<p>We are going to be in Seattle Sunday on our college tour week and I am wondering if you can suggest anything particularly fun to do with my d and her friend? Friends mom made me promise not to let them off on their own at all so my husband and I will have to be along at all times.( it’s nice to be able to blame it on her mom LOL) Soooo, in order for them not to feel too stifled I’d like to find something cool to do. Do you have any good ideas? Maybe an interesting place to eat or a good place to hear bands? My d is kind of into the quirky stuff ( loves tattoos and piercings, real artsy, love indie bands,likes to try interesting restaurants, etc)
Thanks for any ideas!</p>
<p>Check out the area near Seattle U along Pike and Pine Streets near Broadway. Good Indie coffee shops, etc. Lots of tatoos.</p>
<p>The Seattle Underground Tour is surprisingly fascinating, and the Ride the Ducks tour is a lot of fun (if you can stand the exhaust fumes). </p>
<p>Broadway in the Capitol Hill area is the “quirky” part of town. There are many clubs with live music in the Ballard and Pioneer Square areas (check <a href=“http://www.thestranger.com%5B/url%5D”>www.thestranger.com</a> for a weekly schedule/description of events). (Most clubs are 21 and over, though.)</p>
<p>If you are into artsy, there is the new outdoor Olympic Sculpture Park that is on the waterfront near downtown. It covers about 9 acres and has some great views of the water (and is free!). You kind find out information on the Seattle Art Museum website.</p>
<p>ogodnodontridetheduck
& I personally wouldn’t spend a lot of time at the sculpture garden either- but </p>
<p>Depending on when you are here-</p>
<p>Ballard has a Saturday street market- Fremont neighborhood has a Sunday Market ( Fremont is very cool- although getting too trendy for its own good- still funky though- you can check out the AntiqueMarket where Eddie Vedder found an old copy of Last Kiss * that he then decided to record and made it more popular than it deserved to be* and just a block away Stone Gossard owns a recording studio- I guess they arent really considered indie really too well known for that)
<a href=“http://www.fremontmarket.com/fremont/[/url]”>http://www.fremontmarket.com/fremont/</a>
I think the one in the UDistrict is both sunday and Sat</p>
<p>[is always all ages](<a href=“http://www.theveraproject.org/”>A Drink For The Kids 2015 – The Vera Project)
The Seattle Center is just slightly north of downtown and west of the Udistrict</p>
<p>we don’t really have anything like Powells- but if you are looking at the UW, the UW bookstore on the university ave is big and some shops and restaurants worth checking out in the area.</p>
<p>Ill get you more info</p>
<p>I would agree about the Sculpture Park, it won’t take too long. It is kind of interesting though and the location is great. You also can’t go wrong with going to Pike Place Market. Really a touristy place, but I always enjoy going there.</p>
<p>As for restaurants there are more than you can imagine. You will probably find an Asian restaurant of some sort every couple blocks, and they are almost always good.</p>
<p>If you are into music, Experience Music Project (EMP) is interesting.<br>
Pike Place market and the waterfront are tourist classics…if that other mom is so freaky she won’t let the kids explore she’ll probably flip out if you take them to Pike/Pine, Broadway or Capitol Hill.</p>
<p>ballard is very cool and has lots of funky shops; you can go down to the locks and Golden Gardens if it’s nice…or you can go out to Alki in west seattle if it’s nice–it has an old fashioned boardwalk feel.</p>
<p>PA mom
when I went to Portland took my younger D to see her sister- perhaps 3 years ago, we met a friend and her same age daughter who had planned to be there at the same time.
- Her husband* had given her explicit instructions never to let their daughter out of her sight, apparently even when we were on the Reed campus!
( which is small and no streets run through it)</p>
<p>Vera( all ages music) is on the same campus as EMP and teh Pacific Science Center- Food Circus ( or whatever its called)- however- depending on how street savvy they are, I would keep an eye on them, just cause sometimes there are sketchy people about</p>
<p>If you go up and down Broadway on Capitol Hill -which then could take you down to Pike/Pine- you wont see as much leather and tattoos as you used to- they have grown up and moved to Ballard- but you still should see some.</p>
<p>I would also recommend the International District ( but not if there is a baseball game- unless you plan to go to the game- although Safeco is a pretty cool place to see a game-)
Lots of great restaurants
Elliot Bay bookstore is just a little north in pioneer square</p>
<p>Great ideas ! Thanks!
We will definitely be going to Fremont Market and I’ll show her the website for EMP to see if she’s interested. I am sure they’ll want to go to Capitol Hill and Pike/Pine. I’d like to see the fish market so I may make them go there as well.LOL
Unfortunately our flight gets in too late to see a show Saturday night and there are none scheduled for Sunday at Vera - looks like it would have been nice if the dates worked. </p>
<p>We will be in Portland for a night as well - any ideas there? EK you seem to visit there , maybe you can offer an idea?
Thanks!</p>
<p>If she’s looking at schools you might want to try the local low budget food. People seem to like Dick’s Drive inns (burgers) . Old Spagetti Factory is a can’t miss good cheap meal down between the Seattle Center and Waterfront. There are dozens of resturants around the Seattle area that are good quality and a good price. If you go to the EMP, the center has a food court that has alot of local variety. Check out Bite of Seattle for resturant ideas as well. The local food festival is pretty darn tasty. </p>
<p>Good luck. </p>
<p>What schools do you plan to visist? in WA and OR?</p>
<p>If you visit Broadway, there is a nice small Russian cafe called Piroshki . We always stop by for lunch when in Seattle. All sorts of delicious and filling Russian pastries, savory and sweet. :)</p>
<p>In Portland…too many thing to count (I am from Portland)… there are a whole bunch of concerts, and the Waterfront is a great place to hang out, Pioneer place is cool, and you should go to Family Fun center in Wilsonville (like 10 mins from portland cost 20 bucks for great rides and everything)…In seatlle go to that Pike market place, and definitely go to SEattle Center… that is the one place that signifies what Seattle is (it is where the space tower is (the famous needle)0</p>
<p>I hate to disagree with anyones taste buds but Dicks burgers taste like cardboard although the special is passable- & frankly the Speghetti factory is inedible.( the food court is pretty bad too, but serves the purpose if you have been at the Center all day and are starving)</p>
<p>my stomping ground</p>
<p>Ballard and Fremont are neighborhoods right next to each other
you could start the morning by having a tasty corn dog at Golden Gardens ( puget sound * not* the ocean lol) and see where they finally moved ol’ Leif to.
<a href=“Viking brought down in overtime”>Viking brought down in overtime;
then tour the government locks and maybe an icebreaker will come through
<a href=“http://www.seattle.gov/tour/locks.htm[/url]”>http://www.seattle.gov/tour/locks.htm</a>
up the street a little ways are things that you just cant resist even though you dont know what you would ever do with them
<a href=“http://www.mcphee.com/store/index.html[/url]”>http://www.mcphee.com/store/index.html</a>
but now its time for a late lunch ( and watch out if you have more than one caribbean crush)
<a href=“http://www.laislaseattle.com/[/url]”>http://www.laislaseattle.com/</a>
I would also highly recommend
<a href=“The Stranger: Seattle's Only Newspaper”>The Stranger: Seattle's Only Newspaper;
<p>Don’t go to chain stores Tullys or Starbucks- the girls will love Mr Spots Chai House but bring your laptop they have free wireless.
<a href=“http://www.chaihouse.com/[/url]”>http://www.chaihouse.com/</a></p>
<p>[buy a Ballard tshirt at sip and ship- also great lattes](<a href=“http://www.nwsource.com/shopping/guides/neighborhoods/ballard.html”>http://www.nwsource.com/shopping/guides/neighborhoods/ballard.html</a>)</p>
<p>This movie theatre is also very comfortable and not a chain-
[Maureen</a> Alhadeff designed the interior to complement Ballards maritime history](<a href=“http://seattle.citysearch.com/profile/11389094]Maureen”>CitySearch - Your local city guide) See signed posters of famous stars! ( and maybe even run into Alan Arkin- he lives here as does his granddaughter) shhh</p>
<p>I guess thats enough boosterism for Ballard- we want people to visit not move here ;)</p>
<p>I like riding the train in Portland the MAX?
where are you going to be staying?
I like bookstores- and Powells is the biggest I have ever been to, but the one on Hawthorne is enough for me-
The Hawthorne district is a lot like Fremont in Seattle but funkier cause its Portland.
This is one of my favorite places in Portland- but not where you probably want to stay all day on a first visit- but I had fun playing pinball</p>
<p>[Its called the nickel arcade because the games all run on nickels](<a href=“http://www.portlandtribune.com/features/story.php?story_id=33747”>http://www.portlandtribune.com/features/story.php?story_id=33747</a>)</p>
<p>Mostly though when I have free time in Portland I just enjoy not having sales tax- even if I don’t buy much</p>
<p>If you are visiting Reed in Portland in the next month or so, keep in mind @ Reed the year is winding down and gearing up at the same time ( winding down means crunch time for everyone- papers- orals- quals -thesis but winding up for [RennFayre](<a href=“http://www.rennfayre.com/”>http://www.rennfayre.com/</a>) )
so the impressions of the campus might be distorted :)</p>
<p>My absolutely favorite thing to do with out-of-towners is a ferry ride from Seattle to Bremerton (if you aren’t rushed for time) or to Bainbridge (if you are). This is a maritime city – the ferry is a cheap, easy way to experience the city from the water.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine why anyone would visit Capitol Hill. To each his own, I guess, but it’s a really unremarkable area. Every city has a “colorful” neighborhood, and Cap Hill is just like all the others. Fremont is fun, though. </p>
<p>Don’t scoff at a ride up the Space Needle. You’ll get a great view of the whole area without having to rent a helicopter. No one who lives here ever eats there, though.</p>
<p>Eat dim sum for brunch in the International district. I’ve eaten at the King Cafe a bunch of times and enjoyed it, but it is tiny and really seedy (which I find charming, but isn’t real touristy). There are a bunch of good dim sum places in the area. I’d say you should go to the Noble House in Bellevue, but that would require driving over the 520 bridge, which gives most Seattleites nosebleeds.</p>
<p>The Chittendon Locks in Ballard are always fun, and this time of year you might see steelhead in the fish ladder. There’s a good seafood restaurant just west of the locks (but the name escapes me at the moment).</p>
<p>If I was visiting a city for the first time I wouldn’t waste my time listening to local bands. You can hear indie bands at home, but can you see clams in mudflats shooting jets of water into the air in Peoria?</p>
<p>Dick’s and Old Spaghetti are nassss-tee. For good local burgers check out Kidd Valley or Red Mill. The Ave has amazing inexpensive ethnic food–anything you want. The most deliciousness is north of 45th between 45th and Ravenna. </p>
<p>Also check out The Mix on the Ave…you can do customized ice cream flavors.</p>
<p>Red Mill are the best</p>
<p>except the ones I really like are the Burgerville in Portland across from the Redlion Convention Center-
and the Red Mill in Interbay is superior to the one on Phinney Ridge for some reason
But Scooters in Ballard by the QFC on 24th aren’t bad either
warning- they only take cash!</p>
<p>oh- I also like anthonys homeport on the waterfront especially the fishbar
but Ivars- any of them- aren’t the best food you are ever going to have - but they are quintesential old Seattle - they have either fish and chip places or full restaurants</p>
<p>probably too mom and pop for teens though
- although they could be considered “retro”*</p>
<p>If you arrive in Seattle by Saturday night you could attend Twisted Flicks at the “Historic University Theater”: <a href=“http://www.jetcityimprov.com/twistedflicks/index.html[/url]”>http://www.jetcityimprov.com/twistedflicks/index.html</a>
Saturday night’s show is “Project Moonbase”
If that’s too early, Jet City Improv is at the Historic University Theater at 10:30PM</p>
<p>“Dick’s and Old Spaghetti are nassss-tee.”</p>
<p>I agree about Dicks, but the places are always busy. Somebody eats there. It’s like the Kmart of fast food, no body says they eat there but they do. </p>
<p>And you’re just dead wrong about OSF, cheap eats, full tummy, tastes good. Don’t be a snob. </p>
<p>Remember to if the D is going to be going to school here, chances are pretty good she’s not going to drop $20 for an entree is she? At least not the college kids I know. While there are alot of good high end resturants in the Seattle area, where will the kid be able to eat off campus? </p>
<p>Bugerville is very good too down Oregon way. So is Muchos, mexican fast food. While it is always nice to take the kids to a nice place to eat, it is also a good idea to visit where they eat when they’re on there own. While my wife doesn’t like eating the college student food, I rather enjoy it. It shouldn’t be hard to make an expensive meal taste good. What’s hard is making an inexpensive meal taste better than what you paid for it.</p>
<p>Its true Dicks is busy
Dicks is a local chain and who treat their employees very well, we like that sort of thing in Seattle. They also don’t have cash registers with pictures, the employees have to do the math in their heads ( or on a piece of paper)
They also have well thought out locations, and are very fast- the fries are also good, if greasy, but good flavor ( in Seattle we eat them with tartar sauce) but I can’t even eat Dicks anymore, even though my dad used to drive us to Seattle from the Eastside to have the 17cent burgers and 20 cent shakes. Now the layer of grease over everything just makes me gag- but for the college boys drinking beer all night, they must be just the thing.</p>
<p>( They are now a little more expensive, but not much- so they are also a big spot for local youth sports teams to hit before or after a game or practice)</p>
<p>But there are so many cheap places to eat- Vietnamese sandwiches are fantastic-
[yum](<a href=“http://www.nwasianweekly.com/20062433/banh20062433.htm”>A 1970s fountain by local artist George Tsutakawa is brought back to life in Seattle)
Pho is all over Portland and Seattle -you will get more than you can eat for $3- Thai-East African… lots of ethnic food is very inexpensive-
Ezells 
:D- we just drove by there today- my D and her friend had to hide their eyes at their high school being “remodeled” they want to remember it like it was)</p>
<p>Theres also a Nepalese place on the “AVE” by the UW that I have heard alot about but haven’t been to yet.Dont know if I am ready for goat.</p>