Whale watching Seattle

nabby

Looks like a great location, by the Space Needle and Seattle Centre. Definitely visit them and the Museum of Pop Culture.  The Chihully Garden is fantastic too (some of Dale Chihully's work is currently in London on display at Kew Gardens).  I'm sure there are combined tickets available.

Another thing we did last time that we enjoyed was renting an electric boat on Lake Union from the Electric Boat Company.  It's a lovely way to get a different view of Seattle from the water and you can take food and drink on board your boat, which you pilot yourself.  Lake Union has boat-planes (flying boats) taking off and landing regularly on it.

If you're into coffee, you can visit the "original" Starbucks in Pike Place Market (the actual original is no longer there) but I'd suggest the Starbucks Reserve Roastery on E Pike St and Melrose Ave for a more interesting experience.

If you're there when any sporting events are taking place, I'd recommend trying an NFL game as it's a real experience in a sports-mad city like Seattle and much better live than on tv (and I speak as a long-time NFL and Seattle Seahawks fan).  There's also MLS soccer (Seattle Sounders), and possibly baseball too (Seattle Mariners), depending on when you're there.

nabby

Oh and Alki Beach is a nice spot with a great fusion restaurant on the waterfront called Marination Ma Kai (it also has a great selection of beers).

pat clancy

This is brilliant ,much appreciated, I can't wait to go now

nabby

If you're planning on buying any big ticket items or spending a lot on shopping, it might be worth considering a trip down to Oregon to buy what you want as there's no sales tax in Oregon.  We went to Woodburn Premium Outlets to do our shopping but we were travelling back from a weekend in Oregon to see the total eclipse, so it was convenient for us to do so.

Also, depending on how much time you have on your trip, you could go to Mt Rainier National Park and see the mountain (actually a dormant volcano).
Mount Rainier National Park (U.S. National Park Service)
The lodge in the national park is worth a visit and there are loads of trails and roads around the mountain slopes.  It's probably better as an overnight trip as it's a three hour drive (traffic dependent) from Seattle.  When we went there we stayed in log cabin lodges by a stream at the foot of the mountain.  On the way back to Seattle we stopped here https://www.nwtrek.org and it was brilliant.

pat clancy

Hi Chaps ,just an update on my trip.
In one word Seattle is amazing.
The people,food,beer and the sights a blast.
I did the Space Needle,the glass floor is scary.
Got a ferry to Bainbridge Island which was great fun,$8 dollars return.
Did the duck tour through Seattle and on to Union lake which was great fun,even saw the boat house from Sleepless in Seattle.
Visited Lake view Cemetery where Bruce Lee and Brandon Lee are buried.The view opposite the entry to the cemetery is amazing.
Chinatown is great too,I visited a Bruce Lee Exhibition which is small but interesting.
I also visited Bruce Lee favourite restaurant and there is a small corner where he used to sit with photos and a life size cut out of him.
The bars are great,most have happy hour between 6-8 and a brilliant selection of beers to taste.
Monorail is great too, $2.50 and I was downtown Seattle in 2 minutes from my hotel The Hyatt Palace.

Seattle is also great for walking around too,and the weather was fanatastic,hot and sunny everyday,not a drop of rain in sight.

pat clancy

Enjoy your holiday Pat
My wife and me go to Seattle end of Aug.
@nabby
I'll start a thread closer to the time and tag you for some help.

How did you on  get Nabby?

nabby

Glad you liked it!

Your post brought back some fond memories for me of my last visit two years ago.  We're hoping to go next at the end of next year or the year after and include a trip to Hawaii. The main problem for us is being tied to school holidays right now...