Every once in a while when friends from out of town are visiting Microsoft they ask me for things to do in the Seattle area.  Normally I reply with one or two items off the top of my head and leave it at that.  This time around I asked a friend, Amy Bellamy, for some advice. She was asked for advice for a friend of  a friend who was visiting Seattle with a 12 year old daughter who loves sports and music. She gave me so much great information I felt compelled to post it here so I could refer friends to it in the future.  Here it is:

• Museum of Flight** http://www.museumofflight.org/ : very cool
• Pacific Science Center www.pacsci.org
• Woodland Park Zoo www.zoo.org
• Woodland Park Rose Garden** http://zoo.org/zoo_info/special/rose.htm : just outside the zoo's south gate, free, 2.5 acres with 280 types of roses.
• Seattle Aquarium www.seattleaquarium.org
• Argosy Cruises** www.argosycruises.com

If you want to go to most or all of the above, you might want to buy a City Pass www.citypass.net

Other locations of interest:

• Experience Music Project ** http://www.emplive.com/ : expensive but worth it if you're interested in music history, especially jazz, blues, and early rock & roll. Check for special exhibits which are particularly cool.
• Seattle Art Museum http://www.seattleartmuseum.org/ : boring unless there's a good special exhibit
• Seattle Asian Art Museum http://www.seattleartmuseum.org/visit/visitSAAM.asp : much better than SAM, $3 admission, and in a beautiful park with views from an old water tower,  good bakery nearby called North Hill Bakery, on 15th Ave E and Mercer a few blocks south of Volunteer Park. bakery is closed Sundays.
• Ferry from Downtown to Bainbridge Island http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/
• Fremont neighborhood** http://www.fremontseattle.com/center_frameset.htm : eclectic neighborhood with cool outdoor art (statue of Lenin from USSR, troll under Aurora bridge, etc), good restaurants, original Red Hook brewery, Adobe software offices
• Fremont Sunday market www.fremontmarket.com/fremont/
• Fremont outdoor cinema http://outdoorcinema.com/seattle/
• Pike Place** http://www.pikeplacemarket.org/ : farmers market, original Starbucks, and some nice boutiques in post alley and along first avenue
• Mariners game at Safeco field** www.mariners.org
• Summer Nights at the Pier concerts** http://www.summernights.org/ : great small outdoor concert venue on seattle waterfront
• Gorge Amphitheatre concerts** http://www.hob.com/venues/concerts/gorge/ : great large outdoor venue, several hours east of Seattle but worth it for the right band
• Zoo tunes** http://www.zoo.org/special_events/zoo_tunes/tunes.htm : outdoor concerts at the zoo, after regular zoo hours
• Seattle Peace Concerts http://www.seapeace.org/ : I've never been to the  concerts, but Gasworks Park is nice and has a great view of the city
• Paramount Theater http://theparamount.com/ : good indoor venue for plays, music, etc. If you're interested in other live music, pick up a Seattle Weekly (free in  coffee shops and in newspaper street boxes, published on thursdays) or check it out online (http://www.seattleweekly.com/) and find listings for music in bars, coffee shops, and other outdoor locations.

Thursday, April 22, 2004 9:51:09 AM (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-08:00)         Comments [3]