<p>Poor whales! They don’t need any more people watch them. Check out the under ground Seattle…</p>
<p>Thanks for the Narada Falls tip and the great links for driving. </p>
<p>Also got a tip to go to Twedes while we’re up there, too, for some pie and coffee!</p>
<p>Don’t worry. I won’t hurt those whales. And if Underground Seattle is anything like Underground Atlanta, I’ll skip it.</p>
<p>This thread has gone on so long that I may have already posted this…
If you are hanging out near UW, and looking at the biomedical building down near the water, and it’s anywhere near mealtime:</p>
<p>[Agua</a> Verde Cafe & Paddle Club Seattle](<a href=“Agua Verde Paddle Club – Seattle Kayak & SUP Rental”>http://www.aguaverde.com/)</p>
<p>The Best Fish Tacos Ever… find a table with a view of the water… wait, you can’t find a table without a view of the water… my favorite (and they vary) is anything with mango and fresh chilis. Cheap, cheap, on the edge of campus.
If you want to rent a canoe or kayak, they are right downstairs.</p>
<p>Dragonmom, I don’t think you have posted this yet. And thank you to all for all the comments. I don’t mind the length at all! I am a consummate researcher and I am just absorbing all this knowledge. Besides, I’m going to be on a plane for about seven hours, so I’ll have plenty of time to read all these posts over and over again!</p>
<p>Bumping up this post.</p>
<p>Want to say a special thanks to all of you for your tips.</p>
<p>We just returned from our Seattle trip and had a wonderful time.</p>
<p>Quick rundown of what we did:</p>
<p>Argosy cruises: Lake Union/Washington and Elliott Bay.</p>
<p>Nintendo/Kirkland, Nintendo/Redmond, Microsoft/Redmond.</p>
<p>Snoqualmie Falls/Salish Lodge/Twede’s Cafe.</p>
<p>Museum of Flight.</p>
<p>Boeing Factory Tour.</p>
<p>Island Adventures Whale Watching out of Anacortes. Lots of orcas!</p>
<p>Drive down Whidbey Island: Deception Pass, Numerous beaches, both sides of island, along way, Coupeville, Possession Point, Clinton/Mukilteo Ferry.</p>
<p>Flight in took us alongside Mt. Rainier. Clear day, saw Mt. Rainier beautifully.</p>
<p>By the way, we did not go up the Space Needle. Tried to eat in the restaurant, but totally booked. </p>
<p>Highlight of trip, too many to mention!</p>
<p>Geekiest thing to do on trip. Nintendo repair center in Kirkland. Took pictures next to Birthday Pikachu and Mario. Son on phone with friends back home describing in detail everything in the small two room store.</p>
<p>Least interesting for mom, Microsoft Visitor Center. But son and dad were thrilled! The Microsoft campus was huge! Like the city of Redmond.</p>
<p>Spontaneous find. Visitors guide to Whidbey Island at Boeing factory. Section on scenic drives through the Island. Was able to do three or four of these. Intend to go back and do all of them. Pulling off the side of the road to look out on Puget Sound. Beautiful!</p>
<p>And did I say mountains? Oh, my gosh, mountains. Couldn’t get enough of them! Driving down a road in a valley and all the sudden, you’re next to a huge mountain!</p>
<p>As for food, we ate often at Red Robin, and when in Burlington, for our Anacortes whale trip, ate at Bob’s Burgers, a chain in the area. Good food and had choices for the picky child in the family. </p>
<p>Can’t recommend enough, the whale watching tour company we used, Island Adventures. The staff was great, interested in seeing nature, not selling drinks. The boat was great, comfortable, roomy, very good shape. Nice boat ride even without the whales.</p>
<p>Hotels we stayed at were great. Big rooms, comfortable beds, great staff, clean, great free breakfast, easy parking. Residence Inn Lake Union, Fairfield Burlington, Fairfield SeaTac for night before flight.</p>
<p>Southwest flights were great, comfortable, enough food and drink for the long flight, captains flew over great sites and pointed them out: Mount Rainier, Salt Lake City.</p>
<p>Will definitely go back!</p>
<p>Glad you had a great time! The Puget Sound area can be spectacular, especially if you get clear weather.</p>
<p>I’m glad to hear that you enjoyed your trip. Hopefully you’ll visit our state again very soon.</p>
<p>Will definitely go back. My aunt lives in Olympia, and we were not close enough to visit. Will stay next time in Tacoma so I can spend some time with her, then up again to Burlington to do more of Whidbey Island. I will definitely do Island Adventures again, even from Everett, if I’m able to get there at the right time.</p>
<p>Hi Montegut! (From Bookiemom who has a house on Whidbey Island.) I’m so glad you had a good trip to our “neck of the woods.” So happy you were able to make it to Whidbey and that you enjoyed it. </p>
<p>We were at Deception Pass a couple weeks ago with some guests and I thought of you and wondered when your trip was. I saw the tour boat that goes under Deception Pass, and also saw it on a local TV show this week. </p>
<p>Wish we’d had better weather when you were here. We have a saying there that summer doesn’t really start till after 4th of July, and it’s sure true this year!</p>
<p>Hi, bookiemom! I am so jealous! I loved Whidbey, and could spent months exploring there. Deception Pass, we planned to take the tour boat, but the water was so smooth, our whale boat went through. We saw a California sea lion in the area, too! Our whales were very close to the Pass, so we had lots of time to explore the area. We did stop at a pullout and take pictures at the start of our drive down Whidbey.</p>
<p>Have to give a plug to a nice new place we discovered on our Whidbey travel, as we had to stop to eat. We stopped in Coupeville, around three, so many places were closed, and the tavern didn’t allow minors, but we found a sort of new place open. It was Mosquite Coast Chili, or something like that. Great, great food! All fresh, bought from local farmers, cattlemen. The meat was from Three Sisters, they said, and pointed out the farm across the water. And the mussel farm at Penn Cove was incredible. Being from the Gulf Coast, I would have loved to tour the facility and see how y’all get your seafood up there. And we saw lots of people walking their dogs at Ali Spit, and I wondered if you walk your dog there as well. If not, you should! It’s a beautiful, peaceful spot. </p>
<p>I’m sharing pictures of the trip with a friend, who is from farmland in Wisconsin, and she can’t get over the modernness (?) of Seattle. I can’t wait to show her the pictures of the best part of the state, the farms and mountains and all the unspoiled part of the state that was truly breathtaking.</p>
<p>And the weather, it was great! Clear day when we arrived, saw Mount Rainier. We didn’t get caught in any rain. It was warmer than I thought it would be, at least in Seattle. Brought only long sleeve shirts and was sweating. But on our boat tour, I definitely needed my outriggers! It was a good bit cooler in Anacortes than it was in Seattle, but very, very pleasant. </p>
<p>I enjoyed my visit to your neck of the woods and can’t wait to go back again.</p>
<p>By the way, I met another tourist who told me of a rainforest they visited, the Hoh rainforest, and at the grocery today, I saw a Life magazine featuring the most beautiful places, and sure enough, there it was, the Hoh rainforest. I definitely need to catch that next trip.</p>
<p>Hi all-</p>
<p>I had this bookmarked and it has been a big help to us. We are visiting Seattle right now!</p>
<p>We got in yesterday and walked around Pike Place Market.
Today I want to do the Duck tour and eat lunch with a friend driving up from Olympia.
Other things on tap for us are going to Agua Verde and kayaking, doing a whale excursion (thinking about Western Prince- feedback?) and the Music museum. We are here until Saturday. </p>
<p>I’m going back over the thread now to take notes but would love any feedback you can offer!</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I did not read the thread, so forgive me if I repeat. Mt. St. Helens was one of the most stunning (?) sidetrips we did while visiting Seattle. We also liked the Hoh rainforest–the only temperate rain forest in North America.</p>
<p>I would love to see Mt St Helens. How far is it from Seattle though?
Thanks!</p>
<p>It’s been several years and my brother was driving. hmmmm. I googled it: From Seattle you would have to take I-5 south to state route 505 east and follow the signs to Mount St. Helens. The trip is about 150 miles. </p>
<p>That may be farther than you want to travel, but it really was something I will never forget–if you have the time. Perhaps you could combine it with something else.</p>
<p>I would love to see Mt St Helens. How far is it from Seattle though?
Thanks</p>
<p>Depending on how tired you get driving- far.
I drove up from Portland last night after taking D back home and I was not happy to find out that when I ran out of energy, I was only at the Toutle River rest stop.
It’s about 120 miles or so-</p>
<p>Thanks for visiting Monegut, but as a former Governor of Oregon famously said ‘please do not return’ to live there. LOL</p>
<p>I’m hoping to return back there [my home] for retirement in a few years and I’ve already found that the place has changed soooo much since I was a whippersnaper. At least Deception Pass is still great.</p>
<p>Glad you enjoyed the trip.</p>
<p>I highly recommend Island Adventures Whale Watching. It leaves from Anacortes, which you can drive to. No need for the ferry. We stayed the night before and the night of at a Fairfield in Burlington, very nice, with a Bob’s Burgers in the parking lot, as well as a Jack in the Box if you have little ones. The drive to the whale boat was an easy one, less than 30 minutes from Burlington. Burlington is an easy drive up from Seattle by I-5 North. You can drive from Seattle to Anacortes if you leave early enough, but I’m sure you’ve already encountered Seattle traffic, so I do recommend moving closer to the dock before the tour. </p>
<p>Call now for reservations, but I’m sure you’ll be able to get on. They do give Triple A discounts. The boat is spacious and very nice. The crew is excellent and very knowledgeable about the wildlife in the area. There is a naturalist onboard who will point out not just the whales and even identify some by name, but will also point out seals, birds, the mountains, the islands. Very, very nice boat and very pleasant ride. </p>
<p>Hope you enjoy, and please post back about your trip. I am hoping to go back and see my aunt in Olympia and take in more of the beautiful state of Washington.</p>