I am taking my mom to Seattle the 3rd week of September. For those of you who either live or have vacationed in Seattle, what shouldn’t we miss? We are staying in a VRBO cottage in Kirkland, but will have a car and a full week to explore. What things should be on our Do Not Miss list?
I enjoyed the outdoor market, where the fish market guys toss the fish around and make a show of it!
Boeing tour!!! :-bd :-bd :-bd
All of the stuff at the Seattle Center is great - the Chihuly Glass museum, the space needle, the monorail, and the EMP museum (however if you are talking about somebody elderly the EMP might not be a good idea).
For both the glass museum and space needle they are good to do during daylight and then again at night.
The museum of flight is a little out of the way but excellent (and since you have a car should be good).
Obviously Pike’s Market and walk the neighborhood around there.
The starbucks reserve roastery (not the one at Pike’s market).
If you are there on a Sunday go to Fremont and see the market and the shops, etc.
If you like to shop - go to the University District and visit the University Village shopping center.
If you like gardens - go to the Washington Park Arboretum.
Go to South lake union and visit the Museum of History and Industry (a wonderful little museum about seattle and they currently have a toy exhibit until 9/25)
Those are probably my top picks…
I should add I am not a native - but visited many times while my daughter temporarily lived there. There are many Seattle people here on CC who will have lots to add!
Thank you for the great ideas. My mom is only 70 and until 2 months ago lifted weights 3 times a week and walked 3 + miles most days of the week. Unfortunately she came down with a strep infection in her lung and spent a week in the hospital with pneumonia and a chest tube. She is having a tough time getting her energy back, but I am hoping if we take it slow we can see many things. Is taking a ferry out to one of the islands worthwhile? How about a drive down to Mount Rainier or out to Snolqualmie?
Snoqualmie Falls is a good idea. It is 30-40 minutes form Kirkland. There is a lodge by the falls where you can make a dinner reservation and watch the sunset over the forest and the falls while having a pleasant meal.
Since you plan on driving, here are some practical tips. Plan your driving so you would not have to fight the rush hour traffic - traffic is a major cluster here. The worst hours are 6 am - 10 am and 3 pm - 7 pm. Do check WA DOT has a traffic map which is typically very accurate. We have some toll roads here - 405 express lanes and 520 bridge.
In Fremont, you can take a tour of the Theo chocolate factory. It’s lots of fun. If you want to buy Theo chocolate, the Bartells drugstore chain sells the Theo chocolate bars much cheaper than anywhere else.
Re Snoqualmie Falls: my husband and I drove out about a year ago to see the falls and have afternoon tea in the Snoqualmie Lodge. The falls are indeed magnificent, but our afternoon tea was dreadful. Uninspired, stale and overpriced.
Salmon. They are the experts.
Another vote for the Boeing tour (if you are picking between that and the Museum of Flight, I like the tour better).
We like walking in the arboretum near the university (followed by a snack at The Essential Bakery on Madison). 
We also love brunch at Cafe Presse and the Elliott Bay Bookstore.
There is a fish ladder at the locks in Ballard, although there may not be much spawning activity by then. But the locks are interesting, and there is a small botanical garden to walk through.
Agree that traffic is really awful at rush hour.
Stale and overpriced tea - ugh. I guess we lucked out with the dinner at the Snoqualmie Lodge!
The drive to Mt Rainier is a whole day affair, but if you can stomach long drives, it is so worth it.
I recently spent a weekend in Seattle, with my H and D. The highlights were the Chilhuly glass museum, the Chittendon Locks, the EMP museum, and the Sky View observatory. Also enjoyed the air & space museum and taking a ferry ride.
We booked a lunch reservation at the Space Needle. This allowed us to skip the line for general admission. The lunch was nothing to remember, and a lot of money for mediocre food, but not that much more money than general admission to the Space Needle would have been.
If you plan to visit several attractions, better pricing may be offered for multi-location admission.
So glad H and have have strong stomachs! 
(and didn’t have to drive)
The new reinvention of the real Pike Street Farmers market as “the place where they throw the fish”. Is a huge insulte to the farmers market. If you want fresh salmon, go buy some. If you want fresh veggies or flowers, go buy some. Just PLEASE quit buying into the fish flinging.
Well, we had the best donuts/pasties ever at Pike Place Market a few weeks ago. 
There is a CityPass for Seattle (check online what is included).
I highly recommend - if you can afford it - making dinner or lunch reservations at Sky City, the revolving restaurant atop the Space Needle. The food there is good but expensive, but remember that you are also paying for the easy access to the observation deck and a relaxing view of the city.
An alternative would be going to Bellevue Hyatt’s Daniel’s Broiler and watching the sunset over the Seattle skyline across lake Washington. We usually get a hot appetizer sampler and then share a crab salad. It is more food than the two of us can handle, so it keeps the price reasonable!
Well if you want to discuss food at Pike there are a couple of outstanding places - best french pastries ever Le Panier (and I have been to Paris and I swear their stuff is better ) and best yogurt you will ever taste - Ellenos Real Greek Yogurt (hard to find - it is a hole in the wall but their marionberry pie is to die for).
Other food wonders in Seattle - the gelato at Metropolitan Market, the pizza at Mod pizza at the armory in the seattle center, the balsamic strawberry ice cream at molly moons, the pizza at serious pie in south lake union, quick asian from Kigo Kitchen, … Seattle is a foodie heaven - with lots of options for every taste!
One of my favorite Seattle stops is the Chihuly Garden and Glass. http://www.chihulygardenandglass.com I was just there a few weeks ago. My daughter was home from college for a few weeks and brought her roommate so we visited Seattle for a day. At the Chihuly Garden they decided to take a picture that would look like my daughter was being impaled by one of the pieces that was hanging from the ceiling. Two non-English speaking couples in their 50s or 60s came into the room while my daughter was posing for the picture and started cracking up. We finished and they rolled one of the men by the piece (he was in a wheelchair) so it would look like his head was being impaled. Not sure if they added blood to the photo like my daughter’s roommate did. We couldn’t stop laughing. I discovered that humor crosses language barriers.
My favorite Seattle restaurant is Wild Ginger. The service is top notch and I don’t think it’s too expensive. We always get items to share so we have a variety of food to enjoy. The wait staff are great at suggesting dishes to try.
We park in a parking garage near the Seattle Center and take the Monorail downtown and walk to points of interest from there. It’s hilly coming back up to the Monorail station from the Pike Place Market so your mom might do better parking downtown.
I wouldn’t waste money on the space needle if it’s cloudy and I wouldn’t visit Mt. Rainier if it’s cloudy either. If you want to take a ferry ride, you can walk onto the Bremerton ferry from the waterfront terminsl. We just get round trip tickets and don’t do any sightsneing in Bremerton–we just ride it back to Seattle. We haven’t done that in years though.