You beat me to it. The Underground tour was one of the best “touristy” things I ever did!
msmith: Pretty much anything you find “cool” is going to be sadly lacking in Seattle. Perhaps you might want to consider expanding you horizons a bit.
That’s your business I suppose. I mean I can see if you are hanging out with a bunch of friends and you just want a quiet place to drink and socialize, that’s one thing. But if you are by yourself in a strange city over the weekend, I think it would be a perfect mix of girls, music, dancing, drinking and other stuff which most people consider “fun”.
I’m just curious as to what you consider to be interesting stuff to do.
In any event, It seems like a nice city and all but I think I’ll either fly home every weekend or go visit friends in other cities.
To myself, and about 85% of the folk I know, Capitol Hill is Seattle, with some occasional sidetrips into downtown/Belltown. Loads of bars, cheap beer, drunk people, and rock stars. People are friendly enough but I can definetly see it as being very tight-knit and neighborhoody, not easy when your an out of towner by yourself. But once your in, your in.
Pioneer Square hardly even registers as a place on my mental map of the city. The last time we went there, a friend spoke up something to the likes of “Just think. All the tourists come here, go to the Space Needle, head to Pioneer Square at night and they think that’s what Seattle is. What a shame!”
Nothing wrong with the area, I suppose. I just can’t think of anyone I know in this city that ever hangs out there, regularly.
A short list of tacky stuff to do in Seattle ( most of this is probably just a supreme waste of time, mind you)
See the troll under the Fremont Bridge
Fried Chicken thats good enough for Oprah, at Ezells.
Ye Olde Curiosity Shop. Hurray for Mummies!
CoffeeShops - Vivace is ~amazingly~ good. Those barista’s are coffee snobs. But Bauhaus and Victrola have better atmosphere. And Coffee Messiah has a wonderful bathroom.
See the new library that everyone in Seattle just won’t shut up about.
Visit The Seattle version of the Statue of Liberty at Alki beach.
Play “the volkswagon slug bug game” but with Starbucks, instead.
I’ve been to Seattle several times and I’ve enjoyed visiting several of the places already mentioned. Another thing worth checking out is the Seattle Aquarium. It’s near the Pike Street Market.
If you have the time you might be interested in making a side trip to either Mt. Rainer or Mt. St. Helens. Each is within a couple hours drive time to Seattle. I’ve been to both (though on separate trips).
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It’s spelled Mount St. Helens.
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and there’s a distinct lack of strobe lights, music, and alcohol there, too.
I guess it depends on the girl. In general, being from New York impresses people in Seattle about as much as it does people in most other West Coast cities (with the possible exception of L.A.), which is to say not much.
But hey – we’ve got a Polyesters’ on lower Queen Anne, across from the Seattle Center. It’s just like every other Polyesters’ in the whole world, but it sounds like it would be right up your alley.
One of the highlights of my visit to Seattle was visiting the final resting place of Jimi Hendrix .
What?
If you’re interested in airplanes outside of work (you mentioned counting airplane parts) there’s the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field - excellent aircraft museum. My wife let me blow almost an entire day of our honeymoon there. She loves me.
There’s more excellent seafood than you can shake a stick at. Go down to the docks and eat at the Crab Pot at least once. It’s pretty good and mildly touristy. There’s excellent food at all budget levels.
The Aquarium is cool.
The view from the Space Needle on a relatively clear day is incredible.
If you like Irish food, beer and/or music, check out the Owl and Thistle Pub. I don’t remember the exact address - I think it’s on Fourth street - locals, help me out. They have an excellent Guinness steak and live music several nights of the week. It’s right by what was another excellent pub called Tir NaNog, which was apparently bought by a chain called Fado. Can’t vouch for the quality of Fado.
Ride the ferry over to Bainbridge Island and take in the scenery.
Go to Canada and take in the scenery.
Go find Chief Seattle’s grave and take in the scenery.
Go to the Olympic Rainforest and take in the scenery. Go sasquatch spotting.
Another recommendation for the Underground Tour - it starts at Pioneer Square.
It’s actually on Post Alley, which is between First Ave and Western Ave. I believe the cross-street is Columbia. Just go down First to Columbia (a little north of Pioneer Square) and go half a block toward the bay. You’ll hear the place from the corner, if the music’s started up.
By the way, thanks, Kilt guy–I was just about to pop back in to suggest the Owl and Thistle. It’s always packed with young people, the music is lots of fun, and the food is quite good on the pub scale.
Doc Maynard’s, to be specific (see my first post on this thread).
Thanks, Saltire - and excellent username, BTW…
I ate my only non-seafood meal in Seattle at the Owl and Thistle and it was excellent. I recommend them to anyone visiting up there.
I also recommend McCormick and Schmick if they can be afforded…but man, they’re pricy. Excellent, but pricy.
And then there’s the Crab Pot (very enjoyable), the Fisherman, and a bunch of others I just can’t remember…man, I miss that fresh seafood every evening…
OK, I’m hungry now.
I’m not surprised, considering how you’re presenting yourself in this thread. There’s plenty of unique experiences you could get around here if you wanted to be adventurous … but have fun racking up those frequent-flier miles.
Okay, here are a few more thoughts on Seattle stuff…some of this will already have been mentioned. I’m frankly too lazy at the moment to insert links, but you should be able to do your own searches easily enough.
For recommendations on singles-type bars and clubs, you might want to look on Citysearch. I don’t do that scene myself, so I can’t speak to any of their recommendations.
For indie music, I tend to end up at one of the following clubs:
The Tractor Tavern
The Showbox
The Crocodile Cafe
Graceland
Neumo’s
Chop Suey
There are a host of other clubs, of course; check the Stranger for listings. If you’re trying to pick a show to go to, the picks in the Stranger are generally pretty good.
Food–upscale:
Rover’s
Mistral
Lark
Le Pichet
Lampreia
Metropolitan Grill
The Palace Kitchen
Harvest Vine
Cafe Flora
Nell’s
Oceanaire
Campagne
Dahlia Lounge
Matt’s in the Market
Ray’s (decent food; great view)
Food–downscale:
Jack’s Fish Spot (fish & chips; in the Pike Place Market)
Salumi (faaabulous Italian; near Pioneer Square; only open for lunch T-F)
Totem Seafood (fish & chips; across from the Ballard Locks)
The Attic (tavern in Madison Park; good sandwiches; Thurs is frat boy night)
Ezell’s (fried chicken)
Pochi Tea Station (bubble tea)
Beth’s Cafe (where you go if you want a 12-egg omelet at 3 in the morning; great slacker/punk atmosphere)
Ivar’s Salmon House (food is mediocre, but decor is pure Northwest kitsch)
Hattie’s Hat (in Ballard; food isn’t great but slacker/indie atmosphere is good)
Belgian Frites (next to Neumo’s; good for soaking up alcohol)
Dick’s Drive-In (cheap, crappy burgers; good for soaking up alcohol)
Also check out the reviews in the food section of the Stranger and the P-I.
Tourism–in-city:
The Underground Tour
One of those Argosy Cruises tours
The Ballard Locks (aka the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks)
Fremont (the troll; the rocket; the statue of Lenin; shops)
Capitol Hill (as previously described earlier in the thread)
The Japanese garden at the bottom of the Arboretum
The Pike Place Market (see also neighborhood farmers’ markets)
Also see The Stranger Guide to Seattle.
Tourism–day trips:
Mount Rainier
Mount St. Helens
Whidbey Island (drive up I-5, then west on 20 to Deception Pass, then down to Langley, then take the ferry back)
Snoqualmie Falls
The San Juan Islands (can make a weekend out of this)
Whale watching tours
The Cascades (can make a weekend out of this)
Tourism–weekend trips:
Drive up to Vancouver BC
Take the Victoria Clipper to Victoria (optional: continue to the Sooke Harbour House)
Drive down the coast to Cannon Beach, Oregon. Stop in the maritime museum in Astoria; visit the Lewis & Clark sites; go to the aquarium in Seaside to feed the seals
Drive down to Bend and Crater Lake (this’d be a lot of driving for a weekend, though)
Circumnavigate the Olympic Peninsula. See the rain forest.