Recommendations for fun things to do north of Seattle?
 

Does anyone have any recommendations for fun things to do during the day in Everett/ Snohomish, an area north of Seattle? I will be traveling there in a couple of weeks, meeting up with friends, but will also have some down time with my 14 yr old daughter. I don't want to drive down to Seattle from there so am looking for things we can do up around Everett, even on a rainy day. We will spend one morning browsing through the downtown Snohomish antique shops.Thought of taking her to buffet lunch at the Tulalip Casino. Any other ideas? I'd love to drive over to Leavenworth but we won't have enough time to do that.

Thanks.

We enjoyed the daffofils blooming prior to all of the tulips outside of LaConner. Now there's an unofficial daffodil festival in March -
http://www.lovelaconner.com/la-conne...odil-festival/

http://www.tulipfestival.org/about

We just enjoyed driving around the area, visiting potteries and eating at one of the restaurants in LaConner. A little bit of Holland in the states.

Snohomish is a wonderful little town!

If you like to walk/run/bike, head to the Centennial Trail. It starts right in downtown and goes for 30 miles up to Arlington, so you could start right in town or drive to one of the parking lots along the way.

Yes, there are a lot of antique shops in town. Each has their own feel to it and sort of specialize in different items. There area lot of wonderful clothing and home decor shops as well. Joy Works is my favorite! Good clothing section there too.

There is a shortish trail that goes right along the river, down below the restaiurants. Or head up to Lord Hill, where you can walk and enjoy views.

Walk down to Harvey Airfield and watch the skydivers. As you face the Buzz Inn, head to the left through the gate and to the back of the restaurant. There are signs to direct you.

I am not a fan of Tulalip, even the restaurant. If you are in Snohomish, head to Crepe Escape. Fred's is really good too, but a lot of food. Andy's Fish House is very good as well.

The outlets by Tulalip though are very good and you could easily spend most of the day there. Instead of eating at the casino, head to Everett to the marina area next to the Naval base. Several very good restaurants there including Anthony's, the Woodfire Grill, and Lombardi's.

If you are traveling on SR9, keep an eye out for the snow geese. They are in the fields between Lowell Larimer and Marsh road.

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. As you can tell, I know this area VERY well, lol!

LaConner and Deception Pass would make a good outing.

Chuckanut Drive and Fairhaven is another possibility, but it is slightly longer drive.

HTtY

If you wanted to go to Seattle without a car, You could take a same day round trip on Amtrak. In the morning, it is the #7 Empire Builder @ 8:38AM (often late) from Everett to Seattle.
The train is scheduled into Seattle at 10:25AM. The newly remodeled station is near Century Link stadium.
The return train would be the Cascades #516 which leaves SEA promptly at 6:50PM and arrives back in Everett at 7:42PM.
The round trip for 2 can be as low as $46 if you buy far enough in advance.

Thank you all for your super helpful tips! MMS- must be Snohomish is in your backyard? :-)
I'm afraid we will just barely miss the daffodil festival which is in middle/ later March or do you happen to know if the fields are early this year?
Crepe Escape- will definitely go there to meet our friends! Great suggestion!
Is there a good Mexican restaurant anywhere?
Years ago I went a few times to the all-you-can-eat buffet at the Tulalips where the slot machines are. I remember the food being great but don't recall the outlet stores per se. Will have to check them out, too.
The Amtrak suggestion is a nice one, the ride alone is probably worth it.

globalmom--You could say that, lol;) Flowers are so far a bit early this year. Nothing in bloom yet, but our tulips have started to come up out of the ground a bit. But this winter has been so weird, who knows. Crepe Escape has excellent savory crepes for breakfast or lunch, and the best coffee in town besides the shack in front of the Buzz Inn. As for Mexican, there are a couple along the water on 1st Ave, where all the shops are, but the best for food is up in a strip mall on Ave D called El Paraiso. The one on 1st is called Todo, and is fine and sits up by the water. There are quite a few mexican places in town. Oh, and if you want to go just a few miles out of town, Maltby Cafe is THE place for the absolute best breakfast in the entire east side! Good lunches too, but they are known for breakfast. Don't let any lines deter you, the waits are not too long.

I'd definitely head up to Deception Pass via La Conner. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the daffodils are out by then - it's a crazy winter - and the snow geese will also probably be easily found.

http://gardyloo.us/DSC_0077c.JPG
http://gardyloo.us/20100319_56as.JPG

Gardygloo and happytrailstoyou- you have convinced me! If the weather is nice I will definitely drive up there! Wow, what gorgeous photos!

I hope you make the drive. It was glorious to see miles of daffodils blooming.

Gardyloo, the snow geese photo is gorgeous! A friend posted a picture last week of thousands of snow geese in southern Delaware. I would love to see that sight!

Starrs- I'll be going there in a few days. So excited!!! Thanks for your tip!

Oh good! Enjoy!