The Emerald City has plenty to offer
Seattle is a diverse city, nestled in a
natural setting of incomparable beauty. Even though the population of
the region is 3.5 million and java jolts can be found on every corner,
Seattleites are still laid-back enough to wait for the WALK signal to
cross the street (in fact you can get a ticket
for the offense).
Weather
What will the weather
be like in late October? Well sure, there will be a bit of
precipitation, but mostly it will be drizzling at odd times. You'll
want intermittent wipers if you rent a car. Really. Actually, the
average annual rainfall
in New York and Atlanta is greater than it is in Seattle.
Oh and be sure to know what a "Sunbreak" is. There
will be a test.
What to do while in ...
Whatever your interests, from hiking to pro sports
to a night at the symphony, Seattle's got it-and you can do it.
...Seattle
Pike Place Market:
A wonderful open air market with hundreds of shops, food, and artisans
selling their wares. You can find this at 1st and Pike Street in
downtown Seattle. See http://www.pikeplacemarket.org/.
Seattle Waterfront:
Just down the hill from Pike’s Market, the section of the water front
between Main and Broad Streets has a lot of souvenir shops and places
to eat. If you walk far enough to the north you will find
Myrtle Edwards Park. A trolley runs the length of the waterfront
courtesy of the Metro Bus system. See http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/tour/water.htm.
Seattle Aquarium:
On the Seattle Waterfront at Pier 59. They have a beautiful
exhibit of indigenous and exotic fish, birds and marine mammals and an
emphasis on education and wildlife conservation. They also have
an attached Omnidome IMAX theatre. Open 10-7 Daily. See http://www.seattleaquarium.org/
or call 206-386-4300.
Washington State
Ferries: One of the Puget Sound area's many ferry terminals is
located at the south end of the Waterfront. It’s fun just to take a
ferry to Bremerton and back, particularly if you can time is so you
return at dusk to see the Seattle waterfront beautifully lit. See http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/.
Argosy Cruises:
Take a short boat tours, a one-hour cruise of Seattle harbor, or a 2
½-hour cruises through the Hiram Chittendon Locks. See http://www.argosycruises.com/
or call 206-623-1445.
Seattle Center:
Built for the 1962 World's Fair, it is still a bustling place that
entertains. Aside from the many festivals (including Folklife,
Bumbershoot, and the Bite of Seattle), Key arena (host to the Super Sonics, the Storm and Thunderbirds),
the Pacific Science Center, Space Needle, and many theatres including
McCaw Hall (home to the Pacific
Northwest Ballet) and the Seattle
Children's Theatre. It is a quick trip from Westlake center (across
from the conference hotel) by way of the original Seattle Monorail. See http://www.seattlecenter.com/.
Pacific Science
Center: The science center is located under the white arches in
the Seattle Center. They have many hands-on exhibits, a
planetarium, laser shows and an IMAX theatre. Open 10-6
daily. See http://www.pacsci.org/
or call 206-443-2001.
Experience Music
Project: What is that building? Is it fascinating? Is it ugly?
Really the design (by Frank Gehry) was based on pieces of electric
guitars. The EMP contains static and exploratory exhibits all
related to music. See http://www.emplive.org/
or call 1-877-EMPLIVE (1-877-367-5483).
Science Fiction
Museum: Housed inside the Experience Music Project, the SFM will
be host to UIST's Conference Reception, so we'll leave you to
experience it for yourself :). See http://www.sfhomeworld.org/ or
call 206-724-3428.
Seattle Space
Needle: Enjoy panoramic views of the Seattle area and Puget
Sound from the observation deck and/or have a meal in the Space Needle
Restaurant. Call 206-443-2100 or 1-800-937-9582.
Downtown Retail
Core: The heart of downtown’s retail marketplace that includes Westlake Center (4th Avenue
and Pine Street) and Pacific
Place (6th Avenue and Pine Street).
Pioneer Square:
Seattle’s first neighborhood with shops, galleries, Occidental Mall,
and restaurants. An underground
walking tour is available, which tells of
Seattle’s past and takes you down to the original first floors of many
buildings in the area. Pioneer Square offers a lively night life,
with a variety of jazz and dance clubs. This area is located
Alaskan Way Viaduct and 2nd Avenue, and between James and King Streets.
Safeco and Qwest
Fields: Safeco Field is the home to the Seattle Mariners,
complete with a retractable roof. Qwest field is home to the Seattle Seahawks and Sounders. It's unlikely
that the Mariners will still be playing in late October, but you can tour
the facility.
Capitol Hill:
Another retail corridor, with a *lot* of character, located along
Broadway between E. Pine Street and E. Roy Street. ‘nuf said.
Fremont:
This area of Seattle is the self-proclaimed “Center of the
Universe” complete with rocket ship, and bronze statue of Lenin and
a Troll under the Aurora bridge. Be sure to visit some of the cool,
funky shops and take a picture next to the "Waiting for the Interurban"
sculpture or Rapunzel letting down her hair from the tower of the draw
bridge. See http://www.fremontseattle.com/.
Ballard:
Yah Sure Yabetcha! This section of Northwest Seattle, with it's proud
Scandanavian heritage, is home to the Hiram Chittendon locks, the Nordic Heritage Museum and the
best place to get knick knacks in the world. Yes, that's right, I'm
talking Archie McPhees! Worth the
trip for that place alone! See http://www.inballard.com/Webroot/index_2.shtml.
Hiram Chittendon
Locks: Located in Ballard and run by the Army
Corp of Engineers, this is where the salmon jumping up the fish
ladder from Puget Sound to get to the fresh waters of Lake Union, Lake
Washington and the streams beyond. Oh and the locks also allow boats to
be raised or lowered 6 to 26 feet, depending on tide levels. The walk
to the
Locks is through the pretty Carl S. English, Jr., Botanical Gardens. A
further drive down 54th Ave NW will take you to Golden Gardens, one of
the many beach front Seattle Parks.
Gasworks Park:
This park is the former site of the Seattle Gas Light "gasification"
plant and was bought by the city in 1962, cleaned up and made into a
park. It is located between the University District and Fremont on N
Northlake Way. It’s a great place to fly a kite, which you can
buy at a nearby shop,
or a great place to start a bike ride on the Burke-Gilman
trail.
Woodlank Park Zoo:
This zoo contains beautiful exhibits of indigenous and exotic
animals in natural settings. Their emphasis is on education and
wildlife conservation. They also now have a bird feeding
experience. The zoo is located at 5500
Phinney Avenue North and is open 10-7 daily. See
http://www.zoo.org or call 206-684-4800.
Green Lake:
This lake is near the Woodland Park Zoo, and is surrounded by a 3
mile pedestrian/biking/rollerblading trail. There’s also a great
kids
park on the north west section of the lake (near the community center),
and swimming, wading in the wading pool and boating in warm weather.
There are also shops and restaurants surrounding
the lake, in particular, you can rent wheels from Gregg’s Greenlake cycle. See http://www.cityofseattle.net/parks/parkspaces/greenlak.htm.
The University
District: University Way (commonly known as “The Ave”) is the
heart of the University district. Well that and the fact that it's one
block west of the University of
Washington campus. University
Village, down the hill just to the north east of the campus on 25th
Avenue NE, includes a Barnes and Nobles, Gap and Eddie Bauer, Pottery
Barn, Crate and Barrel and, of course, Starbucks, as well as a lot of
nice smaller shops. .
... Western
Washington:
The Eastside:
This is what anything east of Lake Washington is called, basically any
place that requires travel across a floating bridge or along the top or
bottom of the lake to get to Seattle. The Eastside includes Bellevue,
Redmond, Kirkland, Issaquah, Sammamish, Bothell, Renton and even (to
some degree) Kent. See http://www.microsoft.com/MBA/sea_eastneigh.mspx.
San Juan Islands:
This cluster of beautiful islands offers a lot of small towns, hiking
and biking trails, shops and interesting places to see. To get
there, most people take the Washington State Ferry from Anacortes,
about 1 ½ hours North of Seattle. One fare allows you to
island-hop until you return back to Anacortes. People typically
stay on Orcas or San Juan Island. See http://www.sanjuanisland.org/.
Whidbey Island:
This island northwest of Seattle has many charming towns, shops and
restaurants. It has many nice bed and breakfasts, inns, and nice biking
trails. You can take a Washington State Ferry from Mulkiteo. It takes
about 1.5 hours to get there from Seattle. See http://www.southwhidbey.com/.
Olympic Peninsula:
This area encompasses the Olympic Mountain Range, the Olympic National
Forest and the Hoh Rain Forest. The national park offers lots of hiking
and biking trails and has educational centers outside points of
interest. To get to the peninsula, take either the Bremerton ferry from
Seattle, or the Edmonds-Kingston Ferry from Edmonds. The entrance to
the Olympic National Forest in Port Angeles is 2.5 hours west of
Seattle. The Hoh Rain Forest, near the Pacific Ocean, is 3.5
hours from Seattle.
Victoria, British
Columbia: Take the Victoria Clipper from Pier 69 in downtown
Seattle. The cruise take 2.5 hours each way or you can take the ferry
from Port Angeles on the Olympic Peninsula. Visit the city of Victoria
and the Buchart Gardens, as well as many nice shops and
restaurants. See http://www.tourismvictoria.com/.
Vancouver,
British Columbia: Just three hours north on I-5, Vancouver is a
wonderful city with shopping, and beautiful Stanley park (home of the
Vancouver Aquarium). See http://www.tourismvancouver.com/visitors/.
Casinos:
There are many Indian reservations in Washington which sponsor
legalized casino gambling. Among these are the Swinomish nation, the
Jamestown Clallam nation, and the Tulalip nation.
Tillicum Village:
A four hour trip, Tillicum village is located on Blake Island Marine
State Park. Activities include a Native American pow-wow, the Northwest
Coast Indian Cultural Center, and Indian Baked salmon dinners. Tours
depart from Piers 55 and 56 daily. See http://www.tillicumvillage.com/
or call 206-933-8600 for more
information.
Snoqualmie Falls:
A beautiful day trip just outside of Seattle, Snoqualmie Falls is
located next to the Salish Lodge
(Resort spa, brunch and dinners are expensive but incredible). This
trip is recommended just for the views, the hike and the food if you
are so inclined. I-90 East, take the Snoqualmie Falls Exit (Hwy 202)
and follow the signs to the lodge at the head of the falls. See http://www.snoqualmiefalls.com/.
Fun Links for Seattle
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