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Christmas is a special time to enjoy the attractions in Seattle
Winter Wonderland – not exactly. However, Seattle is particularly festive during the holidays of Christmas and a great destination to combine shopping with a trip special.
Seattle Center to Westlake Center to the Pike Place Market, the visitor attractions usual to be a little more special on a cold winter days. A crowd of excited families, including up and shows offer couples the season at Westlake such as Quest carousel rides, corn or water heater and elephant ears close. Vendors make balloon animals for children safe while Christmas rants background music make sure no one loses the spirit of the holidays in Seattle.
Make it a trip and overnight is even better. First, make sure to see the many Christmas lights along the downtown streets including the famous star of Macy's, Space Needle lights and many other special touches of the season. And overnight, you can turn a shopping trip in a real game.
Our base was a Seattle landmark, the Edgewater Hotel. Perhaps you remember that Edgewater was famous during the sixties when the Beatles stayed there and fished right outside your window. In fact, it became the obvious choice for many famous rock bands that came to town during that period to play for one of the spectacular rock concerts Pat O'Dea.
Today, the Edgewater has a classic elegance that combines the best location in Seattle with an updated interior design that evokes rich Native American heritage of the northwest. The first thing we saw upon entering our room coastline of Washington State was a ferry – just out the window and through the waters of Elliott Bay. Our point of view made us feel if we were traveling on a cruise with nothing but water between us and the ferry. This, of course, is the main attraction of the aptly named Edgewater – a place literally in the water with incredible views of Puget Sound and nearby islands.
Our room featured many accents of the Northwest, as a log header in our comfortable king-size bed, cut the bark and wood panel above the chimney corner, Native American designs in the carpet of pine baseboards nodosum, and Indian characters and designs in the entertainment center with a wooden frame. In the bathroom, a claw-style tub seemed very attractive, while the colors and modern fixtures made the room look like something you would see in a magazine about interior design. The floors were amber quartz slate while the room also includes a European glass shower.
With a room at the Edgewater – which features a constant parade of boats outside your window – not the temptation to stay there and enjoy the sights and sounds without end. But our main objective of this trip was to check out the city activities Christmas, so I went to Pike Place Market, a few blocks away.
The market is one of the most recognizable symbols of Seattle – at the height of the Space Needle. That probably has something to do with the way TV sports broadcasters always make a point of showing images of the market, while broadcasting Falcons Marine Seattle or Washington Huskies sports broadcasting. Normally, shooting is one of the drivers throwing fish king salmon – so we are encouraged that our arrival, the fish were really flying. Like the 50 or so visitors from other stand watching, we saw for ourselves the famous Pike Place Fish Market shot.
The fish processors in their tracksuits, sweatshirts, aprons are not the only reason to go through the Christmas market. The market is everything in its decoration and, indeed, have Christmas trees is not available – we wanted a new car to the Edgewater. Walk north to the fish market and maybe get into a beehive activity where it seems like almost everything you want is for sale – fresh fruits and products, honey, herbs, dried flowers, jams and jellies, nuts, fruits, chocolates, T-shirts, bags, you name it. Actually there are several fish markets in the same building as well as restaurants where you can dine on fresh fish before going to market ..
Just across the street from the market, compared to Starbucks, a musical group called Slimpickens was warming up the audience with the 1930 animated musical style that reproduced in a configuration of four pieces: guitar, bass, fiddle and washboard. 30's garb, the group also seemed to be getting a response Depression-era artist: lots of smiles and tapping feet, but not many coins falling prominently placed in their cup.
Over by here we have Piroshky, Piroshky, a small restaurant serving fresh carrying Russian piroshki just under $ 5. These were in the oven and, if you're wondering, the piroshky is a bit like a flakey turnover filled with meat, cheese or other fillings. They are delicious and, for us, always a quick and inexpensive meal.
Some friends of ours went to the Grand City Cafe Von, a few blocks on Pine Street Market, where food was fine, but said this was the first time found in canned champagne. They called for a division of champagne and can be delivered to their table was a straw attached – our friends said he reminded them boxes fruit drink that receives for their children. Of course, that's what visiting the "Big City" is about – experiencing new things.
A few blocks from the market Westlake Center is a modern, multi-story shopping center with upscale shops and – due to its location near Macy's and Nordstrom – the epicenter of downtown retail activity. This is where, for only $ 2 each way, you can hop aboard the monorail – originally built for the 1962 Seattle fair in the world – more postal code Seattle Center, where their Winterfest celebration features continuous entertainment on vacation and one of the coolest cities in miniature railroads and their children Christmas ever will see.
Soon it was time to return to Edgewater, where we saw the fog roll and was amazed at how few boats that were out on this day winter were able to dodge the Washington state ferries. Thank goodness for the sirens and the radar, I suppose. A few minutes walk from the factory Edgewater spaghetti dinner where we enjoyed a tasty but cheap.
The night was quiet and, when the sun rose the next day, the sky was blue and the views from our room was like a picture postcard. No need to lose that point of view while having breakfast – down in Edgewater we stopped at a meal with the best views City in the Six Seven award-winning hotel restaurant. We were pleasantly surprised at the prices reasonable, given the excellent location and reputation of the restaurant class.
More exploration of the center was on tap for our second day, with no shortage of goods available at prices unusually good. Soon it was time to go home, but it was like a trip home from the mall where it is exhausted and swear never to go shopping with the crowds again. Yes we had achieved our Christmas shopping all right – but also felt energized by an unforgettable vacation trip to Winter Wonderland in Seattle.
For more information on Seattle, go to www.visitseattle.org or phone 206-461-5840. For more information about the Edgewater Hotel, please visit www.edgewaterhotel.com or phone 1-800-624-0670.
About the Author
Cary Ordway is a syndicated travel writer and president of Getaway Media Corp, publisher of www.californiaweekend.com, a site focusing on California travel, and www.northwesttraveladvisor.com, which features Pacific Northwest travel
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