Seattle questions
Sep 9, 2014, 11:30 am
#17
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: East Ester, Alaska
Programs: Alaska Million Miler, United Million Miler, Wyndham Rewards Diamond, Choice Hotels Diamond
Posts: 12,148
Another great live music calendar is http://www.jambase.com/
There are some great suggestions here but keep in mind the jetlag factor. You'll be up pretty early to make your 9:20am (1:20am Seattle time) departure from London. This is especially true if you plan for a bit of enjoyable lounging in the First Lounge before the flight. Unless you've been up all night the night before, flying at that time of day is not particularly conducive to sleeping, especially for one looking to celebrate his/her birthday whilst enjoying BA's First Class to the fullest! By the time you clear customs at Seattle it'll be near 8:00pm London time. On the assumption you're getting a hotel out at the airport, it'll be near 9:00pm London time (1:00pm local) by the time you get that squared away and are ready to head into town. If you want to do dinner and music later that night, you might want to schedule a quick nap in there somewhere!
However you go about it, have a great birthday flight and a fun time in the Emerald City!
There are some great suggestions here but keep in mind the jetlag factor. You'll be up pretty early to make your 9:20am (1:20am Seattle time) departure from London. This is especially true if you plan for a bit of enjoyable lounging in the First Lounge before the flight. Unless you've been up all night the night before, flying at that time of day is not particularly conducive to sleeping, especially for one looking to celebrate his/her birthday whilst enjoying BA's First Class to the fullest! By the time you clear customs at Seattle it'll be near 8:00pm London time. On the assumption you're getting a hotel out at the airport, it'll be near 9:00pm London time (1:00pm local) by the time you get that squared away and are ready to head into town. If you want to do dinner and music later that night, you might want to schedule a quick nap in there somewhere!
However you go about it, have a great birthday flight and a fun time in the Emerald City!
Last edited by Seat 2A; Sep 10, 2014 at 3:27 pm
Sep 9, 2014, 11:37 am
#18
Join Date: Sep 2007
Programs: DL Silver, AS MVP, UA Silver, HHonors Diamond, Marriott Plat, SPG Plat, National Exec Elite
Posts: 3,883
There's usually a line at lunch time, but I enjoyed Pike Place Chowder... the crab roll wasn't anything to write home about (too much celery/onion) but the chowder was top notch.
If you have a car or can get a zip car (or maybe reach by public transit, I don't know), the sandwiches and smoked meats at Salumi are top notch.
If you have a car or can get a zip car (or maybe reach by public transit, I don't know), the sandwiches and smoked meats at Salumi are top notch.
Sep 10, 2014, 1:48 pm
#19
Moderator Communications Coordinator, Signatures
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: deep within the Eskimo lair
Programs: TubWorld, Bar Alliance, Borratxo Legendarium
Posts: 16,968
Sep 10, 2014, 11:26 pm
#20
Join Date: Sep 2005
Programs: Northwest, United
Posts: 3,257
I still don't think Ivar's is worth a diversion on a very quickie stop in November. On a liesurely visit in August, sure, go feed the seagulls some french fries, but not really a food highlight IMHO. To each their own.
Sep 11, 2014, 1:59 am
#21
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: SEA
Programs: HH Silver
Posts: 2,400
http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/b...aterfront.html
Sep 11, 2014, 2:33 am
#22
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Helvetia
Programs: AS; BA Silver; UA; HH Gold; Sprüngli Connaisseur
Posts: 2,917
A trip up the Smith Tower is actually pretty good for the views. The price, $7.50 pp, at first seemed a bit dear to me, but I suppose it is pretty cheap when compared to the Space Needle. As a bonus you get to see the Space Needle from the Smith Tower. There is also a great view of the stadiums.
I'd never gone up when I actually lived in the Seattle area, but having gone up to the top of the Smith Tower last week, I thought it was pretty cool.
I'd never gone up when I actually lived in the Seattle area, but having gone up to the top of the Smith Tower last week, I thought it was pretty cool.
Sep 11, 2014, 1:45 pm
#23
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 59
Once again, thank you all for your suggestions. Seat 2As comments well received. I agree some recuperation may be needed after 9 hrs of hard core pampering! And it will be a longer day than you think. I'm flying Manchester to lhr before the flight to seattle, and with local travel it will be a 4am start. I am expecting a looooong birthday. However, I am going to try as hard as possible to be in a state to enjoy the evening though.
I'll check out Ballard details as well. Whilst I love great food/dining it may be a bit lonely on ones own.
Thanks again
I'll check out Ballard details as well. Whilst I love great food/dining it may be a bit lonely on ones own.
Thanks again
Sep 11, 2014, 1:54 pm
#24
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: LON
Programs: AS MVPG, Marriott Titanium, UA Silver
Posts: 1,350
Sep 11, 2014, 2:12 pm
#25
Join Date: Sep 2007
Programs: DL Silver, AS MVP, UA Silver, HHonors Diamond, Marriott Plat, SPG Plat, National Exec Elite
Posts: 3,883
I arrived at Salumi right at 11:15 on a Monday in March and had to wait about 15 minutes (just squeezed in the door)... but I have read the line can be to the end of the block at times too. I had the lamb sandwich and a sampler of the smoked meats... I would highly recommend both.
Sep 11, 2014, 2:38 pm
#26
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: SEA
Programs: AS 75K
Posts: 759
A trip up the Smith Tower is actually pretty good for the views. The price, $7.50 pp, at first seemed a bit dear to me, but I suppose it is pretty cheap when compared to the Space Needle. As a bonus you get to see the Space Needle from the Smith Tower. There is also a great view of the stadiums.
I'd never gone up when I actually lived in the Seattle area, but having gone up to the top of the Smith Tower last week, I thought it was pretty cool.
I'd never gone up when I actually lived in the Seattle area, but having gone up to the top of the Smith Tower last week, I thought it was pretty cool.
Sep 11, 2014, 2:50 pm
#27
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Helvetia
Programs: AS; BA Silver; UA; HH Gold; Sprüngli Connaisseur
Posts: 2,917
There's also the observation deck at the columbia center (the big black building) on the 73rd? floor - http://www.skyviewobservatory.com and apparently $12.50 now. I vaguely recall it's about 3 times the height of the space needle.
Both the Smith Tower http://smithtower.com/observe/observ...info-calendar/, and the Space Needle have outside observation decks. I don't think that the Columbia Center does.
Sep 11, 2014, 3:00 pm
#28
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Seattle, WA
Programs: AA 2MM, DL D360
Posts: 125
It's touristy, but the restaurant at the top of the Space Needle (Sky City) actually has really good food including local, sustainable, organic selections. Plus, if you have a reservation to eat, you don't have to pay for entrance to the Space Needle.
Sep 11, 2014, 5:39 pm
#29
Moderator Communications Coordinator, Signatures
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: deep within the Eskimo lair
Programs: TubWorld, Bar Alliance, Borratxo Legendarium
Posts: 16,968
There's also the observation deck at the columbia center (the big black building) on the 73rd? floor - http://www.skyviewobservatory.com and apparently $12.50 now. I vaguely recall it's about 3 times the height of the space needle.
Sep 11, 2014, 9:12 pm
#30
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend, Moderator, Information Desk, Ambassador, Alaska Airlines
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: FAI
Programs: AS MVP Gold100K, AS 1MM, Maika`i Card, AGR, HH Gold, Hertz PC, Marriott Titanium LTG, CO, 7H, BA, 8E
Posts: 42,957
Wirelessly posted (beckoa's BB: Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9810; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.11+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.1.0.694 Mobile Safari/534.11+)
There's also a Starbucks on the 40th floor with a pretty sweet view ... no ticket required
...it being Starbucks might be about the same cost 
Originally Posted by missydarlin
There's also the observation deck at the columbia center (the big black building) on the 73rd? floor - http://www.skyviewobservatory.com and apparently $12.50 now. I vaguely recall it's about 3 times the height of the space needle.