mikegarrison

Space Needle is OK. No biggie, though. If you didn't like the CN tower, you probably wouldn't like the Space Needle. We do have better scenery than Toronto, though. On a nice day, the Space Needle is a great vista for the Olympics, Puget Sound, the Cascades, and the city.

The rotating restaurant falls under the general rule about rotating restaurants, which is "don't spend your money there, but OK if somebody else is paying".

You can rent canoes at the UW dockhouse. You can even paddle a canoe through the shipping locks, which is pretty fun to say you have done once.

BTW, the locks and the gardens around them are one of the best underpublicized ways to spend a few sunny hours in Seattle. Everything goes through there from working tugboats and fishing vessels to Microsoftie super-yachts to canoes and kayaks.

Shinji

Thanks for all the recommendations guys! I will definitely check out some of the places mentioned depending on the location and my agenda for the week. I have been flipping through a lot of travel books at the local bookstore and I've read good reviews for Musashi and Kozue. What do you guys think? Any good Korean BBQ places?

mikegarrison, I think I'll take your suggestion and cross Space Needle of my list. I had a very bad experience with CN Tower.

chikai, thanks for your list. Uwajimaya sounds like my kind of place.

s2ktaxi, unfortunately, I will be driving a big van so I will not be hitting up any twisty roads.

racerfan, I'll be going to Vancouver the same week after stopping by Seattle. I have another thread in the Vancouver BC forum, feel free to make some suggestions there.

Also on my list is kayaking Lake Union and shopping Pacific Place. Should I expect to see some wild animals in Lake Union?

Keep the recommendations coming. Muchos gracias.

mikegarrison

Does the CN Tower have an outdoor observation deck? The Space Needle does. Just in case that makes a difference to you -- I know it does for me. But it wouldn't actually be high on my list either.

The UW rents canoes and rowboats. Somebody probably rents kayaks, but I'm not sure who. http://depts.washington.edu/ima/IMA_wac.php

There will be fish and birds, but most of the wildlife will be on board boats. The locks do tend to keep sea mammals from coming into the lake. You can occasionally see seals and sea lions from the locks, though.

Shinji

Ya CN had the outdoor observation deck, but it wasn't that interesting to me. I am really looking forward to seeing some wildlife because we don't see much here in Chicago other than city pigeons, mean seagulls and the animals at the zoo.

mikegarrison

Well I would recommend going to Mt. Rainier National Park for the day. As long as you get out of the parking lot visitor centers and actually go for a hike, you should see some animals. Deer are common, mountain goats are common in the right places, and I've seen bears there too. Plus smaller animals, of course.

For a viewpoint that has the Space Needle beat by about 10000%, I recommend going to the Longmire entrance, stopping at Narada Falls, going up to Paradise and walking up to Glacier Vista or Panarama Point, then going over to Reflection Lake and walking up to the saddle between Pinnacle Peak and Plummer Peak. Then continue down Stevens Canyon road and be sure to stop and check out Box Canyon. Then head back to town via Highway 410 and Enumclaw.

Budget the whole day for this to get the most out of it. If you have extra time, you could take the side trip up to Sunrise on your way back.

In August most of the snow should be melted around those areas, though it you want to you will be able to hike up to some.

Ideally you should do this on a weekday -- on a weekend the people are the zoo at Mt. Rainier!

chikai

Korean Food eh?

My fav Korean restaurant: Hoo Soon Yi They don't have the table grills...but it's damn good. Don't expect good customer service though...they are all about getting you in/out.

If you're driving up to Canada, stop by the "Premium Outlet".

http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/outlet.asp?id=71