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A Taste of Seattle
Posted By Jay On November 2, 2010 @ 2:00 pm In US Travel Reviews | No Comments
Seattle perfectly balances a community engaged in high-tech business (home to Starbucks, Microsoft and Amazon), outdoor life (hiking, Fishing) and sophisticated local vibes.
Destination at a Glance |
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Date of Trip | November 2009 | |||
Destination Good for | Sightseeing, Shopping, Dining and Outdoors | |||
Best Time to Go |
Summer – June-August | |||
Currency/Conv. Rate | NA | |||
Good Way to Get Around | Car: Yes | Public: Yes | Taxi: Yes | Walking: Yes |
Appox. Trip Cost | Somewhat Expensive | |||
Speaks English? | NA | |||
Entry Requirements | NA | |||
Do it |
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Skip it |
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Didn’t get to do | Hike/climb Mt. Rainier | |||
Would I Recommend | Yes | |||
Overall Trip Rating | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
I got the opportunity to spend a weekend in Seattle as part of one of my good friend’s wedding festivities. I’m not necessarily the biggest fan of weddings, but as these things go it was pretty nice. I used the one and a half days surrounding the event to get to know the largest city in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. I drug along my boy Eric Kimbrough – who is about to turn the corner into stardom as a stand-up comedian – along for the ride during most of the fun.
Many people believe all it ever does is storm in Seattle, but that’s not actually true. In fact, Seattle’s annual rainfall is less than Atlanta, Miami and Houston. This is one of those cases where the phrase “Numbers don’t lie; but liars use numbers” turns out to be completely accurate. While Seattle may not experience the torrential downpours like in Miami, the number of days a year where it’s cloudy – as Eric has says “makes you wanna kill yourself”. No joke, the entire time we were in Seattle it seemed to drizzle every 30 mins – never a strong rain, but consistently overcast. I know November is rainy season, but I was feeling a serious bout of depression coming over me. The best time to visit Seattle is June through August as that timeframe historically has the least amount of rainfall in the year.
Even though Seattle is further north than Chicago and New York City, it rarely receives any snowfall due to the way it is positioned between the water (Pacific Ocean/Puget Sound) and the mountains (Olympic/Cascade range). This also means Seattle’s temperature is fairly consistent throughout the year – with average summer temperatures between 75°/55° F and 45°/35° F in the middle of January. I dated a girl from Tacoma who stated she never owned a car with Air Conditioning until she moved to Atlanta. Interesting. One note about driving – Seattle has a number steep hills in the downtown area and with the constant light rain makes for some fairly difficult driving. Also, parking can be a serious bitch in the downtown area as it is both limited in availability and expensive.
I freely admit a day and a half is not enough to see an entire city, but with some excellent planning – we were able to see a good deal of Seattle’s tourist attractions. Here are the ones we hit;
If I had the time, I would have also spent a little time at the Seattle Art Museum, the Museum of Science Fiction & Hall of Fame and the Music Experience – all in the downtown area. I would have probably spent a little more time in Belltown, Seattle’s hip neighborhood full of restaurants and clubs. But the real reason I want to go back to Seattle is to do something I’ve never done before – climb a mountain. With Mt. Rainier omnipresent over the Seattle skyline, it represents the ability to conquer one of my remaining fears – the fear of falling. This is something I definitely have to do before I kick the bucket!
There’s no way I would write a review on the entire city after spending a day and half walking through it; but I feel I visited enough of the tourist attractions to get a good ‘taste’. Though my time in the wedding activities kept me from really indulging in the food scene, I felt we really maximized our time in this city. I recommend the Needle, Pike Place Market and a trip on the Bainbridge Ferry. Finally, it’s worth repeating that the best time to visit Seattle is during the summer months. I know it is peak season and prices nearly double, but the constant gloomy days in the fall were nearly too much for this brotha to handle (I admit living in Atlanta makes me a little biased). From what I can see, Seattle perfectly balances a community engaged in high-tech business (home to Starbucks, Microsoft and Amazon), outdoor life (hiking, fishing) and sophisticated local vibes.
Happy Travels
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