FiremanC7

Good day!

My wife & I will be traveling to Seattle in the last week of July. I have been there for business a few times, but didn't get to see much. We will have a rental and I'm looking for suggestions on places to go - scenery, restaurants, attractions, etc. We love the mountains and the sea coast and would love to see both while we are there.

Any suggestions will be appreciated!

BobD

VIK TOY

Not far from Seattle is "Seatac" the MUSEUM OF FLIGHT (Boeing) is there and it is great! 40 members went there about a month ago and spent 4hrs going thru it. It is the largest plane/flight museum we have ever seen. Also taking the Ferry Boats are fun also.
There are also lots of Corvette shows in July

NW94Z

Just to avoid any confusion Seatac is where our visitors will fly into when visiting Seattle. A little further north just off of I-5 is BFI Boeing field international and the museum of flight is located at the south end of the runway. Good suggestion btw. Worth a visit if you like aviation.

fperra

The Lemay Car Museum located in Tacoma is definitely worth a visit.

http://www.lemaymuseum.org/

Kmcoldcars

In random order:
1. Paradise at Mt. Rainier
2. Olympic National Park Hoh River Rain Forest.
3. Snoqualmie Falls.
4. Museum of Flight.
5. Hurricane Ridge.
6. America's Car Museum, Tacoma.
7. Seattle Great Wheel.
8. Port Townsend.
9. Space Needle.
10. Raft the Elwah river http://www.raftandkayak.com/ or the Wenatchee River. http://leavenworthriverrafting.com/.
11. Go paragliding http://www.paraflyparagliding.com/ and others.
12. Leavenworth.
13. Ruby Beach on the Olympic Peninsula.
14. Ferry to the San Juan Islands.

ExRedRacer

To the above suggestions, add Ruston Way in Tacoma along with its walk along the waterfront and some great restaurants all featuring gorgeous views of the Cascade mountain range, Mt. Rainier, Vashon Island and Puget Sound. From there it's a short drive further north to Point Defiance Park and the views along the 5 mile drive.

This would be a great addition to your day after visiting the LeMay Automobile museum also in Tacoma just off I-5.

George's_Vette

I agree that this flight museum is worth half a day of your time. It is very close to Boeing Field between Sea-Tac airport and downtown Seattle.

If you like the mountains then set aside a couple days and do the scenic North Cascade Loop. Go north on I-5, take Hwy 20 east and travel the North Cascade Hwy into Eastern WA. Then down to Wenatchee and take Hwy 2 back over Stevens Pass to the crazy side of the state. Very scenic. Can be done I one day but better to spend the night over here in Eastern WA. Winthrop and Twisp have several very nice lodging facilities if you opt to overnight around here. Leavenworth, WA is a fun place to spend some time checking out the Bavarian themed town. If you decide on this option I'd be happy to suggest some lodging options that you can check out online and go from there depending on price, location etc.

George

last901

Jeez, I think some of our local characters seem to think you're going to spend 6 months up here with some of the suggestions (all terrific) they've offered.

I can offer guest passes to the Museum of Flight - a must see and second only to the Air and Space Museum in D.C. - send me a PM with an address and I'll send you a couple.

The tour offered by Boeing, of their Everett plant is worth the time. It's, about 30 minutes north from Seattle. Everett is where the 747, 777 and 787 aircraft are built. Largest building, by volume, in the world.

At the risk of self-promotion I would also recommend the Hydroplane Museum in Kent, just south of Seattle (See thunderboats.org). It might be a bit eclectic for someone from out-of-town, but I can at least host you as my guests and give you the kitchen tour - depending on date.

Favorite restaurants include The Wild Ginger in Downtown Seattle (Pan Asian food) and The Metropolitan Grill (pricey but great steaks) but you should enjoy the local Seafood - yes, I know you have decent seafood where you live, but the local salmon and oysters, among other things, are a great sample of what we eat up here. Without Andouille sausage or gumbo (some of my 'Nawlin's favorite foods) Elliott's Oyster House on the Seattle waterfront is pretty good and not terribly expensive.

You might want to take advantage of one of the Argosy Cruises if you want a narrated tour by water. There are plenty to choose from.

There are a great many things to see in Washington State. Suggest you get a travel guide via AAA or just hang out on the usual internet sites.

If you have any specific questions or concerns, let me know - via PM.

You picked a good time to visit. Our summer up here begins in July and runs through September. Don't bring an umbrella; you'll look like a tourist.

C5 Dawg

And of course you still need your car fix, so Saturday morning for the Exotics at Redmond Town Center http://www.exoticsat.com/. It's free and about 20 minutes from Seattle.

All of these activities are easy drives unless there are construction closures. Be sure to check here http://www.wsdot.com/traffic/seattle/default.aspx frequently during your stay.

VIK TOY

Gee guys thanks for all the suggestions. We are far from experts on WA, but MHCC has burger runs up there. A long way to Seattle (over 2hrs) for us, but WA is such a beautiful state and love touring it!!!

VIK TOY

Oh, also Bobd. We are planning our trip back from Bowling Green in Sept via Rt 66. Any suggestions. Do we have to make hotel reservations ahead, or is it pretty open to just stop when we get tired??? I have several Rt 66 guidebooks, but the more I read, the more confused I get Too much to see,and we want to come back in a week.

Sox-Fan

If you're into aviation at all then Paine Field is the place to be.

The Boeing Factory tour is a good tour, then just across the way is http://www.flyingheritage.com/ which is amazing, full of rare old birds. Then, there is the Me262 project. If you are amazingly lucky you can get a tour through facility. It's hard to get in, but worth a call. http://www.stormbirds.com/project/index.html

FiremanC7

Thanks everyone for your suggestions! We will be in town for five days and have planned our activities based on your recommendations. If you are ever in the New Orleans area give me a shout!
BobD

FiremanC7

We have done portions of Rte 66 and found that lodging is not hard to find, but, that being said, I'm a planner so I spent time on Google doing research. I had to find modern motels because the wife didn't want to stay in the ketchy old motels. I found it difficult to find 93 octane fuel and had to use 91 octane. The car had no problems.

884fun

A few years ago I was with the Rose City Corvette Club and we were able totour the two grounds of Lemay's. Can you still do this or just the museum?

The grounds were fantastic with all of the barns and buildings with different car models in each. I believe this was in August.

last901

Here's some additional information regarding the LeMay family collection which is related to the Museum, but a separate entity.

http://www.lemaymarymount.org/faqs/#q3

bhk2

FiremanC7

Hey everyone,

Well, we are back in New Orleans after five days in Seattle. We want to thank everyone for your suggestions. We went to Mt Rainier National Park and drove some wonderful mountain roads. Not enough time to do all of the trails we wanted to. Spent a day on Bainbridge Island and the waterfront. Spent a day at the Museum of Flight. I've been to The Smithsonian, Wright-Patterson & Pensacola Air Museums, but Boeing Field was fabulous! Even got to see the Torchlight Parade (part of SeaFair?). It was pretty tame compared to our Mardi Gras parades! Saw lots of great Corvettes in the parade!

The food was great, as long as we stayed away from anything described as Cajun or Creole - not even close. The fresh seafood was pretty good, especially the Dungeness Crabs, Clams and fresh fish (Salmon, etc!)

Everyone we met was very friendly and helpful, some going out of there way to make sure we knew where we were going!

We enjoyed great weather, as well, returning to 93 degree, 98% humidity weather at home.

Send us a cold front, please!

We will be back!

BobD

VIK TOY

glad you had fun Bob!! Oregon and WA are soooo beautiful. "almost" makes me not miss Maui!!
Are you going on the 2014 Caravan. A lot closer to you than to us! We plan to come back the south route,Rt 66. Any suggestions??