As professional sports fans know, Seattle is home in season to Mariner’s Baseball, Seahawks Football and Sounders Soccer. (Don’t talk to locals about Sonics Basketball–it’s still a pretty sore/sour subject.)
Some things non-natives may NOT have known about:
In almost every film (or TV show) set in Seattle, a colorful clip is shown at a fish market where huge salmon, having been selected for purchase, are tossed high into the air by the display counterman, to be caught a dozen feet away for packaging. Of course it’s a gimmick that’s just for show–but over decades it’s become less a gimmick than Seattle tradition–this show is enacted a hundred times a day at a seafood market located within Seattle’s Pike Place Market–the oldest continuously-operating “farmers’ market” in the United States, offering not only the freshest seafood right off the boats and staggering displays of perfect produce, but also affordable, oversized bouquets of multi-hued seasonal blooms, and booths of jewelry and other handicrafts by local artisans. (It was originally called the “Pike Place Sanitary Market”–at its inception dubbed “Sanitary” because although it was a farmers’ market, livestock were not present.) The Market, as it is called locally, sits high on a ridge just above the Seattle waterfront with a panoramic view of Elliot Bay, Seattle’s own little “pocket” of Puget Sound.
Moving down to that historic waterfront, an old-fashioned trolley runs the length of today’s more commercial and tourist-oriented waterfront. A changing array of commercial or military ships (usually from Bremerton, the Navy-base city across the water) may be found here, some open for touring. Cruise ships have their own terminal, as do Washington State Ferries– carrying commuters and visitors to local islands or Olympic-peninsula locations such as Bainbridge Island and Bremerton. Tucked in among these working piers are refurbished older piers now housing a variety of shops and restaurants; and the Edgewater Inn, Seattle’s only waterfront accommodation, a bit past its prime now, but which used to advertise that you could fish from its waterside windows and in its heyday hosted all the famous room-trashing rock stars; the Seattle Aquarium with its world-class exhibits of Puget Sound Marine life, dedicated to educating the public about the ecological balance between life on land and its impact on the sea; the almost-famous Ye Olde Curiosity Shop (established in 1899)–part museum of oddities (a mummy, preserved Siamese-twin calves, real shrunken heads, etc.) and part souvenir-and- novelty shop; and Olympic Sculpture Park, part of the Seattle Art Musuem. Continuing farther down the waterfront, the workings of today’s modern Port of Seattle are visible, loading and unloading container ships with towering orange cranes.
Only a few blocks back toward the city from the waterfront ferry terminal, one finds oneself in Seattle’s first-listed Historical Neighborhood, Pioneer Square. Extensive restoration has taken place here, and the area is not only worth seeing in its own right as a (daytime) attraction (many restaurants and art galleries here), but at the center of the district is a history buff’s dream, an underground tour of Old Seattle before its devastating 1889 fire. The tour’s website contains a wonderfully detailed history of early Seattle: http://www.undergroundtour.com/about/history.html. By night, Pioneer Square is an active night-clubbing quarter, but do be advised that it’s not without a slightly rough edge after dark.
Several blocks southeast of Pioneer Square is Seattle’s Chinatown/International District–an old, culturally rich district of multiple Asian traditions. Distinctive ethnic shops and cuisine abound, including a number of dim-sum restaurants offering huge varieties of delicacies. Several colorful “China Gates” offer perfect photo opportunities. Uwajimaya, a huge, pan-Asian grocery store, dominates a block-square quarter of the area; decadent bakeries are located nearby; and the Wing Luke Asian Museum preserves the history of Asian peoples in the Pacific Northwest. The Asian community shares its traditions and seasonal festivities with the city in colorful parades and festivals according to their unique calendars, throughout the year. A “sampler” is presented at: http://www.cidbia.org/folder.
For funloving tourists: The unique “Ride the Ducks of Seattle” are amphibious World War II landing vehicles that give tours of the City’s sights, then splash into Lake Union for a short cruise, giving passengers a chance to view/photograph the city’s skyline from the water. Seattle is known for its rainy days, but the Ducks go rain or shine–it’s best to be prepared to bundle up warmly for a Ride the Ducks tour unless it’s a hot midsummer day. http://www.ridetheducksofseattle.com/
SEAFAIR: during the month of July Seattle hosts its “Seafair” celebration (we’re not sure why, but it seemed like a good idea in the ‘50’s), with parades and family-oriented activities centered in each community, working up to the all-city Torchlight Parade and a large Chinatown parade, and finally culminating in hydroplane races on Lake Washington with a “half-time” performance immediately overhead by the astonishing Blue Angels, whose sonic booms can be heard all over the city. During Seafair, tall ships reminiscent of “Pirates of the Caribbean” as well as a variety of huge military ships from the Navy base across the water at Bremerton, are most likely to be present at piers along the waterfront, and open for touring.
Music:
The Seattle Symphony’s home is at Benaroya Hall in downtown Seattle. The Symphony also hosts distinguished traveling guest artists, not only in classical music but in all genres, and has several affiliated venues. Its schedule of upcoming events may be viewed at http://www.ticketsnow.com/Venue/Benaroya-Hall?GCID=S16598×003-veac_benar&keyword=benaroya%20hall%20seattle&s_kwcid=benaroya%20hall%20seattle|636803945.
Built specifically for the acoustics of rock’n’roll is the EMP (or Experience Music Project) on the grounds of the Seattle Center, the most “interesting” (99% would say “blight-on-the-landscape-ugly”) building you are likely to see not just in Seattle, but anywhere. This venue presents traveling musical and other entertainment artists, and houses the Science Fiction Museum/Hall of Fame. Scheduled events and more information at http://www.empsfm.org/ .
Seattle Art Museum in downtown Seattle not only displays its own impressive permanent collection, but internationally-reknowned traveling expositions of great art and artifacts from all over the world. You can find out what’s coming up at http://www.seattleartmuseum.org/.
Under the auspices of the Seattle Art Museum is also the Seattle Asian Art Museum, a beautiful art-deco building located in Volunteer Park in Seattle’s historic Capitol Hill neighborhood, which showcases, as you would expect, the art of Asian cultures–again, this includes traveling expositions. Volunteer Park also encloses Lake View Cemetery, with its often-visited gravesites of famed martial artist Bruce Lee and his son, actor Brandon Lee, along with the biggest names in Seattle history–if it’s a name on a street in downtown Seattle, there’s a good chance you’ll find it on a tombstone here. Located on a high promontory, the cemetery allows a sweeping viewpoint from the Olympic Mountains to the Cascades and at closer range, Lake Union and Lake Washington. For the horticulturally inclined, Volunteer Park also boasts a sizeable Conservatory of plants, leaning particularly toward orchids. Just south of the park itself are several street where you can absorb the grandeur of many turn-of-the (19th)-century mansions of early Seattle’s most prosperous families.
For “funky” ambiance in shops, restaurants and nightlife, the Capitol Hill neighborhood a few blocks to the southwest of Volunteer Park (centering on Broadway Avenue) is a main hub, as well as the self-proclaimed “Republic of Fremont” located just north of the Fremont Bridge, southeast of Ballard and the Hiram Chittendon Locks.
A niche that has expanded in Seattle is that of microbreweries, many offering tours and pub-like eateries. While Red Hook and Pyramid are the most well-known, check this website for others: http://www.gonorthwest.com/Washington/Seattle/dining/microbreweries.htm_http://www.summernights.org/venue.html.
Back to the horticultural, an additional attraction is the University of Washington Arboretum, southeast of the University campus, in the Montlake neighborhood of the city. It is a brief, beautiful drive, but that drive doesn’t do it justice–if you’re lucky enough to find parking, it can be a daylong walk or picturesque for a picnic. Its Japanese Gardens are its most famous attraction, and do charge a nominal admission. Neighboring the Arboretum is what has come to be known as the Montlake Cut, a popular in-city kayaking spot among tall reeds along a marshy area of Lake Washington and weaving through the support columns of the I-520 bridge crossing the lake. Across that bridge just north of the Arboretum is the Museum of History and Industry, an extensive collection of tools, garments and artifacts specifically from pioneering days in the Pacific Northwest, as well as from Native American, Asian, and other local cultures. It is set in McCurdy Park, a trailed and boardwalked urban walk along the marshlands of Lake Washington, which crosses under the bridge and connects to walking trails in the Arboretum. (Do watch children near the water, as it is deeper than you might think and heavily vegetated.) This “urban walk” is popular for birdwatchers.
Just north of Seattle’s downtown core, South Lake Union Park–a still-developing park area on Seattle’s most urban in-city lake, offers a series of “Summer Nights outdoor concerts” by both local and national/international bands and musical artists; for information on upcoming events, you can register for updates at https://boxoffice.onereel.org/sites/slup05/tickets/tickets.htm. The park area also encompasses the Center for Wooden Boats, with heritage wooden watercraft on display, and often some restorations or new works in progress. South Lake Union Park is within walking distance of several hotels and a good number of restaurants.
The Seattle Center, just north of downtown, is the site of Seattle’s 1962 World’s Fair and the home of Seattle’s trademark Space Needle, which offers a revolving fine-dining experience at the top, with spectacular views of mountains, lakes and the boat locks linking Lake Union to Shilshole Bay. For a smaller investment of time and cash, however, ‘The Needle” also offers views from its Observation Deck. The Seattle Center is linked to downtown Seattle by a brief monorail ride–a vision of the future from the perspective of 1962. The site also holds the Pacific Science Center, a favorite educational venue for both children and adults, with changing hands-on displays on topics such as medicine, volcanoes, dinosaurs, and space, with a IMAX theatre that plays both brand-new as well as cycling through popular educational features. Also on the grounds are an arena for sports and entertainment events, an Exhibition Hall for traveling displays and events of a wide variety, and Seattle’s Opera House, which has become home to Seattle’s World-Class Pacific Northwest Ballet.
Moving northwest along the water, and worth investigating are the Hiram Chittendon Locks (also called the “Ballard Locks,” located in the Ballard area of Seattle)–a boat “lift” between the fresh-water Lake Union and the saltwater of Shilshole Bay, built in 1911 to move vessels from the level of the lake to the lower level of Puget Sound for transport of supplies (lumber and coal, at the time) while minimizing the mix of salt and fresh water. Fish ladders help spawning salmon avoid the machinery on their annual return to their birthplaces. It’s a great educational place to take children, and has a botanical garden located adjacently. Continuing up the shoreline is the Shilshole Bay Marina–a forest of boat masts–and ending with the beachfront park, Golden Gardens, for picnicking, wading and sunbathing if the weather cooperates. The main street of Ballard itself has an old “small-town” feel to it, with kitschy shops and a heavy accent on the Scandinavian heritage of many of the area’s residents. Ballard is home to the Nordic Heritage Museum, spotlighting art, tradition, and the history of pioneering Scandinavian immigrants to the Northwest.
Woodland Park Zoo, not far from Ballard, features animals in carefully-cultivated re-creations of their native settings–the savannahs of Africa with tall, blowing grasses, where you might see zebra, giraffes and large primates, to the cold Arctic caves of the Polar Bears–and everything in between. There is a petting zoo, where the Zoo’s “babies” can often be seen. Because of Seattle’s often-rainy climate, in recent years the Zoo has made extensive efforts to provide educational and interesting indoor exhibits that can be enjoyed even on rainy days or during the winter months. In spring and summer, the Zoo also features a beautifully-tended Rose Garden and grassy picnic areas.
Actually visible from parts of the Zoo’s grounds is Greenlake–where joggers, walkers, rollerbladers and bicycle riders coexist on a 3.3-mile track around this parklike urban lake. Windy days bring out windsurfers on its eastern side. If you’re fit and want to show it off, this is the place to go.
Magnuson Park–located on the shores of Lake Washington, one of the largest lakes in the country, on the grounds of former Sand Point Navy Base. There are no commercial concessions such as food or watercraft rentals (even the restrooms are just porta-potties) here, keeping this a favorite place for family picnicking and sunning, with a public boat launch–so bring your boat, water skis or personal watercraft. Again, windy days bring out the windsurfers. Additionally, there is a large adjacent off-leash dog park, a destination in its own right for dog lovers and their cooped-up city hounds.
At the southern end of Seattle is a non-public airport known as Boeing Field. Many private pilots house their planes and helicopters here, and its runways are long enough to land commercial jetliners. The attraction here, however, is the Museum of Flight, offering vintage aircraft, including fighter planes from World Wars I and II; Air Force One, which served presidents from Eisenhower to Nixon; a retired Concorde; and a Blackbird, one of the fastest planes ever in flight. There are also flight simulators, photographic collections, astronomy information, a tour of the airport tower to give you an air-traffic-controller’s view of aviation. If you are at all an aviation buff, this is a don’t-miss stop.
And the surrounding area. . .
Seattle could be said to be hogging a lot of natural beauty, nestled on the shores of Puget Sound between the Cascade and Olympic mountain ranges, and with numerous in-city lakes to add to its sparkle.
Wine country: across Lake Washington and a bit to the north (approximately 40 minutes from downtown Seattle) is an area that has come to be known as the Woodinville Wine Country. The best known is Chateau St. Michelle, with a beautiful chateau and grounds (also an outdoor music venue) but there are many others in this same small valley, some with chateaux, and some with humble tasting rooms. For specific wineries and/or information about events and the occasional day-long tour of Woodinville wineries, check here: http://www.woodinvillewinecountry.com/.
Visible from most parts of the city, Mount Rainier rises to its, 14,410-foot height and seems to watch over the Seattle region–majestic on a clear day, breathtaking with the pink tinges of sunrise or sunset, its presence is usually visible at least as a silhouette even on the area’s frequent and famous gray and rainy days. At approximately 75 miles from the center of Seattle, the Mount Rainier National Park, established as such in 1899, is about a two-hour drive from the city–give or take, depending on traffic. It’s a premier destination for hiking and camping, and features glaciers and unspoiled natural scenery. More information at http://www.nps.gov/mora/index.htm.
Ski and snowboard enthusiasts (or outright nuts, such as my son-in-law, extreme skier J.D. Thompson, below–photo by Chad Coleman) appreciate Seattle’s proximity to ski facilities, some on the northwest side of Mt. Rainier (Crystal Mountain) and those at Snoqualmie (Alpental) and Stevens mountain passes. Mount Baker, a bit farther to the north, is seldom without snow even in summer.
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Snoqualmie Pass is also the home of the breathtaking 268-foot Snoqualmie Falls. A dinner at the elegant-rustic Salish Lodge located nearby the Falls, followed by a short walk to the bottom of the falls, has become a romantic and not-yet-overdone setting for many a wedding proposal. Check here to see why: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWLGPZH7xYs&feature=channel_page .
Jumping-off point for:
Fishing. Rivers and lakes abound for fishing, or fishing tours are available on Puget Sound. If you want the “Reel” Deal, a daytrip to Westport (about three hours from Seattle by car) can put you on a fishing charter on the ocean, with an opportunity for a rougher boatride to catch halibut, salmon, tuna, ling cod. More information at http://www.deepseacharters.biz/. Westport is also reknowned for whale watching and, believe it or not, is a hotspot for coldwater surfing.
Olympic National Park, an unspoiled rainforest on the Olympic Peninsula, a ferry-ride away–a delight for campers and hikers.
Canada: Both Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia (reknowned as “a little piece of England”), are popular destinations (you now need an “enhanced” Washington State Driver’s License or a passport to cross the border)–about a 2-1/2 hour drive from Seattle (add another hour for Victoria). Alternately, the Victoria Clipper takes you from Seattle’s waterfront to Victoria on Puget Sound, among the astonishingly beautiful San Juan Islands, on Puget Sound; or Kenmore Air, can whisk you there from Lake Union. In the winter, both Whister and Blackcomb are extremely popular destination ski resort towns.
So while you’re not guaranteed to get a suntan in Seattle, you ARE guaranteed access to gorgeous scenery and all manner of outdoor sports, with the opportunity for exposure to art, music, dance and sports. Just don’t forget your umbrella.
05.10.09
