alysenyc

Hi, I am planning a trip to Seattle in August. My friend and I have mapped out a basic plan of the things we want to do to maximize our time there, but I had a few questions! We will be staying in downtown Seattle from Monday - Friday. Our basic plan is this:

Monday - travel day - Alki Beach for dinner, walk around beach/park, watch sunset, just kind of low key and relaxing day, etc.
Tuesday - Seahawks training camp practice in morning in Renton. Head from there to Snoqualmie Falls. Waterfall trails/hike.. Spa treatments at Salish Lodge.
Wednesday - touristy city day - visit original Starbucks, Space Needle, Chihuly Gardens, Pike Place Market. Possibly ferry to Bainbridge Island if there is time.
Thursday - Woodinville wine tour 10:30am - 5:30pm.
Friday - 10pm departure - ?

So here are my questions -
1. Has anyone done a waterfall hike at Snoqualmie Falls? How long might a hike take? We want to book late afternoon spa treatments at Salish Lodge and take advantage of the spa access, but also want to make sure we have enough time for a pretty hike first without rushing.
2. My parents and some family friends will also be in Seattle for one day on Wednesday before they leave for an Alaska cruise. Looking for a fun place to meet them for lunch. Casual, vibrant, fun atmosphere. Any recommendations?
3. Any places/restaurants/bars to visit in Bainbridge Island?
3. Thursday after the wine tour, we will be back in downtown Seattle for a city night out. Looking for a fun place for dinner, or like an oyster bar, and then ideas for what to do at night.
4. My friend's flight leaves early on Friday, but mine doesn't leave until about 10 pm. So I will have most of the day on Friday to do something on my own. I like to do things on my own and should have a better idea of my bearings by then. I'm up for anything. Any ideas of something to check out, or an area I can easily get to without being stressed about getting back and making my flight on time?
5. Any recommendation for a hair salon downtown to get a quick blowout?

This will be my first time in Seattle and am really excited. Any input is appreciated and other ideas are welcome!

Gardyloo

Answers as best I can -

1. Yes, but not for years. It's a pretty short but fairly steep hike. Not challenging, and I'd imagine spending more than an hour on it would be excessive, unless you want to try to wade/boulder hop closer to the base of the falls.

2. Someplace in the Pike Market is an obvious choice, but on cruise days (most summer days, really) it's a bit of a madhouse there, so maybe you can indicate how many of them there are, what day of week, and will they have a car (I presume you will.) Will you be accompanying them to the cruise terminal, and if so, which one?

3. Our faves are the Harbour Pub and Doc's, both (basically next to each other) at Eagle Harbor.

4. You could visit the Museum of Flight (a really terrific museum) next to Boeing Field, around 10 min. from Sea-Tac, or head to Tacoma and visit the Museum of Glass. If you want to drive around, drop her at the airport, then head to Fauntleroy in West Seattle (around 15 min. from the airport) and take the Vashon Island ferry over to... guess. Explore picturesque Vashon and Maury Islands (connected) then take the south-end ferry back to Tacoma, then return to the airport area. With a morning drop-off and a 10 PM flight, you could actually do all of the above - MoF, Vashon, MoG - and still make your flight easily. Busy but fun day.

5. http://www.yelp.com/search?cflt=hair...+Seattle%2C+WA My wife used Coupe Rokei for years before she started going closer to home.

stumpworks73

The Snoqualamie hike is about an hour. As previous mentioned, it's a steep drop and climb. My other memory is that at the base, you step from rounded boulder to rounded boulder to get closer to the falls. Not for the agile or fragile, nor for flip flops. We enjoyed the hike very much. A scenic destination be sure to have your camera.

The neighboring Salish Lodge is a beautiful place with a deservedly famous restaurant. Breakfast or lunch with the hike in the dining room overlooking the falls is great stuff. Prices are consistent with an excellent, destination restaurant, but justified.

alysenyc

Awesome, thank you so much for your time and input.

It's really helpful to know about the Snoqualamie hike. I'm going to book spa appointments at Salish Lodge for 4pm. We're going to the Seahawks training camp practice at 10am which is sort of in the right direction, and then can do a scenic hike and use the spa area before or after our appointments. Oh and good reminder about not for flip flops!!

We were looking at the Salish Lodge for dinner! The Dining Room looks really nice! The Attic also seemed cute but much more casual, so I will see what we want to do!

As far as lunch with my parents, I think that Pike Market could work because their hotel is right by there and my friend and I want that to be our Seattle tourist-y day too. This would be a Wednesday. They are going to be with 6 other people so there are 8 of them, but I'm not sure if jus my parents will meet us for lunch or everyone. Their cruise leaves from Vancouver the next day so they will be taking a train up there I believe.

I think we're going to rent a car for the day we drive out to training camp and Salish Lodge & Spa, but won't have it the rest of the time.

Thank you for the great ideas of what to check out on my own! I'm going to look at those. I likely won't have a car then so I would probably have to return to downtown area (staying at Sheraton) to get my things before heading to airport, but it sounds doable.

Gardyloo

The last day you might want to look at a car not only as a way to sightsee but also to get to the airport, with luggage storage built in.

alysenyc

Thanks. I wouldn't have to pay for parking at the hotel that last day so that is a possibility.

SB_Travlr

Our daughter took us to Snoqualmie Falls last year. It was in late April, so LOTS of water coming over from snow melt - very spectacular. Also saw many bird watchers set up with scopes on the falls viewing platform, because there were peregrine falcon babies in a nest on the cliff. We took the easy hike, and found a nice spot for a picnic lunch. It was a great day. I recommend!

tchoiniere

I will never forget my trip there! Gorgeous morning in downtown Seattle. Drove to the Falls (it was in early June) and put my windbreaker on. As soon as I got out of my car, it started pouring. Ran to the top overlook for a bunch of pics and back to my car. I would have been dryer if I jumped into the falls...

Enjoy your trip.

alysenyc

Thank you so much for the responses! I am really looking forward to the trip! Are there places to grab something quick for lunch by the Falls?

We're hitting Seahawks practice at 10, hopefully stop by to see some friends at the facility, then drive up to the Falls I am guessing around 1. Do a nice hike and have the massages at Salish Lodge at 4, then dinner after our treatments and spa time.

So I am guessing we'll just grab a quick, easy lunch, either stop somewhere around there after football practice or some place by the Falls, if there is something around. I don't think we will want a fancy sit down place or anything like that for lunch.

Also, we will have Monday and Thursday nights free in Seattle, so any good restaurant recommendations? Fun, vibrant, we're two females in our mid 30's, just want to be out and about, enjoy the atmosphere, etc.

Thanks again!!

suze

It's not really a "hike" to see the falls. Just a shortish walk on a kind of steep path. 20 mins. maybe?

If you can get patio seating, the Pink Door in the Market is a wonderful place for lunch in the summer-time. Or anyplace along the Waterfront would be convenient, fun, and have a view.

alysenyc

Thank you @suze! Shortish walk to see the falls works for me! That's perfect actually. We have access to the spa area of Salish Lodge for 2 hours before the massages. So I thought maybe we would walk down to see the falls, then go back and use the steam room or whatever and just hang out before our appointments.

suze

Enjoy! Salish Lodge is a VERY nice place. And the falls are really pretty.

lenlu

The water might not be running high this time of year at Salish but it's pretty. You have many good answers here so I'll chime in on dining. I think the Wild Ginger would be a great place to meet downtown since it's got really good Pan Asian food and it's huge and centrally located. Daniel's Broiler is fun too and on Lake Union so the view is pretty...even better view is Palisades but that's a few minutes from downtown. Matt's in the Market also has great food...so many choices. I haven't been to The Brooklyn in a long time but they used to have an oyster bar. Il Bistro in the market by the gum wall has a fab happy hour and is bustling but you may want some place with a deck if it's nice out. Okay, Purple is also a huge place downtown with good food and a good location. You might google some of those places. If you can get to Bainbridge on the ferry if it's nice out, it's really worth doing. You can walk to dining from the ferry dock and it's very pretty to be on the water. Aveda is on First Ave. downtown and Swink is on Stewart and there's Stylus on 2nd. Many salons downtown on first and second ave. As to Alki, beautiful place to walk but just be a little careful at night. Have fun ; )

suze

Love Wild Ginger!

alysenyc

Thank you so much for all those suggestions, those are great!