Seattle in December

Parent Cafe
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There was another Seattle thread this past summer, and the young lady got some great advice, but kind of at the last minute her boyfriend (who she was going to visit) broke up with her and she didn’t go, so I kinda didn’t want to revive that old thread and reopen old wounds if she’s still reading on CC, so I’m starting a new one.

After a really rough 24 hours, H suggested I go out to Washington to visit a good friend for a longish weekend in December when he has to be away on business. This friend’s home base is here in IL, but she spends the majority of the year on the other side of the mountains about 80 miles east of Seattle where her son lives. Due to an accident, she was unable to get home this year, so it’s been over a year since I’ve seen her. I have been to her place there in the summer, and it was lovely, but if I’m going to go back to see her, I want to see a different geographic location, so I suggested Seattle, and she’s game for the adventure; she will drive over and meet me there. I’m guessing there would be different recommendations for me as opposed to the other poster because we’re really going at very different times of the year. I am completely game for getting out in weather, no matter what and am not going to restrict myself due to fog or rain. I have proper clothing (thanks to a trip to Ireland we did in March one year).

Plan is to stay at some place like a Residence Inn; she sleeps with a CPAP machine, so we need our separate sleeping quarters. There is one downtown which looks perfectly fine for our needs. When I texted her tonight, she said that there were plenty of things she’d not had the chance to do in Seattle (usually when they go over, it’s to take care of business matters or doctor’s appointments) and she looked forward to exploring some stuff. But I wanted to throw out some ideas, too, but be well-researched when I suggest something.

Here are the parameters - she is not quite as active as I am, and is a bit older, so I can’t expect the activity level of mine… so hours and hours of walking up and down the streets are probably out. In reading some of the other thread, places that people mentioned are: The Chihuly Museum, Seattle Underground Tour, Boeing plant (she will have her car if we need it), Sky View Observatory. We are not huge foodies and not very adventurous with eating, so casual will do us fine, and I’m sure we can find that on the fly as we go. Also, we really are not alcohol drinkers, so anything focused on drinking would be wasted on us. She does not have the disposable income that I have, so no high-end shopping districts.

What about ferry rides this time of the year? I realize it will get dark early. One of the things I miss terribly about the PNW is the beauty of the coastline, and all the islands. Would it be worth it to try to devote a day to Bainbridge? Or would San Juan Islands be too much to attempt? I would give anything to get out on the water and see the scenery, but if it will be too cold or challenging, I can accept that.

Thoughts?

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I spent Thanksgiving weekend in Seattle last year - the city does look nice for the holidays. Check out winterfest at the Seattle Center - they have lots of shows and activities just for the holidays. I also enjoyed holiday shopping at University Village - nice variety of stores - not all high end.

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I’ve actually stayed at that Residence Inn during a home repair emergency, and it should b just what you need-and is close to everything downtown. It’s been awhile but I think you’ll need to pay to park there.

You mention that your friend isn’t as mobile as you, so be aware that the Boeing tour is very long, with a lot of walking and stairs, however, a few times a week they offer a special tour for those of limited mobility. Check the website.
She may prefer something much smaller, the Museum of Flight, which is here in Seattle and easier to navigate.

A ferry ride at that time of year can be lovely, even in the rain, if you do it during daylight. To go to the San Juan Islands, you’d first need to drive 2+ hours yo Anacortes, then take a long ferry ride. If you do that, plan to stay over in Friday Harbor or the like. It can be beautiful there, even in the winter. I spent one of the best weekends of my life there one winter. Lots of cute shops in Friday Harbor and plenty of unsettled, wild areas to drive or walk around.

I’ll second Seattle Center-it’s really pretty at that time of year, there are some annual performances to see, and several free holiday exhibits and things to see. I find the U Village shops rather expensive, but it is quite pretty at that time of year.

There are many museums in Seattle that have some free admission days or “pay what you can”. I’d suggest the Wing Luke (Asian) Museum in lovely Volunteer Park, the NW African American Museum, or the Seattle Art Museum.

Have fun!

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Coming late, but second everything already said! It does get dark early here in December, but the holiday light displays make the long nights feel not so long. The Japanese garden at the Arboretum might be decked in lights for the holidays. Another great place to see the lights would be the Bellevue botanical gardens - spectacular light displays! I also highly recommend an evening Argosy Cruises boat tour - the view of the Seattle downtown from the water is unforgettable.

BTW, the predictions are for a drier than normal December so far…

Will post more later this evening.

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Wow… never would have thought of an evening boat tour!

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ok; i’ve done this a few time with family. Loved it. so cool, slightly eery, beautiful. FREE.

Evening vespers at St. Marks Cathedral. close to downtown; 9:30 PM sunday evenings. It’s an unfinished cathedral; people can sit in pews and many bring blankets and lay on the floors to listen to the compline – acapella mens music. It’s neat! so different than anything in our neck of the woods

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When we went on the Boeing tour a couple months ago, they offered a golf cart ride to people with limited mobility (maybe 3 people out of about 75 took them up on it). My 89 year old dad looked at me with disdain when I asked if he wanted to join them, and clipped right along at a brisk pace leading the walking group through the tunnels. :slight_smile:

My D2 and I liked the Asian museum at Volunteer Park, too. Not a huge museum, but a beautiful collection. “Small but mighty” was D’s satisfied comment afterwards.

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Also, the evening boat tour reminded me-depending on when you’re here, there are “Christmas Ships” that depart from various waterfront areas in Puget Sound. Argosy, mentioned above, has cruises built around this., but there are both land and water viewing options all over the place. This link has the locations and explains it. We’ve seen the ships from a beach on Lake Washington-spectacular!

http://redtri.com/seattle/lights-carols-action-59-ways-to-see-the-christmas-ships-in-seattle/#

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The gingerbread house contest that one of the downtown hotels does is great fun.

If you go to the Museum of Flight, go on a Saturday and plan a long lunch in the cafeteria. It’s fun to watch all the hobby pilots fly their vintage planes (weather permitting)–the cafeteria borders the runway.

It might be worthwhile to rent a “just in case” wheelchair.

You might want to consider basing out of two hotels–one in anacortes for you San Juan portion, the other in Seattle.

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Wanted to update everyone on our visit this week… we spent a lot more time talking and catching up at the hotel than we did sight-seeing. That being said, I am just an anomaly when it comes to PNW weather trips. This is now my fourth trip out here (one other was in October, two in August, then this one) and every time I’ve come prepared for awful, icky weather, and every time, I’ve basically had nothing but sunny days. It’s been cold since Monday, but the sun has been out; we’ve seen Rainier a couple of times, as well as Mt. Baker.

Got her Monday night and took it easy in the hotel; yesterday we went to the Sky View Observatory and had incredible views of the Olympic Peninsula and Cascades, as well as Mt. Rainier. We lingered up there quite a while and loved it. Then took public transportation to the Chiluly Garden and Glass, and had a wonderful time there, and lingered quite long. Took Uber back to our hotel, and were only charged $5.50 for a ride (about 1.5 miles) that took about 20 minutes because it was 5:15PM! Stayed in again last night.

This morning we did an Underground Tour, then drove up to Mutilkeo to take the ferry over to Whidbey Island. We drove about halfway up the island to Fort Casey Historical State Park, then turned around and came back. Got more great views of the Olympic Peninsula and Cascades. Are exhausted in the hotel room now, and I will pack soon for my flight home tomorrow. A storm is supposed to roll in tomorrow, but my flight leaves before the winter storm watch goes into effect, so I should be good.

My most proud moment - I walked right by the Nordstrom mothership, and I DID NOT GO IN!!

Have loved being here, and being able to see the sea’s beauty contrasted with the majestic mountains. Thanks so much for the recommendations!

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You got lucky. Our Thanksgiving week there a couple of years ago had 5 minutes worth of small patches of blue sky. July was fantastic- especially compare to the high heat and humidity where we are now in Florida (were in WI until retired here). The Seattle area is on my love it list- hope to visit every summer. But- too gloomy winters for me.

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wis, they call those blue patches “sun breaks” up there. :slight_smile: When I first moved there for college, the gloomy winters got to me too, not so much the rain but the very short days in December.

D texted me a picture late last night. It snowed.

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Yippee! So glad you had a great visit together! :x

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Yup, it snowed right after you left, and Seattle ground to a halt all day Friday. :slight_smile: (Funny to those of us from the Midwest who now live here!)

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Yes, my friend lives about 80 miles east of Seattle, over the pass - her family started texting her Wednesday, telling her to get out of there early on Thursday because “people in Seattle don’t know how to drive in snow!” But she had plenty of time after dropping me off at the airport so all was good.

After I wrote the above post, we decided to make a quick jaunt to Pike Place Market to see what it was like in the winter time. MUCH smaller crowds! We DID split a cream cheese, chocolate chip cinnamon roll! And I saw some beautiful dried flower arrangements for a very reasonable price. I found a Finnish store downstairs, Pirkko, that I fell in love with. They had some really cool stuff! But I was good, and didn’t buy anything. I did take a picture of a raincoat by Ilse Jacobsen that I fell in love with… fleece-lined and all the bells and whistles that Finnish people put in their raincoats to keep them dry and warm. We are actually going to San Francisco in January for a long weekend, and I kept thinking this raincoat would be perfect for there, but I will most likely use my Marmot standby, which isn’t fleece-lined, but did me well when we visited Ireland in March one year. SF temps will be much milder in January than Seattle was in December (hopefully??)

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It’s not that people in the Pacific Northwest don’t know how to drive in snow. It’s that it’s mostly not snow. It’s ice. It comes down as snow, then we get rain on top of, then it freezes. It can be driven on if sanded down, but mostly that doesn’t happen (it would cost too much, and it does melt, after all). My mail carrier used chains on his truck and chains on his shoes Friday morning. I saw five cars go by all day Friday.

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I spent many years driving in the Midwest winters before moving to Seattle and, between the steep hills, ice, and lack of equipment, it’s a whole new experience here. I never worried about driving near Chicago, but I stay home in Seattle.

Back on topic – this thread has given me some great ideas for our gloomy winter weekends. Thanks!

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Honestly, I think I should hire myself out to anyone who wants a few days of sunshine in the PNW. I’m 4/4 in having all sunny days when I’ve visited the region. And every time I go, the forecast calls for cloudy/rainy weather up until the day I leave, and while I’m there. Granted, only one time has been during the winter season, but one other was during the fall.

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well not Seattle but Portland. Our house is 807 above sea level,
I did not leave from Wed afternoon until Saturday. Just an inch of solid ice on our hills. Little snow.
It passed and as you live here your figure it out.
Just a handful of days every winter.

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Just noticed this thread is active again. Glad you had a great visit and good weather, too. :slight_smile: