seattle

Hey fellow TC members!
I'll be going to Seattle late June and wanted to find out where to go. Any ideas?

Click on the "Search" button above, then type in "Seattle".

Hey isaca -

When exactly are you going to be here? If I'm available (I'll be gone for the Hukilau), I'd be more than happy to show you around! If you're looking for tiki, there ain't a lot, but jungletrader's search tip should tell you what you need to know. Also, Hukilau Brown will be able to report on his Seattle adventure soon.

Let us know when you will be here, and mabye we can set something up!
I'll also be gone the last weekend of June but I'll not be goin tiki, but instead Rockabilly. lookout Indianapolis!
Pea

TC Members are the coolest. I would love to meet sometime in person. My husband and I are going to be in Seattle June 27th -July 2nd. I have found a few places to explore online, but I guess it's always a chance. We almost went to the Hukilau in FLA but I was asked to attend a conference in Seattle. I would have loved to meet everyone there... Oh well Another time. Anyway if anyone want's to hang around with two Fresnoites in Seattle let me know. And of course if anyone ever visits Fresno Let me know.

Well, July 1 is a Tuesday, which means Selector Lopaka should be playing Exotica in Ballard. We're going tomorrow night to check it out. I'm sure Lopaka is fabu, but the place is strictly BYOT from what I understand -- it's thai, not tiki. But who knows, maybe if we start showing up every Tuesday in our finest aloha gear, insisting to be served in the tiki mugs we bring, prop up a couple of tikis in the corner, and set all of our drinks on fire, they'll get the hint. Or we'll get Lopaka fired.

Post me if it's worth it and I'll try to make it.

isaca: You said you found "a few places to explore online", what did you find?

[ Edited by: woofmutt on 2003-06-09 20:48 ]

Seattle is not the best Tiki town around. Trader Vic's is gone - and most of the other landmark "fun" places have slowly disappeared.
Check Ohana on 1st Ave. in Belltown (lots of great bars and restaurants in Belltown), there is a good "polynesian" place near another neighborhood called greenlake - it's called "Luau Polynesian Lounge" -- There's the place in Ballard (another neighborhood) mentioned above - -I think on Tuesday nights there is a dj who spins exotica. If you are here on the last Thursday of the month, a club called LuLu's in Pioneer Sq. has a dj who was at the seek the tiki oasis - DJ Lu! There's a lounge on Alki Beach in West Seattle (where I live) named Bamboo Lounge -- Long post sorry -- I'll get together a list of fun places to visit in Seattle -- and post it again.

OK - good places to go in Seattle (not tiki- but fun nonetheless)

1. Pike Place Market - great place to wander and a Great old fashioned bar - Lowell's is worth a visit - also my favorite pub on 1st and Virginia - the virginia inn (and next door a cool french place named le pichet).
2. Art museum is OK downtown, but the cool one is the Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park on Capital Hill - incredible art deco building and great collection in a park designed by the Olmstead Brothers in 1904.
3. Capital Hill/Broadway- fun neighborhood -shops, restaurants, theaters, and Pike and Pine heading back towards downtown has a number of good bars and fun furniture shops.
4. Pioneer Sq. - going through a downturn now - but has the oldest continuous bar in Seattle. Just wander around - fun place and is where all the art galleries. First Thursday is like a carnival so check it out if you are here then.
5. International districk/Chinatown - also a bit dirtier than others on the west coast but one of my favorite neighborhoods to wander. Great food everywhere here.
6. West Seattle - includes Alki Beach which on a nice day is like a California beach town - great views from here, also California Ave. has some fun places - it spans from the "admiral district" to the "Junction" is a fun little street- good bars and pubs - try "West 5" and "Circa". Check out Schmitz Park on Admiral on the way down to Alki - the last remaining old growth forest in Seattle.
7. Seattle Center/Queen Anne - you have to check out the space needle. It is worth going to the top no matter how touristy it is. And there is a bar up there that rotates! The Center itself is fun - including the Experience Music Project.. and it is the Queen Anne neighborhood - again, shops, restaurants, etc. Go to the top of Queen Anne too - more of the same on the Ave.
   I could keep going - Ballard, the University District, Wallingford, Columbia City - Seattle like many places is made up of great little neighborhoods - all have nice places, shops, bars, barber shops, etc. The "downtown" retail core has about what you'd expect but isn't bad - if you like department stores, you can't beat the Nordstrom's flagship store.
   And of course if you can get out of town a bit to explore some of the other places nearby - that's fun too - Mt. Rainier, Snoqualmie Falls, towns like Port Townsend, La Conner etc. All worth the trip and all within an hour or two of Seattle.
   Again - long post - enjoy your visit here. Seattle is a fun place to explore... let me know if you want more (or less :) info.

Again thanks for the info. I'll be using it i'm sure. I appreciate info on even the touristy spots. It will be my first time there and will want to see those as well. As for online here are some places I found: The Regrade, Dragonfish, Lava Lounge, Leilani Lanes bowling alley,The Luau, and Ohana.

Hey Bongo!
I'm a West Seattleite too!
WHeeeeee, I'm down on Alki, and I work
nights at Luna Park! That's another
non-tiki, but cools 50's ish mish mash of fun stuff, and good food too. Ya can order a terriyaki burger, it's got a pinepple ring on top, or I'll make ya a mai tai milkshake!
heheehehe
PEa

The Regrade: Haven't heard of it. Unless this is a reference to the Denny Regrade neighborhood, which isn't actually much of a neighborhood at all. Where did you hear of it?

Dragonfish: Not my personal favorite, it was a big hit when it opened. They use tiki mugs, but that's the beginning and the end of the tiki here, as far as I'm aware, but I haven't been in many years.

Lava Lounge: Funky little beer bar, but not tiki. Worth a pop in since it's close to some other places you'll want to check out, just don't have high expectations. Right down the street is Roq La Rue Gallery, which is often worth a visit.

Leilani Lanes bowling alley: Once upon a time, this place was probably pretty tiki. Now, it's not. There ain't a single tiki in the place, the only one you'll find is the one on the sign. Way the hell north, not worth your time unless you actually want to bowl.

The Luau: Great little neighborhood restaurant, this is one of my favorites. Has more of a surf feel than a tiki feel, but the food & drinks are good. It's kinda tucked away & not super-easy to find.

Ohana: Check this one out, it's not too far from Lava Lounge. I really need to go back and take a closer look at it. Again, not nearly as tiki as the places you'll find in San Francisco or LA, but this is about as close as you're going to get here. The drinks are good (haven't tried their Mai Tai yet, so I can't vouch for it). They have really good Bananas Foster.

If you're looking for good food, my personal favorite is Palace Kitchen, which is in Belltown, not too far from Lava Lounge & 'Ohana. Also worth a visit, I think, are Hawai'i General Store in Wallingford and Archie McPhee's in Ballard.

As an alternative to the Space Needle, I prefer the water tower at Volunteer Park. Volunteer Park has a terrific conservatory, and the water tower is free & I like the view better than the one from the Needle. Also, Bruce Lee is buried in the cemetery nextdoor.

May I recommend a day trip to Tacoma? Hit a few thrift shops and record shops, search for tiki apartment complexes (there are a couple), and end up at Bob's Java Jive, an amazing old bar in a gigantic coffee pot filled with all kinds of interesting clutter. More info, pictures, and things to see in Tacoma in this past thread:

https://tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=3317&forum=1

I'd agree to Humuhum's comments almost entirely...Especially the Volunteer park tower and conservatory (plus the Seattle Asian Art Museum is there and, as BongoTiki said, it is the city of Seattle's better museum)...I didn't stay at Luau the time I checked it out, it's blandness made me angry...The one mixed drink I ever had at Ohana, a Blue Hawaiian, was really bad. But their bar is nice and the lights are dim and there's always beer...Pike Street Market is most interesting in the early morning, 7-ish, when the stalls and venders are setting up...A ferry ride to Bremerton is $5.40 round trip and a great way to see the Seattle skyline and bit of Puget Sound. Don't get off in Bremerton as there's really no reason to...Have dim sum in China town, friends have been raving about the Honey Court's at 516 Maynard, I can vouch for their salt and pepper squid...And when in China town have a beverage at the Panama Hotel Tea and Coffee House (607 S Main) a really neat coffee shop that is decorated and furnished with items left in the hotel basement by Japanese Americans shipped off to internment camps.

*On 2003-06-11 00:14, woofmutt wrote:*A ferry ride to Bremerton is $5.40 round trip and a great way to see the Seattle skyline and bit of Puget Sound. Don't get off in Bremerton as there's really no reason to...

I took a ferry once over to Port Townsend from Seattle and returned at night. It may cost a bit more but there may be more to see and do in Port Townsend than in Bremerton.

Not tiki, but definately Googie, I went to DICK's Drive inn when I was in Seattle and had a great burger. Here is the link..

http://www.ddir.com/history.html

Also, near Dick's was a Hawaii store..forgot the name, and Archie McPhees which has lots of cheap and tacky things including some Tiki items.

There's no direct ferry from Seattle to Port Townsend, you have to drive or bus a lot of it. I've met many fine folk and had many fine drunken nights in PT yet I can't see the attraction of the place. The locals are swell, but breezing through town you wouldn't get any of that.

The Dick's in Wallingford (a neighborhood north of Lake Union, West I-5) is west of the Hawai'i General store and east of Archie McPhees. People rave and rave about Dick's but I don't get it. Still, it's VERY Seattle (and was mentioned in Sir Mix A Lot's "My Posse's on Broadway"). Dags was better. And anyway, I was a Herfy's kid.

Wow, great recommendations y'all. I must agree about Pike Place Market in the AM, though anytime is good, it's an amazing place. We are light on tiki here in Rain City, but we still have much to offer. Here's a few more options that you might want to add to your list of activities:

Outdoor activities in Seattle:

Kerry Park on Queen Anne Hill: killer view, and you can park right there.

Discovery Park in the Magnolia neighborhood: short hike to a beautiful view of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains from a bluff. Park on the street near the south entrance on W. Emerson St. to avoid too long a walk. There's a nice loop trail through the woods, and a hike to the beach for the more ambitious.

Golden Gardens beach and the Locks in the Ballard neighborhood: Golden Gardens has a similar view to Discovery Park, but at sea level. You can build a fire on the beach if you can score a designated fire pit. At the Locks you can watch boats make their way from fresh to salt water, and you watch the salmon run at the fish ladder.

Gasworks Park in the Wallingford neighborhood: another sweet park with another great view, climb up to the top of kite hill and check out the huge funky sundial. Look to the east from Gasworks and see the dilapidated art deco ferry, Kalakala.

Renting kayaks: Two places I've rented from are the Northwest Outdoor Center on Westlake Ave. and Agua Verde Cafe and Paddle Club on Boat St. near U of W. If you rent from Agua Verde you can have some unusual, but tasty, Mexican food afterwards at the restaurant above the paddle club. Seattle has lots of houseboats and maritime activity, and the water you'll be paddling is relatively calm, but there's constant activity and sites all around you.

Walking around Green Lake: a 3+ mile paved path surrounds this lake, and joggers, walkers, rollerbladers, and bicyclists flock here. It's a good place to people watch while mildly exercising.

Seattle rock n' roll mini tour:

Hendrix's gravesite in Renton, south of Seattle: I guess there's a "new and improved" memorial now. His original gravestone was stolen a number of times.

Viretta Park on Lake Washington Blvd.: This is the closest thing to a Kurt Cobain memorial. Courtney kept his ashes, and an official memorial has never existed. This tiny little tranquil park is right next door to Cobain's house where he was found dead, and is where his fans flock to when in Seattle.

Experience Music Project: a bit expensive, but worth it if you're a music geek. Plan on spending the day there if you want to immerse yourself. The restaurant and the bar are both pretty good.

[ Edited by: Selector Lopaka on 2003-06-12 23:35 ]

Hey, isaca: Thaiku w/ Selector Lopaka is definitely the place to be Tuesday nights. I'll plan on being there the Tuesday you're in town -- feel free to email me to talk details.