I will be traveling with friends to Seattle for three days and boarding a ship for an Alaska cruise. We would like to catch the things in Seattle that are not only touristy, but experience some of the main things that are characteristics of Seattle itself. Any recommendations on those key items and possibly some of those things locals love would be great. We arrive Wednesday and board Saturday morning, so we have a couple of full days. Please reference restaurants, bars, sights etc... Thank you so much.

What kind of food do you like? Budget?

Generally the biggest issue this time of year is lodging. If you don’t have that, you need to pick that first. If you do, it would be helpful to know where you’re staying.

if you want to eat somewhere nice downtown on Friday night, I recommend reservations ASAP.

seattle things I enjoy:
wing Luke museum and Chinatown tour
underground tour
gasworks park
chihuly gallery and its cafe
museum of pop culture
seattle art museum
ferry rides (any)
alki beach/west seattle
pike place chowder
crumpet shop
rachel’s ginger beer
elliott bay books
Shiro’s or sushi kashiba (first takes walk ins, line up before opening, reasonably priced, second is reservations necessary and definitely more splurge). Japonessa is also very popular but it’s less authentic/more fusion, which is not my thing.
the Pink Door- try to be there during their aerialist show, reservations necessary, but lunch on patio is also nice)
wild ginger
ballard’s walrus and carpenter (oysters)
taylor shellfish (also oysters. Local favorite, but my preference is walrus)
ettas (seafood)
Lola’s (med small plates- this is seriously one of my favorites)
the whale wins (local farm to table? Maybe? Good, sometimes a bit odd menu wise)
serious pie (pizza. May not be worth it if you live in a place with authentic pizza.)
tipsy cow (Redmond I think, in case you have a car. Burgers and boozy milkshakes)

Oh wow. Thank you so much. Great information.
We do have lodging and are staying at the Loews. As for food a combination of both casual and nice. It looks like you have given us a good selection though.
Thank you

Let us know when this will be, and there might be local events or activities that we could recommend that would fit with your schedule.

Remember too that while Seattle has some marvelous sights and activities in the city itself, we're in the middle of a remarkable region that includes islands, forests, waterfalls, picturesque waterfront villages, a nearby volcano...

Pike Place Public Market
Seattle Center/Space Needle/Olympic Sculpture Park
Pioneer Square Historic District including The Underground Tour and Klondike Museum
the Arboretum and Japanese Garden
Volunteer Park including the Water Tower and Plant Conservatory
Capitol Hill (Pike/Pine Corridor, Broadway, 15th Avenue East) for shops, bars, restaurants with local flare

I believe Fodor's has a destination guide for Seattle. Often that is a good place to start and then ask more specific questions relating to some of the information you come across.