Fodors has been so great I wanted to return the favor and write up a trip report as we just got back from Seattle. What a beautiful city and we were very lucky; the weather was just perfect the entire time we were there. (I know our odds drastically improve during Summer).

My husband went for business but we added on a few days for vacation and I got to play the entire time he was working so I saw quite a lot in 5 days.

We started out at the Sheraton Seattle. I highly recommend this hotel. It has a perfect location for seeing the various sites, is well-maintained, has helpful staff, good food, etc. We unfortunately moved to the Fairmont after the work portion of the trip was over and were disappointed with the condition of the rooms. Wished we had stayed put but we got a great deal on a suite that we couldn't pass up.

While my husband was working, I met up with friends and took the ferry to Whidbey Island, and had a great day exploring the Island, hiking, and nature watching. The next day I went to Discovery Park, a beautiful, safe, and quiet park only minutes from downtown. Also went to Pike's Place Market, and then took the monorail to EMP (was not too impressive; really did look like someone's music collection that had outgrown their house, which I guess is exactly what it was), Science Fiction Museum (same comments as EMP), and Space Needle.

By now my husband was done with his meetings so we headed down to the Waterfront and walked around a bit, looking at all the funky shops.

The next day we headed out to Mt. Rainier. What a beautiful place. We went to Sunrise and hiked some of the trails. Saw tons of wildlife and drop-dead gorgeous views. I'd suggest skipping Paradise which is a zoo in the summer and go over to Sunrise instead. Not too many people and I can't imagine the views were less-impressive there than they would have been at Paradise, as they were spectacular!

Our last day we went out to Bainbridge Island, as my husband was dying to get on a ferry, just for the experience, and was jealous I went out to Whidbey without him. The views of the city from the ferry were just beautiful. The town on Bainbridge was quaint; a nice place to walk around for an hour or two, have lunch, and then return to the city.

Let's see, I should mention some of the restaurants and note we did not have a bad meal the entire trip. The food in Seattle is just amazing!:

Etta's - Very good, close to the Market.

Dahlia Lounge - Amazing place. I could not get enough of it and felt like going back a second time. Beautiful decor, great wait staff, amazing food. Just perfect in every way.

Elliott's - Good food on the waterfront and better than expected considering it was on a pier. (Normally think of hot dogs and fish & chips but this was great!)

Shucker's (in the Fairmont) - Very good although the decor was rather outdated. (Probably because they were trying to keep with tradition considering the hotel is a historic landmark, but lots of dark wood and leather). Food was very good though and wait staff were extremely attentive and helpful. Great place if you like oysters!

Purple - Opposite of Shuckers. Very upbeat and modern. Food was good but atmosphere was a bit crowded and noisy for our taste.

I'm sure I left out a lot but in risk of boring everyone to tears thought I'd cut it short. Let me know if you have any questions and I'll try my best to answer them while its all still fresh in my mind.

JoniC

JoniC~ Thanks for sharing the great report! It's so fun to read about your own home city. And you did luck into some gorgeous weather. Dahlia Lounge is my very favorite restaurant.

Suze (in Seattle)

Yes, thanks for posting that--Dahlia Lounge is also my favorite place.

I'm sorry to hear that the condition of your room at the Fairmont was disappointing though--I stayed there this spring after not having stayed there for a while, and my room was very nice and fresh-looking so I wonder if they've redone some of the rooms but not all.

Definitely not boring We used to live in the area and go back quite a bit. So I love hearing about things that people do. Let's me live vicariously through them til our next trip, lol! Whidbey is one of my favorite areas. So much so that we will be spending the week there next week even. Anyway, how nice that you were able to go along and enjoy so much.

JoniC,
Was nice to see your report on my hometown Seattle too. (I live in San Diego now)
I just came back from my annual fix & txs to some of my "favorite Fodors people" on this posting we had a great time and it was fun to do Seattle as a tourist.
You listed some of my favorite restaurants too...I can rememebr as a kid fishing for salmon right off our beach (Port Ludlow). We hunted our own mushrooms, got our crabs and clams and grew fabulous vegetables...my first job was a filed boss picking blueberries..big juicy MD 80s..we alwasys had blueberry pie, muffns cobbler. We were also lucky enough to have a fruit orchard with apples and peaches figs...really as a kid had no idea how spoiled I was...
I am always so happy when others have a good time in "my home" too...