The donut shop in Pike Place is also essential.

Have a delightful time!

They tend to be found around the rest of the day as well, on their “ship,” the Moby Duck — an old Naval amphibious craft — or sometimes just randomly about town. I ran into one, still in full garb, in a bar in Pioneer Square a few years back.

-Pike Place Market– upstairs, underground, the tea shop, Tenzig Momo, Beecher’s cheese store (get the mac and cheese!), the piroshky stand, oh god it’s amazing.

-Flagship Nordstrom’s is downtown. And natives call it Nordstrom’s because that’s what our grandmas called it before the ‘s was dropped in the 70s.

-Locally-roasted coffee from Lladro, Victrolla, or Caffe Vita. I personally love Vita’s Seattle Roast beans– it’s worth buying bags and bringing it home (I’ve shipped it cross-country to friends).

-If you’re here on the first Thursday of the month, it’s free admission at SAM, which currently has a Cobain-inspired exhibit, a Warhol exhibit, a fantastic Pollock, and an exhibit explaining the actual spiritual beliefs and practices of the Quileute people. Admission covers admission at the sculpture park on the water front and the Seattle Asian Art Museum, which is in Volunteer Park.

-Go to Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill (catch the 10 bus from downtown) and look at the view, the conservatory, the art museum, and Seattle’s oldest cemetery is next door (Lakeview), with the graves of the founding fathers and Bruce and Brandon Lee. Walk around the neighborhood- VP is in the middle of Seattle’s “old money” neighborhood, and the houses are to die for.

-Come to my neck of the woods (Ballard) and get food at La Carta de Oaxaca or Ocho, then head to the Locks and Golden Gardens Park (a beach on the sound, trails up the hill, and an off-leash area full of happy dogs)– if you can handle it, on the way to Golden Gardens, stop at the pink burger stand (cash only) and get some AMAAAZING Cuban sandwiches at Paseo.

-if you can rent a car, do so. Driving the loop around Mount Rainier National Park is free and an easy day trip. This week it will be drop-dead gorgeous and packed. Prepare to do 10 MPH while you try to not drive off the road and yell “I CAN SEE GLACIERS!”

-If you have to stay in-city, University of Washington has a gorgeous Ivy-wannabe campus, great views, and is a short distance away from more pho restaurants than you can shake a stick at, as well as the aforementioned vegan/gluten-free pizza place which even my meat-loving brother goes to. Cedars on 50th and Brooklyn has great Indian food and I think the owner’s better now and the waitstaff gets tips. UW also has a contemporary art museum, the Henry, which is pretty good.

-The Space Needle is cool, I haven’t done it since senior year homecoming, but it’s fun to go up in it, but don’t waste your money on the food.

You came during the perfect week, but yeah, please tell everyone we were mean and that it rained the whole time.

If you’re up for a hike but don’t want to lose multiple hours driving out to the Cascade foothills, I’d also recommend a trip out to Discovery Park. It’s the largest park in Seattle — formerly an Army post — and has an amazing trail system that runs along the Magnolia bluff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cA8zQw6gDNI

Shark Vs. Octopus. There is little more to be said.

A tour to Seattle really isn’t complete with out checking out Pike Place Market and you’re probably near there if you’re at the Seattle Convention Center, but honestly – don’t spend too much time there. It’s fun, but really only worth and hour or two. For fun downtown stuff, I definitely second the recommendations for the Underground Tour, esp. if you’re at all a history buff and then perhaps an hour or so at Ye Olde Curiosity Shop, which is near the Underground Tour.

After that, don’t spend too much more time downtown. Spend your time on a tour of the major neighborhoods in Seattle. Seattle is definitely a city of neighborhoods – each with their own distinct histories and flavors. You can really get a feel for the city by visiting them and you can actually pretty easily do it by bus, too, if you don’t want to spend the money on a rental car. (Hotel front desk should be able to help you out with bus schedules. Don’t be afraid – it’s a very simple system!)

Capitol Hill (my home!) is a young hipstery-ish neighborhood with lots of fun restaurants and bars. My current fave is Lark. They do locally grown, Northwest-style small-plate type stuff. Little pricey, but worth it. Bookstores: Elliott Bay. Also is very gay-friendly, with a large portion of the gay community taking up residence here.

Fremont and Ballard: A little north of downtown business district. Fremont is the old hippie center of Seattle – with it’s own gigantic (and kinda scary!) statue of Lenin right smack dab in the center of the ‘hood. Now the neighborhood is a little overrun with Microsoft millionaires in $60 tie-dye t-shirts, but… it’s still fun. A don’t miss is the Fremont Sunday Market, with local artisans, flea market, and lots of good eats. Ballard was the home to the main wave of Swedish and Norwegian immigrants and their stamp can be seen on lots of the buildings and streets. Also a bit of a hipster-y hangout. Lots of bars with live music, if you like that sort of thing. Sunset Tavern and Hazelwood, in particular.

West Seattle. Southwest of downtown with a great view of the Seattle Skyline and Elliott Bay. Also lots of good restaurants. My favorite, though, is a bakery: Bakery Nouveau. The strawberry cheesecake is so good you’ll cry.

Hope you have fun! Feel free to contact me at petitexl@yahoo.com if you have questions or just get stuck somewhere while you’re here. :O)

OH! The view of the city that photographers use to cheat and pretend the Space Needle is big – Kerry Park (Highland and 3rd Ave W), on Queen Anne Hill. It’s a pretty spectacular view, and not difficult to get to.

And the Aquarium!

And Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe near the aquarium, with a real fake mermaid mummy!

So much to see. Have fun!