We arrive in Seattle at 10am and have the rest of the day and evening before departing in the morning.

We are a pretty active couple with two teens (14,17)

How does this sound as a plan?

Start with exploring Pike St. Market
- lunch at Pink Door?

Walk along the waterfront

Take water taxi (or ferry) to Alki Beach, rent bikes for an hour or two, boat back
-- is this a really long walk from Pike St. Market??

Drive (we will have a car) up to Capitol Hill -- Volunteer Park for water tower view, dinner somewhere up there?

We will have about 24 hours in Seattle when we return 10 days later.

Things we're thinking about doing then:

-- rowboat on Union Lake
-- Experience Music Center
-- shopping near hotel (staying at the W)

Seattle is the beginning/end of a trip to Tofino, Victoria, and Orcas Island.

Any comments, suggestions, ideas are very appreciated.

thank you!!
dina

topping

I think your plan sounds excellent!

Sorry not sure the walking distance Market to where you catch the West Seattle water taxi.

I can help with restaurant recommendations since I live right near Volunteer Park (dont' miss the victorian era plant conversatory there, besides view and watertower:

On 15th Ave East-
Chutney's indian
Olympia pizza
Jamjuree thai
Jalisco's mexican
Coastal Kitchen international

On 19th Ave East-
Monsoon vietnamese
Vios mediterranean
King Fish Cafe soul food

My recommendation and favorite for a family meal would be either Jamjuree or Vios, but every one on the list is a very good place and within ~5-10 blocks of the Park.

Suze in Seattle

There is no ferry or water taxi from the waterfront to Alki Beach, and the West Seattle terminal for the cross-sound ferry system is too far from Alki Beach to walk it (not even sure that walking the whole distance is possible. Go to http://transit.metrokc.gov/ to find a bus that will take you there. Or take a taxi.

Oops, foot-in-mouth again. The West Seattle water taxi begins operations on April 29th. http://westseattleblog.com/blog/?p=1303

Suze --
thanks! i've taken a lot of notes from all your great posts on Seattle already. i will also make notes of the restaurant recommendations. A couple of more questions, if you don't mind.

1. Is VIOS Greek food? (We love greek food.)
2. do you think we would need reservations on a weeknight? (or for lunch at the Pink Door?)
3. how long is the drive to volunteer park from downtown Seattle?

bob- thanks for the blog info

my notes that i cut and pasted from other threads say:
"there are small boats that run from the Seattle side to Alki. They run from the base of Pioneer Square"
and
"At Pier 55, you can catch the water taxi across Elliott Bay to Alki in West Seattle"

does this seem like accurate information??

ALSO...
would love any specific info on boating in union lake.

thanks!
dina

Lunch at the Pink Door only if it's sunny and the deck is open. (Note you don't say when this is.) Otherwise, try lunch at the Athenian Grill for a very traditional experience, or very enjoyable Bolivian food at the Copacabana cafe (good view down onto the market).

If you decide on the Elliott Bay water taxi, it docks very close to Salty's at Alki, which has pretty good seafood along with one of the premier restaurant views in the USA.

Note that this is quite some distance from Alki Beach (misnamed ferry IMO) but there's still excellent walking along the Harbor Avenue waterfront near Salty's.

Pier 55 is no walk at all from the bottom of the Pike Market "hillclimb" stairs.

The water tower at Volunteer Park is okay, but I wouldn't include it in the top five or ten things to do in an afternoon. If you have a car, frankly, I'd skip the Elliott Bay water taxi and drive over to West Seattle (Harbor Ave. exit from the W. Seattle Freeway) and have dinner over there - maybe Salty's, or one of a number of pretty decent places out closer to Alki Point. Views of the city, of the Sound, and of the Olympic Mountains are excellent over there.

Also with a car you could tour some of the very elegant neighborhoods in the city - along the Lake Washington waterfront, Madison/Washington Park... Or visit the Ballard Locks and if the salmon are running, watch them through the windows of the fish ladder. If you find yourself in that area (obviously you'll need a map) then dinner at Chinook's at Fishermen's Terminal is very fun and the food is pretty good.

Or for something completely different, lunch at Uwajimaya Village in the International District - big pan-Asian (mainly Japanese) department/grocery store with a killer food court.

For boat rental on Lake Union, http://www.cwb.org/

As for your return, EMP is okay, but if the teens like air/space, the Museum of Flight is simply wonderful. If the vacation is very nature-oriented (Tofino and San Juans) then a bit of big-city/high tech might be a good contrast.

thanks, gardyloo!

"Note that THIS is quite some distance from Alki Beach (misnamed ferry IMO) but there's still excellent walking along the Harbor Avenue waterfront near Salty's." not sure what you mean by THIS.

why do you suggest driving to west beach instead of the water taxi? i thought the water taxi would offer great views?

the Center for Wooden Boats looks great! how long would it take us to get there from downtown Seattle?

We are traveling in July, by the way.

thanks,
dina

Are you sure there's a place to rent bikes near either terminal of the water taxi? I live in West Seattle and I know there's a fish & chips place at Seacrest Park where the water taxi docks over on this side but I don't remember a bike rental shop. There are some rental shops further down towards the main part of Alki Beach but it would be a walk of several miles from the water taxi terminal. So you might want to rent the bikes downtown (if there are any places left to do so--last I checked, for my cousin's visit 2 summers ago, there were not) and take the bikes on the water taxi.

I think it would be cool to take the water taxi rather than drive over here, but without bikes you'd be limited to the ground you can cover on foot. But it would be fun to take it over and have lunch at Salty's or at the fish & chips place on the pier.

Gee, that would not be good if there were no bike rental places. i got the idea to do so from this forum, to bike ride along the "West Seattle Bike Path along Alki Beach".

Online, i found this place called Alki Kayak that says they rent bikes right next door to Salty's at the Seacrest Boathouse. I emailed them to make sure.

I also like the idea of the ferry instead of driving.

NW -- you have been SUCH a huge help in every step of planning this trip. I can always count on you to respond with great answers. Thank you so much!

dina

Oh, good, I'm glad there's a bike rental place there--I just don't remember seeing it but that's good to know.

And I'm glad to have been of help--that's what we're here for ;-)! We'll expect a full trip report when you get back, LOL!

another great place to eat in the market is Matt's. They use what they find fresh at the farmers stands. Steelhead Diner does that too, but Matt's has nice views of the water. We generally just have snacks at Pink Door.

I think you have a great plan going. I would add a stroll through the new sculpture garden which is just above Pier 70.

http://www.iamsamcampaign.org/index....ture_Park&s=16

Dina-

<1. Is VIOS Greek food?>
Yes, well Mediterranean I think they call it. They offer a fixed price dinner tasting menu or lots of "small plate" choices.

<2. do you think we would need reservations on a weeknight? (or for lunch at the Pink Door?)>

I'm not sure about reservations for Vios. You can call and ask 206-329-3236.

I would only eat at the Pink Door if the weather is good & you can get a reservation on the patio for lunch. Otherwise I'd probably just go to Cutter's or Anthony's (bigger and more touristy restaurants but right on the Waterfront very near the Market).

<3. drive to volunteer park from downtown Seattle?>
That's my morning weekday commute! It's ~3 miles. Maybe 1015 minutes? Depending on time of day.

oops, 10 to 15 minutes

Thanks for the restaurant recommendations and tips!

dina

Make reservations NOW for the Seattle Space Needle restaurant. In all my travels throughout all of U.S., this is one of the best.Great food (you can split meals) and beautiful sights of entire city as is rotates while you eat. You won't be disappointed.

You might enjoy a trip out to Tillicum Village on Blake Island.
Nice boat tour of the harbor with a little history of Seattle/ salmon dinner at the Village cooked by the Indians and some Indian dancing.
You can stay on the island as long as you want and there are some hiking trails on the island.
I went with my daughter a few years ago and we really enjoyed it! The salmon was delicious!

The west Seattle taxi is essentailly at the base of Pioneer Square so think about that as a walking distance. It's actually a fairly nice walk but probably about 20 minutes. There are free buses which run along the main street from the market. They will take you some of the way.



I'd personally save some of the first day's stuff for your later arrival. I suggest you take in the market and have a nice lunch. Then walk down to Pioneer Square and over to the water taxi. Take the taxi over to Alki and rent the bikes. On your return stop off in Pioneer Square and hit Elliot Bay Books. This is a sublime bookstore experience. Everyone in the family can find some great reading material for the vacation.

On your return you might want to take in a Mariners game.

Since you are going up to Capital