Portland/Seattle with kids
May 29th, 2003, 01:41 PM
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Portland/Seattle with kids
I have tried searching for info on the board about these two cities with small children (4 and 7). But haven't found much. Aside from the big attractions is there anything you have done with your families that had been a lot of fun? Also, what would be good, reasonable, family restaurants in each city. Thank you for any help you can give us. (We will be in the area the first two weeks of July.)
May 29th, 2003, 02:15 PM
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In Portland, OMSI is great fun!! The Portland Zoo is also pretty good and should be fun for both kids. In the Pacific Northwest, Izzy's is a good family restaurant (it is a chain restaurant--pizza and buffet).
May 29th, 2003, 09:15 PM
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We were in Portland for about five days one summer when two of our kids were very young, around 2 and 4. This was a while ago. They adored the discovery room at the science museum and we could have stayed there for hours. We also enjoyed the zoo --- it was more pleasant and less crowded than our home zoo in Los Angeles. We dragged the kids to a number of wonderful bookstores, including that huge one which is supposedly the world's largest. Sorry I'm blanking on the name. All in all, I remember having a very nice time. I wish I could remember more of the specifics of our trip, but I just wanted to second the recommendations of the previous reply. And I do remember finding the city family-friendly. Plus we had fabulous weather --- not a drop of rain!
May 29th, 2003, 10:41 PM
#4
Several ideas in the Seattle area -
The Seattle zoo is one of the best in the country, with plenty of things for your kids to see and do. http://www.zoo.org/
Go to the Hiram Chittenden Locks on the Lake Washington Ship Canal and watch big boats going up and down through the big locks between the salt and the fresh water, then toodle over the bridge to the underwater viewing windows to watch salmon jumping up the fish ladders en route to the hereafter (as they spawn in the rivers above Lake Washington.)
The Pike Market is dandy for kids, ferry rides, and all the usual things.
The Seattle Children's Museum, http://www.thechildrensmuseum.org at Seattle Center is very good, and in general there's plenty to amuse the kids around Seattle Center - fun fair, children's theater, monorail, and above all the Pacific Science Center, Seattle's counterpoint to OMSI. http://www.pacsci.org/
You can rent rowboats or sailboats on Lake Union and paddle around the houseboats, or paddleboats on Green Lake in N. Seattle.
The first part of August is Seafair, a big 2-week long fair with parades, pirates, hydroplane races on Lake Union, the Blue Angels, and other assorted mayhem.
As far as restaurants go, there are so many it's hard to name just a few. Lots of okay-to-good places on the waterfront (fish and chips etc.) or in the market. The usual chains are present, as well as a few unusual opportunities - how about hot dogs eaten on a ferryboat as is cruises across Puget Sound? Or a big (really, really big) breakfast at the Salish Lodge with Snoqualmie Falls outside the window ($$$). Take them to a family restaurant in the International District/Chinatown and introduce them to dim sum, delivered on carts to the tables. Lots of choice.
The Seattle zoo is one of the best in the country, with plenty of things for your kids to see and do. http://www.zoo.org/
Go to the Hiram Chittenden Locks on the Lake Washington Ship Canal and watch big boats going up and down through the big locks between the salt and the fresh water, then toodle over the bridge to the underwater viewing windows to watch salmon jumping up the fish ladders en route to the hereafter (as they spawn in the rivers above Lake Washington.)
The Pike Market is dandy for kids, ferry rides, and all the usual things.
The Seattle Children's Museum, http://www.thechildrensmuseum.org at Seattle Center is very good, and in general there's plenty to amuse the kids around Seattle Center - fun fair, children's theater, monorail, and above all the Pacific Science Center, Seattle's counterpoint to OMSI. http://www.pacsci.org/
You can rent rowboats or sailboats on Lake Union and paddle around the houseboats, or paddleboats on Green Lake in N. Seattle.
The first part of August is Seafair, a big 2-week long fair with parades, pirates, hydroplane races on Lake Union, the Blue Angels, and other assorted mayhem.
As far as restaurants go, there are so many it's hard to name just a few. Lots of okay-to-good places on the waterfront (fish and chips etc.) or in the market. The usual chains are present, as well as a few unusual opportunities - how about hot dogs eaten on a ferryboat as is cruises across Puget Sound? Or a big (really, really big) breakfast at the Salish Lodge with Snoqualmie Falls outside the window ($$$). Take them to a family restaurant in the International District/Chinatown and introduce them to dim sum, delivered on carts to the tables. Lots of choice.
May 30th, 2003, 09:56 AM
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The Pacific Science Center in Seattle is great for both kids and adults. It's in Seattle center, the same place as the Space Needle.
South of Seattle in Tacoma, there is the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. It features animals and fish of the Pacific Rim. There is alot to do around the zoo as well. Point Defiance Park at the entrance of the zoo features a pond and rose garden. Owens beach is just a drive down the hill. There is a senic drive around the area, with lots of easy hiking trails.
Tacoma also has a children's museum, as well as the Washington State History Muesum.
A day trip to Mt. Rainer is always fun. Paridise has a visitor's center, and Elbe has a senic train ride. Across the street from the train is Scaleburgers. A hamburger stand with wonderful food.
Red Robin is a fun family dining resturant, featuring gormet burgers. My husband and I eat there 1-2 times a month.
For great Chinese try Pe King Wok in Federal Way (half way between Tacoma and Seattle).
South of Seattle in Tacoma, there is the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. It features animals and fish of the Pacific Rim. There is alot to do around the zoo as well. Point Defiance Park at the entrance of the zoo features a pond and rose garden. Owens beach is just a drive down the hill. There is a senic drive around the area, with lots of easy hiking trails.
Tacoma also has a children's museum, as well as the Washington State History Muesum.
A day trip to Mt. Rainer is always fun. Paridise has a visitor's center, and Elbe has a senic train ride. Across the street from the train is Scaleburgers. A hamburger stand with wonderful food.
Red Robin is a fun family dining resturant, featuring gormet burgers. My husband and I eat there 1-2 times a month.
For great Chinese try Pe King Wok in Federal Way (half way between Tacoma and Seattle).
May 30th, 2003, 12:10 PM
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Thank you for the advice...If anyone has any more restaurant advice that is "non-chain" related that would be great also.
Has anyone done the Argosy harbor cruise in Seattle? Is is worth it?
Thanks again!
-D
Has anyone done the Argosy harbor cruise in Seattle? Is is worth it?
Thanks again!
-D
May 30th, 2003, 01:19 PM
#7
Okay, independent restaurants good for families with kids (Seattle) -
Ivar's Acres of Clams, on the central waterfront. The oldest and not the best, but certainly the most kid-friendly of the waterfront seafood places. It's really not that bad if you don't mind the shrimp-basket approach to seafood (although the fresh fish can be great.) Lots of fun things for kids to look at in the lobby and on the walls, plus numerous seagulls outside the windows.
Ivar's Salmon House, on the north end of Lake Union. Fabulous view of downtown, again, not the best but not the worst food, plenty of totem pole kitsch. The take-away bar out front (tables and benches on the waterfront below the restaurant windows) is really better value.
Red Robin, mentioned above, is now a west coast chain (original still open opposite the University Bridge near the university, now headquartered in Denver.) The original is still the best, but it's more a tavern than a kid's place. The shopping mall branches are fine, though.
The Old Spaghetti Factory maintains a branch across from Pier 70 on the central waterfront. Ride there on the waterfront trolly from the Pike Market or Pioneer Square. (Also a chain but the essence of kid-friendly.) Oh, and the Cheesecake Factory has a couple of branches in the Seattle area, too, for meals that would feed a Somali family for a year.
More fish, but good, Chinooks at Fishermen's Terminal near the locks - quite good food (esp. breakfast) in a big, noisy room with the biggest fishing fleet on the west coast moored outside the window - good for pre- or after-dinner strolling.
Burgermaster, several branches, but the ones at 100th and Aurora in Seattle and near the SR 520 - I-405 junction in Bellevue offering carhops and decent burgers and shakes delivered to your half-open car windows.
Athenian Inn in the Pike Market - okay food, ultra funky "old Seattle" setting, great views of ferries and old guys at the bar who've been drinking beer there since hops were invented; as seen in "Sleepless in Seattle" and other movies. Lowell's cafe next door has the same views, better breakfasts, but no Bloody Marys.
Two "food courts" of mention - the first in Center House in Seattle Center (location of children's museum) - one of the original "food circuses" in the country; the second much newer inside Uwajimaya Village, a wonderful pan-Asian (mainly Japanese) grocery/department store in the International District. Several good kid-friendly food stalls (killer Chinese bakery among them) then take the kids to stare at the amazing live fish section of the market, or treat yourselves to a tour through the city's most outrageous produce section. This is an outing everyone visiting Seattle ought to make IMO.
Out of breath... want more?
Ivar's Acres of Clams, on the central waterfront. The oldest and not the best, but certainly the most kid-friendly of the waterfront seafood places. It's really not that bad if you don't mind the shrimp-basket approach to seafood (although the fresh fish can be great.) Lots of fun things for kids to look at in the lobby and on the walls, plus numerous seagulls outside the windows.
Ivar's Salmon House, on the north end of Lake Union. Fabulous view of downtown, again, not the best but not the worst food, plenty of totem pole kitsch. The take-away bar out front (tables and benches on the waterfront below the restaurant windows) is really better value.
Red Robin, mentioned above, is now a west coast chain (original still open opposite the University Bridge near the university, now headquartered in Denver.) The original is still the best, but it's more a tavern than a kid's place. The shopping mall branches are fine, though.
The Old Spaghetti Factory maintains a branch across from Pier 70 on the central waterfront. Ride there on the waterfront trolly from the Pike Market or Pioneer Square. (Also a chain but the essence of kid-friendly.) Oh, and the Cheesecake Factory has a couple of branches in the Seattle area, too, for meals that would feed a Somali family for a year.
More fish, but good, Chinooks at Fishermen's Terminal near the locks - quite good food (esp. breakfast) in a big, noisy room with the biggest fishing fleet on the west coast moored outside the window - good for pre- or after-dinner strolling.
Burgermaster, several branches, but the ones at 100th and Aurora in Seattle and near the SR 520 - I-405 junction in Bellevue offering carhops and decent burgers and shakes delivered to your half-open car windows.
Athenian Inn in the Pike Market - okay food, ultra funky "old Seattle" setting, great views of ferries and old guys at the bar who've been drinking beer there since hops were invented; as seen in "Sleepless in Seattle" and other movies. Lowell's cafe next door has the same views, better breakfasts, but no Bloody Marys.
Two "food courts" of mention - the first in Center House in Seattle Center (location of children's museum) - one of the original "food circuses" in the country; the second much newer inside Uwajimaya Village, a wonderful pan-Asian (mainly Japanese) grocery/department store in the International District. Several good kid-friendly food stalls (killer Chinese bakery among them) then take the kids to stare at the amazing live fish section of the market, or treat yourselves to a tour through the city's most outrageous produce section. This is an outing everyone visiting Seattle ought to make IMO.
Out of breath... want more?
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May 30th, 2003, 02:01 PM
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The deafening silence from Portlanders is probably because there are few good non-chain family restaurants that come to mind. My thought was Dan & Louie's Oyster Bar. Not because the food's great, or that it's geared to families, just that my wife says she loved going there as a kid.
Or you might try a place like Gustav's/Der Rheinlander, a "german" restaurant with strolling accordian players. It's an institution around here, started years ago by a well respected local chef/restaurateur. You know the place; sing happy birthday in german, yodel, and make believe you're somewhere in central europe. Actually kind of fun, maybe even for the kids.
In the SW Portland 'burbs there's Cucina Cucina, a level-above Olive Garden italian place that I think you and your kids would enjoy. Nothing distinctive here, but my 15 and 10 year-olds still enjoy doodling on the paper table cloths with the provided crayons. I should say it too is one of a chain, but it's small NW one.
Or you might try a place like Gustav's/Der Rheinlander, a "german" restaurant with strolling accordian players. It's an institution around here, started years ago by a well respected local chef/restaurateur. You know the place; sing happy birthday in german, yodel, and make believe you're somewhere in central europe. Actually kind of fun, maybe even for the kids.
In the SW Portland 'burbs there's Cucina Cucina, a level-above Olive Garden italian place that I think you and your kids would enjoy. Nothing distinctive here, but my 15 and 10 year-olds still enjoy doodling on the paper table cloths with the provided crayons. I should say it too is one of a chain, but it's small NW one.
Jun 12th, 2003, 09:38 AM
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Portland with kids -
Activities:
*OMSI would be fabulous for both the 4 and 7 year old.
*The Children's Museum (if you could go on a weekday, weekends are very crowded)
*The Zoo and Washington Park are fun
*There are a couple different farmers markets around the city on Saturdays that are fun to go to with kids
*Ride the MAX train downtown Portland
*Stop by Lloyd Shopping Center in NE and take the kids ice skating in the indoor rink and then do some shopping
Restaurants
With exception of the "upscale" dining restaurants your kids will be fine. Portland is a very laid back city
Beaches Restaurant is a fun one and good food too
Elephants Deli in NW Portland is a GREAT stop for picnic supplies for a fun day up the hill at the zoo or Washington Park
Rustica is a cute little Italian restaurant in NE that has good food especially for mom and dad and kids would be welcome
The earlier suggestion of Cucina Cucina is a good one I think especially with your kids
Hope you have a fun trip!
Activities:
*OMSI would be fabulous for both the 4 and 7 year old.
*The Children's Museum (if you could go on a weekday, weekends are very crowded)
*The Zoo and Washington Park are fun
*There are a couple different farmers markets around the city on Saturdays that are fun to go to with kids
*Ride the MAX train downtown Portland
*Stop by Lloyd Shopping Center in NE and take the kids ice skating in the indoor rink and then do some shopping
Restaurants
With exception of the "upscale" dining restaurants your kids will be fine. Portland is a very laid back city
Beaches Restaurant is a fun one and good food too
Elephants Deli in NW Portland is a GREAT stop for picnic supplies for a fun day up the hill at the zoo or Washington Park
Rustica is a cute little Italian restaurant in NE that has good food especially for mom and dad and kids would be welcome
The earlier suggestion of Cucina Cucina is a good one I think especially with your kids
Hope you have a fun trip!
Jun 12th, 2003, 11:36 AM
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We had a great time with 8yr, 6yr and infant kids last summer in Seattle. others have mentioned the Science Museum/Center (!!), the Space Needle (my kids liked going up, but were quickly bored), the rides and carnival atmosphere at the base, the IMAX theater but has no one mentioned the Experience Music Project? My kids LOVED that rock and roll museum! They also enjoyed riding the monorail, (big candy store at one station - be warned). We took the ferry to Victoria for the weekend which is extremely kid friendly with most hotels having pools.
Jun 12th, 2003, 03:22 PM
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Sorry no restaurant stuff, don't live in Portland. Reiterate OMSI is great for kids. There are also some jet boat rides the kids would probably enjoy that leave from OMSI. Have heard good things about the children's museum up by the zoo. The Saturday Market is fun - arts/crafts shopping but there are people to watch and usually clowns or street shows. MAX is also very fun to ride for kids without that type of thing at home.
For outdoors there is a great play area at Washington Park, I think it is below the Japanese Garden. Anyone have better instructions? Timberline on Mt. Hood also has some things to do though I haven't been (yet) so can't say if it is age appropriate.
Powell's is the bookstore and it is pretty great. Portland is a nice family-friendly city and hopefully it won't rain. If you are in the area for the fourth, Vancouver has the biggest fireworks display west of the Mississippi.
For outdoors there is a great play area at Washington Park, I think it is below the Japanese Garden. Anyone have better instructions? Timberline on Mt. Hood also has some things to do though I haven't been (yet) so can't say if it is age appropriate.
Powell's is the bookstore and it is pretty great. Portland is a nice family-friendly city and hopefully it won't rain. If you are in the area for the fourth, Vancouver has the biggest fireworks display west of the Mississippi.
Jun 12th, 2003, 04:47 PM
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Actually Sara, we ARE going to be there on the 4th...how far away is Vancouver? We were planning on doing the fireworks down at the river at the Blues festival, but maybe we should make the trip to Vancouver?
What would be your advice?
Thanks for the tips!
What would be your advice?
Thanks for the tips!
Jun 12th, 2003, 04:54 PM
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Kinnstaa, I should have scrolle up further the first time to see your message and replied the last time. What kind of food does Beaches have? The Rustica suggestion sounds good, we love Italian!. Thanks for the help.
Mommar, I was wondering was the expense of the Space Needle worth it if your kids got bored? Would you do it again if you could?
We had thought of going to Victoria but we would only be able to do a day trip and th $300 to get us over there didn't seem worth it this time. We would only have 4 hours there based on the ferry schedule. We are now thinking of driving to Vancouver for the day. Do you or anyone else have any thoughts about that? Thanks for the help.
Mommar, I was wondering was the expense of the Space Needle worth it if your kids got bored? Would you do it again if you could?
We had thought of going to Victoria but we would only be able to do a day trip and th $300 to get us over there didn't seem worth it this time. We would only have 4 hours there based on the ferry schedule. We are now thinking of driving to Vancouver for the day. Do you or anyone else have any thoughts about that? Thanks for the help.
Jun 13th, 2003, 08:12 AM
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Debi,
Vancouver is the WA city just across the Columbia River; not far at all. But July 4 fireworks there is very popular with heavy traffic both directions. I think you kids will just as much enjoy the fireworks show at the Blues Festival.
Beaches is a good choice for a family. As the name implies, the menu centers mostly around food one might expect to find/eat at the beach: lots of seafood choices, burgers, salads, pastas, really something for everyone. Although more upscale, to me it has a sort of Red Robbinish feel. Your kids will like the toys they give away.
I've not been to Rustica, but my wife and I had dinner at a neat little italian restaurant named Piazza Italia last weekend. This is the real deal. You'll be greeted at the door by the owner, who speaks very little english. He must have most of his family working for him too, because you'll hear mostly italian from the restaurant staff. It's a lively place, with simply prepared but tasty food, and very reasonably priced, located in the Pearl District.
Vancouver is the WA city just across the Columbia River; not far at all. But July 4 fireworks there is very popular with heavy traffic both directions. I think you kids will just as much enjoy the fireworks show at the Blues Festival.
Beaches is a good choice for a family. As the name implies, the menu centers mostly around food one might expect to find/eat at the beach: lots of seafood choices, burgers, salads, pastas, really something for everyone. Although more upscale, to me it has a sort of Red Robbinish feel. Your kids will like the toys they give away.
I've not been to Rustica, but my wife and I had dinner at a neat little italian restaurant named Piazza Italia last weekend. This is the real deal. You'll be greeted at the door by the owner, who speaks very little english. He must have most of his family working for him too, because you'll hear mostly italian from the restaurant staff. It's a lively place, with simply prepared but tasty food, and very reasonably priced, located in the Pearl District.
