Northwest United States?

[ngallag]

I have never traveled to the Oregon/Washington area and am thinking that may be the next place to go. I started researching this area when LL had the Willows Lodge mystery auction--wish I had won!

Anyone have any good suggestions on what to do/where to stay besides Willows Lodge/Herb Farm? (Those are already on my wish list.)

[shygirl724]

I know that at least myself, CMDAVILACLI, and Pirahna all live in tbe great Pacific NW. We can give you all kinds of ideas. Can you give me a little more information - what types of activities do you like, what area(s) do you want to stay in, are you interested in side trips from your base location, when do you want to come, etc.....

Look forward to helping you out. It is hot and sunny here this month (shhhh......we keep our weather a secret in Seattle and let everyone think it rains every day!)......

S ~

[ngallag]

Wow, thanks for the quick response!

I'm really looking for a change of pace or long weekend type escape from hot and humid Houston, TX. It's been 104 degrees here consistently and it's incredibly humid. I was intrigued by the thought of new wineries to explore and also I love to hike when the weather is nice, which I don't get to do much here in Texas. I will be in the Seattle area around the end of summer for a conference and was thinking maybe I'd add a long weekend to my trip. I don't know how far Seattle is from the San Juan islands, but I've heard nice things about them also. So any suggestions involving time outside hiking and good food/wine would be greatly appreciated!
I'm also a bit of a spa junkie-my other indulgence besides travel!

[shygirl724]

Will you be staying in Seattle proper or another community? The San Juans are on Seattle's doorstep. In fact, I will be out on my boat next week vacationing in the San Juans. Great locations to visit. The islands are easily accessed via the Washington State ferry system. You can view their schedules / destinations at this web site. I gave you the link directly to the route map on their page: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/info_desk/route-maps/

You are close enough to consider visiting the Gulf Islands (Canada's version of the San Juans). The City of Victoria on Vancouver Island is a great place to visit. LL has packages there. The island also has approx. 19 wineries (I think that is the number).

Will you have a car? Remember that Mt. Rainier is a beautiful drive from Seattle and a great place to hike. You could also visit Mt. St. Helens, or perhaps take a drive over the North Cascades Highway to the town of Winthrop, or stop along the way and hike in the North Cascades National Park.

I'll have to think of all the possibilities.....and there are tons.Message Edited by shygirl724 on 06-16-2009 05:31 AM

[CMDAVILACLI]

further to Shygirl724's very good comments...
I was remiss on getting this info out to you sooner as I was in Walla Walla over the weekend (Eastern Washington) WINE TASTING! Walla Walla is about 4 1/2 hours away by car (driving very quickly!) and is rather a small town with some amazing wineries. Walla Walla is now the #2 wine growing/producing area outside of Napa/Sonoma. There is only really one good hotel to stay in... the Marcus Whitman. The rooms are reasonably priced, the restaurant good, but the bar and the bar food there is fantastic! There are also several other good restaurants in town. One can stay VERY BUSY over three days wine tasting and eating.

As for staying in the Seattle region, there are many spectacular hotels here, including:
Fairmont Olympic, The Four Seasons, The Edgewater Hotel, then the three Kimptons: Hotel Vintage Park, Hotel Monaco and the Alexis... plus the Sorrento, the W Hotel, and one of my personal favorites, Inn at the Market.

The food in Seattle is SPECTACULAR. You can eat some really fantastic meals for not too much money...The list is too long to write up now, but if you decide to come out, send me a messsage and I'll prepare you a list.

You can get away with not having a car for two or so days to do Seattle, but if you want to explore the islands, it does help to have a rental car to go between them.... unless you book tickets on one of the seaplanes going out of Lake Union up to the islands... this is a fun way to travel to spend a night in a sweet B&B on one of the islands.

Check out the concerts at Chateau St. Michelle winery. There is a wonderful line up for this summer... you can do a picnic and purchase the wines out there and really have a wonderful evening. You will need a car for this - the winery is about a 20-30 minute drive from downtown.

When you decide more on what you want to do for the long weekend, I'll be happy to provide more specific details geared towards your wants.

cmdavilacli

[CMDAVILACLI]

FYI, Negallag, the Willows Lodge is really out in the middle of nowhere- a good 45 minutes from downtown Seattle. There is a bike trail right there if you are into biking, but there isn't too much to see around that area. The Willows is lovely, and the Herb Farm is TRULY AMAZING!!!! But be prepared to drive close to 1 hour into Seattle and 1 hour back to the Willows lodge to go downtown... kind of a drag is you want to do dinner in Seattle.
cmdavilacli

[ngallag]

Thanks everyone for the advice! I am busily planning for my conference and the trip to Washington! I will definitely let you know how it goes.

Ngallag

[ngallag]

Recently got back from my conference in Seattle--what a gorgeous and interesting city! I ended up staying at the Paramount Hotel next to the Convention Center (the conference hotel and therefore the only place my employer would reimburse me for unfortunately) which was nice but your basic convention center hotel. I loved being able to walk every day down Pike or Pine to the Market. Living in Houston, nothing is in walking distance so it was nice being able to shop and walk back to my hotel.



Although I didn't stay at a LL property this time, I did see The Inn at the Market--looks beautiful and primo location right at the Market (and will probably stay there for my next trip) as well as Salish Lodge (we went to see Snoqualmie Falls). Both were beautiful properties and the staff at the Salish Lodge was very kind. Iended up buying a LLpackage to Victoria (Brentwood Bay Lodge) when I got back; I loved the Pacific Northwest so much!! Can't wait to go back and try some of the LL places!

[shygirl724]

I saw this video on our local news site of Snoqualmie Falls. It is very cold here at the moment, and the waterfall spray is freezing to the rocks, givng the illussion that the falls are "frozen". The building you see at the top of the falls is the beautiful Salish Lodge, which is a LL property.

http://www.king5.com/video/featured-...-79016537.html

Shy ~

Message Edited by shygirl724 on 12-11-2009 07:50 AM

[shygirl724]

"Experience Washington" is running a drawing for various WA vacations through April, 2010. Very easy to enter online. Just follow the link to the information and enter. http://www.experiencewa.com/experien...-giveaway.aspx

Shy ~