Travel alerts straight to your inbox:

Seattle Travel Guide

World » North America » United States » WA » Seattle

Seattle's Beer Festival Welcomes Drinkers and Their Dogs

June 10, 2009 at 12:22 PM | 1 Comment

Seattle is famous for their weather and their coffee, but they've slowly been making their way onto the beer scene as well. After all, they aren't too far away from Portland, a city that has more breweries than anywhere else in the country. To celebrate this new beer fame, they’re welcoming one and all to the Seattle International Beer Festival.

On July 3-5, hop heads and beer bellies from around the country will gather at the Seattle Center Mural Amphitheatre to test out the latest and greatest from the world of beer. There will be over 150 varieties on tap and in bottles just waiting for you to sample them. We just hope there aren’t too many coffee-flavored porters hanging around, because those are less than tasty.

Tickets are $20, a price that includes admission, tasting glass, live music and ten beer tickets. Unfortunately unlimited samples aren’t available here, so you’ll need to buy more tickets for $1 each if you’re still thirsty. Also, depending on the “swank factor”—their words not ours—your sample can cost between one and four tickets. For those early risers, there’s a Happy Hour between noon and 1:00 pm where you’ll get five extra beer tickets.

Once you’ve paid for your ticket, you are welcome to visit all three days of the festival; there’s no re-entry fees. So feel free to bring your dog the next day—they’re welcome inside— so you have someone to gripe to about your hangover.

Related Stories:
· Seattle International Beerfest [Official Site]
· Trips We Love: The Year in Beer [Jaunted]
· Beer coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Official Site]

Vampires Versus Pirates: "Twilight" Cruise Sets Sail In 2010

June 9, 2009 at 2:02 PM | 0 Comments

Leave your garlic at home: fans of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series and the subsequent movies take to the high seas next year when the first Twilight Cruise and Convention at Sea sets sail in August 2010.

Offered by a new company called Cruises Cruises Cruises, the Seattle-to-Juneau trip August 8-15 already has two Cullen RSVPs—Alice and Emmett (uh, Kellan Lutz and Ashley Greene to you). On-board activities include movie viewings as the sequel "New Moon" should be out on DVD by then, a costume ball and trivia contests. Is it too much to hope for vampire baseball too?

"Twihards" with extra time can opt in on a 4-day bus tour beforehand that will take them to Forks and La Push, Washington, which both feature prominently in Twilight and were used as sets for the first movie before production. But start saving your allowance now: cabins on the cruise start at $1049 for a double, with the bus tour at $449.

For a moment we thought vampires actually couldn't get wet, but wait, that's witches. Still, how will a night-dwelling people protect their sparkly skin on the high seas? Pack your SPF 5,000!

Related Stories:
· Twilight fans get chance to cruise with vampire film stars [Guardian.co.uk]
· Alaska Twilight Cruise and Convention at Sea [Twilight Fans Cruise]
· Twilight coverage [Jaunted]

[Still from "Twilight" of Edward Cullen and some chick: SIlive.com]

Seattle's Healthy Donuts: Shouldn't Work But It Does

June 3, 2009 at 9:57 AM | 1 Comment

In general, we take a firm stand against any attempts to make foods like donuts healthy. They're donuts – sugar-topped balls of fried flour – they're by definition unhealthy, and should stay that way.

But we do make an exception for one place – Mighty-O Donuts in Seattle, which manages to turn out a product that is vegan, organic, trans fat-free, cholesterol-free, has no artificial flavors or chemicals, yet is somehow delicious. Seriously, we don't know how they do it.

Admittedly, these treats won't be featured at your local health food store anytime soon – they are, after all, still sugar-topped balls of fried flour – but with innovative flavors like Coffee Bomb, Banana Bread and French Toast – a cinnamon, ginger and orange spiced maple syrup donut (sans eggs of course) – your mouth will never even know these are a healthier kind of donut.

Plus: free food alert! Mighty-O will be handing out free mini-donuts all day this Friday, June 5 in honor of National Doughnut Day (what, you didn't know?)

Related Stories:
· Mighty-O Donuts [Official Site]
· Get Dat Donut [Jaunted]
· Do-Nuts So Old School, They Won't Drop the Hyphen [Jaunted]

[Photo: bibliogrump]

Something to Do in Seattle: Mary Kay Letourneau's 'Hot for Teacher Night'

May 22, 2009 at 4:03 PM | 0 Comments

Mary Kay Letourneau shocked America when she had a sexual relationship with her 12-year-old student, Vili Fualaau. But the naughty teacher antics didn't stop there. She served jail time twice for hooking up with Vili while he was still underage and also gave birth to two of his kids. But you know what? That was sooooo 1999. Mary Kay and Vili, now married, just wanna have some fun this weekend!

Which is why they are hosting Hot Teacher Night at the Seattle bar, Fuel Sports Eats and Beats.

"It's turned into sort of a love story," Fuel owner Mike Morris tells the Associated Press. "I realize it had a sick twist at the beginning, but they're both adults now. They're both married by the state of Washington."

Fuel is located in Seattle's Pioneer Square near the Klondike Gold Rush park and just north of the Qwest football stadium and Safeco field. It gets rave reviews as a sports bar on Yelp but Saturday night should be a different scene entirely.

There's a $10 cover to attend and Vili is actually the headlining DJ. If you do end up going to this, we really want you to send us back a detailed report. Otherwise, we say skip it and catch a Seattle Mariners game that night instead (They're playing the SF Giants.)

Related Stories:
· Mary Kay Letourneau to Host 'Hot Teacher Night' [People]
· Seattle Field Trip [Jaunted]

Jaunted's On a Boat! (The Water Taxi to West Seattle)

May 8, 2009 at 4:37 PM | 0 Comments

This week Jaunted editor Juliana will be sharing her experiences from a recent field trip to Seattle where she wasn't afraid to do all the touristy things in town. Any questions or tips? Let us know.

On our last day in Seattle, we needed one more touristy thing to round out our weekend of tourist excursions. So we headed on down to the Pier 55 to take a water taxi to West Seattle.

The Pier here is not as huge as the Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco and fortunately, not as gross. But the numerous t-shirt and souvenirs shops, dodgy food stands, street musicians and "family" restaurants along the pier reassure you that yes, you have walked into a tourist trap.

One stand-out is the 100-year-old Ye Olde Curiosity Shop which is a really strange place and not in a cool/strange way. There are weird nautical and non-nautical mementos and objects inside and the sign out front when we walked in was advertising Mexican Jumping Beans. Weird, right?

more ›

Hot Peanuts and Beer at the Seattle Mariners Safeco Field

May 7, 2009 at 4:48 PM | 1 Comment

This week Jaunted editor Juliana will be sharing her experiences from a recent field trip to Seattle where she wasn't afraid to do all the touristy things in town. Any questions or tips? Let us know.

We're big fans of checking out the local sports scene when visiting new cities. Going to games gives you an experience that lasts a few hours (while sitting down), involves drinking beer, eating hot peanuts and being loud. Plus it's a great way to see how the locals take pride in their hometown. And it's the one place where you won't feel like a total tourist.

So when we visited Seattle and learned that the Seattle Mariners were playing the Oakland A's, we bought some tickets.

This being rainy Seattle, Safeco Field (Pronounced: Safe-Co) has a retractable roof that covers, but doesn't enclose, the ballpark. The night game we attended was during a downpour so the roof was up which kept everyone nice and dry but it was still cold. Luckily we had with us a hat and the aforementioned hot peanuts and beer.

more ›

The Experience Music Project Brings Back Fond Memories of Grunge

May 6, 2009 at 3:23 PM | 0 Comments

This week Jaunted editor Juliana will be sharing her experiences from a recent field trip to Seattle where she wasn't afraid to do all the touristy things in town. Any questions or tips? Let us know.

Once we fought the urge to buy space noodle pasta at the Space Needle we moseyed on over to the Experience Music Project, an interactive music museum within the fanciful building designed by Frank Gehry. It's also attached to the Science Fiction Museum, making it the perfect stop for geeks. Kidding!

The tickets for the EMP/SFM are $15 and while we didn't pick up an audio tour, they do have them on iPod Nanos for $3 which we thought was cool. That said, the Experience Music Project is very navigable without an audio tour.

more ›

Contemplating Space Noodle Pasta at the Space Needle

May 5, 2009 at 1:46 PM | 0 Comments

This week Jaunted editor Juliana will be sharing her experiences from a recent field trip to Seattle where she wasn't afraid to do all the touristy things in town. Any questions or tips? Let us know.

After a trip to the Pike Place Market in Seattle, your next big touristy stop is the Space Needle. Inspired by the TV Tower in Stuttgart and built in 1962 for the World Fair, the Space Needle is practically what put Seattle on the map--in the days before Nirvana and Starbucks, of course.

Today the monument is open pretty much from 9am-11pm everyday. Tickets cost $16 for a ride up to the top for adults and if you plan on seeing any of the other Seattle museums or the Seattle Aquarium on your trip, you can buy a ticket package. (Word is, you really only see savings if you plan on going to three or more of these.)

more ›

Getting Touristy at The Pike Place Market

May 4, 2009 at 3:44 PM | 0 Comments

This week Jaunted editor Juliana will be sharing her experiences from a recent field trip to Seattle where she wasn't afraid to do all the touristy things in town. Any questions or tips? Let us know.

The first place to hit up in Seattle is without a doubt, The Pike Place Market, a 102-year-old institution dubbed "The Soul of Seattle." What started as a traditional farmer's market has evolved into one of the largest tourist attraction in the Northwest.

A sign of how touristy this market is? Group tours regularly gather around the fish stands and the fish sellers put on a big show of tossing around humongous fresh fish. Word is, locals buy this fresh fish but with all that tossing around we have to wonder.

more ›

How The Phantom Alert Might Help You on Your Next Road Trip

March 30, 2009 at 2:22 PM | 0 Comments

Aside from finding alternate routes in traffic, traversing a strange city's streets with confidence, and approximating drive time, there is now another huge benefit to investing in a GPS: it will help you avoid dreaded red light cameras. We usually check our mental rolodex of local camera locations when we hesitate to blaze through intersections, but this doesn't work on road trips.

Before your next confusing drive through the roundabouts of Boston or the stop-start traffic of Beverly Hills, look into downloading "Phantom Alert," new software for GPS systems with the purpose of diverting you from traffic cameras and even DUI checks—not that we advocate detouring around drunkenness.

more ›

Volunteer for Earth Day in the Olympic Peninsula

March 30, 2009 at 12:26 PM | 0 Comments

There are a lot people who want to do more for the planet than just turn off the lights for an hour. And many of them are turning to "voluntourism", which provides an opportunity to really make a difference and take a unique vacation, all at the same time.

In honor of Earth Day, Lake Quinault Lodge and Kalaloch Lodge in the Olympic Peninsula, about 30 miles west of Seattle, are offering special package deals for guests who want to take a volunteer vacation and help preserve their historic properties and public beaches.

more ›

From One Cold Spot to Another, Icelandair to Seattle

March 25, 2009 at 3:39 PM | 0 Comments

If there's one good thing that's come of the bank collapse in Iceland, it's that Icelandair seems to be putting themselves out there and making the rounds in order to seduce frugal travelers to their hurting homeland. First, we noticed the advertisements popping up on the New York subway, reminding those with wanderlust that Iceland is only five hours away, and now Icelandair is letting more of the west coast in on their action.

Freshly announced yesterday, the news that the airline will add fellow cold climate city Seattle to its list of destinations is great for both ends. Flying four times a week direct from Reykjavik's Keflavik Airport to Seattle-Tacoma Airport, Icelandair will launch their first US west coast route on July 22. Although booking doesn't look to be open for the flights yet, we're hoping that these fares feature into the frequent Iceland specials.

For reference's sake, the press release does give a sample direct roundtrip price of $822 plus taxes. If they were to make inclusive of taxes and throw in a few nights' hotel stay, then we may yet be tempted to personally inject some cash into Iceland's economy.

Related Stories:
· New Seattle Service [Icelandair]
· Is it Icelandair? Seattle to announce new international route [Today in the Sky]
· New Routes Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: wicho]