The Best of Seattle

03 541277 Ch01.qxd 11/17/03 9:37 AM Page 3 1 The Best of Seattle Imagine yourself sitting in a park on the Seattle waterfront, a double-tall latte and an almond croissant close at hand. The snowy peaks of the Olympic Moun- tains are shimmering on the far side of Puget Sound, and the ferryboats are com- ing and going across Elliott Bay. It’s a summer day, and the sun is shining. (Hey, as long as we’re dreaming, why not dream big?) It just doesn’t get much better than this, unless of course you swap the latte for a microbrew and catch a 9:30 summer sunset. No wonder people love this town so much. Okay, so the waterfront is as touristy as San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf, but what a view! Seattle is a city of views, and the must-see vista is, of course, the panorama from the top of the Space Needle. With the 21st century in full swing, this image of the future looks decidedly mid-20th-century modern, but still, it’s hard to resist an expensive elevator ride in any city. And you can even take a monorail straight out of The Jetsons to get there (and pass right through the Frank Gehry–designed Experience Music Project en route). EMP, as the Experience Music Project has come to be known, is one of Seat- tle’s latest architectural oddities. Its swooping, multicolored, metal-skinned bulk rises at the foot of the Space Needle, proof that real 21st-century architecture looks nothing like the vision of the future people dreamed of when the Space Needle was built for the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair. EMP is the brainchild of Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen, who built this rock ’n’ roll cathedral to house his vast collection of Northwest rock memorabilia. Paul Allen’s money has also been hard at work changing the architectural face of the south end of downtown Seattle, where, in March 2000, the Kingdome stadium came crashing down, imploded to make way for the new, state-of-the- art Seahawks Stadium, which is home to Allen’s Seattle Seahawks NFL football team. Together with the Seattle Mariners Safeco Field, the Seahawks Stadium has created a massive sports arena district at the south end of downtown Seattle. Allen projects aside, Seattle has become one of the nation’s most talked-about and popular cities, and life here has undergone dramatic changes in recent years. An influx of urban residents has brought a new vibrancy to the downtown area. As the city has grown wealthier and more sophisticated, it has built itself not just a new football stadium and a retractable-roof baseball stadium (Safeco Field), but also chic condominiums, a new symphony hall, glittering new hotels, and countless upscale restaurants and shops. Still in the works are a controversial light-rail system and an extension of Seattle’s monorail—although both projects have repeatedly stalled and may end up being sidetracked completely. It’s clear that Seattle has not grown complacent. Sure, it’s become a congested city, with traffic problems rivaling those of L.A. And yes, the weather really is lousy for most of the year. But Seattleites manage to overcome these minor inconveniences, in large part by spilling out into the streets and parks whenever the sun shines. To visit Seattle in the summer is to witness an exodus; follow the 03 541277 Ch01.qxd 11/17/03 9:37 AM Page 4 4 CHAPTER 1 . THE BEST OF SEATTLE lead of the locals and head for the great outdoors. Should you brave a visit in the rainy season, don’t despair: There are compensations for such misfortune, including a roof on Pike Place Market and an espresso bar on every block. WATER, WATER around, Seattle has become a city of EVERYWHERE . & FORESTS boaters, who take to the water in every- & MOUNTAINS, TOO thing from regally appointed yachts to Though the times may be a-changing slender sea kayaks. Consequently, the for Seattle, one thing has stayed the opening day of boating season has same—the beautiful and wild landscape become one of Seattle’s most popular that surrounds the city. The sparkling annual festivals. waters of Elliott Bay, Lake Union, and A CITY DRIVEN BY CAFFEINE Lake Washington wrap around this city Despite Seattle’s affinity for its nearby of shimmering skyscrapers, and forests natural environment, this city is best of evergreens crowd the city limits. known as the coffee capital of Amer- Everywhere you look, another breath- ica. To understand Seattle’s coffee taking vista unfolds. With endless boat- addiction, it is necessary to study the ing opportunities and beaches and city’s geography and climate. Seattle mountains within a few hours’ drive, lies at almost 50 degrees north lati- Seattle is ideally situated for the outdoor tude, which means that winter days pursuits that are so important to the are short. The sun comes up around fabric of life in the Northwest. 7:30am, goes down as early as 4:30pm, Few other cities in the United States and is frequently hidden behind leaden are as immersed in the outdoor aes- skies. A strong stimulant is almost a thetic as Seattle. The Cascade Range lies necessity to get people out of bed less than 50 miles to the east of down- through the gray days of winter. Seat- town Seattle, and across Puget Sound tleites love to argue over which espresso stand the Olympic Mountains. In the bar or cafe in town serves the best cof- spring, summer, and fall, the forests and fee (and the answer isn’t always Star- mountains attract hikers, mountain bucks, despite the famous coffee bikers, anglers, and campers, and in company’s global expansion from its winter the ski areas of Snoqualmie Pass humble beginnings in Seattle’s Pike and Stephens Pass draw snowboarders Place Market). and skiers. Seattle’s popularity and rapid Though impressive mountains line growth, however, have not been both the city’s eastern and western entirely smooth. The streets and high- horizons, a glance to the southeast on ways have been unable to handle the a sunny day will reveal the city’s most increased traffic load, and commuting treasured sight—Mount Rainier, a has become almost as nightmarish as it 14,410-foot-tall dormant volcano that is in California, whence so many of the looms large, so unexpected that it city’s recent transplants fled (ironically, demands your attention. When “the partly due to the traffic congestion). Mountain is out,” as they say here in With roads growing ever more crowded Seattle, Seattleites head for the hills. and the cost of living continuing to However, as important as “the rise, Seattle may not be the Emerald Mountain” is to Seattle, it is water that City it once was, but it remains a truly defines the city’s character. To the metropolis in a singularly spectacular west lies Elliott Bay, an arm of Puget setting and a superb summertime vaca- Sound; to the east is Lake Washington; tion destination. and right in the middle of the city is Lake Union. With so much water all 03 541277 Ch01.qxd 11/17/03 9:37 AM Page 5 FROMMER’S FAVORITE SEATTLE EXPERIENCES 5 1 Frommer’s Favorite Seattle Experiences • Taking in the Sunset from the brewpubs, a great flea market, and Waterfront. On a clear summer the city’s best public art make this day, the setting sun silhouettes the the most eccentric neighborhood Olympic Mountains on the far side in Seattle. of Puget Sound and makes the • Attending a Show at the 5th view from the Seattle waterfront Avenue Theatre. This historic the- truly memorable. Try the rooftop ater was designed to resemble the park at the Bell Street Pier, Myrtle imperial throne room in Beijing’s Edwards Park at the north end of Forbidden City. Can you say the waterfront, or the lounge at the ornate? Nothing else in Seattle com- Edgewater Hotel. pares, including the show onstage. • Riding a Ferry Across Puget • Going to the Spring Flower and Sound. Sure you can spend $20 Garden Show. Each spring, gar- or $30 for a narrated tour of the dening madness descends on the Seattle waterfront, but for a frac- Washington State Convention and tion of that, you can take a ferry to Trade Center in the form of one of Bremerton or Bainbridge Island the largest flower-and-garden shows and see not just Elliott Bay but in the country. This show has more plenty more of Puget Sound. Keep than 5 acres of garden displays and an eye out for porpoises, orcas, hundreds of vendors. and bald eagles. • Catching Concerts at Bumber- • Eating Your Way Through Pike shoot. It isn’t often that you can Place Market. Breakfast at Le agonize over which great music Panier, espresso at the original Star- performance to attend next, but bucks, lunch at Café Campagne, a that’s just what you have to do at martini at The Pink Door, dinner the annual Labor Day music and at Chez Shea, Celtic music at Kells, arts extravaganza known as Bum- and a nightcap at Il Bistro—that’s bershoot. Whether your tastes run how you could spend a day at Pike to Grieg or grunge, salsa or swing, Place. Between stops on this rigor- you’ll have plenty of choices. ous itinerary, you can people- • Riding the Monorail. Though the watch, listen to street musicians, ride is short, covering a distance and shop for everything from fresh that could easily be walked in half salmon to tropical fruits to magic an hour, the monorail provides a tricks to art glass to live parrots.

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