First trip to Seattle...

[gward]

Hello folks,

I am scheduling a trip to Seattle in April for 5 days. It will be my first trip. I have a few things lined up in terms of sight seeing places i.e. the Tower, Boeing Factory tour, but I am still trying to find a decent hotel. I will be in Seattle for about 5 nights. I was told that the hotels near the SeaTac airport are not very good (the reviews on Expedia seem to bear this out). Any suggestions from folks who have experienced Seattle :) ? Suggestions on some eateries and coffee houses would be helpful as well.

[Monk]

I stayed at the Hampton Inn, it was pretty good and a reasonable price.

Seattle itself is a wonderful city, although I didn't have much time there.

Check out the market etc there is plenty going on there (some GREAT coffee shops but can't remember the names). I would also recommend taking a sea plane flight if you have the budget, and also visit the aquarium, which is one of the better ones I have visited.

[urban renewal]

Hey, I live in Seattle. April should be a good time to visit. The weather should be starting to get good around then.

Don't stay near the airport. There's really nothing fun to do out there. If you can, try to stay in the city. I don't really know what hotels are cheap (since I live here and have never stayed at a hotel here), but there's a really nice hotel on First Hill (near downtown) called the Sorrento. There's also a hostel downtown near the market called the Green Tortoise.

Aside from Pike Place Market, the Space Needle, and all the other tourist spots, go check out the troll in Fremont, visit the impressive Suzallo library at the UW campus, visit the Public Library (kind of a newer landmark), go to Alki Beach in West Seattle, or take a ferry ride. If you want to get away from all the tourist spots, you can always just pick a random neighborhood and walk around and look at all the boutiques and shops.

There are lots of awesome coffee shops and restaurants on Capitol Hill (I work on my muses in these coffee shops!). Bauhaus, Joe Bar, Vita and Victrolla (the one of 15th Ave) are all great for coffee. There are so many restaurants, I don't even know where to start...

I hope you have a great trip. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask.

[Sean Conner]

A lot of what's great about Seattle depends on the weather to be honest... so my first bit of advise is to rent a car.

Taking a Ferry ride over to Bainbridge Island is always fun regardless of the weather (i.e. Seattle/Bainbridge Ferry launches from Pier 52, walk-on ticket around $7 and they take credit, return ferry is free for walk-on.)

If you're into music I would consider dropping in on the radio station KEXP, the EMP (Experience Music Project,) and Sub Pop Records for a tours - I'm sure there's about a dozen other things I left out in that department. My wife and I have two friends that produce music in Vienna, Austria that are coming all that way just to do a grunge-tour... seriously!

I really like the Internation District on a nice day - great places to eat, just Yelp.com for the type of food and go with the #1 or #2 in each category.

Also, a must see if you like quirky spaces, coffee, and books is the Elliot Bay Book Company (elliottbaybook.com) - ONE NOTE on that, they are moving to a new location on Capitol Hill in the "Spring" but the date is unclear, so be sure to check the website or call first.

Discovery Park is big and beautiful, and has amazing views - it's where my wife and I got married. If you go to Discovery Park, drive to the South Entrance and park there, walk west to the bluff (for amazing views) and then north along the bluff, which will take you down-down-down to the light house and the shore, where you can poke around for an hour or two. From there feel free to get lost and wonder the park aimlessly.

If you're into "The Deadliest Catch" go to Fisherman's Terminal and wander the docks - people are friendly so chat them up - then wander into Chinook's for some brunch/dinner (http://www.anthonys.com/restaurants/info/chinooks.html) - It may look expensive, but it's really not. Ask for a table by the window facing the terminal and enjoy the view.

Then drive over to the Ballard Locks (http://www.nws.usace.army.mil/) on the other side of the waterway you were just viewing (i.e. Ballard is just on the other side of the Fisherman's Terminal) and wander around, cross the locks, go look at the fish latter. Ballard is also fun to wander around, especially on Sunday!

Well that's enough to at least get you started. (I originally got on here to post a hack that I figured out for publishing via Create Space and then having them drop-ship directly to FBA (fulfillment by amazon) and pocketing over 50% of the profit on the sale of a book.)

[gward]

I am going to Seattle in June. How is the weather during that time?

[urban renewal]

June is pretty good. There might be a few rainy days, but for the most part June is right around the time when the weather starts to get pretty good (until around September or October). This year has been pretty nice though, so I'd guess that summer will come early this year.

[urban renewal]

Just an update regarding the Elliot Bay Bookstore... They just shut their doors today in Pioneer Square and they will be re-opening on Capitol Hill on April 14th.

[heathhughes]

I was at ALki beach today.. The view is spectacular. You can take the water taxi to get there and there's a long boardwalk.

Have fun.

[gward]

Thank You Guys. I can hardly wait now... !