What’s in Seattle ?

[4wanderingeyes]

So our next cruise is out of Seattle heading to Alaska. My wife lived in Seattle like in the ‘90’s, I have never been there, and my wife is excited to show Seattle off to me, at least what she remembers of it 30+ years ago.

I don’t read anything good about Seattle, and I haven’t had any excitement of doing anything there, but my wife wants to go do stuff while we are there.

Any recommendations? Motels? Areas to stay? She thinks staying downtown and doing the space needle is a great idea. I’m not convinced being in downtown Seattle is high on my priority list. We will only have 1 day to do stuff prior to having to go to the cruise terminal, but I would love to know what is safe to do, and where is safe to stay.

I have seen enough zombie neighborhoods in LA, and Vegas, I don’t need to see more homeless camps, and people flopping on the side of the roads.

 

[chucker66]

The fish market downtown is pretty cool. Also, the chewing gum wall is there but kind of gross. Lots of homeless and vagrants which is always nice, but you can go to Minneapolis to see that as well. That's all I recall from my short visit there a few years ago.

 

[Telemark]

I went to Seattle in the 90s, and I also thought it was cool. That was the heyday of Grunge music and Seattle coffee culture, before Starbucks was a global behemoth. My cousins had cars, so we could go all over. These days, it seems to be an expensive ultra-liberal shell of its former self, centered around Amazon and Microsoft.

If you don't have a car, you may as well stay downtown. Pike Place Market, the Seattle Aquarium, and the Space Needle are the top attractions. You can eat some good food downtown. There are museums, restaurants, bars, and the normal city stuff. They also have ferries to various places, but you probably don't have time for that, and you're going on a cruise anyway.

If I were going to Alaska, I would stay at the Arctic Club Hotel. It's relevant to the theme of your trip, and there is a nice bar where you can relax in the afternoon. I don't know where the cruise ships go from, but the hotel is right by the ferry terminal on Alaskan Way. From there you can go North along the waterfront and visit the piers. I think there is a shuttle that goes up and down Alaskan Way for tourists.

Honestly, I don't know anything about any of the other hotels in Seattle. If your wife is really keen to be your tour guide in the city, I would just let her. She knows you best, and she probably knows the city well.

 

[Peeps]

Probably a few left wing protests you could go watch. Not sure if Antifa has a welcome center there you could check out as well. Could be entertaining.

 

[Angus 1895]

I work near Seattle twice a year. So I spend damn near a month there a year.

Most of my time was in Carnation, but this trip I stayed in Monroe. They are awesome communities IMO. Pizza from the red pepper is money!

Especially the white knight. Remmlinger farms is a great place to see live music…Duvall is between them and it’s very touristy.

Ixtapa Mexican restaurant is great……and the all natural Margaritas are bueno!

The Indian Food in Monroe is most excellent.

The trails and rivers are really fun to hike around.

In season the blackberry picking is fun and tasty.

Every weekend there is usually a gun show during the winter.

Never been downtown Seattle in quite a spell.

Go Hawks!

 

[PoorSand]

You could drive through Mount Rainier National Park. I understand that they've lifted the timed entry restrictions.

 

[H20fwler]

Seattle is great to visit, I was just there last year. Have been there a few times in the past fifteen years.

Stay downtown or on the strip of hotels from airport they are nice. They keep downtown pretty nice to not bother tourism. The space needle is worth going up if you have never been there, the view is really something to see. Having lunch or dinner in the rotating restaurant in the needle is 100% worth it, one of the best meals I’ve ever had in my life….but it is pricey, get reservations ahead.

Pikes Market is definitely something to see, great little restaurants and shops, best produce/seafood/flowers you can find anywhere, it’s better earlier in the day before it gets to busy.
Easy to walk up the hill to downtown from Pikes, plenty of interesting shops and restaurants, it is a foodie town, some really great top end places to eat.
There is a sweet little fishing store north of pikes that is fun to visit, most hand tied flies I’ve ever seen in my life.
It’s worth it to rent a car for a day and go out into country to see the sights, everywhere looks like a postcard, lots of little waterfalls and wildlife to see.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

Thanks! This makes me feel a little better, safer.

 

[bigboreblr]

You parking at hotel for the cruise? One way cruise?

Some folks stay a night before the cruise and park at their hotel for the week and save 200 bucks .

Gonna see alot of ocean, not alot of beach. Maybe do that.

Sounds like the plan is their already. Dragging you down her memory lane.

Left NYC area 2010, so kinda get it.

Usually thinking about it is worse and takes longer than actually going through it. Focus on the drink package and hot tub.

 

[hunts_with_stick]

We went and drove by the space needle. Didn’t spend anytime in the city, too many other cool things. Mount Rainer is a must, but if you can’t, mt st Helen’s, Olympic national park. Great hiking. to do.

 

[Teeder]

My son is stationed at Lewis - McChord. We went out last summer and the highlight for us was Rainier. Didn't go downtown.

 

[MadMadHoosier]

In the early 2000's, we enjoyed visiting both Seattle and Portland. We loved the food and the quirky artistic nature relative to our mid-west norm. But we swore them both off after several visits in the 2010's had us stepping over used syringes and human feces on the downtown sidewalks, and we were approached too often by aggressive (obviously disturbed) panhandlers. It no longer felt safe or enjoyable.

So it's been a while since we were there, and I hope you visit reports a change for the better, as we love to add them back to our travel agenda!

 

[4wanderingeyes]

Our trip is in the end of August. My wife wants to stay at the Mediterranean Inn, it is in the Queen Anne area. Her plan is to go to the Space Needle, and Pikes Market, and wander the area.

We will be flying into Sea-TAC airport, and taxi-ing or Ubering to the motel. I hate dealing with parking and rental cars. Then being tourists the rest of the day, assuming the area is safe. I will give her the reigns to guide me, as long as it is safe. The problem she lived there in the 90’s, and thinks all of the cool things from then, hasn’t changed.

 

[RGrizzzz]

Seattle is plenty safe. It's a very beautiful city, as it's hilly and surrounded by a lot of water. Queen Anne is a very upscale neighborhood. It's usually what you see when you see a shot of Seattle on TV. If you enjoy eating seafood, there are a lot of great restaurants. It should be too hard to find one on the water, or with a great view.

 

[KY wild]

I spent a couple of days in Seattle before taking an Alaska cruise a few years ago. Something else I enjoyed as a habitat lover was the fish ladders. Humans have engineered ways that salmon can get back up the river to spawn even though the rivers have locks and other obstacles. The city has places you can go and watch the fish using the ladders, it was the best memory of the city for me.

 

[Westwind]

It’s been 5-6 years but we spent a week there. Good trip. Hiked in the mountains and saw all the sights.

There was only one negative and it was easy to avoid. There is a park that the state legislature overlooks. I can’t find the name of it. Drug users and worst part was meth doing the things that meth users do in public. Maybe they cleaned house there since then.

Was a good trip other than that.

 

[356]

So our next cruise is out of Seattle heading to Alaska. My wife lived in Seattle like in the ‘90’s, I have never been there, and my wife is excited to show Seattle off to me, at least what she remembers of it 30+ years ago.

I don’t read anything good about Seattle, and I haven’t had any excitement of doing anything there, but my wife wants to go do stuff while we are there.

Any recommendations? Motels? Areas to stay? She thinks staying downtown and doing the space needle is a great idea. I’m not convinced being in downtown Seattle is high on my priority list. We will only have 1 day to do stuff prior to having to go to the cruise terminal, but I would love to know what is safe to do, and where is safe to stay.

I have seen enough zombie neighborhoods in LA, and Vegas, I don’t need to see more homeless camps, and people flopping on the side of the roads.

I too had a one day "layover" in Seattle on a business trip to Hawaii. The area around the Space Needle was sketchy, but the fish market, the aquarium on Pier 59 and the original Pike's Place Starbucks are all in walking distance, and well worth the time. You can do all three in about four to six hours, and there are nice restaurants in the area. The motels in the area are safe and visitor friendly. I was surprised that I enjoyed downtown Seattle more than I expected.