Seattle

[lindyanne]

Any recommendations for sites or restaurants? We will be there 5 nights/4.5 days but one day we'll be going to an NFL game. We're staying near the stadium and unless something looks really good that we have to see that we can't get to via public trans, we won't have a car.

[ashap]

Do you mean sites like sightseeing? If so I would recommend making a day of downtown/Pikes place market. It is a great downtown area with so much to see and do!

We ate at the Dahlia Lounge when we were there and it was very very good!!

[mdgirl]

There are some really gorgeous areas to see outside of the city, so if you can just rent a car for a day (or if you have a Zipcar account) it's worthwhile. Without one, I'd say to definitely take the ferry over to Bainbridge Island and have brunch/lunch and try some wine. Cafe Nola is good for brunch and we liked the Condor blend at Eagle Harbor Wine Company, and the view from the ferry is so pretty. If you want to see Pike Place Market go early -- it gets to be a zoo around lunch and you can barely move. IMO the Space Needle is not worth the time or price. I was just there for an event last weekend and the line was literally hours long. A better choice is to take the 2, 2x or 13 bus from downtown to Highland Drive and walk over to Kerry Park. I'm sure it's not a must-do for everyone, but I love wandering around Uwajimaya. It would be walking distance for you and they have a good food court.

There really aren't too many restaurants around the stadiums, and when there are no games the area can be pretty dead. You'd probably want to cab home from dinner. The Tom Douglas restaurants are quite popular, Place Pigalle in the Market has good food and pretty views, Purple, Wild Ginger, and Rn74 are all downtown and solid, Nijo is my favorite place for sushi, and I really like Tamarind Tree (you have to get the noodles on the last page of the menu).

Depending on when you're going to be here, the bus might still be free when you're downtown during the day, but that's ending Sept. 29.

[miss1180]

we were just there for 3 nights, 2 days. the people who live there would obviously have better suggestions, but i'll tell you what we did :-)
we stayed at Hotel Max, which is pretty much right downtown- good location, and everything was easy to get to.
we did all of the REALLY "touristy" stuff. Pike's place market is definitely worth walking around. it was crowded with the cruiseships in port, but still very cool to see all of the fresh foods and crafty stuff.
we did the Ride the Ducks tour. Its the one thats in the big, ugly vehicles that go on the road and in the water. we thought it was gonna be REALLY cheesy... but we actually thought it was great! a fun way to get an "overview" of the city. our guide was great and had all kinds of background stories to tell us about places in the city. it was to go out on the water too and see the city from that angle.
we also bought a "City Pass". it was i think $60 or $70 a person. Allowed us to go up into the Space Needle twice ( we went once at night and once during the day and didn't wait too long either time). It also got us into the Science Museum (the butterfly room was cool, and they have a "Laser GAGA show in the planetarium). it also got us into the aquarium, the Museum of Flight (got to walk through an old Air Force One plane, which was neat). The City Pass also got us into the EMP Museum which we really liked. They have sections on horror film history, Sci FI movie history, and sections of different bands. They also have a section where you can play around with electric guitars, drums, etc. it was really different, and we had fun there!
The only thing we didn't do that was part of the City Pass was a harbor boat cruise because we felt like we did that on the Duck Tour.
DEfinitely all touristy stuff- but we had fun.

As far as food, DH is into beer, so we ate mostly at brewery restaurants there. Pyramid Brewery is right by the stadiums and had some good food. We also ate at Pike Brewery right near Pike Place market and i got a good pizza there. The first night we were there we ate at Tap House Brewery which is more downtown and I had some great stuffed chicken.

Like I said- people who live there will have better ideas, but just wanted to tell you what we did :-)

[mudslide]

Top Pot Donuts has the best donuts I've ever had

[stretchad]

We go to Seattle a lot for NFL games. We typically stay at the Grand Hyatt and then take the link from the Westlake station a couple blocks away to the stadium. So easy and super cheap. By staying at the Grand Hyatt (or in that vicinity) we're super close to lots of restaurants, shopping, the market, and have easy access to the highway if we've rented a car and are getting out of downtown.

Restaurants I like: The Pink Door, Serious Pie, Dahlia Lounge. Steelhead diner is a place that's on my "to do list" next time I go.

Enjoy!