Northwest Fun

If you're coming to Seattle from somewhere else, then once you're here, stay awhile! It takes several days to really learn Seattle, and it's well worth it. From the Space Needle up north to the Kingdome Safeco Field to the south, with Pike Place Market and the International District in the middle, downtown is not to be missed. Pioneer Square is the historic heart of Seattle. Sunday, June 30 (yes, the same day as our ceremony!), the Seattle Pride Parade marches through the heart of Capitol Hill and ends up in Volunteer Park. There's Wallingford, our 'hood. Fremont is The Center of the Universe. You could visit Mala's Alma Mater and Vega's current place of employment, the University of Washington. We could go on and on, but you get the picture.

Here are some "must-do" suggestions while you're here (courtesy of Mike) -- and if you have any questions about what any of these mean, you're gonna have to email us:

• Visit the troll under the bridge
• Visit the Boeing Surplus Warehouse
• Visit IKEA
• Dance the dance steps on the side walks on Broadway
• Visit Archie McPhees
• Museum of Flight
• Gargoyle store (in the U-District)
• The Seattle Underground Tour
• Observation deck of the Columbia Tower (that's what we locals call it; the official but unappealing name is Bank of America Building)

And as if Seattle weren't enough, we now offer you Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Baker, the Olympic Peninsula (home of the Olympic Mountains and the Hoh Rainforest), the San Juan Islands, Vancouver BC, Victoria BC, Portland, the Grand Coulee Dam (if human-made wonders are more your style). Surely this merits a stay of at least a week.

And now, more suggestions from Mike:

• Maryhill Museum (which used to be Sam and Mary Hill's home)
• Stonehenge (Sam Hill built this life-size replica, very near the Maryhill Museum)

We have created an annotated list of some hotels/motels in the area. Please note that this is a limited, not comprehensive, listing of our suggestions.

OUR SUGGESTED HOTEL LIST

We want you to enjoy your stay here. Please consider what you're looking for in an accommodation. For example, would you rather have a restaurant in the hotel, or would you rather have access to a microwave/fridge/kitchenette, etc.

We have not looked into bed-and-breakfasts or small inns. If you find something on the internet that looks appealing to you, we'd be happy to investigate it for you (give us enough advance time, though!).

Several of our friends have generously offered to provide accommodations for out-of-town guests in need of cheap sleeps. Contact us at vegamala@yahoo.com if you would like to find out more about this option.

These are some web pages that you might find useful in searching for a hotel in the area:
http://seattle.yahoo.com/external/fodors/lodging.html
http://atseattlehotels.com/
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g60878-Seattle_Washington-Vacations.html
http://www.travel-in-wa.com
http://www.seattle.hotelshotels.com/home/
http://www.ohwy.com/wa/gds/gds00001.htm

Generic web pages on which you may be able to find inexpensive room rates include:
http://www.travelocity.com
http://www.hoteldiscounts.com
http://www.priceline.com