Seattle Vacations

Romantic times on a clear night with a sliver of a moon ending a perfect day touring a city from breakfast to dinner and topping it off with a fun place such as a theatre gives that romantic feeling for a couple.  Food can be romantic, scenery can be romantic, a sunset can be romantic and on and on.  Chocolate has been called an aphrodisiac and personally, I believe walking into a chocolate store, especially when the chocolate is being made, is quite romantic.  C.J. Johnson describes a romantic time with food in an article she wrote for TravelingToday.Com; "Standing at Pike Place Market on a cool autumn morning I watched the donut batter pop and bubble in the boiling grease. The smell of donuts wafted through the air and warmed my nose. The pastries proceeded through the hot, oily machinery on their way to the serving port. As they came to the end of the line, golden brown and begging for my attention, the woman behind the counter grabbed them and plunged them into sugar and cinnamon."  She sets the stage for her article with the feeling of the cool autumn morning and the smell of the donuts.  Similarly I feel the same way when I walk into Panera Breads for example and smell that fresh baked break but, that may not be a romantic moment.  That is not the point though, the point is knowing how and letting a city romance you. Romancing a city from morning to evening includes breakfast, maybe some early morning shopping, strolling along the city, lunch, maybe some afternoon strolls in a museum or park, dinner and the evening event; but, the evening must end, which means sleep.  Romancing the city and then ending up in a less than romantic hotel does not suit my fancy.  Starting with breakfast in Seattle, the Pike Place Market is where Johnson wrote about the fresh donuts.  Also for breakfast I found two restaurants that peaked my attention: Chanterelle Specialty Foods with their orange cornmeal waffles and the cinnamon-raisin French toast plus the Macrina Bakery & Café for those who are bread, bagel and cobbler lovers.  To walk off the breakfast with a little shopping depends on where you ate.  If you chose eating breakfast at the Pike Place Market place you can conveniently take stroll in their market.  A quick preview can be read at www.pikeplacemarket.org where they offer the bakery, berries, candy, coffee, tea & spices, diary, fresh produce, meats, honey, nuts and on.  Downtown is well known for the two block area of well known high-end stores and morning time may be the best time to slip in and out without joining the crowds.  Walking up an appetite for lunch, keeping mind that you are romancing the city and depending on where you shopped, leaving the ambiance for dinner and focus on something quick small and tasty, try the Red Mill Burgers.  Voted the best burgers in Seattle 10 years in a row and "One of the 20 Hamburgers You Must Eat Before You die" from Oprah Show & GQ Magazine.  (www.redmillburgers.com)  But if you want the relaxing atmosphere, nice ambiance and gourmet food I strongly suggest the Palomino Euro Bistro.  10Best.Com only rated them three-star, which surprised me because the Dallas location I dined at was definitely a five-star and rated so.  Now to continue the day in Seattle, the next venture is shopping or maybe afternoon stroll in a Museum.  If you did not pass through downtown, the shopping area consists of 14 shopping areas all packed with stores.  From Beltown, Capitol Hill, Chinatown and Denny Triangle to Pioneer Square, South Lake Union, Uptown and Waterfront. Anything you want to shop for is there.  Detailed information and store lists is available at www.downtownseattle.com.   But, on the Museum side, walking around after two meals and a couple of hours of shopping, I would settle for a relaxing IMAX sit down at the Pacific Science Center.  Detailed information for that museum is available at www.pacsci.org/default.html.  The romantic day has been eventful with the wonderful gourmet breakfast and the tasty lunch concluding with the IMAX relaxing movie, the fall/ winter sunset should be the icing on top of the cake before you head to your hotel or house to prepare for dinner. To end the evening, I suggest a romantic hotel and dinner close by and it does not get more romantic then returning to your hotel and sitting out on a balcony at the waters edge with a cocktail.  The suggested hotel is the Waterfront  (Edgewater) hotel but, we are giving you a link to all Seattle hotels.  Click here to view the photos inside and out of Seattle hotels and pricing.  If you decide on our hotel selection then you do not have far for dinner at the Six Seven Restaurant & Lounge because it is just downstairs.  The dinner menu will help make up your mind.  Their menu is just one example of our vacation package proposal. Romancing Seattle sounds fun and romantic and I hope that this article put you there.  If you live in Seattle, much I have written here you may know but, for all of you who plan on visiting Seattle, I hope my article put you in romancing Seattle dreamland. 
Topping off the vacation and continuing with a focus on vineyards with this issue of National Park Vacations, we have found some choice tour companies but, if you wish to self tour, we are high lighting some of the vineyards, which are most well known. Before leaving Whidbey Island though, a visit to Whidbey Island Winery is worth the time. You can visit their website at http://www.whidbeyislandwinery.com. They grow their own grapes on Whidbey Island, which has low rain fall but long summer days and cool nights creating a good climate for white grapes. All of their wines made from their grapes at this time are white wines. They produce red wines from grapes grown in the Yakima Valley and include: Cabernet Franc 2007 (Yakima Valley) Syrah 2006, Malbec 2009 and Sangiovese 2008. They won a gold award for their white Roussanne 2008 Horse Heaven Hills and also make a Pinot Grigio and a Chardonnay. The suggested tour company in Seattle is Bon Vivant, www.bonvivanttours.com, which offers scheduled tours on Friday through Sunday and private tours by reservation. The tours offered include: 1. Woodinville Wineries, home to the headquarters estate of Chateau Ste Michelle, who is Washington’s largest and most well known producer of fine wines and has the longest history wine making in the state. 2. A tour of wineries in the city of Seattle 3. Bainbridge Island Day Tour, which includes lunch. Wenatchee Valley day tour and includes visiting vineyards and wineries of the “Bavarian-themed village of Leavenworth. 4. Tour of the wineries from the Yakima city area to Wapato Buena in the western part of the Yakima Valley. More tours are available including privately scheduled tours. See their website for details.
Chateau Ste Michelle should be the top choice for a self tour of wineries and vineyards in Washington. Chateau Ste Michelle has four vineyards and wineries in the state of Washington: Indian Wells Vineyard, Cold Creek Vineyard, Canoe Ridge Estate Winery & Vineyard and Horse Heaven Vineyard. Wines include the Artist Series Meritage, single vineyard wines, and wines created by their wine makers. Winery tours are available at Chateau Ste. Michelle in Woodinville, which is about 15 miles northeast of Seattle. Details are available at www.ste-michelle.com. The vineyard and winery to visit in the Wenatchee valley is the Bellla Terrazza Vineyards. The vineyard grows Cabernet Franc, Chardonnnay, Gewurztraminer, Lemberger, Pinot Gris and Riesling. Their wines are quite popular and three on their 2008 wines are already sold out. Detailed information is available at www.bellaterrazzavineyards.com. The suggested wineries to visit in the city of Seattle is the South Seattle Artisan Wineries, http://ssaw.info. The wineries include Nota Bene Cellars, Cadence Winery, Laurelhurst Cellars, Bartholomew Winery, Fall Line Winery, O S Winery. Tours and tastings are offered on the second Saturdays starting February through August 2011, 1-5 pm. If you are into beer then you may want to put on your visitation list two of the well known Seattle breweries, Elysian Brewing Company, www.elysianbrewing.com and Pike Brewing Company, www.pikebrewing.com. Such a good mix of vineyards and wineries to visit! Even one day set aside can be quite enjoyable and informative. Seattle offers so much, which is one half of our suggested Washington vacation. Quality restaurants, good hotels, awesome places to shop and well known and famous Washington vineyards to visit. Olympic National Park is just as much fulfilling in a Washington vacation. Do not forget that Star Banquets and Travel is here to help plan a customized vacation that will fit time wishes and your budget.

Washington National Park Vacations

Posting pieces from our 2011 Summer edition of National Park Vacations, Washington vacations was the cover story and this area is one of the largest vacation content on our National Park website, www.vacationsnationalpark.com. The Olympic Peninsula is the key focus of our 2011 Washington vacations. The articles posted in the headline section of our Washington vacation section VacationsNationalPark.com cover Whidbey and Camano Islands of Puget Sound on the Olympic Peninsula and an article on hiking Mount Rainer National Park. Seattle was a featured article for our 2010 headlines and we are republishing that article as part of this 2011 Washington cover story.

Olympic National Park is one of the six National Parks detailed on VacationsNationalPark.com The park is the center of the Olympic Peninsula and offers so much to do. Olympic National Park is another of Washington's wonder wilderness National Parks but, this park also offers a strip that runs along the coast for 73 miles.  Offering wilderness, wildlife, mountains, as well as the ocean, the park is a nature lover's paradise.  Along the coastal line is the mouth of two rivers, the Hoh River and the Quileute River.  The mouth of the Quileute river is the town of La Push, a small town that is home to the Quileute Native American Tribe.  The park offers hiking, backpacking, camping and fishing with roads through out the park for those who wish for a leisurely ride through paradise.  U.S. Highway 101 offers access to all areas of the park that include: Elwha, Fairholme, Heart o'the Hills, Hoh Rain Forest, Hurricane Ridge, Kalaloch, Barnes Point, Mora, Port Angeles and access to Seattle via ferry.  The day walks of many from easy going to more challenging offer beautiful scenery and an abundance of wildlife.  Olympic National Park contains the largest wild herd of Roosevelt elk in the world and many other species of wildlife can be expected to be seen, which means caution should be taken when visiting. Shopping around on VacationsNationalPark.com for your Washington vacation offers many choices that include special locations for vacation rentals at Oak Bay, Gig Harbor, Crystal Chalet, Mount Rainer, Whidbey Island and more. Tour options include scuba diving, snorkeling and whale watching tours. Starting out our featured vacation on the Olympic Peninsula area, we suggest getting relaxed in the park, or at one of the ocean side resorts. So, to start the journey, we suggest the Lake Quinault Lodge, which can be booked online at VacationsNationalPark.com or we can put a complete package together through our travel agency. The Lake Quinault Lodge has over 20 reviews on Yelp and is rated 3.5 stars. The lodge has an onsite restaurant, indoor pool, sauna and is right on the shores of Lake Quinault. The lake is in the center of a rain forest, where the largest Sitka Spruce tree in the world can be found. See majestic water falls, and wildlife that include Roosevelt Elk, Black Tail Deer, Cougars, Bald Eales, Bobcats and Black Bears. The area offers miles of trails, swimming in beautiful water, boating and fishing. Four star fine dining restaurants are not expected in small towns or wilderness area but, we did find a quality restaurant we suggest, which is the Salmon House, located at 516 South Shore Rd. They are well known for their Salmon but, also have a good selection of steaks, gourmet entrées that include Chicken Marsala, Chicken Cordon Bleu and a very good wine selection. Next, our vacation package includes Whidbey and Camano Islands of Puget Sound. A detailed article can be read on our Washington headline page at VacationsNationalPark.com. The author of the article, David Petrich describes the area as, “Timelessly drifting at the headwaters of the Puget Sound in the shadow of the snow-capped Olympic Mountains lies two extraordinary islands.” The Islands are populated with seaside villages, camp grounds, pastoral farmland all in a picturesque terrain. The Islands are a photographers paradise. The popular cuisine is artisan. Also popular, find coffee shops that offer coffee roasted right on the island. The Islands are a pathway of storms rolling into the island, which commonly only leave a mist that creates some of the most beautifully known rainbows. The islands are well known for their festivals, which include the Camano’s Harvest Jubilee, DjangoFest Jass festival, Kite festival and more. To mix up the vacation a little and change gears before heading to the big city the suggested accommodations is the Tulalip Resort Casino. The resorts offers full-serve health spa and offers body treatments, facials and beauty services. Five restaurants are also available on property. Several restaurants are available which we can coordinate the reservations such as Front Street Grill, which has top reviews and a very good menu. I classify the restaurant as fine dining with a good mix of seafood, meats and a good wine selection. More details are available at VacationsNationalPark.com

Use a Travel Agency for National Park Vacations

The majority of all travel agencies offer tours, cruises, vacation packages and on, so asking a travel agency to plan a National Park vacation for your family most likely will result in offering tours.  Peabody Travel, Star Banquets and Travel's licensed travel agency offers it and online booking tools.  Guaranteed you will not find a more resourceful travel agency for National Park vacations.  Starting with our first travel website, created in 2009, www.vacationsnationalpark.com, the site offers online booking in near 20 states that are centered near National Parks.  The online booking includes hotels, resorts, restaurants and restaurant coupons.  That is just the booking tools once you go through the resources of planning your National Park vacation.  Details of each park, things to do, places to go, time of year to visit, park operating hours and on are offered on the site.  Additionally, as a licensed travel agency, we have nine current tours posted in detail on the site from Globus.  The resources do not stop there for four previous issues of our National Park magazine are available and our summer 2011 issue is the best writing ever produced by founder Mike Rizzo.  The near 50 page issue details four vacations that are absolutely amazing starting with the Olympic National Park in Washington, down the west coast and over to Arizona and includes Texas and Alabama.  It is a must read issue of National Park Vacation and one comment from the Washington State Tourist Department was, "Best electronic vacation magazine they have seen in 2011."  As we stated in our introduction of US National Park Vacations, we will pick up with details on national park vacations in Hawaii.  You can view the two published issues at
VacationsNationalPark.com