Washington people

[Sphexi]

I live in Victoria, my parents in Virginia, they're flying out to Seattle in late June, and we're all getting together at a place in Bremerton. I need to know what's around, what can be done that's family oriented and fun, good places to eat, and so on. We got little kids, like 2 years old and 7 months, so can't really do amusement park style stuff, and my dad likes history and outdoors/hiking.

I've googled it, seems like an alright area, but anyone have any suggestions?

 

[StinkyMojo]

Your dad will like Snoqualmie Falls, but that's like 40 minutes away from downtown Seattle...

 

[Sphexi]

Well, Bremerton is like, a ferry ride from Seattle, across the sound to the west I guess. I'll be taking a ferry down to Port Angeles and driving down, only a few hours at that point.

 

[John P]

Why Bremerton, is somebody in the Navy? How long do you guys have in Bremerton and in Seattle?

First of all I hope the weather improves for you, it's been a crappy, rainy, cool spring so far.

Your dad can check out the U.S.S. Turner Joy in Bremerton:

USS Turner Joy (DD-951) Naval Destroyer Museum Ship

The 2 year old might like the Seattle Children's Museum:

The Children's Museum, Seattle

You could hit the Children's Museum and then check out Seattle Center. Going to the top of the Space Needle is pretty cool for the grown ups. Gets pretty crowded down there on the weekends.

You could check out the Dungeness Spit for a short hike, pretty scenic. You should be able to pack the kids down there, it's a bit steep but I've seen plenty of little kids there:

Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge

Hurricane Ridge is also a nice scenic drive, but you have to pay to enter the Olympic National Park and it's not a drive for anybody afraid of heights. If you do go make sure there is actually visiblility up top (no fog).

Another good family outing (assuming decent weather) is to head down to Alki Beach in West Seattle. The kids can dig in the sand a bit and you can grab some fish and chips at Sunfish.

There should also be plenty of tickets available for the Mariners games since they pretty much stink. The stadium is pretty cool though.

 

[Sphexi]

Originally posted by: John P
Why Bremerton, is somebody in the Navy? How long do you guys have in Bremerton and in Seattle?

First of all I hope the weather improves for you, it's been a crappy, rainy, cool spring so far.

Your dad can check out the U.S.S. Turner Joy in Bremerton:

USS Turner Joy (DD-951) Naval Destroyer Museum Ship

The 2 year old might like the Seattle Children's Museum:

The Children's Museum, Seattle

You could hit the Children's Museum and then check out Seattle Center. Going to the top of the Space Needle is pretty cool for the grown ups. Gets pretty crowded down there on the weekends.

You could check out the Dungeness Spit for a short hike, pretty scenic. You should be able to pack the kids down there, it's a bit steep but I've seen plenty of little kids there:

Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge

Hurricane Ridge is also a nice scenic drive, but you have to pay to enter the Olympic National Park and it's not a drive for anybody afraid of heights. If you do go make sure there is actually visiblility up top (no fog).

Another good family outing (assuming decent weather) is to head down to Alki Beach in West Seattle. The kids can dig in the sand a bit and you can grab some fish and chips at Sunfish.

There should also be plenty of tickets available for the Mariners games since they pretty much stink. The stadium is pretty cool though.

I didn't choose the location, my dad did. We got a condo at the Oyster Bay Inn for a week, it looks like there's some parks and stuff in the area, and we'll definitely check out that ship. My older brother is coming as well, so we'll probably leave the lady-folk with the kids, and go on our own to stuff like that.

 

[skyking]

You'll be right by Hood Canal.
The Alderbrook Inn is a really nice place to stop and have lunch.
http://www.alderbrookresort.com/

 

[nazthegreat1]

Take a walk through downtown Seattle, there is a TON of stuff to do there.

 

[John P]

Your dad would also definitely enjoy the Museum of Flight:

The Museum of Flight

 

[Sphexi]

Wow, totally forgot about this thread. Here's an update on how the trip went:


Bremerton is pretty decent. Lots of construction due to the tunnels from the ferry terminal, but overall there's stuff to do and the people are friendly. If you're ever in the area, stay at the Oyster Bay Inn, you can rent an "apartment" for about $160 a night, 3 bedroom, 2 bath, full cable, high speed internet, all that. Kind of old, but it's the way to stay if you got kids or lots of people who want privacy.

The ferry to Seattle is useful as hell....right to downtown, costs nothing to get there, only $6.70 to get back (on foot), only an hour each way. No wonder there's no kids in Bremerton all summer, they just hang out in Seattle for next to nothing. We went to a few things in Seattle, mostly up in the Center, went to the sci-fi and sound museum, the Needle, stuff like that.

Outside of Bremerton there's a few smaller towns, such as Poulsbo. Absolute pit. Next to nothing interesting, their arts and craft shops are full of made in China overpriced garbage, and my wife almost got food poisoning at a seafood restaurant, because the cook "forgot" to cook her fish properly. None of the meals we had were any good, and from talking to other locals it's more of a tourist trap than a real town.

Head back north, Port Angeles is another pit. No idea if it was ever a nice place to live, but right now it's pretty damn horrible. Everything is run-down, the people look depressed, not worth staying in for long at all. A little ways east is a town I can't pronounce, starts with a Q I think, fairly decent looking place, they spent some money to fix it up, way better than P.A.

The Coho ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles was another low-point of the trip. I have two tiny kids and a stroller, carrying it up two flights of stairs is not fun. Restrooms weren't clean, inside was hot as hell because their ventilation was off, outside was decent though.


Overall it was a good trip, took some pictures, had some fun, my wife met a friend of hers she hasn't seen in a while, my brother met a friend from highschool he hasn't seen in like 10 years, I got to see Seattle (so did my parents). Good stuff.

 

[skyking]

Glad you had a good time of it!
that town East of P.A. was Sequim, it has become a retirement community of sorts. It sits right in the middle of the Olympic mountain rain shadow, and only gets about 15" of rain a year.
Yeah, P.A. is the pits. Old mill town, industry is dried up, nothing to do.

 

[ultimatebob]

I liked the SciFi museum and Music Experience Project in Seattle, and those are right next to the Space Needle.

Seeing Mount St. Helens is a given if you haven't done it already. It's a drive, but it's worth it.

 

[Eos]

Originally posted by: skyking
Glad you had a good time of it!
that town East of P.A. was Sequim, it has become a retirement community of sorts. It sits right in the middle of the Olympic mountain rain shadow, and only gets about 15" of rain a year.
Yeah, P.A. is the pits. Old mill town, industry is dried up, nothing to do.

That sounds perfect to me. Lots of quiet old people who don't perpetrate crimes against people.

My g/f is in health care, so there's always a job for her.

I particularly like the cool weather. A hot day in the summer is low 80s. Nice.

 

[Sphexi]

Originally posted by: skyking
Glad you had a good time of it!
that town East of P.A. was Sequim, it has become a retirement community of sorts. It sits right in the middle of the Olympic mountain rain shadow, and only gets about 15" of rain a year.
Yeah, P.A. is the pits. Old mill town, industry is dried up, nothing to do.

Yep, that's the one. We ate at the Dairy Queen there both times coming and going, I liked driving through there.