Looking for something different? Here are a few suggestions for gaining a slightly off-center view of Seattle and its environs:
Bill Speidel`s Underground Tour: Boomtown Seattle had its problems. By 1887, the 25,000-population city slogged through muddy streets (reportedly, one pioneer child drowned in a giant pothole). And backed-up sewers erupted into household toilets on high tide.
So when a large portion of downtown Seattle burned to the ground in 1889, locals voted to raise the city 35 feet. Shops below stayed open for a while, but the city moved ”upstairs” permanently after the bubonic plague scare in 1907.
The whole mess was discovered by local publisher and writer Bill Speidel, whose irreverent tour has become the cheapest standup-comedy routine in town. For 90 minutes, the tour climbs up, down and through the rubble (totally unrestored, complete with rats).
The tours run several times a day from Doc Maynard`s Public House (a marvelously preserved turn-of-the-century saloon in the Pioneer Building, 610 1st Ave.) on a varying schedule. Rates: adults, 18 to 59, $4; seniors (over 60, $2.75); students 13 to 17 or with current college identification card, $2.75; kids 6 to 12, $2; under 6, free. Reservations are recommended;
telephone 206-682-1511.
Seattle City Light: You might not think visiting a city`s power plant would be interesting, but, then, maybe you`ve never seen Seattle`s power plant.
It`s 140 miles from the city, in Diablo, Wash., meaning you`ll need a rental car or a bus-tour ticket. The drive takes you into the North Cascade Mountains, past the vast tulip-farming areas of Skagit County.
The project was one of those mammoth engineering efforts of the 1920s, resulting in three stair-stepping lakes, dams and powerhouses.
The powerhouse tour starts with a ride 560 feet up Sourdough Mountain, on an incline railway. Then you`ll take a boat tour of Diablo Lake, 23 miles of winding water, with the kind of snowcapped mountain vistas you usually see only in movies. On our trip, we spotted a black bear ambling through the purple and white foxglove.
Then it`s into the power plant, with tour explanations you can actually understand. Afterward, you can have dinner in the visitors` center on the power plant grounds: chicken so crisp that the skin cracks, mashed potatoes with creamy gravy and apple pie you`ll write home about.
The 3 1/2-hour tour and dinner costs $21 (children age 6 to 11, $10);
tours begin June 21 and will be conducted three times a day through Aug. 31;
no tours on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The tour alone (no meal, no boat ride) is $5, children 6 to 11 free; these tours begin at 1:45 p.m. every day except Tuesday and Wednesday from July 14 through Aug. 31. Call Seattle City Light for reservations, which are recommended: 206-684-3030.
To get there, take Interstate Highway 5 to Washington Highway 20 at Burlington, then east 70 miles to Diablo. Gray Line of Seattle offers the tour, dinner and round-trip transportation for $55 (children $41). The Gray Line trip runs on a varying schedule in summer; for details, call
800-426-7532.
MV Challenger: Undoubtedly the most unusual bed-and-breakfast in town, the MV Challenger is a tugboat moored at the south end of Lake Union, near downtown. It`s within walking distance of Seattle Center, with a view of the skyline. The interior walls of the boat are papered in nautical charts and trimmed with oak. The ceiling is tongue-and-groove pine, and there are brass fittings everywhere. It`s like staying on a yacht, only you don`t go anywhere. The boat accommodates a maximum of 14. Prices per room range from $50 (shared bunkroom; bathroom is down the hall) to $120 (upper level stateroom, with tub and patio). Children are accepted.
Breakfast consists of crab omelets, bacon and sausage and a compote of fresh fruit.
MV Challenger, 809 Fairview Place North, Seattle, Wash. 98109;
206-340-1201.
Salmon Days: If you`re interested in catching the sights of early fall, head for the town of Issaquah, about 20 miles west of Seattle on Interstate Highway 90. The salmon run mid-September through late October, and they`re thick at Issaquah Creek.
Issaquah holds Salmon Days (Oct. 6 and 7) with a salmon bake, parade, 450 crafts booths and a mammoth food area, with live enertainment. year-round phone: 206-392-0661.
