his international exhibitions over the years, as well as an outdoor sculpture garden where some of his apprentices give live demonstrations of the glassblowing process. I wouldn’t call it a must-see, but if you have time to spare it’s a very intellectually stimulating visit.
You mentioned Boise, if you want just something you can grab to eat without getting away from the freeway, the TA has a subway and a Taco Bell inside next to the main restaurant (I don’t ever eat there).
About 30ish miles further west is the Flying J truck stop with a Dennys(pita to get in and out of)
I’d recommend stopping at the Stage Stop, a truck stop about 20 miles east of Boise, between Boise and Mountain Home, they have ok food.
If you’re feeling adventurous, don’t mind getting off the freeway and risking getting lost and dealing with a frustrating one-way-grid there is an ethiopian/eritrean restaurant in town. Plenty of Thai places(can’t vouch for the authenticity tho) and plenty of chain mexican places.
Kuna has Lima Limon, a newish restaraunt based on Peruvian cuisine. Can’t vouch for it as I’ve never had their food.
Boise and the surrounding area used to have a lot of smaller good places to eat, but it seems like they’re all disappearing off my radar.
If there is any way to manage it, try to see Palouse Falls in eastern Washington. It’s off the beaten path, but it’s a spectacular geographic feature that is a holdover from the ancient Glacial Lake Missoula floods (as are the Scablands of eastern WA). There’s also a campground there, since you’re doing that.
Seconding Palouse Falls. My daughter and I passed by there on her way to college around 2018. I thought we were hopelessly lost out there in the prairie, but then, there it is in it’s awesomness. Some guy went over the fall in a kayak once (on purpose). It is way out there, but worth the side trip.