Best of Seattle in 2 days
 

I am planning a 3 week road trip from Denver for Sept, 2010 to include Cannon Beach, Or, Port Townsend, Wa, Victoria BC, Vancouver and Seattle. Our goldendoodle will be with us. After extensive research, we have selected The Woodmark in Kirkland. Not only is it dog friendly but we like the idea of being out of the downtown, on water and surrounded by grass. We are not looking for dog parks--she gets plenty of exercise walking with us.

Arriving from Vancouver - Kirkland on the first afternoon (a Thursday) we then will have 2 full days in the area, Friday and Saturday. I presume we would enjoy walking around downtown for 1 day (and if we're lucky, find dog friendly restaurant patios). Going into museums or even a Boeing tour would not be feasible (locking our dog in the car is NOT an option!)
At the beginning of the trip, we will be driving from Cannon Beach, Or to Port Angeles (staying in Port Townsend). So we will not need to spend additional time in the Olympic Penninsula. No doubt that Mount Rainier is magnificent, we are not overwhelmed by mountains with Vail 1.5 hours from home. Mt. St. Helens is too far.

I considered going to Friday Harbor in the San Juans but after the 80 mile drive to the ferry dock, one way takes 3.5 hours. A round trip in one day doesn't make sense.

Are there any other islands or places we could explore with our dog? (The Ballard Locks sound like an interesting pet friendly sight.) Any other ideas?

Make sure you bring a recent health certificate and proof of current rabies vaccination to cross the border. They actually didn't inspect ours when we took our Lab up to Whistler, but they could turn you back if you don't have them.

You'll have no trouble finding pet-friendly places in Port Townsend.

For Seattle, two things I can suggest are a walk through the Olympic Sculpture Park, and a ferry ride to Bainbridge Island. You can walk on the ferry and take your dog up to the top level; they are not allowed in the passenger cabin. This is from the ferry website:

"Dogs - They can arrive by car or with walk-on passengers. Car canines must stay on the car deck, while walk-on pooches must stay on the sundeck. No dogs are allowed on the passenger deck. Service dogs are the exception and are allowed anywhere. Remind your cur to curtail natural urges for the duration of the voyage."

Bainbridge has a nice little "downtown" area that you can walk to from the ferry (take the waterfron path). If you are there on a Saturday, there is a nice Farmer's market, and unless things have changed, leashed dogs are allowed there.

I'll dig around and see what I can find in the way of pet-friendly places to dine in Seattle. If there is one in Madison Park, you could take your dog for a swim in the lake nearby first.

Ditto the above suggestions. (Aside to Nora_S---we have a Labrador too---and her name is Nora! Hope you don't mind).

Two highly recommended restaurants that allow dogs on their outdoor patio or deck are the Pink Door downtown, and the Madison Park Cafe in Madison Park (on Lake Washington, as Nora_S mentioned, not downtown).

http://www.thepinkdoor.net/

http://www.madisonparkcafe.ypguides.net/

Pink Door is in the Pike Place Market area and would make a nice end to your walk through the Sculpture Park if you do that. The Madison Park Cafe is a French-inspired bistro, so that probably explains the welcome for dogs.

I think Cactus (wonderful mexican restaurant) allows dogs if you sit outside. I have seen people eating there with little dogs, but I don't see why a well-behaved goldendoodle at your feet on the outdoor patio would be a problem. There is a Cactus restaurant in both Kirkland and Madison Park.

I forgot about Pink Door - that is a great suggestion!

I am so thrilled that 3 of you took the time to give me those restaurant suggestions. It's so rare that we can enjoy good restaurants. We usually end up at some burger joint so being able to enjoy 3 good meals is so exciting. Of course, eating on the patio is so weather dependent, but we'll keep our fingers crossed that our dates (Sept 16,17, 18) do not bring rain clouds. My friend in Denver, who used to live in Seattle, said her favorite restaurant is The Pink Door.

I wrote to both the Canadian and US border agencies about all of the rules bringing in dogs and food. The dog part with some paper work sounds much easier than open bags of food. We will be prepared to have her bag confiscated.

I really like the idea of going to Bainbridge Island on a ferry--good to know the dog will be allowed. Do we need to take our car or just walk on?

On our way from Vancouver to Kirkland, should we stop for lunch in Bellingham? or drive over the bridge to Whidbey Island?

Whidbey would be good, as there is a dog-friendly beach where you can let your doodle romp off-leash.

http://www.visitwhidbey.com/camp-gro...uff-Beach.html

But then you would be taking a ferry to get back to the mainland for Kirkland. It's a short trip---about 20 minutes.

Another possibility would be the Fairhaven District of Bellingham, a charming historic area just south of town. Here is a list of lunch places; you can see from the photos which have outdoor seating. Maybe e-mail one or two to ask about doggies. I'd start with the Colophon Cafe, which looks nice, and has tables on the sidewalk.

http://fairhaven.com/businesses/listing_subcat/C22

As for Bainbridge, there is no need to take your car over if you just want to wander the little downtown area. Taking the car involves extra expense and, often, a long wait in line. I used to live there (with a dog) and it was always a pleasure to show visitors around. Nora_S mentioned the Farmer's Market (Saturday only) and, as far as I know, it is still very dog-friendly (my very social Sheltie used to love to go with me to see all her friends).

You could have lunch there (lots of food booths) or, if you can resist those, wander down to the waterfront to Bainbridge Thai Cuisine. Very good Thai food and dogs are allowed at the outside tables (right on the water with a great view of the boats tied up at the marina).

Here's an article I found (with some photos) about a short visit to Bainbridge:

http://pacificnwseasons.blogspot.com...e-ferries.html

The signage on the ferry is ambiguous about dogs. There is a picture of a leashed dog with a red X, as in "no dogs" as you go up the inside stairs from the car deck to the passenger cabin. But if you board as a foot passenger, you just go up the outside stairway (you'll see it right as you cross the boarding ramp) and you'll be on the top deck, where dogs are allowed.

Are you going to be in Portland at all? We spent a weekend there last month with our pup, and found a couple of good places to dine with her, waterbowls gladly provided.

Bellingham is a little hippie-ish so I'm sure you can find plenty of dog friendly restaurants. From my college days there I remember a restaurant called the Paradise Cafe (it's on Harris Ave so sometime it's called the Harris Ave Cafe). They had wonderful brunch offerings. I couldn't find a website but their phone number is (360) 738-0802. There have patio seating so hopefully they are dog friendly.

By the way -- I think September is the nicest month to visit Seattle!

BKP---that is exactly what I was thinking about Bellingham and Fairhaven in particular. Altho none of the webistes I could find specifically mentioned "dog friendly", I'll bet that lots of them (the ones with outdoor seating) are.

And you are so right about September. It's our favorite time here.

Thanks so much for everyone's input--exactly the info I need to make decisions. I love the idea of stopping in Bellingham/Fairhaven (a good stopping point after the ordeal at the US border crossing) I will contact the Paradise Cafe. Adding Whidbey Island to the drive sounds like too much--plus at this point in the trip we will have stayed on the ocean 9 nights and seeing more quiet beachs probably won't be necessary.

The ferry and Bainbridge Island looks like a great day. Now I am not concerned about finding dog friendly places to eat lunch--with booths and the Thai Cuisine we definitely won't have problems with lunch. All we need is good weather....

We were in Portland last September on a road trip and stayed at the RiverPlace--an amazing hotel which was so dog friendly. We ate on the outside veranda, seated in large oak rocking chairs, watching the river and served dinner while our dog was at our feet!

Going through the border isn't necessarily an ordeal. We always use the so-called "truck customs" which is a bit east of the Blaine crossing, on Canada Highway 15.

Coming from North Vancouver, we just stay on Highway 1 as far as Surrey and Hwy 15 instead of transferring to 1A through downtown Vancouver. I don't know if it would work as well from downtown Vancouver, but it's worth looking at a map.

And yes, Riverplace is very dog-friendly! We actually stayed at the nearby Marriott Suites hotel to save a bit of $$. We ate one night at the McCormick & Schmick right there, and one night we enjoyed a walk up to the Pearl District to dine at the Everett Street Bistro. Our dog curled up under the table and enjoyed the whole scene.

You might enjoy an afternoon in West Seattle - it's exceptionally dog-friendly. Alki Beach has a number of restaurants that allow dogs on their patios - there's a Cactus there as well.

I believe the Water Taxi from downtown still allows dogs, I know they used to. You can get on from the downtown piers for a 10-12 minute ride across to the beach, then spend a couple of hours exploring.

One note about having your dog downtown - I would suggest you not take him to the Market. It's so crowded, especially on weekends, I always feel bad for the dogs I see there.