What to do in Seattle the week after Christmas?

[71T Targa]

I'll be in Everett with my wife and step-kids visiting her family. Any family things going on that week that we shouldn't miss? I see that the Seahawks aren't in town, but how about other sporting events? Last year we went to a Silvertips game and had a great time.

[WolfeMacleod]

Come see some Pelicans

Not much up in Everett I think, but there's some good stuff downtown Seattle. Pike Place Market...

[Dantilla]

It may be interesting for you to go see 747s being built.

[alf]

I was going to say go to Hawaii

But yeah, a Pelican gathering would be cool.

Pike Place and Downtown is good fun for a day
If out doorsy, I really like hiking in the winter, the forest is quiet this time of the year.
If you dig beer check out the Redhook Brewery, Prymaid Brewery and Big Time Brewery
If you dig wine there are lots of wineries around
Seahawks is interesting but I am not a fan
Check out Vancouver Canada if you got time for an overnighter, day trip is doable too
There is a large outlet mall not too far north from Everett that is good for some bargains

[jcommin]

got to go to Pike's place.

Seattle is the glass blowing capital in the US. If you are interested, there are galleries and small shops where you can see them blow glass.

Doesn't Boeing have a museum?

Lot's of great beer and coffee

[71T Targa]

We will go to Pike Place for sure.

FIL works for Boeing and we've been trying to get him to take us on a tour. For some reason he's not thrilled about going in to work on his days off...

I didn't know about the glass blowing. I will look in to that.

Mukilteo is also someplace I'd go back to. There is a place that has some good clam chowder there.

Whats the best way to see the fireworks on New Years Eve? Besides TV...

[rudderboost]

Go see the museum of flight at Boeing field (downtown Seattle). I've been to many aviation museums and this is one of the best. There is much more than just Boeing aircraft, including a great WWI-WWII section and a Concord (I think one of 4? in the U.S.).

Drop in and see John Walker on the way down to Seattle.

The passes can be nasty this time of year, but there is Leavenworth on the other side of the hills (about 2:20 if good weather). It's a little Bavarian villiage which should be still done up for Christmas.

[Scooter]

Originally Posted by phred68

Whats the best way to see the fireworks on New Years Eve? Besides TV...

Space Needle of course. Parking is bad and be prepared for a long wait when you leave.

[alf]

Originally Posted by Scooter

Space Needle of course. Parking is bad and be prepared for a long wait when you leave.

Couple of hundred bucks for a limo, bring the wife's family along for the ride as appreciation for hosting yours.

Maybe a Husky (University of Washington) football game. Those are a hoot to attend.

[Scooter]

Wishful thinking Alf. The Huskies ended their season weeks ago. No bowl game for a 4-9 team.

[71T Targa]

Looks like no Husky football or Hockey while we're there.

How realistic is it to go to the Space Needle on New Years Eve? I assumed it was pretty much packed or booked out long ago.

[Scooter]

The fireworks are shot from the Space Needle. There is no cost to stand outside and watch the show. The restaurant inside the Space Needle is normally booked solid.

[gatotom]

Take a ferry ride to friday harbor and spend the day walking around and visiting the museum there.
Take the jet boat to Victoria,BC, can spend a day easy walking the town.

Go Skiing, snowmobiling, cross country skiing.

If its nice for a day with some wind, I will take you sailing,I am not working that week and have been praying to the wind gods for a good winter day on the water.

Travel to Leavenworth, the Bavarian wonder in the heart of the cascades.

[MT930]

Originally Posted by Dantilla

It may be interesting for you to go see 747s being built.

We did that with the kids this summer Very Cool! Seattle is packed with great stuff one of the best vacation citys for families.

[Dottore]

If the kids like music - well Paul Allens "Music Experience" (or whatever it's called) right by the space needle was recently a huge hit with our nephews and nieces.

[Hoots]

Originally Posted by phred68

We will go to Pike Place for sure.

There was a nice Turkish deli across from the Public Market, just down from Pike Place Steak House on the upper street level. If I were headed back to Seattle, I would have a nice lunch there. You could also take the ferry to the Olympic Peninsula for a Fat Smitty Burger at Discovery Bay. If you take a Ferry to Orcas Island, you might see some dolphins, wales, or sea lions. If you like beer, go have one or two or twelve with a nice thick steak at the Thomas Kemper Brewery. There is also the Seattle Underground.

I haven't lived up there since January 1999, so you might want to ignore this post.

[Jeff Higgins]

"Experience Music Project" is what it goes by. I always thought the "experience" part of it aluded to the Jimi Hendrix Experience, as that was about all that was there when I went. Or so it seemed. Still very cool.

The Boeing Everett plant tour is very cool. I get to do it every day, along with Drago. If the father in law won't go, do it anyway.

The place in Mukilteo you are looking for is Ivar's; it's right next to the ferry dock. That ferry will take you out to Whidby Island, where you can head on out to Fort Casey. It was built around the end of the 19th century to guard the passage on that side of the island into Puget Sound. Really big guns, old concrete fortifications, dark, mysterious underground passages... the kids would love it.

Speaking of the kids, we have great zoos and aquariums. Right in Seattle is the Woodland Park Zoo, and the Aquarium is on the waterfront. Out further is a place called Northwest Trek, where they have animals indigenous to our area. They are free roaming, and you ride a bus through the area to see them. It's down close to Mount Rainier just outside of Eatonville. Point Defiance in Tacoma has kind of a combination zoo and aquarium, and not far from there is Fort Nisqually, an old Hudson's Bay fur trading outpost with a small museum.

Mt. St Helens is alway a hit, but that makes for a pretty long day. It may be closed due to snow by then, if it isn't already. The Johnson Ridge visitors' center is the place to be; it's accessable from I-5 through Castle Rock. It's about a 400 mile round trip from Everett, so that may be a bit much.

The Seattle Center is always a hit. It's right under the Space Needle, and includes the Pacific Science Center. That place is awsome for kids, with lots of hands-on stuff for them to do.

Check out the Ballard Locks. They are used to raise and lower boat traffic between Lake Union and Puget Sound. Not many places still have locks.

Some one mentioned the ferry ride to Friday Harbor. It's the best one on the Sound, but it will kill a whole day. Closer to home is the Edmonds-Kingston, or the Bremerton ride. Bremerton has a Navy base that is pretty cool. Everett does too, and sometimes has tours of carriers and stuff.

[alf]

Originally Posted by Scooter

Wishful thinking Alf. The Huskies ended their season weeks ago. No bowl game for a 4-9 team.

DOH, forgot about that

[Scooter]

The underground Seattle tour is a fun thing to do as well.

[Dottore]

There's another place downtown that's very cool - but I forget the name of it.

It's an old theater converted into a kind of old-style supper club with tables and banquettes on different levels, and features indi-rock bands that are very much hit and miss. We've had a couple of great evenings there, and a couple of other times the bands were appalling. Still, the foodwas always excellent (contemporary Asian) - and the atmosphere unique, so I can highly recommend it. If the music was consistently better, I would say this place would be reason enough for a trip to Seattle.

Sorry - but I cannot remember the name. Maybe one of the locals knows it.