Gaff's Guide to Seattle

gafftaper said:

I have to admit I haven't walked through there recently. But when anyone talks about the crime in Seattle they always talk about that area. Perhaps my warning should be revised to don't walk through there alone.

Click to expand...

30s white guy from the Midwest here (so YMMV). I’ve been here several times for work the past couple years. It’s crowded and sketchy, but keep your head up and walk with purpose. Groups are a good idea. Tourists trek through here every day. Don’t stay at The State hotel here if you plan on getting back late.

egilson1 said:

I’m bummed that the Seattle location of the old spaghetti factory is closed.

Click to expand...

It was such a cool location. If you get to San Diego their location is very similar old warehouse with a huge timber structure.

We still have Spaghetti Factory but it's 20 minutes North in Lynnwood or a half hour south in Tacoma. But neither is a historic building. The Spaghetti Factory in Portland is in a really cool faux Victorian mansion. The one in Sacramento is in an old train station and amazing

gafftaper said:

...The Spaghetti Factory in Portland is in a really cool faux Victorian mansion. The one in Sacramento is in an old train station and amazing

Click to expand...

The Spaghetti Factory in Dayton, Oh used to be five stories of bowling lanes. My father's first real job was as a pinsetter there. A manual pinsetter. I don't know how long he worked there until Uncle Sam had other plans, but he claims never to have had a injury.

EDIT:
I'm told they were called pinboys. The fully-automated mechanical device was named pinsetter.

derekleffew said:

The Spaghetti Factory in Dayton, Oh used to be five stories of bowling lanes. My father's first real job was as a pinsetter there. A manual pinsetter. I don't know how long he worked there until Uncle Sam had other plans, but he claims never to have had a injury.

EDIT:
I'm told they were called pinboys. The fully-automated mechanical device was named pinsetter.

Click to expand...

When I was a kid we were visiting family in a tiny Alaska town and we went bowling. Two lanes. You could see the legs of the kids in the back hanging down above the pins. They would hop down and reset. Not exactly the safest idea.

Things to do: The Seattle Center is the grounds of the 1962 World's Fair. Today it houses the Monorail, Space Needle, Kraken, MoPop, Chihuly Garden of Glass, Climate Pledge Arena, the Ballet, Opera, Seattle Children's Theater, Seattle Repertory Theater, Seattle Shakespeare, and more!
https://www.seattlecenter.com/

Get there on the Monorail. https://www.seattlemonorail.com You too can ride this 1960's vision of future transportation. (I want my flying car!) The monorail goes from Westlake Center (4 blocks from the convention center at the heart of downtown) to the Seattle Center. The monorail runs until 9pm most weeknights and 11pm on Friday and Saturday. It stays open later when there is a major event at the Seattle Center. Check the website for the daily schedule. It's $3.50 one way. This would be a great way for you to get to the MoPop for the Friday Night USITT Party.

MoPop: Home of The Friday night USITT Party I already talked about MoPop above. If you are a music nerd, grunge fan, scifi nerd, horror nerd, fantasy nerd, video game nerd, this it the place for you. https://www.mopop.org/

The Pacific Science Center: A pretty nice family friendly science museum. They have two Imax theaters. The Boeing Imax theater is 60' high by 80' laser Imax screen with an HUGE sound system. During the day they have nature films but at night they run major motion pictures. Looks like they will probably be showing Dune 2 when you get here. I generally avoid the Imax shows in the Paccar Theater, it's a lot smaller screen and more like going to the Imax at your local theater. They also have a laser dome that still does evening rock shows like many of my fellow GenX will remember. Laser Pink Floyd: The Wall anyone? https://pacificsciencecenter.org/

Our NHL team The Kraken play on Monday March 18th and Sunday March 24th in Climate Pledge Arena. If you want to catch some Hockey you'll have to come a little early or stay a little late. https://www.nhl.com/kraken/schedule No games means that the arena is available for tours on both the 21st and 22nd https://climatepledgearena.com/tours/

The Chihuly Garden of Glass is a beautiful museum. It's https://www.chihulygardenandglass.com/ It costs $35

The Space Needle. Probably the thing you know the most about Seattle is this crazy building. On a clear day it's an amazing view and I highly recommend it. The view of downtown, the mountains, the water. I think it's actually worth the $35-$39 they charge. On a cloudy rainy day, it's not worth $5. So DON'T buy tickets in advance. Keep an eye on the weather and if we get a beautiful clear day then go for it. Note there is a combo ticket for $59.50 that gets you into both the Space Needle and the museum of glass. https://www.spaceneedle.com/

Looks like the Seattle Rep will be putting on a show called "Sanctuary City" in their smaller Leo K Theater. https://www.seattlerep.org/plays/202324-season/sanctuary-city/

The Seattle Shakespeare company will be opening a show called "The Bed Trick" https://www.seattleshakespeare.org/ssc-production/the-bed-trick-2024/

The Armory is a food hall in the middle of the Seattle Center with lots of food options and they are generally pretty good. You can't go wrong at Wingdom, Skillet, or Mod. https://seattlecenter.com/explore/attractions/armory

And be sure to stop by the giant fountain and tempt your fate getting wet... or be smart and sit back watching the fools.

I look forward to Gaff's Monorail post (which he was writing while I was posting this ). As a member of The Monorail Society, I was going to have to mention that Seattle has one of the very few public-transit monorails in the US (along with JAX and Vegas, and the two Disney system)... thanks Conan O'Brien.

Access to downtown from SeaTac airport is very easy on our light rail system. It's only $3 one way. It takes about 40 minutes to ride from Seatac to the Westlake Station (the closest station to the convention center and probably closest to where your hotel is). I've taken the train to the airport a couple of times and it worked out great. It's a bit weird having a large bag on the train, but you won't be the only one. It takes about the same amount of time to ride the train as it does to drive yourself in heavy traffic and it's cheap.

How to find the train at SeaTac: From baggage claim look for the escalators to go up one floor to the bridges across to the parking garage. Once in the garage just start walking to your left. Look for signs directing you to the Sound Transit Light Rail station. It's about a 10 minute walk from the center of baggage claim to the train. If you would like a ride, they do have free golf cart shuttles that take you to the train as well.

Here's a link to the train schedule and more information.

A couple of quick notes on Airports:

North of Seattle in Everett is Paine Field (airport code PAE). They began having regular passenger flights in and out of it daily. It's a small airport. Security is easy. Everything is small close and easier. Locals love it for having a friend drop you off and having a no hassle experience. However they have very little support structure. I think they only have 1 or 2 rental car companies. Getting a cab or shuttle to downtown seattle would be difficult and expensive. It's a great for locals, but unless you plan on renting a car and can book one out of their limited supply, I suggest you go to SeaTac (SEA).

They are making a big deal locally about calling SeaTac Airport by the airline code SEA. I'm not sure why. The people in Tacoma don't like that.

My favorite thing is to get to the airport early and go get a breakfast pizza at "Pallino". Pallino is in the food court at the center of the airport between concourse B and C. Get the meat one. I know sounds weird, but it's so good!

MOST IMPORTANT: Use Spot Saver! Up to 5 days in advance you can make a reservation for a time to go through TSA. This can be faster than Clear/Pre-Check. https://www.portseattle.org/SEAspotsaver

gafftaper said:

They are making a big deal locally about calling SeaTac Airport by the airline code SEA. I'm not sure why. The people in Tacoma don't like that.

Click to expand...

not sure about a big deal, nut the ICAO code for SeaTac airport is SEA. ( Actually KSEA ). The IATA code is SEA. the people in Tacoma have no say in the matter. That’s the universally accepted designation.

( I can be almost as pedantic about airport naming codes as Derek is about bulb vs lamp vs fixture)

gafftaper said:

Important Safety Note: Do NOT walk from the Convention Center to the Pike Place Market or the Waterfront. It’s tempting to walk right down Pine. It’s not very far, but you DO not want to be anywhere near 2nd and 3rd Avenue between Pike and Pine. Armed robbery, pick pockets, drug dealers, selling stolen goods, everything bad is going on in this area. The area around the Pike Place Market on 1st Avenue is okay. The area around Westlake Mall on 4th and 5th is fine too. But you don’t want to walk between those two area.

Click to expand...

JChenault said:

A quibble with gafftaper. I have no issues with walking from the convention center to pikes place market. I might not do it at night, but I have walked it frequently with no issues. YMMV. ( and how else are you going to get there? Wait for a bus to go four blocks? )

Click to expand...

gafftaper said:

I have to admit I haven't walked through there recently. But when anyone talks about the crime in Seattle they always talk about that area. Perhaps my warning should be revised to don't walk through there alone.

Click to expand...

So a follow up to the debate about downtown safety. Is it safe to walk between the Convention Center and the Pike Place Market (specifically the blocks surrounding 2nd and 3rd Avenues and between Pike and Pine). I going back to my original statement and disagreeing with @JChenault . I'm recommending that you don't walk between 4th avenue and 1st avenue. Take a cab. Stay between 1st Avenue and the waterfront or 4th Avenue towards the Convention Center. Don't go between those areas.

Over the weekend two men were walking their dog at 3rd and Pine. While they were waiting for food at the 3rd and Pike McDonalds, someone came up and started kicking their dog. When they told the guy to stop kicking their dog, the guy stabbed one of the dog walkers in the head. He's in "Stable and Satisfactory" condition.

If you do decide to walk through there keep moving! DON'T GO TO THE McDONALDS at 3rd and Pine!!! Unless you want to get stabbed, shot, or inhale some second hand Fentanyl. There have been far too many crimes to count on that corner.