[DNA]

My wife and I are going to be in Seattle for about a day before we head up to Alaska on a cruise. We get in about 4 or so in the afternoon and have to be on the ship at 4 the next day.

Is there any one place/thing we should see?

Is there any one place/thing we should see that only a local would know?

Any cool (but not outrageously expensive) place to stay?

Any cool (but not outrageously expensive) place to eat that we should hit?

Any thing else we should know?

Thanks y'all.

 

[Serial Midget]

Downtown you are not likely to find much of anything that is undiscovered or cheap... you'll be at the piers so hit Pike Place Market and kiss the piggy bank.

 

[Tootrikky]

Pike Street
-Why: Flying salmon and weird boutique shops
-Where: Downtown on a block up from waterfront
EMP
-Why:Worlds best, biggest most expensive rock museum (funded by by Paul Allen, Bill Gates original partner) it was built a couple of years ago and is rad
-Where: Underneath the Space Needle (near downtown)
The Stranger
-Why: local publication that has all the the local night life. Where you'll find a band to go watch in Seattle that night
-Where: Online

Other Notable Things
-Boeing Museum of Flight located by Airport
-Brand New Library downtown. Don't laugh it's cool for the architecture alone.
-Pacific Science Theatre. Located underneath space needle

Where to Stayrawing Blanks here, but stay downtown if possible.

 

[pnj]

I second the "stay downtown" thing.

the boat will leave from the waterfront which is near downtown, pike place is close by (everyone wants to go to pike place...), space needle is near by, etc.

if your looking to go out in the evening look at www.thestranger.com (also mentioned above).

for places to stay downtown, check the yellowpages and call for rates. you can spend hundreds a night if you want but I'm sure that's more then your looking to spend. because it's the "off" season, I would bet you could find something under $100.00 a night. (thats about 75 bucks over my nightly limit, but i'm a cheap poor bastard)

I would suggest staying out of Pioneer Square unless your looking for scum bags or hard drugs.

 

[Dave_Schuldt]

Hey man what's wrong with Pioneer Square? If your into old buildings and art galleries it's the place. Jump on a #26 or 28 bus for Fremont. Folks from out of town realy like my 'hood. Wandering aroud Capitol Hill is always a great freak show. Check it out!

 

[DBR X6 RIDER]

Three words - RIDE THE DUCK.
On second thought...three words - Pike Place Market.

Enjoy your time here wherever you wind up.

 

[Corporatefailure]

the Seattle art museum is worth a look right now, also the glass house art gallary has good blow glass expo going to.

 

[oly]

another online resource....

http://seattle.citysearch.com/

 

[Qman]

all good stuff. already more than you'll be able to cover in a day. If you're into wine, let me know and I'll give you a list of some wineries in town.
Places to eat? What do you like?

For Thai downtown, I'd hit Racha Noodle on lower Queen Anne. Microbrew, Hale's for dinner or breakfast. The Palace Kitchen ain't bad but ain't cheap either. The Icon Grill across the street is probably a better choice for "bang for the buck" Fish and chips on the waterfront at the Salmon Cooker is a genuine Seattle experience and not too pricey. Cheapest eats might be the Old Spaghetti Factory.
Cheapest/cleanest place i've stayed downtown was a place called the Mediterranean Inn on Lower Queen Anne. I found a special rate on Expedia for $55/night. This place is at the north end of the downtown corridor and walking distance to the Seattle Center where the science center, food pavilion, IMAX theaters and EMP are. As well as the Key Arena. Try Hotwire but stick with 4 stars and above. One of the best and historic Seattle place to stay is the Sorrento Hotel. Not cheap but very cool and romantic.

One more museum I'd add is the Klondike Gold Rush Nat'l Park and Museum. It will help give you a little background info on your cruise since you'll be essentially taking the same route that all the Klondike stampeders took from Seattle on the steamers back in 1897. The other half of the park/museum is in Skagway, AK which I'm guessing is on your itinerary. I hiked the Chilkoot in '96. Awesome trip if you get the chance. 4 days, 33 miles. Pretty much no chance on a cruise but something worth coming back for if you like to hike. There are good little hikes in Skagway tho'. Smugglers Cove is barely a hike but a good way to get away from the crowds. Bring some grub and a six pack and have a picnic. The hike up to Lower Lake is about 1.5 hours. Sturgill's Landing is probably a 4 hour hike. Don't attempt Upper Lake. You'll regret it unless you have climbing gear. When you're there, try to plan on having a meal (ideally, dinner) ashore at the Stowaway Cafe.
If you stay at the Med. Inn and you like coffee, take a walk up the hill a block to Uptown Espresso. There's a starbucks in the building but Uptown's a more local experience. The original Starbucks is at Pike Place Market, if you're into that.
Gray Line of Seattle and a few others have a pretty comprehensive city tour that'll give you a good lay of the land. You'll head over to Microsoft and catch a glimpse of Bill G.'s house as you cross the floating bridge and you'll get a good loop of the city. I think those are about 3 hours and only worth it if you can put up with guided tours. Alternatively, rent a bike from Gregg's Greenlake Cycles and make one of us take you down to the Tapeworm or St. Ed State Park. Either of those places can be toured in an hour or so and give you a good fitness base for all the food you'll be consuming on board. ink:
Tapeworm is a great night ride if you're up for it the night you arrive.

 

[Skookum]

Points of interest....

Alki point West Seattle/beach/Spuds Fish and Chips
The pier/Pike Place Market/Myrtle Edwards Park/The old Spaghetti Factory
Fremont/Nickerson Street Saloon/Burke Gilman Path/Gas Works Park/Aurora Bridge Troll
Magnolia/Discovery Park
If your up on Broadway check out Charlies whatever you order get the cheese sticks as an appetizer.....

 

[DBR X6 RIDER]

Some of my most memorable rides occured at night out at the Tapeworm.

 

[DNA]

Cool. Monkeys rock! That is what I wanted to know. The Mediterranean looks promising. Thanks again. Thanks again.

 

[Snacks]

http://www.innatthemarket.com/index.html

Not sure how much of a budget you are on, but this is a great place to stay!

 

[Snacks]

Oh and......I'm not sure what time of year you are coming over but in the spring though fall the city runs a water taxi across Elliot Bay to Alki (West Seattle) for $2.

My mom and I always take it in the summer and walk from the dock to Spuds for lunch.

Here is the link

http://transit.metrokc.gov/tops/oto/water_taxi.html