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Seattle-GAF!
- Thread starter swoon
- Start date
City... Workplace at SLU.
MisterNugNug
Member
Parking.....
Willing to pay the toll for 520?
If you're working for Microsoft, PM me and I can show you what the shuttle schedules are. That's what I take every day from Fremont to Redmond and it's pretty great.
I live in Wallingford, and my commute to downtown Redmond (RTC) is always about 15-20 minutes total in the morning, including getting on 5, merging onto 520. Sometimes slightly less.
But in the evening during peak rush? Sometimes double that. And if some bullshit is happening, like Baseball or Sounders, it's sometimes worse. They need to fix the merge bottleneck on the bridge Westbound and switch the carpool lane from 3 to 2. Nobody can get a 3 person carpool regularly, but plenty can get 2.
If you leave work at 7pm it's a ghost town.
The Wallingford MS connector bus is pretty fantastic - picks up outside Starbucks, then straight to Redmond, with carpool advantage and no more stops - same on the way back - Wallingford is one of the first stops.
Thanks for the replies, guys.
It wouldn't be MS, but we would be neighbors. /cryptic
Heading there on Aug 6th till the 16th. This thread's a great resource, can't wait to check out a lot of these places. Will be staying on a lakefront apartment (Green Lake) next to the Woodland Park Zoo so I'll be pretty close to the downtown area. Any suggestions for getting around? Should I just rent a car?
Depends what you want to see. You won't need a car (and in fact, it's much easier not to have one) for downtown sojourns. You should be okay for most of the city limits as well. Our bus system is slow but it gets the job done, more or less. If you want to explore out to the suburbs and beyond, then yeah, go ahead and rent one but maybe save that for just a day or two. Having a car here sucks if you don't need one because traffic is ghastly and parking not much better (especially in the main core).
That seems like a good compromise, thanks for the advice. I would like to try to go hiking a few spots--time permitting--so maybe a car for a day or two would work out. I'll be spending most of my time in the city so I think bus could work fine. Was thinking of maybe even renting a bike, how bike friendly is the city?
distantmantra
Member
I live in Green Lake, so the "Lakefront" apartment near Woodland Park intrigues me. I'm trying to figure out what that would be. Curious if it's some clever Airbnb wording.
Seattle is getting more and more bike friendly. Green Lake and a lot of North Seattle is relatively safe for bikes with separate lanes, but I wouldn't feel as good about ridihg downtown. There's still a lot of animosity between cars and bikes here.
I was recently in Montreal and rode a bike absolutely everywhere and never once felt unsafe. I never saw a person driving or someone on a bike yell or get angry or not respect the other. Hopefully someday Seattle will be like that.
Seattle is getting more and more bike friendly. Green Lake and a lot of North Seattle is relatively safe for bikes with separate lanes, but I wouldn't feel as good about ridihg downtown. There's still a lot of animosity between cars and bikes here.
I was recently in Montreal and rode a bike absolutely everywhere and never once felt unsafe. I never saw a person driving or someone on a bike yell or get angry or not respect the other. Hopefully someday Seattle will be like that.
It's decent. We have our share of bike lanes. That said, the city is built on a series of very steep hills and going east is an uphill battle. Quite literally.
(Only in the central part, though. You'll be fine in North Seattle where you're staying. And yeah, drivers don't really like bicyclists here.)
distantmantra
Member
A lot of bicyclists don't really like cars here, too. The hate seems to flow both ways which sucks.
I also never saw anyone on a bike run a red light in Montreal.
distantmantra
Member
I'll be on the west side of the lake close to Beth's Cafe. I'm just looking at google maps and that's one of the closest landmarks.
Hmm, bike seems reasonable too then for my area. I live in San Diego which I would say is about the same in terms of friendliness towards bikes here at least in the same way you described it. Bikers hate drivers and drivers hate bikers but it's also getting better here.
Haha, I wouldn't mind catching a few rides if he didn't mind, wouldn't want it to be weird or anything. I know he posts a lot on the beer thread so there's a common interest there. I'll meet you at Fremont Brewing. I'm looking forward to lots of PNW beer.
You'll be fairly close to Chuck's on 85th.
http://chucks85th.com/
40 taps and 1000+ different bottles, which you can drink on site for a small corking fee.
http://chucks85th.com/
40 taps and 1000+ different bottles, which you can drink on site for a small corking fee.
Perfect, will definitely check this place out.
distantmantra
Member
No worries! I was just curious about lakefront used in reference to the lake, since the closest a house can get is across the street from it (I'm like five blocks from the lake so I'm no means a snooty lake view person, those people don't think we even live in the same neighborhood). That side is separated from the lake by Aurora/highway 99, too.
You'll be right by Uber Tavern, which is a great beer bar. http://www.uberbier.com/mobilemenu
I'd save the corkage fee and drink any bottles back at your rental place. Lots of good stuff on tap at Chuck's all the time.
Make sure you hit Fremont, Reubens, Cloudburst, Holy Mountain, Stoup and Seapine.
I have Fremont and Holy Mountain on my list, will do on the others.
distantmantra
Member
Just edited my post with other recs.
Oh believe me, when I say lakefront property I mean that very lightly. Judging from the pictures, the entrance goes underground haha. Looking from the streetview on googlemaps I do see what you mean by the highway essentially separating the apartment from the actual lake. I'll definitely check out that Uber Tavern, it's too close not to.
Gonna head to bed but I'll most likely be popping my head in here before and during the trip. Thanks for the all the advice so far, can't wait!
distantmantra
Member
I love Uber, pretty good bottle selection as well, but they don't open until 4pm.
On the other side of Aurora is Latona Pub, Burgundian and the Seattle branch of Toronado. Bottleworks also isn't very far away
There's also an Elysian brewpub, but we don't go there anymore, sadly.
Supposed to be highs near 90 Friday and Saturday I think. Or it was when I looked earlier this week anyway.
tearsofash
Member
Moving Tuesday, I'm so excited! What should I do when I get here?
It got nice both days after cool starts in the mornings.
New light rail stations are cool, never really made an effort to explore much of capital hill before but did today.
Maybe I'm blind but I can't seem to find anything about bringing luggage on the King County Metro Transit. Would I be able to bring a check-in luggage (probably won't be full sized) + carry-on (large backpack) on the bus? I'll most likely just be doing it once to get situated at my apartment and again for my flight back.
I've done it before, it shouldn't be an issue. Assuming you're not trying to get on a bus that is already packed full like a sardine can, that is.
Awesome, thanks. I'll be arriving sometime in the afternoon around 2:30pm. The times on their website seem to be pretty specific so I'm guessing they arrive on time, any problem with delays?
http://kingcounty.gov/depts/transportation/metro/schedules-maps/e-line.aspx#saturday
What day? Traffic starts getting shitty around that time on the weekdays, so there might be delays, it's a bit of a crapshoot. That said, that bus should be frequent enough that you won't have to wait too long either way. You can usually keep track of bus arrival times with the OneBusAway app - as long as the buses are reporting data you'll be able to tell if they're late or on time (or early, but lol).
Also, you may want to look into taking the light rail if it fits your travel path.
Edit: Oh, just saw the "saturday" at the end of the URL you linked. You should be fine with traffic.
Saturday. I was gonna say I don't think I could get that app but OneBusAway app is available for Windows phone! (don't ask why, i actually like my Lumia Icon)
Sounds good, I'll look into it.
Cool.
distantmantra
Member
Lotto, light rail will take you as far as Husky Stadium. Then you'd have to get over to Aurora/Green Lake via the bus.
Or Uber/Lyft.
Ah okay. According to this map http://metro.kingcounty.gov/maps/system/2016/march/metro-system-map-northwest.pdf
then it looks like my best bet would be taking Sea-Tac to Westlake via light rail then the
http://kingcounty.gov/depts/transportation/metro/schedules-maps/e-line.aspx#route-map RapidRide E Line from Virginia or Pike St stations to Aurora 65th Station.
Wow, I just did all that manually and it gave me the same thing in this planner. Thanks haha. Good to know I can figure out the route myself though.
MisterNugNug
Member
Sundance?
distantmantra
Member
Sundance or Regal Thornton Place.
Thornton, yeah. It's kinda my go-to theater (that and I have some old gift cards to use up).
Hey Seattle-GAF, was wondering if I could get some recommendations and such. I'm going to be visiting the area at the end of September for vacation (probably 5-6 days-ish) and I was wondering if I could get input on what I should prioritize in terms of tourist-y things and places to eat. I'm still looking at hotels and such, but any help there would be great well. I don't get to travel much, so my budget is fairly flexible, but obviously don't want to spend all the money I have! 
ExitPlanetDust
Member
Hey Seattle-GAF, was wondering if I could get some recommendations and such. I'm going to be visiting the area at the end of September for vacation (probably 5-6 days-ish) and I was wondering if I could get input on what I should prioritize in terms of tourist-y things and places to eat. I'm still looking at hotels and such, but any help there would be great well. I don't get to travel much, so my budget is fairly flexible, but obviously don't want to spend all the money I have!
Have you ever been? Will you have a car?
If this is your first trip to the city and you don't have a car, I recommend getting a room near Pike Place. The 1st and Union through 5th and Union area has some nice hotels. It's a little further north, but my wife and I stayed at Ace a few years ago and it was pretty nice for a borderline hostel. This year we stayed at the Alexis and it was also pretty fantastic. Plenty of places to eat, mostly seafood (duh). Do yourself a favor and walk down to Ivar's.
Public transit is good. All public transit (bus/light rail) stops at 6th and Union (I think) in the downtown area. We had no trouble getting to the zoo, space needle, and Amtrak terminal by bus. Light rail will take you from the airport all the way up to the university area. If you stay near Pike Place or Pioneer Square, you can walk to the water and catch a ferry for a cheap tour of the Puget Sound. Hop on the Ferris wheel at sunset. If you have a car, I recommend driving out to the Olympics. Don't drive to Mt. Rainier, you'll probably fuck up your vehicle. Take a day tour instead.
My wife and I are pushing into our 40s, so I can't really offer suggestions in the way of nightlife.
But all of that tourist stuff I mentioned should keep you busy and give you a great impression of the city.Have you ever been? Will you have a car?
If this is your first trip to the city and you don't have a car, I recommend getting a room near Pike Place. The 1st and Union through 5th and Union area has some nice hotels. It's a little further north, but my wife and I stayed at Ace a few years ago and it was pretty nice for a borderline hostel. This year we stayed at the Alexis and it was also pretty fantastic. Plenty of places to eat, mostly seafood (duh). Do yourself a favor and walk down to Ivar's.
Public transit is good. All public transit (bus/light rail) stops at 6th and Union (I think) in the downtown area. We had no trouble getting to the zoo, space needle, and Amtrak terminal by bus. Light rail will take you from the airport all the way up to the university area. If you stay near Pike Place or Pioneer Square, you can walk to the water and catch a ferry for a cheap tour of the Puget Sound. Hop on the Ferris wheel at sunset. If you have a car, I recommend driving out to the Olympics. Don't drive to Mt. Rainier, you'll probably fuck up your vehicle. Take a day tour instead.
My wife and I are pushing into our 40s, so I can't really offer suggestions in the way of nightlife.
I have never been, and I won't have a car (will be using public transportation/Uber/etc.).
And I'm not really a crazy nightlife person, but I do want to see a lot of the best things while I'm out there (while seeing some friends as well). I hope to take a day tour to Rainier as well, since my friend who grew up there really recommended it. I appreciate the post and advice, I'll definitely look into all that. I also saw mention of a pinball museum which sounds pretty great too.
ExitPlanetDust
Member
You'll love it. Try to soak in the natural beauty of the area. It's like a fairytale land if you're like us and from the mid-west (the Hill Country is pretty, sure, but it's no Cascades or Olympics).
I wish I had known about the pinball museum when I was there a few months ago. I would have checked that out. I didn't have a chance to swing by Pink Gorilla (are they still open?) while we were there either, but it looks like they are definitely worth a visit.
Have a fun and safe trip. I'm envious. I would hop on a flight to Seattle today if I had the time. Haha!
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