elizabeth

This is a reposting under a more specific headline:
My boyfriend and I will be spending four days in Seattle staying at the downtown Hotel Paramount. Have you stayed there? Do you have any suggestions for sushi resturants in the downtown vicinity? I hear Nikko is sometime great and other times mediocre. Would you recommend visiting the Uwajimaya market? We'll be getting massages @ Gene Juarez, have you had any luxury services there? We would appreciate any suggestions for activities and resturants. We won't be renting a car and don't like to shop (I can do that when I'm home). Is it possible/worth it to take a ferry to one of the islands without a car, even just for a picnic? We'll be visiting from Wisconsin, are in our mid-twenties, and travel extensivly, so we have no fear of "adventure". Thanks in advance, E.

John

Try Aoki at the north end of Broadway on Capitol Hill for sushi - fun place. You'll enjoy the walk up Broadway too (start at the top of the hill up the slope from the Paramount.)

Absolutely visit Uwajimaya Village, including a stop at the very fun food court (wide variety of Asian cuisines, cheap, educational.) Don't miss the geoduck viewing at the seafood section of the market. (Pron. "gooeyduck.")

My wife has been massaged and had other services performed on her person at Gene Juarez, and likes it. Seattle has attained a near-California density of such personal service/spa places, mainstream to extraterrestrial. How many Rolfers can one community support?

You can hop a ferry downtown to Bainbridge Island, and find someplace around Winslow or Eagle Harbor for waterfront picnicking. There are other places in the city for similar activities - the West Seattle waterfront (bus ride, not ferry) has docks or beaches with views of downtown across Elliott Bay or the Olympic Mts., very nice. You might want to relent on the rental car thing, though, if only for a day to explore Puget Sound or get up into the mountains a little.

Mike

Hi-

I'd also recommend (if the weather is good) renting a canoe at the Water Center at the University of Washington, on the water below Husky Stadium (the 43 bus should take you there). After you get the canoe, head south, across the ship canal, and under the freeway (it's kinda low, you'll have to duck) then your in the Arboretum. There are islands and beaches to check out, maybe take a simple lunch, etc.

Capitol Hill is a must (as mentioned before) as well as Freemont. And even though you don't care for shopping, Pike Place market is worth a stroll through.

Good luck and enjoy the city.

alan

Uwajimaya is a large Japanese-American supermarket. I enjoy going there. Actually, it has some of the best seafood in the City and a wide variety of good produce, so it is a good place to shop for groceries. Also in the same bldg. is an outlet of a Japanese book store where you can browse for Japanese magazines, comics, books, and also English books. The aforementioned food court is O.K. but to my knowledge all of the food is served on styrofoam. If you are in the neighborhood walking around and enjoying the sights and smells of what is called "Chinatown/International District" is well worth while. I think it is one of the most interesting neighborhoods in the City. Interesting old bldgs. with character, good restaurants, bubble tea parlors. Spend some time there; have your food on a plate. There are a couple of good dim sum places for mid-morning meals. For sushi, I recommend Tsukushinbo, which is near the amazing Panama Hotel (cafe and tea room) and near the Danny Woo Memorial Garden. This is one of Seattle's public vegetable gardens. In this case many of the gardeners are Asian-Americans and the garden, on terraced hillside, is an extremely interesting place for a walk. I take out of town guests there and it is a favorite. (I agree that walking up to Capitol Hill on Pike Street or Pine Street is interesting, as is walking along Broadway. Well worth your time, but I wouldn't have sushi on Broadway when you can go to the International District. (It's easy to walk there from the Paramount, or there is good bus service, often free, depending on the time of day.) The most highly rated, and expensive, sushi place in the downtown area is probably Shiro's on 2nd Ave. in Belltown. There are a couple of other sushi places in Belltown, also good. Walk along 2nd Ave. and 1st Ave. north of the Pike Place Market and you will find them. (Also other restaurants of note) Another restaurant I recommend is in the Pike Place Market - Le Pigalle. Quite charming, good food. It is possible to walk on a ferry to either Bremerton or Bainbridge Island. The ferry ride to Bremerton is more interesting, but Bainbridge Island is probably more geared to tourists- there are more restaruants, etc. on Bainbridge within easy walking distance from the ferry. Also, there is a water taxi from downtown to West Seattle. In West Seattle there is a nice long sandy beach and a long promenade that, on the east side has a great view of downtown Seattle and to the west a great view of the Olympic Mountains. Maybe you would want to rent a bike or blades - you can go for several scenic mile and there are several good restaurants along the beach. Also, if you are into bicycling, try the Burke-Gilman trail. On your bike you can visit the Ballard locks (an interesting place for a picnic - on your map it may be called the Hiram Chittenden Locks; it is where boats go between Puget Sound and fresh water)Also, on your bike you can take in the Fremont Sunday market (not quite Maxwell Street, but then Maxwell Street isn't Maxwell Street anymore) Gasworks Park on Lake Union, and ride for miles along Lake Washington. You can download maps of the bike trails in the area from website of either Seattle or King County. Finally, if you are here during the right season, the Seattle Symphony plays in a very good hall. I highly recommend taking in a performance. There are many good theaters; look in the Friday edition of the daily papers or one of the weeklies, ("The Weekly" or "The Stranger") for reviews. If you are only going to be here for four days and if you are staying in Seattle, I would skip renting a car. There is plenty to do in the City.

Seattle Native

Nikko is fine. But I recommend eating at Chinoise for sushi. It's right next to Uwajimaya.

Paramont is great. Very nice rooms and clean. Great location.

Never have been to Gene Juarez, but say hello to the gal from Melrose for me.

Yes - visit the Uwajimaya market.

Yes - you can walk on the ferry. It's a great view.

Suggestions: go to Pike PLace Market, Volunteer Park. Eat at Canlis.

e

Topping and thanks to all for your great suggestions, keep 'em comin'!
E.

e

topping

julie

Okay< I live here in Seattle, and what would I do with a few days of leisure? Just the same as we always do...get on a ferry (walk on) to Bainbridge, stroll the little town and shops there, go to the marina and have a fine salmon lunch, walk up to Pike Street market for an eyeful, go to Kaizaka (sp?) sushi restaurant (our favorite) for a low cost, authentic Japanese meal, walk over to the SEattle Art Museum (one of the world's finest exhibit of Jade), drive over I=90 and into the incredible mountains (on a clear day you can see forever), and forget about the fancy-smashcy stuff.