I'm going to be traveling to Washington state for a week in July with the fam for my nephews Baptism (in Bothel) and family vacation.

I would love to get some places that I should not miss while out there...stores, food, fun, and site seeing, children friendly locals as well....Any suggestions?

Also, my in-laws moved there a little while ago and are looking for areas with the best school systems (I have heard that Bellevue is that best regarding grade point averages).

Also for housing, what are the best areas for views of water as well as leisurely stroll to downtown life/culture?

Well there's Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens. There are the San Juan's and the Olympic Peninsula.
In Seattle go to Dick's for a hamburger and fries. Go to Mr. Gyro on 85th and Greenwood for (duh) a gyro. Go to Ezell's for fried chicken and sweet potato pie. Go check out the Fremont Troll under the north end of the Aurora Bridge. The EMP/Sci-Fi Museum might be fun if you have kids in tow. I felt that it was over-hyped, but I liked looking at the building. There's a decent aquarium. Rent kayaks or canoes on Lake Washington.
Fremont is a great area to live - you can walk down to the ship canal quickly, and a short bike ride away is Gas Works Park on Lake Union (I love this park!). West Seattle is pretty fantastic...head down to Alki Beach and you can look across the bay to DT Seattle. Madison is nice...close to the arboretum. Georgetown is still kinda gritty and fun...not glossy like the rest of Seattle, but not really close to all of the water.

Be sure to get into Seattle proper since you will be in Bothell - pretty much generic suburbia, as is most of the east side (East of Lake Washington).

Kid friendly stuff in Seattle: The aquarium, Pike place Market, Science Center are all relatively close. The kids will also enjoy riding the monorail from downtown to Seattle Center (where the Science Center is [as well as Space Needle]). Pretty touristy stuff, but kids like it. Avoid paying to get into EMP (by the space needle). It's a cool Gehry building, but it feels like storage for Paul Allen's Ebay shit. (You can go into some public areas fpr free, though.) The kids (and you) would like the zoo, but it is up in the Greenwood neighborhood.

And Dick's is meh, go to Red Mill. (Actually, if you go to the zoo, take your kids to the Ivar's in Wallingford. You can buy Fish & Chips at the outside counter & carry your food around the corner and eat on their floating barge. Good urban lake view there.) And if you want a kid friendly, sit down NW style seafood restaurant, Chinook's at the Fisherman's Terminal off the Ballard Bridge is pretty good. While waiting for a table or after dinner, your kids can see all the boats.

Mt. St. Helens is a great day trip. Truly humbling. Mt. Rainier is awsome, but I always go camping for 2 or more days. It's a BIG park that requires more than one day (and getting off the road).

Red Mill is also great, but completely different. I wouldn't even compare Dick's and Red Mill because they fulfill different cravings. Dick's is like a McDonald's cheeseburger, but made out of real food products, and Red Mill is a more traditional, all-the-fixins burger.

Another difference: you can get your burger at Dick's in 2 minutes but with the ever present line at Red Mill, it may take 30 - 40 minutes. (I always phone 'take out' ahead)

you guys pretty much covered it all the only thing i would say is snoqualami falls. if you went out there you could go to roslyns cafe if you were into the show northern exposure.

I had fun at Seattle Pike Place Market - the trowing of fish thing
is cool. Totem sigthing was my priority around town.

Charles Krafft tolded me to visit his studio but I think he though I was a woman

Take a day or two to Vancouver, it's less than 2 hours away.

The Roslyn Cafe is in Roslyn (N. of Cle Elum). I think you are thinking about what used to be the Mar-T Diner in North Bend (used in Twin Peaks). That's close to the falls. New owners though, can't remember the new name.

oh snap thats right.

Ha! Yeah, I use to live about 5 minutes away from Red Mill and would always call in my order...their wait is ridiculous! Man, I'm hungry! There's a whole lotta places in Seattle I miss eating at. But when I was in Seattle I'd say the same about Portland. My favorite pizza ever is here in Portland, but there is way better delivery pizza in Seattle...we've got nothing like Pagliacci's. Luckily Sparky's is only a 5> minute drive for an $8 large pizza.

Thanks for the excellent tips...so far got:

Food
- Eat at Red Mill if your stomach is not eating your spine when you arrive
- Eat at Dick's if your stomach is eating your spine
- Pagliacci's for Pizza
- Mr Gyro
- Ezell's (Ummmmm Sweet Potato Pie)
- Ivar's
- Chinook's

Outings
- Seattle Pike's Place Market
- Vancouver.....Do kid's need passports?
- Snoqualami Falls
- Aquarium (I believe we will be doing this on the first Saturday)
- Science Center/Space Needle
- Mt St Helen's /Mt Rainer
- Zoo
- Fremont Troll ?

How about shopping...toys, clothing, used CD shops?

Hang it up on shopping. You live in the Bay Area - you have everything Seattle has to offer & more. Aside from an occasional find in the International District, the only toys in Seattle are the KR kind.

Places to eat...

Paseo - Caribbean style place. Their pulled pork sandwich is the best I've ever had. This is the place I recommend to everyone.

Lunchbox Laboratory - If you're craving a burger, GO HERE. So many different combinations for burgers. Their name says it all..It's what you'd expect if a mad scientist started a burger company. They even serve the milkshakes in a scientific beaker and there is a good 20 different milkshake flavors too. Just type their name into Flickr and look at all the delicious looking burgers that pop up. Place rules so hard.

Some other places to check out if you're still hungry..

Tat's Deli
Salumi
Rancho Bravo


You could pretty much skip Dick's. I'm baffled as to why people still go there because their hamburgers are smaller than something you'd find on a typical fast food value menu and at a higher cost. Oh, and they won't let you modify the ingredients on whatever you get because all the burgers are all made before anyone places an order. Wasn't too impressed on Redmill burgers either. Patties seem like they're all pre-made and the fries weren't anything special. I think the only reason Redmill is so popular is because they were featured on "Man vs Food".

Scratch Pagliacci - it's good, but not something I'd recommend to someone on a short visit. Basically I was just bemoaning the fact that Portland doesn't have a good delivery joint like Pag in Seattle.
And regarding Dick's - to each their own...I described why I like it earlier. And while the burgers are pre-made, they fly out of the window so fast they don't have time to get old. And I love Dick's fries too...typically I don't like that style, but somehow Dick's makes them delicious.

Yes, Lunchbox Laboratory is great. Unusual but delicious blends of meats (ie veal, lamb, 'dork' - duck & pork) and a variety of real cheeses - but you end up plunking down about $15 (or more if you get a shake). Definitely worth going to as a splurge, but pricey if you are on a budget. (Fantastic sweet potato fries, too.)

And, sorry, Red Mill is good - never knew it was on TV. But I agree w/ you about Dick's.

And to you Seattle-ites, try the Taco truck on the west side of Rainier, about a 1/4 mile south of where MLK & Rainier merge. Best pork tacos in town and only $1.25 ea! (Other stuff is so-so.)
Another great cheap place is Seattle Deli for Vietnamese sandwiches (on west side of 12th, just north of Jackson.)
Also, the deck at Aqua Verde on nice summer evenings can't be beat (near UW Med Center on the ship cut canal). Good food & drinks.

Marsh's Free Museum is a fun roadside attraction in Long Beach.
They've got Jake, a half man half alligator fiji mermaid sort of thing.

That's all I've done in WA, maybe one day I'll make it up to Seattle. Portland's pretty cool too

not worth a special visit, but isn't Kick's Hobby still around in Seattle?

I guess so, as it is required for ours when we go down since last year.

Frye Art Museum was also great - when I went, they were showing Laibach/NSK stuff.

yes, you definitely need a passport to get into Canada

Not as much to get in Canada as opposed to getting back in the U.S.

Is this kinda like a Man Eating Chicken sort of thing?

Where you walk into a dark room after paying 5 bucks and find out that it is really just a man eating a chicken?

haha, that's brilliant. This is free, it's pretty much a souvenir shop with a few oddities around the store.

Agreed !!

Lunchbox Laboratory rules,Paseo rules,
My favorite mexican is Senor Moose.