Kate_W

My husband and I are flying home to France from Seattle next week. My dad and sister (who lives near Blaine) are going to drive us to the airport for our flight, which leaves around 9 pm, so that we can spend the day in Seattle. My priorities: clothes shopping for the stuff I can't get in Paris and finding a good paper/photo shop that sells Kolo products. The men are reasonably good sports when it comes to my shopping habit, but if I could find them a distraction or two nearby (e.g. a museum,an electronics store and/or a large bookstore), that would be great. My husband and I will have a craving for Mexican food, so this would be our first choice for lunch. Seafood would be the second choice.

For the shopping, I'd like to find an area or shopping centre that has the largest (or flagship) outlets for Ann Taylor, Ann Taylor Loft, J Crew and Victoria's Secret. (I can find most other brands either in Canada or Europe.) We're also planning to stop at the Premium Outlet Mall on the way to Seattle (I feel sorry for my patient dad and husband ...) Are we better off shopping downtown or in a shopping centre on the way to the airport?

Even I can't shop for 6 hours, so can you suggest another activity for the four of us, keeping in mind that some of the typical West Coast stuff (e.g. ferry rides, Asian markets) might not be that different from what we're used to (we grew up on the West Coast - Vancouver, Victoria and the Northern coast, and went up the Space Needle in Seattle when we were teens).

Thanks.

Fodorite018

There are a couple outlet spots between Blaine and Seattle, but the best ones are at Tulalip by Marysville.

Downtown Seattle is great for shopping, but if you are looking to hit as many stores as possible in a small area, you might think about Alderwood Mall in Lynnwood. Very easy access off I-5, and there are enough places there that would keep the men occupied. Otherwise, in downtown Seattle, the area around Westlake Center has a lot of shopping.

Gardyloo

Alderwood Mall has indeed gone somewhat upscale (not as much as Bellevue Square, another option.) It is now a Grand Mall, not an ordinanry Petite Mall.

Kolo products can be found at any branch of the Paper Zone or Aaron Bros. art/framing shops. There's a big Paper Zone on 1st Avenue in Seattle near Safeco Field; there's an Aaron Bros. store on 3rd Avenue in downtown. Kolo is also carried by the University Book Store, branches in the University District (Seattle) and Bellevue near Bel Square.

If you went to the U district bookshop, you then could go clothes shopping at the nearby and very-high-end University Village, where many designer labels are represented. It's a great environment and there are probably some distracting destinations for the non-shoppers, including the Henry Art Gallery at the nearby U of W, the Burke (history) museum also on the UW grounds, the nature walks in the Arboretum near U Village, or the Museum of History and Industry, also in the Arboretum. Or, there's a pretty decent sports bar in U Village itself, a big Barnes and Noble bookshop, and an enormous Starbux.

Close to U Village is the very fun Agua Verde, a waterfront Burrito/Mexican place where you can also rent a kayak if you feel energized by your Margaritas. Otherwise, it's a fine place to eat excellent and affordable Mexican food while you sit in the sun watching the boats go by on Portage Bay.

But... Mexican food before an all-night plane ride? Are you sure...? (But maybe you're not going that far that night - see below.)

If you get my meaning, you could hit Blue C Sushi in U Village - a Kaiten affair where a conveyor belt brings the colo(u)r-price-coded dishes past you. Tokyo subway themed, with the world's coolest hand dryers in the loos. Very fun, inexpensive, and popular. The fish sushi dishes are very popular; the fish is typically fresh.

Or, if you want a more conventional fish dinner, you can bug out of Seattle before rush hour and make it to Salty's at Redondo, a branch of Salty's (www.saltys.com) that's located on the water just south of the airport, close enough to make a run for the checkin without worrying about traffic from Seattle.

Just out of curiosity, where are you flying to at 9 pm from Seattle? All the longhauls to Europe leave earlier than that, as do same-day connecting flights via the east or midwest. None of my business of course.

enzian

Right downtown, across 6th Ave. from Nordstrom, is Pacific Place, a shopping mall that has Ann Taylor, J. Crew, and Victoria's Secret. Also a large bookstore (Barnes and Noble), and a Mexican restaurant (although I don't know how good it is). Ann Taylor Loft is a few blocks away, south on 6th Ave, and there are several electronics stores nearby. Sharper Image on 4th comes to mind. There is a parking garage underneath Pacific Place.

happytrailstoyou

I like enzian's suggestions.

The nearby fish restaurant is Oceanaire. Also near is Dahlia Lounge (Tom Douglas), which serves good fish, as does Etta's--another restaurant of his. Flying Fish isn't far away. Elliot's--on the waterfront--is another good choice for fish.

Downtown Seattle is short on good Mexican restaurants.

Kate_W

Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions. Gardyloo's recommendations for the university district are particularly promising. Point taken about Mexican food before an overnight plane ride ...

We're flying BA to London and then back to Paris. Ordinarily, we'd fly out of Vancouver, but the World Traveller Plus tickets were mostly sold out and the remaining tickets were quite expensive. Usually, the BA Vancouver-LHR route seems cheaper than the Seattle-LHR route, but on short notice this time, Seattle was a better value - plus, it means an enjoyable short visit to Seattle, and a shopping opportunity on the way home.

enzian

So you're taking the new BA flight that leaves around 9 pm? I saw that when I was searching for flights . . . wasn't sure when it would start. I hope they continue it; it's a nice option from Seattle.

If you do go to the U District, Gardyloo's suggestion of Agua Verde is excellent---we love that place. There can be a bit of a wait (it's popular and they don't take reservations), so crank that in to your plans.

Gardyloo

I totally blanked on BA's Boeing-Boeing timing for BA52 (the "extra" 744 run 3x a week.) Some days it leaves at 6 pm, others at 9:30... must bug the ground staff no end...

BTW when you check in (especially if the non-shoppers have gotten lucky at the Tulalip Casino while you're at the next door outlet mall) if you feel flush, ask the BA counterperson about an upgrade into Club World. Depending on your WT+ ticket fare basis, it's not unknown for them to allow you to buy up to business class for around $250. WT+ is okay, but the beds upstairs are really nice on that long flight.

Kate_W

Well, my plans got revised and our flight was terribly delayed, but we still had a good time. Dad was happy to drive us to the outlet malls, but didn't want to venture into Seattle centre. He was concerned about rush hour traffic and driving in an unfamiliar city. We also had a late start leaving White Rock. We ended up focusing on the Outlet Malls, which all of us enjoyed (even the menfolk). Every time we met up (we scheduled a meeting once an hour at the Starbucks), someone in the group was wearing something new. There were some great bargains. Everybody also loved Paper Zone - dad included. We never made it to University Village - I'll save it for another trip. There wasn't any room in my suitcase to buy anything more, anyway.

We got dropped off early at the airport, only to discover that our flight was going to be delayed at least 2 1/2 hours. We were given vouchers to buy food and drinks at the airport - but were peeved to discover that they couldn't be used to buy alcoholic beverages or snacks from non-restaurant vendors. (By contrast, when I got vouchers from BA last summer during the Gateway Gourmet crisis, I was able to spend them on champagne and ginger biscuits at Heathrow.) Luckily, we had access to the BA Terraces Lounge because I have a BAEC Gold Card. It's a much nicer lounge than the ones in Toronto and Vancouver. Even better, the flight was full, and we got an operational upgrade from World Traveller Plus to Club World, so we were able to get a decent night's sleep on the way to London. There was no time for a shower in the lounge at Heathrow, so we felt rather gritty and grumpy on our jam-packed flight from London to Paris. Then we splurged on a cab to get home, and were happy to be reunited with our cat.

Gardyloo

Glad you had a good time, and congrats on the op-up. I've been op-upped by BA twice on SEA flights and once on YVR, but in that case it was because the flight was delayed 12 hours. Let me assure you that Vancouver airport is dead as a doornail at 3 AM in March.

Was the cat happy to be reunited too? How could you tell?

Kate_W

Our cat (who has some Siamese in her somewhere) quacks like a duck when she's happy to see us. She also bashes her head into any body part she can reach, temporarily sheathes her claws, lets us pick her up and snuggle, and attempts to sleep on top of both of us. She is also shedding like a stripper, because it's so hot and muggy here.