Seattle Among Best Cities You Can Visit

Sun., Oct. 10, 1999

Beverly Vorpahl Staff writer

Wow! That city where it rains a lot - it’s to the west of us, you know, Seattle - has been ranked as the fifth best city to visit in the continental United States and Canada - and the 15th best city in the world.

Now that’s saying something.

We’re sharing a corner of the world with one of the best.

Travel & Leisure Magazine did the ranking in its September issue.

If you want to see for yourself what the hullabaloo is all about, consider the following:

Two distinct flavors from around the globe that we seldom see here are the Arab Festival on Oct. 16-17 and the Hmong New Year Celebration Nov. 6.

There will be live music and historical displays at the Arabian event, and exquisite costumes, performances and needle work at the Laotion Hmong community’s gathering.

Seattle Center hosts 14 international events each year. For more information, call (206) 684-7200, or visit the center’s Web site at www.seattlecenter.com.

“Seattle’s Finest” have their own museum - the largest police museum in the West. Visitors can relive the taming of Seattle through historical law enforcement exhibits. You can learn of infamous characters through the years and view intriguing artifacts. Your kids can participate in an interactive area just for them. There are stories of past and present efforts to keep peace in the Emerald City.

The museum - open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday - is in Seattle’s colorful and quaint Pioneer Square neighborhood at 317 Third Ave. South. Admission is $3 for adults and $1.50 for children under 12.

Call (206) 748-9991 for more info.

Gavin’s Table in the Four Seasons Olympic’s Georgian Room combines food and art in what’s said to be one of the city’s most extraordinary dining experiences.

A special table is set in the newly transformed office of the restaurant’s executive chef, Gavin Stephenson. A three-wall mural painted by Seattle artist Greg Kalamar surrounds guests as they dine.

And, the private dining room allows guests to watch and interact (ever get tired of that word?) with the chef as he prepares their meal.

You can reserve Gavin’s Table for a party of no more than six. For reservations or more information, call (206) 621-7889.

Looking ahead, the Seattle Super Saver Package will again offer up to 50-percent discounts this winter on rooms ranging from luxury hotels to value inns.

Call Seattle Super Saver November through March at (800) 535-7071. The reservation line is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Seattle Art Museum’s current exhibit features some 250 photographs by American photographers taken from 1890 to the present. It includes examples of work by virtually every well-known American photographer of the last century, as well as pictures taken by talented but overlooked, almost anonymous photographers.

“An American Century of Photography: From Dry Plate to Digital, The Hallmark Photographic Collection” is a traveling exhibit that began in Washington, D.C. It will be at SAM, 100 University St., through Jan. 9. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, with extended hours until 9 p.m. on Thursdays. Cost is $7 for adults and $5 for students and seniors.

In another country

BC Ferries, which calls at 46 ports along the British Columbia coastline, has put together a “value season package” for its scenic Inside Passage sailing.

Good through Oct. 20, the packages are priced from $168 per person U.S. funds, based on double occupancy. The package includes one-way ferry travel for car and two adults as well as two nights’ accommodations at a number of hotels and bed-and-breakfast inns.

That price reflects a 20 percent discount on the ferry and up to a 50 percent discount on the accommodations.

Queen of the North, BC Ferries’ flagship liner, leaves on alternate days for the 15-hour daylight passage between Port Hardy and Prince Rubert.

Eagles, whales and leaping porpoises are common sights on the journey through calm inlets, evergreen-covered islands and majestic coastal mountains. And I’ll bet the scenery is gorgeous that time of the year.

Accommodations are available in numerous towns, including Port Hardy, Prince Rubert and Prince George.

To book your passage, call (800) 435-5622 - or your favorite travel agent.

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