Pioneer Tourist Park
Fun things to do while visiting Seattle?
I have done a lot of the tourist stuff like: the Space Needle, EMP (Experience Music Project), Ride the Ducks tour, Public Library, Underground Tour, Freemont Troll, Monorail, Wild Waves (not Seattle but close), Gasworks Park, Historic Pioneer Square, Waterfall Garden park, Pike Place Market, downtown shopping, concert at the Paramount Theater.
I’ve always wanted to go to the top of the Smith Tower, is that worth doing? Or is there another building that would be better to go to the top of (like the big black one that I don’t know the name of)? Two things I’ve never done that I’ve thought about are going to a sporting event at one of the big stadiums/arenas and taking a tour of the Sound.
All you locals let me know what the must-do’s of Seattle are. Doesn’t have to be touristy stuff either! Also if you want, include your favorite bars, restaurants, hangouts, etc! Preferably stuff for the 20-30 age range but I’ll take all the recommendations I can get! Thanks
I’ve lived in the Seattle area for many years, and graduated from University of Washington in Seattle. My husband also works in downtown Seattle at the Courthouse, so I sometimes ride into town with him to spend the day shopping. Along with the inevitable tours with visiting relatives from out of state, we spend quite a bit of time in Seattle proper. But I have to say from looking at your laundry list of touristy attractions you’ve experienced that you’ve seen more of Seattle than I have!
I would like to suggest some few items that weren’t on your list, but are favorite haunts of mine. I love my Alma Mater, UW (pronounced “U dub” for those not from around here). It has beauty unsurpassed by any university I’ve seen (though I admit I’ve never been far from the West coast of the US, so I don’t really have much right to boast). Campus tours are available giving some history of the place. There is an art museum on campus (The Henry Art Museum) and a Natural History Museum as well (The Burke Museum).
The arboretum just south of campus is also a gorgeous place, highlighting the most glorious plantlife of the most beautiful place on earth. Many may not know that the Seattle area is a rain forest, a temporate rain forest, that gets between sixty and two-hundred inches of rainfall each year. We rarely have to water our lawns! Here is a web site to check out the arboretum:
http://depts.washington.edu/wpa/
My family and I love the Woodland Park Zoo, which is also in the northern part of Seattle. It has lovely exhibits with naturalistic environments for the animals. All of the favorite animals can be found there–lions, tigers, bears (oh my), as well as elephants, apes and penguins. Their exhibits are organized by continent; they have a sampling of animals from Africa, Asia, South America and our own Pacific Northwest. If you like zoos, they don’t get much better than this. Visit their site here:
http://www.zoo.org/
I also noticed that you didn’t mention the Seattle Art Museum (the SAM, as it’s known locally), which is downtown. This is a world-class art museum. If you haven’t visited lately, they recently expanded the exhibit space by seventy percent, and have added a garden full of sculpures to tour. Here is their website:
http://www.seattleartmuseum.org/
You also didn’t mention the Pacific Science Center, which is also in downtown Seattle. This is a hands-on museum of science. There is a great deal of fun to be had roaming among roaring animatronic dinosaurs, strolling through a butterfly garden full of these lovely flying gems, visit the naked mole rats in their clear acrylic tunnels and nod to their queen, challenge a robot to tic-tac-toe, and walk in a giant water wheel.
http://www.pacsci.org/
If you are willing to travel a little more, the greater Seattle area has a great deal to offer. Mount Rainier looms above the glorious Cascade mountain range just east and a little south of Seattle. There are ski resorts, hiking, camping, fishing, all the wonders of the great out doors (the waterfalls alone are worth the trip). If you visit in the middle of August, you can see Mt. Rainier in bloom. The wildflowers are excuisite! Thanks to all of the rainfall, we have lakes and rivers galore. Even if you don’t want to leave Seattle itself, you can go paddle boating or rowing on Green Lake which is in north Seattle, near the zoo.
Have fun!
(and thanks for this chance to rediscover my town)
