1st visit to Seattle
 

I am taking my 18 yo daughter to look at Seattle U next week and only have 1 1/2 days after spending 1 day at the college. Besides Pikes Market, the Needle, and the other tourist sites, what places might give her a true feel of the city since she has been accepted at SU and thinks this is her 1st choice. We live on the east coast and have never been to Seattle before. We have traveled extensively and she appreciates nice restaurants and shops so we would be interested in finding those too. For the posters who thought Seattle prices were outrageous, I got a rate of$98/night on Hotels.com for the Silver Cloud Inn Broadway which seems like a deal to me compared to prices in Phila. and NYC. Also, how to get to downtown from Sea-Tac. What should it run by taxi? Thanks for your help!

That's a good rate for the Silver Cloud and I'm thinking it must be the closest hotel to Seattle U that there is - well done.

First, some small details. The only "Pike's" market I could find on Google was a place in a small town somewhere in the Maine woods. The Pike Place Market, or just "Pike Market" or "the Market" is the beastie in downtown Seattle. Don't worry - common mistake. If your daughter ends up at SU she'll have you shaped up in no time. ;)

A couple of don't misses around the SU campus: The Chapel of St Ignatius on campus is one of the finest pieces of recent architecture in the US, if not the world. Overlooked even by locals, it's a true gem.

More or less across the street is Lark Restaurant. Seriously good place.

Walk down Broadway (north) from your hotel and you will be in a hip neighborhood with lots of shops and restaurants. Plenty of pierced and body-art-enhanced folks, big gay neighborhood - quite fun.

Ride a ferry, go up in the Space Needle if you must, but just for the view; spend your dough eating at the Market or on the central waterfront or at any of a bazillion cool restaurants in the downtown/Belltown/Capitol Hill/Pioneer Square/International District or other neighborhoods.

Taxi to the hotel from the airport will run around $25 - $30, maybe a couple of bux more as rates are going up soon or just did. Not sure.

Search this board for other Seattle ideas - lots here.

Congrats to your daughter, BTW.

Great neighborhood Seattle University is in (kind of the border of south Capitol Hill and north of the Central District). And your hotel is a perfect location to the school (nice campus BTW). Taxi from the airport should be ~$27-35.

Broadway is a street worth walking to get a feel for the area but is a tad passe with the 20-somethings and has quite a few building empty and under renovation at the moment.

Even more current these days is the Pike/Pine corridor. These are two parallel streets right near to where you'll be staying, running from above the freeway up to about 14th or so. 2nd hand shops, fun restaurants, tattoo parlor, bookstores, used furniture, etc.

Sorry I must also disagree about Lark above. I know it's popular and getting a lot of buzz (it does that "small plate" thing) but I found them snooty, pretentious, and the food not all that good, oh and expensive. My choice in that area for a nice meal would be 1200 Bistro (12th at Pike).

That said... there's no shortage of wonderful restaurants in Seattle. You are quite close to the International District/Chinatown or really anywhere downtown or on Capitol Hill.

As a long time resident of "the Hill" (that's lingo for the Capitol Hill neighborhood) most of my restaurant meals are nearby my home eating out casual Thai, Italian, Mexican, etc. Gallerias on Broadway has a great Sunday brunch for $7.25.

There's good bus service thru that neighborhood. Probably the #2 line on Metro would be the best bet getting downtown and back. I'm sure the hotel can advise.

For "nice restaurants and shops" generally I'd head downtown to Pacific Place, Nordstrom, etc. Everything's down fairly close, loads of smaller boutique shops, plus Old Navy, Nike, Banana Republic, etc. etc. Lunch at Il Fornio or Etta's Seafood down at the Market.

I'm guessing you will both LOVE this city. I moved here on a whim from the East coast 20 years ago, and never looked back!

Another nice activity if you have a little down time, visit Volunteer Park...

The #10 bus goes right there (the route passes fairly near over near SU). It's one of the old Olmstead legacy parks and includes a beautiful plant conservatory, reservoir, restored lily ponds, a water tower you can climb to the top, the Asian branch of the Seattle Art Museum.

It is on 15th Ave East, with shops and restaurants nearby. Stop in for lunch somewhere. This will give you an accurate view of a popular "normal" Seattle neighborhood.

I'll second the suggestion to check out both the Pike/Pine corridor and 15th st-both places will likely become the center of her social life, where she does her errands and shopping, etc. I would, though, skip the visit to the downtown "retail core"-it's mostly the same stores you have in your mall back home (you could easily walk through this area from Capitol Hill to the Pike Place Market, though, if you wanted). I'll also second the Volunteer Park visit-it's the closest big park to Seattle U, and has a nice conservatory, if you like plants. The adjacent graveyard (north side of the park) affords wonderful views of Lake Washington and part of the city.

For food on your trip, there is an excellent Italian place called Osteria La Spiga at the corner of Union and Broadway (walking distance from your hotel). Go early or make a reservation. It's some of the more authentic, regional (Emilia-Romanga) Italian you'll find in the US-don't expect spaghetti and meatballs.

I moved to Wa from the East coast (RI) many years ago. I live one hour north of Seattle so I don't have info on the area you'll be staying. However, when we have people come to visit we always do the tourisy Seattle stuff. We go to Pike Place market, the waterfront, Seattle Center (Space Needle). If time permits, we take the monorail over to Westlake Center which is a mall. You can find all the major stores in that area with street entertainment, horsedrawn carriage rides etc. Kinda fun.
Have a great time.
Jenn

Lark snooty and pretentious? Well, it's been several months since we were there, and it wasn't then, but I'll concede the point. Sic transit gloria foodies.

Meghan, I was just reading my own and the other posts and remembering when we took our son to visit colleges. We were not put off by the very, very "big city" districts surrounding some of the more inner-city schools he was considering, but not all parents may feel the same. I want to mention that SU, while definitely in the middle of an ethnically mixed, sometimes trendy (sometimes snooty) up- middle- and down-market part of town, is a pretty safe and congenial place. If your daughter wants to partake in all the street and neighborhood life, fine, it's there. If she wants to stay on campus or have a quieter time of it, also fine - the setting will allow for that too. I've taught a couple of classes part time at SU and think it's a fine school with a pretty cool student body (except for that lunkhead in the second row - oh never mind.)

In the international district (south of SU near the stadiums) is Uwayjimiya - it's a jaw-dropping market. I'm a Ballardite (Seattle neighborhood north of SU on Puget Sound). Ballard is a fun neighborhood with the Locks (with fish ladders) and low-key shops. Might be tough to get around on bus or taxi. The Fremont neighborhood (self proclaimed "center of the universe")is close to Ballard but not within walking distance. Almost 30 years ago, I came out to Washington state (sight unseen)from Philly to go to college and I never returned to the east coast...

Since your daughter is considering living here I think it would be most important to see the neighborhoods and local life (more than tourist attractions) so my mention of Broadway, Pike/Pine, and especially my favorite 15th!

That said, the brand new public library downtown is making a big architetural splash lately. And Seattle Art Museum is always good for a walk thru.

Gardyloo makes an excellent point about the neighborhood. The campus is in a mixed and changing urban area. Recently on the upswing, influenced largely by SU being there IMO.

I second the notion to stop trying so hard to shove touristy things into your time here.

Might want to stop and let the area revolve around you for a bit. Might even go and tour the U. of W. campus to see how it could complement a studious Seattle U. freshman.

Take her for dinner in the Pioneer Square area after dark, for some sense of the younger crowd at play (thankfully she won't be able to get in to many of the places at this time). A walk up and down Broadway is a must - maybe start at/near the QFC grocery store at Broadway and Union/University ~ up one side and back on the other. That, too, is most fun after dark

Not so long ago, on Broadway, I witnessed a young 20-something pushing a grocery cart, with ANOTHER 20-something STANDING in the cart all the way down the street.

Give yourself this experience so that you can fully fill-in your own image OF your daughter's surroundings after she leaves home. That imagery (not the grocery cart so much, but I mean YOURS) will fill your hours more than you know.

If you're driving, go from the Seattle U. area west on Yesler (NOT after dark on this one) toward downtown and imagine what it was like 90 years ago to come over the bluff and see the 4th tallest building ON EARTH looming up ahead (the white one, with the pointed top, "The Smith Tower")

If I were flying into SeaTac I'd opt for the luxury buses offering service to all downtown hotels for maybe $9.00 per person or so. YOUR HOTEL is NOT among them, but from where they let you off it would be a quick jaunt up the hill by cab.

Are you renting a car during any of your trip? You could opt to take the bus to, say, the Hilton Hotel in downtown Seattle and get a rental car there from National, and then reverse the process on the way back home. (the rental rates are considerably higher for airport pick-up's and drop-off's)

If it matters to you, I have a good feeling about the idea of an east coast girl who has never been to Seattle picking Seattle U. as her top choice and then coming to school out here. No way will she find our "worst neighborhoods" as fear-inducing as those in cities you mentioned.

Life seems to go a bit slower out here (and traffic likewise) but the water and REAL mountains will offer a pleasant backdrop to her new experience.

(now don't forget to design your OWN mental image to carry with YOU for four years...)

Thanks to all of you for your wonderful ideas and suggestions! I appreciate your insight on my comfort level too especially since this is our firstborn leaving. We have always taught all of them though that there is a huge world out there and you need to see and experience as much as you can in your lifetime. It is shocking though how many kids stay close to home for college and don't want that adventure. If any of my 4 kids didn't have that sense of adventure and love of travel, I would find that devastating. Of course, it is scary that she might not return to this area but that is all part of letting go I guess. Luckily, I still have a few months before I need the boxes of tissues.

Hi Meghan,
Thanks for your reflections.
Where did you stay during your visit?
Happy Trails

happy trails- they aren't in seattle until next week. the plan is staying at the silver cloud on broadway (see original post).

meghan- while i was the first to move to the northwest after time both my folks and sister and husband ended up here too, so you just never know!

for Gardyloo:

Guess what? I just read Seattle magazine April issue & their list of the 10 "very best" restaurants of 2005.
#1 Lark! Followed by:
Restaurant Zoe
Le Pichet
Rovers
Salumi
Union
Cafe Campagne
The Harvest Vine
Cafe Juanita
Palace Kitchen

"Readers Choice" list included Lola, Andaluca, with Lark winning the "trendiest".