My wife in I arrive in Seattle on March 17 and are leaving March 19 to Drive to Vancouver for a wedding. We are staying at the Warwick. A few questions:

(1)What should we do on Thursday the 17th and that night?
(2) What is the best, most scenic way, to drive to Vancouver?
Thanks,
Sal

I'm assuming you mean Thursday the 18th; on the night you arrive, of course, there will be ample opportunity to drink green beer and act out your Celtic fantasies, even in Scandihoovian Seattle.

The extended forecast for next week is rather rainy, so if you want to do excursions afield, take that into consideration. Otherwise, spend a day at the Pike Market, ducking out if the sun appears. Do you have any particular interests? Spring blossoms? Boats going through locks? Ferryboats?

Regarding the drive, if you have a few extra hours, I'd recommend the following route:

Take Interstate 5 north to the junction with SR 526 in south Everett, signposted Mukilteo/Whidbey Island Ferry. Follow the signs to the ferry, passing the Boeing wide-body assembly facility, largest building in the world (by volume.) Cross to Whidbey Island (20 min.) on the ferry then continue north up the island. Detour shortly after the ferry dock to Langley, a very cute little town on the water's edge - shoppes, lattes, squawking seagulls, all that.

Continue up the island, stopping briefly at Coupeville (another cute waterfront village) then across the Deception Pass bridge - be sure to stop and look at the swirling water below - a lot of H2O going through a narrow strait.

Return to the mainland on SR20, then right after crossing the "ocean" (it will look like a river between Fidalgo Island and North America) turn north on SR 237, which merges in a little ways with SR 11, aka "Chuckanut Drive." Chuckanut continues alongside the water up to Fairhaven, part of Bellingham, itself a very cute historic neighborhood and an excellent lunch or coffee break.

At Fairhaven it's best to get back on I-5 for the rest of the drive (20 min or so) to the border. On the BC side, stay on the BC 99 freeway the rest of the way into town (freeway ends at the Vancouver city limits.)

This route will add around 3 hours (not counting additional stops) to the standard 3-hour drive to Vancouver, but it will be much more scenic and you'll see a lot more of the Puget Sound environment.

Hi Sal. If you have the time, as Gardyloo said, I'd highly second the recommendation of taking Chuckanut Drive. It's one of the more picturesque roads in Washington.

The best way to Vancouver is a straight shot up I-5. Chuckanut Drive and the other stuff is nice, but it's a big detour considering your destination. Weather is also a factor. If it's raining, cloudy, or foggy, the detours will be a big waste of time.

As stated correctly, if you are looking for a scenic drive, Chuckanut is great. I drive back and forth weekly and I often take Chuckanut just because I-5 is bleak, people drive like shit, and I have seen enough Shell stations and Mickey Ds to last a lifetime.

The Chuckanut Drive is just fine, especially for those who have never driven any of Highway 1 between Santa Monica and Cannon Beach. Otherwise, it's a big detour. The drivers on I-5 are no better or worse than the drivers on other interstate highways.

I suggested Chuckanut only because it's the only area in the Puget Sound area where a main north-south highway actually follows the coast. It's scenic, but not on the scale of Calif. SR1. As a matter of fact, the part of I-5 that Chuckanut parallels is the most scenic stretch of the freeway that there is between Seattle and the border, so if the OP doesn't want to spend the time on the coast, he can take I-5 past Lake Samish and still have a nice, if brief, scenic stretch.