Dear Researchers:

With respect to weather and events, is late April a good time to visit
Seattle?  If not, when is a good time?

Thank you,
Nelson

Nelson --

By late April it will be late springtime in Seattle, the tulip
festivals north of the city in their final weeks:
Skagit Valley Tulip Festival (Apr. 1-30, 2006)
http://www.tulipfestival.org/

It will be in 40's (Fahrenheit) at night and the high 50's or low 60's
during the day.  Chance of rain: about 50% -- vs. 100% this month:
Seattle Monthly Averages and Records
http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/html/weather_averages.htm

It's not a bad time to visit, though the boating season doesn't start
until May.  The driest and warmest months to visit are
July-August-September.

Here's a great page with Virtual Tour pictures of the city and its surroundings:
http://www.vrseattle.com/index.php?lang=en

Don't miss the Woodinville wineries and my favorite restaurant in the
area, The Herb Farm:
http://www.theherbfarm.com/Index2.tmpl?Cart=1137433123138645&width=800&bu=No

If there's something specific that you're interested in, let the
researchers know because there are several of us living in the area.

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

omnivorous-ga, please post as an answer.  Thank you.

Nelson --

There isn't enough here to be a good Google Answer, so perhaps you
could leave it open for other comments (or close it if you'd like).

A couple of other notes for you:
*  The Seattle P-I runs an outdoor life travel section every Thursday
that discusses what there is to do in the northwest:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/getaways/
*  Both the P-I and the Seattle Times run their entertainment sections on Fridays:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/artsentertainment/
*  Seattle Weekly covers the music & entertainment scene a little better:
http://www.seattleweekly.com/
*  Popular music concerts in the area:
http://www.kmtt.com/concertcalendar.asp

Some things that I'd recommend highly:
*  Good factory tours are rare, but Boeing does one at the Everett
plant that's unique in the scale of the products and in it's
informational value
http://www.futureofflight.org/visitUs/planVisit.html
*  A great getaway is to go north to the San Juan Islands.  You can
stop in artistic La Conner or visit the tulip festival sites on the
way, then take the ferry to San Juan Island and Friday Harbor.  The
island has several historic sites and worth an overnight.  (Take
binoculars.)  Many whale-watching tours leave from Friday Harbor but
it's also an excellent island to bike or kayak around.  The single
best book on the islans is Marge & Ted Mueller's "Afoot and Afloat in
the San Juans" --
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0898864348/102-2771936-4911336?v=glance&n=283155
*  Coming back to Seattle from the San Juans, I'd highly recommend
coming south across Whidbey Island.  Deception Pass State Park has
stunning views and Fort Casey State Park (near the Keystone-Port
Townsend ferry) has sweeping views of Puget Sound ship traffic to the
west.  It also has several old coastal gun emplacements:
http://www.parks.wa.gov/parkpage.asp?selectedpark=Fort%20Casey
*  The Mariners will be playing at Safeco Field by then.  But even if
you can't make it to a game, a tour of the facility is fun:
http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/sea/ballpark/safeco_field_tours.jsp
*  Another day trip from Seattle would be to travel south to Mt. St.
Helens.  The quick-and-easy trip is to the visitors centers on the N
side (in the blast zone).  A longer and more-adventurous trip would be
to the south side, where there's substantial recreation area and the
Ape Caves.  It's from the south side that it's possible to climb to
the rim, but recent volcanic activity has shut down the 5,000' ascent:
http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/04mshnvm/attractions/

The area has virtually limitless outdoor activities -- and the city
itself is alive with arts and entertainment.  Again, don't hesitate to
ask about any specifics.

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA

Hi Nelson,

I live in Seattle, I use a cool web site often that I'd like to share
with you. Judy's Book is in many major cities, it's a community of
locals sharing information about their cities, a database of
recommendations and reviews. People ask questions about the best of
this and that, and others give recommendations. Some folks just write
reviews. Some do two or all three.

Here it is:

Judy's Book
http://members.judysbook.com/

Here's the most recent 'Popular Categories,' this list changes with
popularity. Some of these might be useful to you during your stay.
There are many others.

Restaurants
Beauty Salons
Movie Theaters
Grocery Stores
Books
Doctors
DVDs & Videos
Books
Dentists
Bakeries

They call it "Your Friend's Yellow Pages", and it's true. They are in
many cities it's like being able call a friend with "Hey, I'm going to
be in Seattle in April, staying in [insert neighborhood/area] and I'd
like to know of great restuarants nearby." You'll get suggestions from
satisfied --and in many cases, very happy customers of businesses
right near where you will be!

After you register --and enter your zip code, you can click on the map
in the lower right corner of the home page and a Google Map pops up
with a long scrollable list of these suggestions on the right side
--and corresponding numbered markers on the map showing where
everything on the list is.

Judy's Map
http://maps.judysbook.com/

If you want to use this, let me know where you're staying and I'll
give you the zip code so you can ask questions for your specific trip.

You've received some great comments about what to expect in Seattle,
and links to events no matter when you decide to visit. I hope this
helps you enjoy your stay. Be absolutely sure to get some specialty
coffee. It'd hard to miss it, there's almost literally a coffee stand
on every corner. Coffee is big here. We read a lot of books and buy
more sunglasses per capita than any other city in the nation. Why? The
sun breaks through so seldom (except in summer) that you don't know
where they are the next time you need them . . .

Seriously, it's beautiful here, you'll love it!

~~Cynthia

On my post above, I linked to the members area, I was logged in at the time!  

First time users please use this link for Judy's Book.

Judy's Book
http://www.judysbook.com

Remember, Judy's Book is all over the country, not just Seattle, so
anyone can click the link to find out if Judy's Book is in their city!

Thanks, and enjoy your trip to Seattle...