*100*

Elsyian is where Pyramid Brewing Co. was located, right? A good friend was a brewer there when we lived in the area, and we loved it because we could use his parking spot when we went to a game. :)

My sister says that Elysian's pumpkin beer is fantastic, but I haven't tried it yet.

No, two different places... Elysian is at 542 1st Ave and Pyramid is at 1201 1st Ave.

Elysian is across from Century Link Field, so about a block or two from Safeco Field. Super close though, and the hotel is literally right across from Safeco.

Kureiff--I have had their pumpkin beer and don't care for it, but I also haven't found a pumpkin beer that I do like. So probably just my taste;) DD is lucky, she made friends with a bartender there a few years ago so never had to pay for drinks.

Oh, yeah, different fields! Thanks, suze and mms.

I'm not big on the pumpkin beers, either. I'll try Elysian's just to see, though. :)

volcanogirl, If you end up doing this trip, you absolutely positively now owe us a trip report!!

Pyramid is where I went.

Don't get me going on pumpkin beer because a lot of it doesn't even have pumpkin in it and they come out in July!

Hi, all - we're back from our trip, and we had a great time! We went to Snoqualmie Falls, did the Chihuly Gardens and the Space Needle, went to Victoria on the Clipper and had tea at The Empress, also went whale watching and to Butchart Gardens, did the Savor Seattle tour to Pike Place Market, and went to the Mariners game, and our team won - really fun trip! Just wanted to say thanks for all your input. I wish we had had more time, but I think we'll go back again. The weather was beautiful - sunny and no rain at all until the day we left. Temps were fantastic! People were so friendly! Very pretty area - would love to go back and do some hiking, go to Mt. Rainier, etc. someday. Would also love to go out to the San Juan Islands. We saw some nice wildlife on our whale watching trip - three humpback whales, a porpoise, seals, and sea lions.

Whoo-hoo, thanks for checking in!! Glad you enjoyed your trip to our beautiful area.

<People were so friendly!>

No kidding. I work in Pioneer Square and locals are practically fighting over who is going to help the lost tourists (staring at their phone with a confused look or clutching the folded tourist map with the red border) -haha.

best, Suze

We also loved the Silver Cloud - so convenient to just stroll across the street for the game and walk back afterwards. We went to Jimmy's to celebrate - super easy.

I think my favorite thing was the Savor Seattle tour - Pike Place Market was a big wow for me. Surprisingly the thing most people loved most on our tour was the Greek yogurt - Ellenos - I think I'd eat that every day if I lived there!

The Pike Place Market is such a special local treasure. It almost got torn down back in the 1960's!! Then in the 70's a historic preservation zone was created to save and preserve it permanently for the public.

Glad you had a great trip!

So glad you had a great trip! Yes, the food tour is excellent!

I'm trying to think of everything we ate on the tour - mini doughnuts, cherries, the Greek yogurt, crabcakes, clam chowder, Beecher's - thankfully there was a lot of walking! I loved all the flower stalls too. suze, I'm so glad they saved it. Our tour guide also said it came close to closing when all the Japanese people were put into internment camps because so many of them were vendors at the market. I liked that they included a lot of history on the tour.

Thanks, t and mms! We loved the Chihuly Museum too - wow, some gorgeous huge pieces there. We also stayed at the Hilton and the Renaissance - both of those were nice as well. Got to see the sunset from the Space Needle.

Have you read "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter & Sweet"? You might enjoy that after your trip, sincey ou mention the history of our area.

No, suze, I haven't heard of it, but thanks for suggesting it.

Victoria was beautiful as well - definitely a great side trip to pair with Seattle. Tea at The Empress was wonderful - loved that entire harbor area and Butchart Gardens. We finally got to try some poutine too.

(your mention of the internment camps made me think of the book)

One thing we didn't get a chance to do is get Molly Moon's ice cream. A woman at my office is from Seattle, and she raves about it. That's on my to do list for our return trip.