Here Are Our Interests, Now What Would You Add to Seattle?
 

Hi,

We'll have 11 or 12 days including travel time from Philadelphia, and DH has never been to Seattle or environs, AND is a big Phillies fan (yes, despite it all). So we thought this might be a fun trip for our June vacation. The Mariners/Phillies are June 27 and 28, so that's the only thing set in stone. We're thinking to end our trip in Seattle, rather than start it there (or both), so the trip can be more mid to late June, rather than late June into July.

About 20 years ago, I did a trip with my brother to Seattle (and I was in Seattle again about 5 yrs ago for work), Vancouver, Victoria, and the San Juan Islands. It was a lovely trip and I also have a terrible memory, so it certainly wouldn't be the worst thing to repeat it. But I'm also thinking it would be fun to go somewhere I haven't been, for part of the trip. We also always like to have one part of each trip be more natural beauty than urban - one of our favorite parts of our most recent trip, to Portugal, was the beautiful Douro Valley wine region.

Our preference on a trip of this duration is to have at most 3 lodging bases, and 2 would probably be even better if possible. DH does the driving so doesn't want to be constantly behind the wheel, but is willing to have a couple of the days involve a couple hours + behind the wheel. We like to really slow down on vacation. We're in our mid 50s, enjoy delicious but not fancy food (think ethnic), wine, light hiking, beautiful scenery, areas of city or towns with indy shops, interesting architecture, exploring neighborhoods, hearing live music, maybe even cutting some rug. Of course don't need all these things on each part of the trip! But having the trip as a whole include them, makes for a splendid vacation for us...

So knowing all this, and with Seattle as one base, what would you pick for the other one or two, and why? Have been reading a bit about both Olympia National Park and Cascades (we'd pick one not both), but am open to other suggestions as well.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

It's been a long time, but we really enjoyed Olympic NP--so much variety! Hoh rail forest, Hurricane Ridge, the coast. Beautiful!

A couple of logistic considerations. First, this has been an extraordinarily snowy winter in the mountains, and it's still going on. So destinations like Mount Rainier or the North Cascades are going to offer limited access. Typically on July 1 there's still 6 feet or more of snow on the ground (not the roads, just the trails etc.) at the Paradise visitor center on Mount Rainier, and this year is probably going to be no exception; if anything it will be deeper.

Second, don't know your budget, but the prices of hotels in Seattle during the Alaska cruise season will make your eyes water. New York prices and more. So in planning your dates, if budget is an issue, be aware. You can often do better by staying away from the city center, even if it means having a car and paying for parking downtown. Or AirBnB is very popular in Seattle, if that's an option.

So in keeping with your aims of seeing something different, and thinking about the Douro region, I'm going to suggest something out of the box altogether.

Fly to Portland and spend the first few days of your trip in the Portland - Columbia River Gorge - Mount Hood - Hood River area.

In June this is a marvelous area. The Columbia Gorge is lined with waterfalls and vista points, access to iconic Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood will get you to the snow and the views will knock your eyeballs out.

Hood River and the Hood River Valley is ground zero for an emerging wine industry, plus lots of farm-to-table places, orchards and U-pick farms with Mt. Hood looming above. There's craft beer everywhere, hikes around lakes or under waterfalls, windsurfers on the Columbia or visit Herman the Sturgeon at the Bonneville hatchery. Hood River itself is a picturesque little town, as is nearby White Salmon WA with its views of Mt. Adams. An hour to the east of Hood River on the Washington side of the Columbia is the remarkable Maryhill Museum - Rodin in the sagebrush - along with its neighboring replica of Stonehenge sitting on a cliff over the big river.

And, of course, Portland itself - foodie heaven beer, no sales tax, funkadelic vibe, and one of the world's great bookstores.

You can drive up to Seattle, or to avoid paying for a one-way car rental, just take the train - scenic and cheap.

Come a couple of days ahead of the ball games and spend a couple of nights on Whidbey Island. Visit the very pretty waterfront villages of Langley and Coupeville, or La Conner on the mainland. Eat terrific seafood, visit some farmers markets, explore remarkable Deception Pass, maybe take the little ferry from Coupeville to Victorian Port Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula, and just fall into "island time."

Then into Seattle for the beisbol.

(Google the places I've listed - I don't have time to pull up the links.)

Terrific trip. Like the man says, trust me.

Duoro Valley - http://www.globeslice.com/wp-content...River_View.jpg

Columbia Gorge - http://traveloregon.com/content/uplo...-2000x1200.jpg

Hood River Valley - http://beautifulhoodriver.com/images...om_k9a7155.jpg

Thanks for your replies. Gardyloo, you clearly got us, because our trip to Portland and then down the coast and back up the middle of the state, ending with the Columbia Gorge, was our first and probably my favorite trip together! (of course the fact that we still had stars in our eyes might have helped ;-)

I'm intrigued by Whidbey Island and will look it up. And elberko, I'd started looking that direction and will keep reading...

Okay then, do Whidbey Island and the Olympic Peninsula. Google the Hoh rain forest, Rialto Beach, and Hurricane Ridge. You might be there in time for the lavender fields around Sequim, you could do a day trip to Victoria or go whale watching from Port Townsend. Lots of options.

So you are planning on two Phillies/Mariners games?
The cheapest (maybe not best) option would be to fly to PDX and take the morning Amtrak Cascades train to Seattle King St. station which I believe is within walking distance of the stadium.
After the first game if you don't find cheap lodging just take a train south to Olympia or take the light rail to the area of SeaTac airport where there are usually cheap hotel rooms.
After the second game go back to Portland by train. Rent a car in Portland and see the Columbia Gorge and the waterfalls east of Portland. After seeing Mt. Hood, head for the coast on US 26 (NOT US 30).
Right now there is over 14 feet of snow on the ski resorts of Mt. Hood.

Paradise being <i>snowy</i> is no big deal at all.

Last time I went, there were <b>ten feet</b> of snow measured there at the very end of June (it was still upward of 50 degrees and comfortable at the visitor's center).

Upon contemplating Seattle being the <b>end</b> of the trip on June 29 or so, it strikes me that <b>If Philly were on the west coast</b>, it would be in Northern California, somewhere between Redding and Chico. <b>SO with that in mind</b> it might be fun to plan to be in Vancouver, Canada or farther north, to see it stay light out until 10:00pm (on or about June 21).


LOL - I <I>never</i> seem to throw <I>Victoria</i> into my thoughts here, but maybe you might arrive at SeaTac, then make your way (one way or the other) toward Port Angeles, WA... and then to Vancouver Island (where Victoria is)... and consider visiting/staying-at Tofino and exploring that area. (visit <I>Hurricane Ridge</i> in the area of Port Angeles, if there is time)

Later, make your way to Vancouver (city) and spend 3 or 4 days in that area... and at least <I><u>consider</u> detouring for a trip over the <b>North Cascades Highway</b></i> as you make your way back toward Seattle.

(you could choose <I>Mount Vernon, WA - to Winthrop, WA</i> and then double back, <b>OR</b> even drive around through eastern Washington, perhaps through Leavenworth on your way back toward Seattle for the last part of your trip) (I'd stay downtown, turn your car in, and later take the <u>Link Light Rail</u> right to SeaTac for departure)

(depending upon your whim, and whether you wanted to bed down for one night somewhere in <I>central WA</i>, you could return via Mount Rainier for a close look at the most prominent mountain peak in the lower 48) (no doubt you could find a winery or several on the path from Winthrop toward Yakima)

I personally find the North Cascades more spectacular than the Olympic Peninsula. But maybe that's just a personal thing.

I also love Whidbey Island. If you decide to include that here's a sweet place to stay there:
http://www.captainwhidbey.com/

For Seattle here is a B&B in my neighborhood (Capitol Hill) that is only two miles from downtown Seattle with good public transportation options, but in a residential area:
https://www.sbmansion.com/

Thanks for all the responses and ideas! I have to work tonight but will be back on the weekend to do more research.

Check out Orcas Island. It would be perfect for one of your bases. The island's Chamber of Commerce publishes an excellent brochure: http://orcasislandchamber.com/images...de-for-Web.pdf

Mt. Rainier and Port Angeles (for the Olympic Peninsula) are additional places to consider.

HTtY

Sorry, I should have read more carefully. You want two bases in addition to Seattle, and your husband doesn't want to do a lot of driving.

Then, the Olympic Peninsula (Port Angeles, Forks, etc.) and Orcas Island would be ideal.

Travel between the OP and Orcas Island can be accomplished using two ferries: Port Townsend/Coupeville and Anacortes/Orcas (or vice versa).
If you want to make this trip, book ferry reservations well in advance.

HTtY

Thanks again, everyone, this gives us plenty to think about.

For those of you who like Whidbey Island, would you think three nights there would be too much?

For Olympia National Park, is Port Angeles where most of you would recommend lodging as the base?

Tofino looks so beautiful but sadly I think it's just too much driving for this trip.

For me, yes 3 nights on Whidbey would be too much. We were just there today again and honestly even for a visitor from out of the area I think one night is plenty.

For ONP you want more than one place to stay. The park is large and you cannot see it from basing your self in one area. You want two at least. We were just over there two weeks ago again. PA is a nice enough place for the north part, but if you chose Lake Crescent that would be nicer. If you opt for PA though the Olympic Lodge is the best in town, and the Red Lion is awful lol. Then for the other area look to Lake Quinault or Kalaloch.

I agree 3 nights on Whidbey is too many. And given your timing (late June) I fear you're going to find your lodging options on the Olympic peninsula - outside of Port Angeles and maybe Forks - are going to be limited. Accommodation on the Pacific side of the park is quite limited and books up early. By all means look at Kalaloch and around Lake Quinault, but don't get your hopes up.

But even staying in PA and having to drive out to the Hoh Valley or La Push isn't the end of the world. It's not super convenient to be sure - around two hours to the Hoh visitor center, an hour or so from the visitor center to La Push, and 90 min. or so back to PA, so quite a lot of driving, but the days are long in late June so darkness won't be an issue. But one night in Forks, however bleak the town might be, would solve the problem - PA to Hoh to Forks on day 1, Forks to La Push to PA on day 2.

Since you've been redesigning things, maybe you could update us on the general plan? You're in Seattle for the Phillies on 6/27-28, but I'm not sure whether that's at the beginning or end of your visit. Give us a schematic if you don't mind.

Sure, tho' still deciding a lot...what we do know, is that we're going to end the trip, not begin it, with those Phillies games in Seattle. Hoping to get a decent priced flight to arrive Seattle June 17, tho if going one day later changes price significantly, we might do that.

Right now we're thinking to head right to ONP when we arrive. We understand that by picking one base in ONP we won't see everything to be seen and that's fine. We prefer moving around less and enjoying the scenery at a slower pace. Having researched more over the last couple days, right now am leaning toward staying at Lake Crescent Lodge and from there exploring Hurricane Ridge, Marymere Falls, Hoh Rain Forest and Rialto Beach (and possibly La Push).

The rest has me a little more stumped so far, mostly because we so know about ourselves that we don't like to jump around a lot. For an example of that, our first international trip together in 2003 we had 10 days including travel time, and we spent it all in Rome...many people wondered why we didn't go to at least one other part of Italy, but we were very, very happy with our decision.

With that said, you might think we just stick to ONP and Seattle for this trip, and save other places for another time. Yet something's calling me to possibly add a third destination this time, of either Orcas Island, or Vancouver, or even Mt. Rainier (definitely not more than one of those, tho'!) If we do get to leave on 6/17, that would give us at least 4 nights in each place, so it wouldn't be like we'd be only a night or two anywhere. And we might even end up with 5 nights in Seattle, in which case I thought we might just do a day trip to Whidbey Island.

Hopefully that helps, still open to all thoughts!

Well, Mt. Rainier is still going to have a great deal of snow on the ground then - it's been an exceptionally snowy winter in the mountains and even in normal years there's still several feet of snow on the ground at the Paradise visitor center on the first of July, so while the road up to Paradise will be open and the parking lots clear, you won't be able to do any hiking on the trails, the Reflection Lakes on the Stevens Canyon Rd. will probably still be frozen, and you'll be a good 1 1/2 months away from wildflowers.

I'm not personally a big fan of Orcas but of course that puts me in a minority. If I were going to spend time in the San Juans I'd pick San Juan Island - more to see, Friday Harbor has more places to stay and eat, Roche Harbor is picturesque, you could learn about the "Pig War," and there are excursions - whale chasing, or watching them from Lime Kiln Point - that are enjoyable.

Vancouver of course is terrific, and that would be my choice for a few days. You can do day drives up the Sea to Sky Highway in the direction of Whistler, the gardens in Queen Elizabeth Park will be in bloom, offering an excellent (free) alternative to Butchart Gardens outside Victoria, you could take in a play at the Bard on the Beach Shakespeare festival (in tents facing the city skyline) or eat lots of great food, with a very favo(u)rable exchange rate.

Or if you wanted some "island" vibe without being stuck on an island, take a couple of days to visit the BC Sunshine Coast, reached by a scenic ferry crossing from Horseshoe Bay north of Vancouver. The Sunshine Coast isn't well known by US visitors, but it's terrific - a string of nice little towns full of galleries and B&Bs, with fabulous coastline and forest all around for walks or biking, farmers markets, all that. Plus it's not called the "Sunshine Coast" for nothing - it's largely in the rain shadow of Vancouver Island so it's sunnier and drier than other parts of the southern BC mainland. Google it and you'll see.

I wouldn't add Vancouver, not that it's not a fantastic city but it IS another huge city somewhat similar to Seattle in many ways.

Sure a day trip to Whidbey works OK if you end up with 5 days in Seattle proper.

I've lived in Seattle 25+ years and went to the San Juan islands... once (ha-ha) so guess I'm sitting by Gardyloo on that one.

Another quicky day trip (more like 1/2 day) if you're in Seattle with a rental car is Snoqualmie Falls.

My two favorite directions are over to the Pacific coast thru Olympia, Aberdeen, out to Graylands, Westport, Tokeland area. Or east over the Cascades Highway to the Methow Valley. But both these would add more than the "extra" time you've got to work with.

For somebody coming to the Northwest and intent on picking <b>ONE base</b> with the intention of having many things to do very near to, and all around that one base, <b><U>Vancouver</u></b> IS the most significant candidate to be that <I>one base</i>.

Heck, you can ride <I>a city bus</i> to the foot of a mountain and then take a gondola 3000 feet <u>up the mountain</u>, from Vancouver.

IF DH has never been to Vancouver then it makes even greater sense to use it as one of your bases.

Besides, Vancouver has for many years been what Seattle is only becoming now, what with the mass influx of new residents, and no doubt the place has changed considerably from when you were last in Vancouver with your brother.

Vancouver <I>already has</i> the skyline packed with high-rise residences.

Thanks again, all. A couple things put this on hold for a couple weeks, but am back to it.

Turns out our dates might have to change just by a couple weeks (later) in which case this trip won't change much, but we'd be starting rather than ending with the Phillies games in Seattle (Our preference was for more of the trip to be in June than July but that might just not be possible). Or, we actually might have to wait til Sept. to travel which might change our destination all together. I'll know in about a week and will go from there!

Actually September weather is most likely nicer than either June or July (for Seattle) if that turns out to be your timing.