Heading to Seattle for DMB concert at the Gorge...

[soissisc]

... What to do in Seattle for the day?

The wife and I are planning on heading to DMB concert at the Gorge over the Labor day weekend. We are from PA so no we do not have time to drive the bus (unfortunately). Instead we are planning on flying out Thursday, spending the day in Seattle, Holing up in a hotel for the night, renting a car on Friday and heading over to the concert, camp out Friday night, and then Saturday morning head back toward Seattle and flying out late afternoon Saturday.

We have never been to the area and are just looking for some interesting things to do while there. This is sort of a belated 20th wedding anniversary trip that we did not get to do last year.

Can you get around in Seattle without a car?

I know there are lots of bus people and VW people in general in the Seattle area from my time on Bay Bus forum. Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated!
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Mark

68 Westy
92 Jetta (oh it is retired)
99 Eurovan
05 NBC
06 Audi A3
72 Westy (I am going to fix it up)

[joe56vw]

Seattle sucks to get around with public transit if you are on a schedule or want to get the most out of your time


personally I like the 'ride the ducks' or going to gasworks park and of course the fremont troll

but if you want to be more of a 'tourist' the space needle and pikes place market/the piers below are where they go
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[sixfootdan]

Experience Music Project is cool. http://empmuseum.org/
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[soissisc]

It looks like we will be touching down in Seattle Thursday afternoon. The plan is to use public transportation Thursday. I need to get to a ticket master outlet to print out my concert tickets on Thursday. Any recommendations? Then rent a car Friday morning and drive to the Gorge and camp out Friday night at the concert. Then on Saturday return to Seattle and turn the car back in, and stay at a hotel Saturday night and fly out Sunday morning. I would just rent the car right off the bat Thursday, but where do I park it overnight without spending $40? The hotel wants $40 a night to park a car there?!?

We'll probably use light rail from the airport to down town and light rail to go get the car etc. Depending on where I can find a tickemaster outlet to print the tickets, may have to light rail to that on Thursday also.
_________________
Mark

68 Westy
92 Jetta (oh it is retired)
99 Eurovan
05 NBC
06 Audi A3
72 Westy (I am going to fix it up)

[Mike Fisher]

For $40+ extra I would rent/return the car at the Airport & be the driver/navigator for the long weekend! Lots of street parking around the Space Needle/Experience Music Project as I recall.
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[joe56vw]

[soissisc]

I had the bright idea to see if anywhere downtown rented cars. There are few close to the hotel. I think we'll go that route, that would save a bunch of time running to the airport and such. Although I do appreciate the offer of personal tour guide / driver, the wife is not too sure... women?!?

I was looking into renting a car through "relayrides". Has anyone done this? Man there is a vanagon camper on there for rent... but it has to be reserved a week in advance, and I am inside of that. How cool would that be?

Oh probably have to settle for a new beetle or a jetta.

We're looking to do some quirky tourist stuff there in the short amount of time we have. Gasworks park, Fremont maybe, 1st Starbucks? I don't know.
_________________
Mark

68 Westy
92 Jetta (oh it is retired)
99 Eurovan
05 NBC
06 Audi A3
72 Westy (I am going to fix it up)

[Teeroy]

Pike street market, Space needle, The viaduct (sp) before they tear it down.
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[Malokin Martin]

Traffic is absolutely insane on I-90 during the holiday. I believe it's the busiest time of year for that road over the pass. Plan accordingly.

As stated above, heading north on the 99 (viaduct) from the West Seattle bridge gives you a great view of the city, as you're on the top of the double decker highway. Sunset (8:30 ish) is a great time to do it. It's getting torn down at some point, so last chance. Stay in the left hand lane for pictures.

Alki beach is a pretty good place to hang out for an afternoon. Great boardwalk and good eats nearby.

Ballard has a great mini microbrew walk. There's about 5 really small ones that are all pretty close together just south of the Ballard downtown area. Totally walkable and tasty. Open late. "Archie McPhee" is close to here if you like quirky.

Red mill burgers are pretty epic. Way better that Dick's imho. And they opened one by Discovery Park, which is a pretty cool place on a nice day.

Make sure to check out the Gum wall if you go to Pikes Place. Most tourists miss it. Bring some gum to stick on. "Chan" Korean barbecue at the market is crazy good. Open after 6pm only. "Ye old curiosity shoppe" is also close to the market if you're looking for quirky. Walkable.

If you're into a drive and a car guy, Le May in Tacoma is a pretty great car museum.

For what it's worth: Ellensburg is having its rodeo/fair that same weekend. It's good for an afternoon stop and on your way.

Skip the ducks... Blah. If you want to do something touristy, I would do the underground tour instead unless you have kids with you or something.

Be super careful of drinking and/or doing drugs and driving to/from the concert. I used to work out there. There's a really long two laner that cops just wait along and pull people over constantly.

[ritchiet002]

With all this advice, how was the trip? We go 3 to 4 times a year and always have good time even doing boring shit! Hard to find "bad" food in that town unless it's chain restaurant stuff.
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[soissisc]

Hey yeah the trip was awesome. We flew in and got the car right away. We stayed in Seattle Thursday night and then drove over to the Gorge on Friday for the concert Friday night, then drove back Saturday and returned the car Saturday afternoon. We spent the rest of the day and that night in Seattle and then flew out Sunday afternoon.

We did eat a lot of good food and drank some good local brews. We always stay away from chains when we travel.

We had no idea the city is built on such a hill! Whew it was a workout to walk to the Pike Market! Our hotel was up near I5.

I did like the "vibe" of the city. Although we got approached way to much by beggars, for my liking.

The Gorge was pretty much unbelievable to us, us seeing it for the first time. Nothing quite like that on the East coast that I have ever seen. Even the drive through the mountains, through the petrified forest, etc, just wild.

We wished we were in the bus... next time! We met a few bus people at the concert.
_________________
Mark

68 Westy
92 Jetta (oh it is retired)
99 Eurovan
05 NBC
06 Audi A3
72 Westy (I am going to fix it up)

[motofly196]

You don't notice the wind too much in a new car....I'll tell you first hand, it is WINDY in a bus going through the Gorge area!! I'm sure you enjoyed the scenery much more than you would of in your bus! Glad you had a good time!!