Short Vacation in Seattle Area

[MRM]

Our family is planning a short stay in the Seattle area. We're flying through the Seattle in the first part of July. We would like to get off the beaten path and stay somewhere that it's easy to get into the mountains and coast, do light hiking and see a lot of scenery. We've never been in this area before and the options are proving overwhelming.

Does anyone have suggestions for what part of the area to stay and things to do? We're interested in both Mt. Rainier and Olympic National Park, but it seems like we would do one or the other in a four day trip. The only requirement is that we have to fly through the airport. Other than that, we're wide open.

[tabs]

Ivers on the pier, and Pikes Market. U have to eat at & see. The San Juan Islands then Victoria & high tea at the Empress Hotel, Buchardt Gardens is absolutely beautiful.

[LakeCleElum]

Mountains and coast: Olympic Nat Park.(Rainier is not near the coast)....Skip the ocean and drive west on Hwy 112 from Port Angeles. Go up to Hurricane Ridge and you can see across the Straits to Canada. If you drive Hwy 101 on the west side of the Olympics, you only see the ocean for 5 miles or so.....

Drive Hood Canal (Hwy 101) from Union, Wa to Quilcene for scenic water views....I sent Tevake that way last year and he liked it....I grew up in that area....PM me for details......

[RANDY P]

I recommend Kent, WA. Sea Tac is also beautiful this time of year...

[island911]

^ LOL ^

Yeah, maybe think about taking Kenmore air (turbo-prop float planes) up to the San Juan islands. They fly out of Lake Union (Seattle, near-ish the Space Needle). Anyway, it's a great way to get a lay of the land.

For the drive up to Mt Rainier, I'll suggest that "Sun Rise" the best destination.

[RANDY P]

Oh yeah Kenmore Air- for real that's a cool deal.

Consider taking ferrys around too.

[tabs]

Originally Posted by island911

^ LOL ^

Yeah, maybe think about taking Kenmore air (turbo-prop float planes) up to the San Juan islands. They fly out of Lake Union (Seattle, near-ish the Space Needle). Anyway, it's a great way to get a lay of the land.

For the drive up to Mt Rainier, I'll suggest that "Sun Rise" the best destination.

So u concur about the San Juans...nice and quiet.

I took the ferry over there, it was a nice ride. Stayed a day or two. If lucky you can see the Orcas. Then ferried to Victoria another nice boat ride.

Once there I stayed at the Old English Inn..which is quaint as it is located in a residential district. The Sunday Brunch is to kill for...very good. Empress Hotel for high tea and finger sandwiches is a pleasant sojourn into a more relaxed time. They also have a dress code...no denim no shorts no flip flops. Then there is Fort Street with its antique shops and an auction house that I flew in especially for one of their auctions.

Once I even went up to Niemo crossed on the ferry to n Vancouver and headed up to Whistler...which during the summer is quiet, taking a drive up the highway from Whistler your lucky if you see another car every 20 minutes. But the scenery is like you are in heaven. I stopped got out and looked across a small lake with a farm on the other side where the clouds and glacial mountain were reflected in it...wow

[porsche4life]

Pikes market and the needle for sure.

[Ayles]

The mountains are a short trip. About 60 miles from the city. If you want to hit the actual coast (not Puget Sound). You are looking a few hours each way since you have to go around the olympic mountains.

If the weather ends up being bad you can head to eastern Washington where it doesnt rain much. Lots of wine tasting in the Yakima/Zillah area.

July 9th is Porsche day at the Redmond Exotics if you are around.

Posting this from Pike Place market. Walked over from Magnolia with the family. Perfect cloud free 70 degree day

[pavulon]

If you have interest in aircraft: Home | Museum of Flight

[MRM]

Wow, such great suggestions from everyone already. Bob, I'll PM you later this week. Tabs, we are actually spending a day in Victoria before we get to Seattle. I'll drop your name at the Empress and let you know if they treat me like a man of wealth and taste. I think we will tuck the Museum of Flight comfortably into our last morning before we fly home. SeaTac seems so central, but something tells me that's not really the part of town we want to use as our base. But I'll look harder. The Motel 6 does look more inviting on second look than I first thought. It's not much more expensive than Dirty Dick's Notel Motel, which the boys and I thought looked interesting, but my wife nixed. Women these days.

So am I correct that over a four day visit we can either visit the Olympic Park side or go toward Mt. Rainier, but not both? It sounds like the best for us would be to go into Olympic Park and explore.

We are hoping to stay somewhere outside of Seattle that makes day trips farther out easier. Any suggestions on where to stay?

[Seahawk]

First of all, I am enamored of Washington State. It is the first State on my list of places to retire.

All of the suggestions so far have been made by locals who know exactly what they are talking about. I particularity like getting out by Ferry or plane to the coastal area. Spectacular. Nothing, zero, zip, zilch not to love.

What has come to appeal to me about Washington State, however, is East of the Cascades.

If you have a day to explore, I'd think about the following (which I found with the help of LCE):

Rte 410 to Rte 123 to Rte 12. Head South.

The guy I hired to run our Washington State UAS ops live in a cabin just below Rim Rock Lake. There are a million places to hike and camp should you choose, along the route above.

I spent two weeks with him earlier this month and we explored the entire area. Out office is in Yakima.

South from Rim Rock Lake gets you East of the Cascades.

I would take 12 into Yakima then find route 821 along the Yakima River to Ellensburg, home of Central Washington University.

Route 821 is a sleeper.

Ellensburg is a great little town with a very defined downtown and spectacular views of the distance mountains. The transition from heavily wooded mountains to the high scrub is great.

Take Interstate 82 in Cle Eum then find your way to Roslyn. Very cool hipster town. LCE took me there for the first time. I have gone again and it is great. They filmed a TV series there.

You will also see the power of the Columbia River Project. The amount of agriculture is astounding and worth seeing. That is why my UAS company is there.

Find your way back to Seattle from there. You will transition back from scrub to dense forests.

Enjoy. Washington State is simply amazing. I could recommend 10 other drives that, given the right circumstance, are jaw dropping.

[Ayles]

Good suggestions for Eastern Wa but sounds like the coast is your preference. Maybe stay in Port Angeles or Sequim. That would make day trips to places like Kalaloch and La Push (Second Beach depicted below) super easy.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by LakeCleElum

Mountains and coast: Olympic Nat Park.(Rainier is not near the coast)....Skip the ocean and drive west on Hwy 112 from Port Angeles. Go up to Hurricane Ridge and you can see across the Straits to Canada. If you drive Hwy 101 on the west side of the Olympics, you only see the ocean for 5 miles or so.....

Drive Hood Canal (Hwy 101) from Union, Wa to Quilcene for scenic water views....I sent Tevake that way last year and he liked it....I grew up in that area....PM me for details......

As a PNW native, I will heartily second all of this. My wife and I ride or drive these areas regularly, and they just never get old. Some of our prettiest scenery, best hiking, and smallest crowds.

[tevake]

The Seatle area is really beautiful, lots of good suggestions above.
The length of your stay and how much driving you want to do are factors.

Driving n/ s thru Seatle/ Tacoma can suck with traffic. So the ferries out thru the sound and into the straights is a good way to get around ans see the sights of the sound.
Tabs suggestions are good ones.

The most beautiful coastal area I experienced in the PNW is the northern part of Oregon. From Astoria down thru Tillamook truly exceptional. Would take some driving time to get over that way but very worth it.

Bob's tips did help me get to some cool areas in the northern Olympic peninsula , tap him for good local knowledge in that area.

You are going to have a lot of good choices.

Cheers Richard

[Nostril Cheese]

WA is amazing. I've considered moving to the Seattle area for sometime now.

A big +1 to all posted above.. I'd also check out Mt. St. Helens. Olympic National Park and the San Juan Islands are a must see.

[masraum]

I've spent a little time in the area, but most of this was 1 week, none of it was planned (it was for work, but there were delays so we had a few free days), and I'm not local. The Space Needle was kind of snoozy, and it was a sunny clear day. I could seen Mt Ranier, but otherwise, it didn't do anything for me.

If you like Sushi, Shiro's was when I was there, amazing. The owner/chef is a Japanese guy that's always wanted to be a sushi chef. He's had restaurants in the US and Japan. The sushi was some of the best that I've ever had. I want to go back some day.

We drove to Snoqualmie Falls which was OK.

We drove to and over Mt Ranier. We got lucky and showed up less than a week after they cleared the roads of snow. After Ranier, we didn't have any plans, so we drove from there to Mt St Helens. Mt Ranier had some beautiful scenery, but Mt St Helens really took the cake as far as scenery goes. I saw some things that I can still hardly believe are real because they were so beautiful. The drive to Mt St Helens, or, at least, as close as I could get (there was still some snow blocking the road) was amazing, and the brakes on my rental car were begging for mercy. Because of the drive, it takes a while. I think Seattle to Ranier to Mt St Helens and back took us about 11 hours. I think that includes stopping for dinner, and maybe lunch on the way.

[Tishabet]

Originally Posted by LakeCleElum

Mountains and coast: Olympic Nat Park.(Rainier is not near the coast)....Skip the ocean and drive west on Hwy 112 from Port Angeles. Go up to Hurricane Ridge and you can see across the Straits to Canada. If you drive Hwy 101 on the west side of the Olympics, you only see the ocean for 5 miles or so.....

Drive Hood Canal (Hwy 101) from Union, Wa to Quilcene for scenic water views....I sent Tevake that way last year and he liked it....I grew up in that area....PM me for details......

Another +1 for this. A fun option you might consider if its up your family's alley is renting a westy vanagon for the trip around the olympics and staying in park campgrounds, this is how I have visited the last two times and it was great.

Other faves out that way are the Hoh rainforest, lake Crescent, and Hama Hama oyster on Hood canal.

[MRM]

To put a slight nuance on our plans, we are taking off with a variation on the Vanagon suggestion, but not exactly camping. We would like to drive in whichever direction we end up going (east toward Mt. Rainier or southwest toward Olympic National Park) and staying at a hotel or resort close to the scenery, so we can maximize our day trips. I do prefer the coast, but we'll be on a cruise the week before, so it may be a better idea to go inland and experience the mountains. If we do that, will we run out of things to do after a day or so of driving around and looking at beautiful vistas?

[Kevin Powers]

When you figure out what you what to see while you're here, look into staying OUT of Seattle proper or plan on doing a lot of driving. Your traffic windows are small and with the relatively short stay you can count on spending a lot of time sitting in the 5th or 6th worst traffic in the nation. Going to Rainier, Paradise or Sunrise, from Seattle will take roughly 3-4 hours. Each way. Up the peninsula will take longer. Much longer, each way. Unless you want to dig clams, the ocean beaches are somewhat boring, the water is really cold, and another 3+ hour drive. Geographical oddity, 3 hours + from everywhere. Carry your wallet in a front pocket when you go to pike's place market. Mass transit is pretty good. Use buses and light rail as much as you can while in town.