Intensive and Aggressive
3 Day Trip at Seattle

by Kyle Lai, IT Security Consultant

Seattle is a beautiful city.  Some people refer to it as the Rain Capital.  Let me give you a bit of insight:

In the summer, from July 4th - October, there is no rain, just beautiful weather with clear sky.  Sunset during the summer time is about 10pm. 

Raining season, from November - July 3rd (that's what local refer to), usually there is rain.  It is not constantly pouring as people think.  It's usually misty rain.  In many cases, it will rain in the morning and clear up in the afternoon. 

I spent 15 months working at Seattle area, and many people have asked me what to see during their 2 or 3 days stay at Seattle.  There are really many places to see, but to shorten to 2 - 3 days, I think I have to just point out some highlights that would really let you get the feel of what Seattle is all about in such a short time :)

Anyways, here they are:

Day1

1. Seattle Center - http://www.seattlecenter.com/ – there are Space Needle, Experiennce Music Project (EMP), Sci-fi museum.  Space needle is the landmark of Seattle so you must go up to the top.  EMP is where you can see and play all the music and instrument and enjoy, pretty cool place.  Sci-fi museum has the characters and instruments used from the sci-fi books, movies or TV shows.  I’ll say Space Needle and EMP are the must sees.  Sci-fi museum - if you are interested.
    
2. Pike Place Market – famous landmark of Seattle (http://www.pikeplacemarket.org/frameset.asp?flash=true) – It is at downtown Seattle. Walk around Downtown Seattle and check out the Public Market.  It is a farmers market but it got lots of good food there too.  There is the Fish Market, and they are famous for "fish throwing."  When customers pick the fish they want to buy, the guy in the front will throw the fish to the guys in the back to clean and package the fish.  You just don't see many people throw fish around so it's an interesting sight.
    
3. Underground tour at Pioneer Square – http://www.undergroundtour.com/  I think it’s interesting to see how Seattle was like before the big fire that destroy the whole Seattle and how Seattle rebuilt itself, 3 stories above ground.  In case you are wondering, no one died amazingly, so the place is not haunted.  When you are walking at Seattle, you are actually walking mostly on the 3^rd story level in the old days.  Check out the tour and you will get the good idea of what it’s all about J
    
4. Museum of Flight – http://www.museumofflight.org/ - Great place to go.  Got some great airplanes from the old days there, including Concord, Air Force One, and World War II plans.  You can also try out the flight simulators of F-18 Hornet Jet Fighter (used by Blue Angels), better yet, try to fly upside down through the flight! J Very cool.
    
5. Alki Beach - http://www.gonorthwest.com/Washington/seattle/viewpoints/alki-beach.htm  - It's a fun place to go, nice walking trail to take a easy walk, and see the view of Seattle skyline on one side, and ocean view when you drive to the other side.  Sunrise and Sunset is especially beautiful, and night view of Seattle skyline is amazing from the beach.  Many people jogging along in the morning.  It’s a very nice beach park, and you can relax in the evening.
    

Optional for Day 1:
 

6. Drive by the Baseball and Football stadium (I-5 or Rt. 99).  They are right next to each other.  At the time I was there, they call the Baseball stadium "Safeco Field" (http://www.ballparks.com/baseball/american/seabpk.htm),   home to Mariners, and the Football stadium "Quest Field" (http://www.seahawks.com/stadium.aspx), home to Seahawks.
    
7. Bank of American Building - tallest building of Seattle.  You can view the Seattle skyline from the observation deck.  When you go there, if you drive, you better park in the building because off-street parking is very limited.

Day2

8. Boeing Factory Tour - http://www.boeing.com/companyoffices/aboutus/tours/  , http://gocalifornia.about.com/cs/waseattle/a/waseaboeing.htm - I suggest you go for the first tour (8:30am) and reserve the ticket 24 hours in advance.  I have heard people who only stop by Seattle area for a few hours pick Boeing tour as their only destination to visit.
    
9. Microsoft – Drive by Microsoft Headquarter (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g58702-d108418-Reviews-Microsoft-Redmond_Washington.html).  Microsoft is the largest software company based at Redmond, Washington.  I never got to see the walk of fame they talked about there, but I got a friend who worked there to show me around.  Drive around their campus and you can see the huge Microsoft campus. J
    
10. Cruise – (http://www.argosycruises.com/publiccruises/locks.cfm) - I have taken the Lock Cruise, and it is a  beautiful and peaceful ride.  I was able to see the beautiful skyline of Seattle, and it's a great experience to go through the Ballard lock and see your ship raised or lowered from one side of the lock to the other.  If you are lucky you can see people on the other boats ‘flash’ or ‘moon’ you.  Just make sure you are prepared to cover kids' eyes. J
     
11. Walk around the Water Front (Alaskan Way) - http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-2747288-seattle_waterfront_seattle-i - It’s a tourist site.  Take a walk around there and enjoy.  Seattle Aquarium is there too.  There are many great seafood restaurants!  Ivars is a famous seafood restaurant there, but most of the food are fried food... Salmon chowder there is very tasty! J  You will take the Argosy cruise and State run ferry there.
     
12. Seattle State run Ferry - http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/ - (Route Map - http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/info_desk/route-maps/).  If you have time, drive onto the ferry to Bainbridge Island (a short ride) from Seattle.  It's a great experience.  Seattle has the largest ferry system in the US, and for many people, they have to take ferry to work everyday.  It’s worth seeing and experience different part of Seattle that would be otherwise difficult to get to.  Plus you can have a great view of Seattle skyline from a different angle.  Riding the ferry during the day would give you a better scenic view. J
     

Optional for Day 2:
 

13. Ballard Lock (http://www.inballard.com/Webroot/locks.shtml) – See how boats go from lake washington to Puget sound.  From fresh water to sea water.  If you are there in the summer, usually July or August, and it happens to be the Salmon run season, you should see the Fish Ladder so you will be able to see Salmons running up-stream.  You will see lots of Salmon jumping out of water.  It's a very interesting sight.
     
14. International District - http://www.internationaldistrict.org/ - It used to call Chinatown.  It has lots of good international food there, i.e. Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai...  Good place to go for good food any time.

Day3

Go to the places where you could not make it during Day 1 and Day 2.

or

Pick either Mount Rainier (3 hour ride) or Mount St. Helen. (3-4 hour ride)
 

15. Mount Rainier National Park – http://www.nps.gov/mora/ -  Mount Rainier is a huge mountain, over 14,000 feet.  You can see it from Seattle.  It’s an active volcano too.  If you have time, it is a great ride to visit this amazing mountain..  You can drive to the base of the mountain called “Paradise”, about 6000 feet above sea level.  That is the highest you can go by car.  It’s has breath-catching views there.  Sunset is very peaceful and beautiful.  There is lodging at Paradise so you can book a night there if you have extra time.
    
    There are visitor centers, lakes and scenic points that you can stop along the way.  It's a relaxing ride.
     
16.  Mount St. Helen – http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/mshnvm/  - It was the volcano that blew-up ½ of the mountain top back in 1980.  What it blew up was enough to cover Manhattan by a few feet.  It has a great view and you can take a short walk there.  Bear in mind, it is still an active volcano.  Drive to Johnston Ridge Observatory to view the Mount St. Helen, and that's the closest you can get by car.  You can take a short hike there to be closer to the volcano if there are no volcanic activities.  When you are there at the gift shop, buy a few pumice rocks (volcanic rocks) because some of them flows on water. J
    
    You can also see the Mount St. Helen eruption documentary film at one of the visiting center, which which may have you appreciate and respect this the power of this volcano.  By driving through Mount St. Helen, you will see the devastation of the 1980 eruption and how scientists are trying to bring the sites back to life.  Many trees, rivers wiped out by mud slides.  It's a great experience.
     

I think this is enough for the intensive and aggressive 3 day trip of Seattle area, and you should have seen all the major landmarks. 

Let me know what you made out J  Enjoy your trip!