Taking the family to Seattle, Victoria, and the Olympic peninsula this summer - any suggestions on best places to take a 10 year old boy and 15 year old girl? I know there are tons of choices - we've already got rooms booked, and a minivan.

Hello Carol and welcome to Flyertalk --

Summer is the best time here. No rain and late sunsets.

In Seattle for kids: try the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field or the Pacific Science Center at Seattle Center. If the Mariners are in town, consider baseball tickets -- Safeco Field is one of the nicest ballparks in America. The Seattle Aquarium is on the waterfront and pretty nice. The Woodland Park Zoo, a couple of miles north of the city core, has a young baby elephant and some excellent big cats; don't go if it's a rainy day though.

Ride the "Duck", a fleet of ampibious land/water vehicles, around town and into and across Lake Union; they start across the street from the Space Needle. But think twice about going up the Space Needle -- it's blessedly expensive, and that goes double for eating there.

One of our favorite places in town is the Ballard Locks, the water connection between Elliott Bay and Lake Union, where you can often see salmon running up the ladder through special side-view windows from an underground observatory. The locks are also a fine place for a sunset picnic.

While in Ballard take the kids to Archie McPhee's and buy them all sorts of weird kitschy retro plastic toy stuff.

Good kid-friendly places to eat include the Pike Place Pub in the same-named market, the Bell Street Diner down on the waterfront, or Ray's Boathouse up in Ballard. Forecasters Pub in Woodinville, run by the Redhook beer people, is also fine -- filled with hikers and bikers on the weekends.

A little out of town, the Boeing factory tour up in Everett is pretty interesting if your kids are interested in large aircraft being built. Check with Boeing to insure they meet the height requirements. Hike the Burke-Gilman trail on the Eastside. Or drive out to Snoqualmie Falls, famous from "Twin Peaks," and get a huge breakfast at the Salish Lodge.

If you go out on the peninsula, you can drive up Hurricane Ridge near Port Angeles for a spectacular view. Or press on to the west coast, visit the Hoh Rain Forest (the only genuine rain forest in the continental US), and stay at Kalaloch Lodge by the water (say "CLAY-lock"). Reservations are a must for Kalaloch in summertime.

Victoria is a more grown-up destination but Butchart Gardens, about ten miles north of the city, is a sprawling floral display and is really something to see. The British Columbia Museum usually has something good going -- it's right on the harbour. If you are not locked into driving up there, which can be laborious, consider the Victoria Clipper high-speed boat from Seattle to Victoria -- walk-ons only, but a fun ride. Consider high tea at the old Empress Hotel -- your 15-year-old might be more into that than the 10-year-old, but if you dragged her on the Boeing factory tour because he was interested, that'd even the score.

Any other questions feel free to PM me.

A drive around Olympic National Park might be a good idea (if you're kids are okay in the car)

I agree 100% with BearX220's suggestions.

My wife is from Seattle so when we get back there the kids love the Ballard Locks, Museum of Flight, Woodland Park Zoo, and lunch at Spud's on Alki beach (West Seattle). I'd also suggest a day trip to Mt. Rainier south of Tacoma, the Tacoma Narrows bridge, and a return ride on one of the Ferry's is pretty cool to them. Might seem strange, but they like just walking around the water front on Elliot Bay.

If you have a spare day to kill, drive down to the visitors center at Mt. St. Helens-- it's still smoldering and belching ash and steam now and then. Could be the chance of a lifetime to observe an active volcano. If the weather is overcast or cloudy, skip it-- you won't be able to see the crater from the visitors center.

I was just down there this weekend. The "close" volcano overlook at Johnson Ridge was closed, the "faraway" visitors' center (five miles east of I-5) was open but charges an admission fee, the sky was overcast with light rain and we couldn't see a thing. So we said the heck with it. As it's a two-hour drive from Seattle I wouldn't give Mt. St. Helens a whole vacation day (and tank of gas at $2.70/gal) unless the weather is absolutely crystal clear.

If you plan to drive the entire OP, be prepared for the time it takes...the kids may be bored. We found it was a rather slow journey, as the speeds are limited.

I believe they often have fireworks competitions in Vancouver in July....we enjoyed them a few years ago.

One of my favorite places to visit is Port Townsend - really turning into a great place - nice restaurants, pubs. We've stayed at the Old Palace Hotel which was a former brothel! i.e. Miss Amy's Room!
Also, more recently last month at Fort Flagler in a historical house which is part of an old army fort complete with concrete gun emplacements - fun to explore. Near Port Townsend is Fort Worden, again with lots of bunkers, forts, aand historical buildings - made famous as the location for An Offficer and a Gentleman - young Richard Gere.
Lots of fun places to visit in Seattle - Pike Market, Safeco Field (Mariners) - agree on the drive to Mt St Helens - if it's cloudy you won't see much - Today it's 90'F in Portland, and all the mountains are beautiful.

Bear, do you work for the Puget Sound Department of Tourism or something? Great suggestions! ^

I'll just sprinkle in the thought of paddling in a Kayak around Lake Union then some Mexican in a one-stop experience at Agua Verde.