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Artifacts from Display of Refugee Camp
Bangers and Mash at Paddy Coynes
La Isla in crowded central area of Ballard
entrance to Northwest Tribal Art
Hi. We finally made plane reservations to Seattle and now have definate dates for our driving trip (9/7/10-9/27/10). We will have 18 full days to see Seattle and drive down the coast with no fixed itinerary. With more time to spend we can now incorporate more of your suggestions. Please send info on Seattle & vicinity, ignore the Olympic peninsular and basically follow a similar route to that outlined in my previous posts. I still need Oregon coast info. Hooray for my VT friends.
Were the thoughts I had on the Native American items of any interest to you?
Historic Travel is quite a broad subject. Is there any particular types of historic travel you are interested in?
I would like to see part (not all) of the Lewis & Clarke experience. I understand that L&C camps can be found at several locations. Are any bigger, or better than the others. Also, do the State Parks in Oregon charge a separate entrance fee per park, or is there an equivalent to the National Park Passport which covers all NPs? We won't be pulling a camper, or doing anything other than waking around and taking pictures.
As the expedition followed the Columbia River the only places on your trip that are true Corps of Discovery locations are going to be around Astoria and the Cape Disappointment areas. There is a Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center inside Cape Disappointment State Park.
The Lewis and Clark National Historic Park includes a number of scattered locations in Oregon and Washington. Near Astoria there is Fort Clatsop, which is about 5 miles south of Astoria on highway 101. This is a replica of sorts of the winter fort that Lewis and Clark and the expedition built near this location. Unfortunately I can't offer too much advice about what is there now as there was an extensive vandalism problem, including burning the whole thing to the ground several years ago. I think they've got everything sort of back the way it was, but it is hard for me to know that I am offering accurate advice since I know that a lot has changed since I visited there, and that virtually every single piece of what is there now wasn't there when I last visited Fort Clatsop.
Since your first stop will be on the Washington side, the people at Cape Disappointment (which also includes part of the Lewis and Clark National Historic Park) should be able to give you good advice on what is left of the Oregon side.
Oregon does have an entrance fee for a number of the better state parks. It is $5 for those parks that charge the entrance fee. There is an annual pass available, and you should be able to purchase this at the ranger office at Fort Stevens State Park, which is at the north end of your trip in the Astoria area. They do not accept the Golden Age Card or the other federal cards as these are state parks. I have a state parks tip here, though for some reason it isn't highly rated by those who read it:
http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tp/1d8044/
1)Parking can be tough-I would recommend the parking lot on Western. It connects to Pike Place Market via an overpass. The parking is cheaper than the other lots in the area and if you stay for less than an hour, it's free.
2)Try visiting on weekdays. Weekends are very crowded, especially in the summer.
3)The public restrooms definitely need upgrades. I'd recommend trying to use one of the restaurant restrooms if possible.
AIRFORCE ONE at the Air Museum was a surprise for me, YES! You can go on board to see inside the plane.
Allow two hours to see everything here.
Take the 1-5south to exit 158, turn right on marginal way S.
www.museumofflight.org Pier Place Market. And the walk along the shore of Puget Sound. The city parks & Union Lake. Watching seaplanes take off & land on Union Lake.
The quaint boat houses on Lake Union
If you care to, hop aboard a double decker bus that takes you all over the Downtown area. It's a great way to hop on and off around and conserve your energy. There's bus stops throughout. Just look for the signs. I used the one by Bell Street Pier 66 to book my ride.
Seattle has two free weekly newspapers - The Seattle Weekly, which is the more mainstream publication and The Stranger, which is.... well....stranger : ) When I first moved to Seattle and picked up my first Stranger I was a little surprised. Not by the excellent live music section, and informative yet sometimes off beat restaurant reviews, but by the boldness and obvious lack censorship regarding its content and language. This is not a publication for those easily offended. But it is a breath of fresh air compared to safe, unchallenging, white-bread content of most papers. And it's free. Pick one up in a coffee shop, in a bar, in a music store. The Stranger comes out every Thursday. (The Weekly comes out every Wednesday).
You can also check it out online: www.thestranger.com
Apparently in Seattle, they're so used to the rain that when it's a light shower, no one uses umbrellas... at least that's what it says in several travel guides for the city. Someone using an umbrella in a shower is most likely labelled a tourist by locals. That's true for any Southern Californian, we don't get much rain so even a hint of rain brings out umbrellas.
Of course, whatever you are comfortable with is what you should go with. If you don't like being exposed to the rain in even light rain, then don't. Who cares really what someone feels, as long as you are comfortable.
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