The Family + Seattle = Good Times!

Starting last Friday, we had invasion of the family members. They didn’t all show up at once, which allowed for variety in the outings. Seattle is nothing less than paradise at this time of year and there’s no end of excellent things to do. You can send your guests away saying “Man, they live in the coolest place EVER.” (This really only works at this time of year; the folks who visit you in the middle of November will be shipping you sympathy cards packed with anti-depressants and gift certificates to tanning salons.)

In case you’re headed this way, here are a few suggestions for your visit.

1. Go east. Head down to Little Saigon or the International District for shopping and dinner. We ran down to MeKong Market first, then went to Saigon Bistro for dinner. After dinner, we stopped in Viet Wah, a rambling disorderly market with a medicinal herb shop at the front of the store. If you like your shopping to be a bit more sanitized, try Uwajimaya instead.
2. Rent a kayak and go for a paddle. You can go Lake Union or Lake Washington. Lake Union gets you views of the skyline from the water. If you head towards Lake Washington, you can paddle through the water lilies at the Arboretum.
3. Wander the neighborhoods. Capitol Hill really is completely different than the University District, though if you ask me, Fremont is totally ruined now.
4. Attend a public event. We went to Pride, but hey, SeaFair is on and there are only a billion street fairs where you can get yerself some tie-dyed handmade wood carved all natural semiprecious stone fair trade ah – you know what I mean.
5. Eat fish. We were lucky to be invited to lovely digs in Magnolia where we feasted on Copper River salmon and watched the ferries slide back and forth across the sound. But we also went out – this is a seafood town, people. Take advantage of it.
6. Walk in a garden. I (used to) live around the corner from Volunteer Park, where the trees are towering and the views magnificent, plus, the greenhouse has a spectacular array of orchids. But there are others – Kubota, down south, and Bellevue Botanical on the east side. All free, in case you’re wondering. We know you’re feeling a bit strapped from blowing all your cash on that halibut dinner the night before.
7. Answer this riddle: What runs but has no legs? The sockeye, of course. If you time it right, the fish ladder at the Ballard locks will be full of upward bound salmon, heading through the locks to spawn up in the rivers of the Cascades. When you’re done watching the fish exhaust themselves, wander across the locks to see what’s tied up and waiting to get to the other side. Power cruisers, sailboats, fishing trawlers, canoers and kayakers all have to go through the locks to pass from Lake Washington to Lake Union and vice versa. Don’t forget to make snarky remarks about how the people in the 40 foot immaculate Chris Craft have a life vest on their Pekinese.

I didn’t look in the paper to see what’s on, I didn’t surf the web for odd little diversions. I left out things like take a ferry ride, go see some huge trees, waste all damn day in the market, look at some art, attend open mic night at the neighborhood bar, go rollerblading at Alki Beach, oh my, there’s SO much more.

And yes, if I’m not doing anything that makes me money when you drop in to town, I would be so happy to show you around, just buy me a frappacino mid-day, okay? But hurry up, you know who you are. This honeymoon period with Seattle’s weather is always short — take advantage of it while it lasts!