Planning Your Trip
There are a few more options now for people flying into Seattle. Air Canada (tel. 888/247-2262; www.aircanada.com) now flies from Calgary, Alberta; American Airlines (tel. 800/433-7300; www.aa.com) now flies direct from Austin, Texas; and Midwest Airlines (tel. 800/452-2022; www.midwestairlines.com), now flies from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as well as from Kansas City, Missouri.
Seattle
If your travel plans make a stay on the east side of Lake Washington a possibility, be sure to check out Kirkland's new 91-room Heathman Hotel Kirkland (220 Kirkland Ave., Kirkland; tel. 800/551-0011 or 425/284-5800; www.heathmankirkland.com), which is located just a couple of blocks uphill from the waterfront in downtown Kirkland. There are lots of art galleries and restaurants within walking distance. By May or June of 2008, you should finally be able to check in to the 120-room Arctic Club Hotel (700 Third Ave., Seattle; tel. 800/457-4000 or 206/340-0340; www.arctichotelseattle.com), in downtown Seattle. The hotel is in a newly restored and remodeled former social club that was built in 1917 as a gathering place for men who had struck it rich during the Alaska gold rush. Among the most distinctive features of this historic building are the terra-cotta walrus heads that gaze down at the sidewalk from the building's facade.
Quinn's (1001 E. Pike St.; tel. 206/325-7711; www.quinnspubseattle.com) is a new Capitol Hill gastropub from the owners of Restaurant Zoë, one of my favorite Belltown restaurants. Definitely worth checking out. Joule (1913 N. 45th St.; tel. 206/632-1913; www.joulerestaurant.com), in the Wallingford neighborhood, is another hot new restaurant worth a trip out from downtown. It serves an unusual fusion of Korean and French cuisine. Oh yes, and, as a Portland resident, I'm glad that I can now get my favorite local coffee even when I'm in Seattle. Stumptown Coffee (1115 12th Ave.; tel. 206/323-1544; www.stumptowncoffee.com) is the first Seattle outpost of Portland's favorite counter-culture coffee company. One last thing, foodies may want to check out the tours offered by Savor Seattle Food Tours (tel. 800/838-3006; www.savorseattletours.com). These 2-hour walking tours wander through Pike Place Market highlighting the market's many culinary treats.
Admission to the Seattle Aquarium (1483 Alaskan Way; tel. 206/386-4300; www.seattleaquarium.org) has gone up to $15 for adults and $10 for children ages 4 to 12. The aquarium's admission price is just one more good reason to get a CityPass (tel. 888/330-5008 or 208/787-4300; www.citypass.com), which is still a great deal even though it, too, now costs a bit more than it did ($39.50 for adults and $24 for children). The Wing Luke Asian Museum (tel. 206/623-5124; www.wingluke.org) in Seattle's Chinatown International District, temporarily closed while it moved a few blocks away to the renovated East Kong Yick Building at 719 S. King Street. The museum will reopen in this new space on May 31, 2008.
Teatro ZinZanni (222 Mercer St.; tel. 206/802-0015; dreams.zinzanni.org), Seattle's circus- and cabaret-inspired dinner theater, has moved its antique Belgian spiegeltent from its old Belltown location to a spot in the heart of the Lower Queen Anne theater district. With the reopening, there's also a whole new show.
If you're in search of some new places to imbibe while you're in town, check out the following places. The Local Vine (2520 Second Ave.; tel. 206/441-6000) is a chic Belltown wine bar with a long list of wines by the glass. There's good food, too. In the Pioneer Square area, you can sample sakés at Saké Nomi (76 S. Washington St.; tel. 206/467-SAKE; www.sakenomi.us). While this is primarily a saké shop, it does have daily free sake tastings and also offers sakes by the glass.
The San Juan Islands & Washington's Northwest Coast
Note that the San Juan Islands Visitors Bureau (tel. 888/468-3701; www.guidetosanjuans.com) has a new web address.
The best rooms on San Juan Island are now the 12 new Quarryman Hall Suites at Roche Harbor (248 Reuben Memorial Dr., Roche Harbor; tel. 800/451-8910 or 360/378-2155; www.rocheharbor.com). This resort on the north end of the island has also added a beautiful full-service spa.
The Olympic Peninsula
Keystone ferries, which were taken out of service for safety reasons in late 2007, are back in operation, which means it is once again possible to travel by car from Whidbey Island to Port Townsend. For more information, contact Washington State Ferries (tel. 888/808-7977 or 206/464-6400; www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries).
Southwest Washington
Although artist Maya Lin's Vancouver Land Bridge connecting the grounds of Fort Vancouver National Historic Site with the Waterfront Renaissance Trail is not yet officially open to the public, it is now possible to walk the circular 40-foot-wide earth-covered pedestrian bridge. For more information, visit www.confluenceproject.org.
The Cascades
Anyone planning a trip to Mount Rainier National Park (tel. 360/569-2211; www.nps.gov/mora) this summer should be sure to look into getting a room at Paradise Inn (tel. 360/569-2275; rainier.guestservices.com), the park's premier historic lodge, which is reopening in the summer of 2008 after being closed for two years for a major restoration.
East of Seattle, on the dry east side of the Cascade Range, the Suncadia resort development's Lodge at Suncadia (3600 Suncadia Trail, Cel Elum; tel. 866/904-6301; www.suncadiaresort.com) is now open. This 254-unit resort is set amid pines and is one of the state's finest golf resorts.
If you are planning on visiting Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument (tel. 360/449-7800; www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/mshnvm), note that the Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center has been permanently closed. The Johnston Ridge Observatory, at the end of Wash. 504, is now the main visitor center within the national monument.
Eastern Washington
If you're planning to visit Walla Walla to do some wine tasting, be sure to check out some of the area's newest wineries, including 428 Wines (675 E St.; tel. 509/522-8486; www.428wines.com); à Maurice Cellars (178 Vineyard Lane; tel. 509/522-5444; www.amaurice.com); and, in neighboring Milton-Freewater, Oregon, Watermill Winery (235 E. Broadway, Milton-Freewater; tel. 541/938-5575; www.watermillwinery.com).
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