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Get out
Boating
If you're staying anywhere near downtown, the ferries hardly seem like
"getting out" since they leave from a pier at the south end of the
waterfront, an easy and interesting walk from downtown.
• Take a
Washington State ferry to Bremerton and back. Almost 2 hours on the
water, in a place as scenic as the Aegean Sea, walk-on passengers a little
under $6 round trip. (A commercial
ferry, passenger-only, is a bit more expensive and aimed primarily at
commuters.)
• Or, take the
ferry to
Bainbridge
Island (30 minutes one way). Get off on the other side, walk about
1/2 mile into town for lunch or dinner, and walk back to ferry to come home.
Driving
Just getting out and driving around the area with no destination in mind
can be a great experience, as the Seattle area, like most of the Pacific
Northwest, is very scenic. If you'd like more specific destinations, try
some of these:
• Two mountain passes, Snoqualmie Pass (follow I-90 east) and
Stevens Pass (take I-405 to Highway 522 east, then take Highway 2 east)
provide fantastic views. Of the two, Stevens is arguably the more scenic.
• Snoqualmie Falls
(east of Seattle on I-90). The falls are scenic, and if you want to stay
longer than it takes to just gawk, the
Salish Lodge is pricey but incredibly romantic, with in-room Jacuzzis
and fireplaces.
• North Bend (also out I-90) is the town where parts of the 1990
David Lynch TV series
Twin
Peaks were filmed. West of "downtown," there are hundreds of old
railroad cars and engines quietly rusting away, with a cute
railroad depot/museum closer to
town. Rides are offered April - October, as well as a "Santa Train" in late
November and early December.
• Roslyn is also out I-90 (not far past Snoqualmie Pass) and is
where the TV series Northern Exposure was filmed. It holds many festivals
including The Manly Man Festival, Pioneer Days, and Moose Days -- the latter
is an annual Northern Exposure gathering held in late July. Might be worth a
stop if you're out that way, or if you're a fan of the show, but it's a very
small, quiet town without much to do most days. However, there is a great
small museum in the downtown core right next to the Oasis Cafe. It is worth
a browse as it profiles the city's coal mining past. Roslyn is worth the
stop if you have the time!!!
• The Olympic Peninsula features beaches on the Pacific Ocean, Cape
Flattery (the extreme northwestern point of the contiguous U.S.), and the
only rain forest in America, the Hoh Rainforest. Other notable scenic areas
on the Olympic Peninsula are Crescent Lake and Hurricane Ridge. You can take
the Kingston ferry over from Edmonds and follow Highway 104 west until it
meets up with Highway 101 (head north), or head south on I-5 to Olympia and
catch Highway 101 West there. Doing the complete loop is a nearly day-long
drive, and you could easily spend several days there, but you'll see a lot
of fantastic scenery even if you never stop the car.
Skiing/snowboarding
• Snoqualmie Pass - Summit and Alpental resorts on hour east on
Interstate 90.
• Stevens Pass
• Crystal Mountain Mount Rainier
• Mount Baker North, near Bellingham). |
