Things to do in the Puget Sound Area

Nobody will ever exhaust the depths of adventure and awesomeness of the Puget Sound area. The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue Metro area, with all of its shopping, event venues, and night life, is only the tip of the iceberg.

Being in the Puget Sound basin, the Emerald City and its suburbs sit with prime access to an array of cool, clear lakes and rivers. The waterways are kept fresh by snow melt from the peaks of the nearby Cascade Mountains, and empty in to Puget Sound, a huge arena for adventure in its own right.

The Metro Area Alone Will Swallow You Whole

The size of it overwhelms. The downtown buildings thrusting up into the air. The massive bridges that carry you over the lakes, over a hundred feet above the water, into the gaping maw of Seattle. The homes and businesses and lakefront marinas sprawling over the hills in every direction. Massive 6-8 lane freeways.

And it goes on for about 60 miles north to south along I5, plus a few miles east toward Bellevue, Kirkland and Redmond.

Shopping

You don’t even have to come close to Downtown for premium shopping. There is shopping in every suburb. Outlet malls, premium malls, boutiques. Goodwill, Target, GAP, Buckle, Clavin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Nordstrom, Gucci...pick your poison.

Events

There’s always a game to catch. The Seahawks, Mariners, Huskies, and Storm all play in Seattle. There are horse races at Emerald Downs. Catch a show at the Crocodile, the Showbox, Showbox SoDo, or White River Amphitheater, among others.

Nightlife

All throughout the Metro area, there is nightlife your way, whatever way that is. Wine tasting, distilleries, night clubs, bar and grills, sports bars, dive bars, casinos. Every city, every town, at whatever level of class you like. Tons of local micro brews- its an epidemic. Checkout Downtown, the U District, Belltown, Ballard, the progressive atmosphere of Capitol Hill, and the distinguished vibe of Bell Square and Kirkland waterfront.

Food

We have access to co-ops, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe’s, the greatest grocery store ever for reasonably healthy, artisan food at prices comparable, and even cheaper, than traditional grocery stores. And Costco. For restaurants, the Puget Sound area shines with local craft breweries and seafood, though it hold its with all else.

Big Names in Commerce

Then there’s Starbucks. To say there’s one on every corner is a small-and-very-forgivable stretch, because you can literally travel blocks and see a Starbucks on every one in some areas. Its not just Starbucks, either. There’s other chains, and espresso stands all over. Coffee is a big deal here. We’re busy folks. We don’t sleep a lot. Just ask Russell Wilson. I guess there’s just way too much to do.

Boeing, Amazon, Microsoft, Starbucks are a few of the companies driving a major construction boom, and supplying jobs within their own operation as well.

There is no end to the alleys, the side streets, the main streets, the parking lots, the quaint little pockets of boutiques, breweries and eateries. There’s always a new bookstore, a new restaurant, another park, another shopping mall you didn’t know about.

The Mountains

If you have trouble losing yourself in the city, you can try worming through the green tunnels up the side of the Cascade Mountains. The trees, the cliffs, the boulders, the falls, the shear amount of water that can rush down the side of the slope...volumes and never ending volumes, trickling, dripping, gushing, rushing toward the river, and on to the Puget Sound.

Its enough to feed 13 major river systems and their respective lakes, and they’re not the slow-moving, muddy rivers of the Mid West. In fact, much of is prime white water for rafting and kayaking. Everywhere you go in the Puget Sound basin, you’re face to face with the tremendous volume of water cycling through the ecosystem.

Skiing and Snowboarding

There’s about 16 ski resorts in the state (depending on your definition of resort), only two of which are more than 4 hours from Seattle. Stevens Pass and Mt. Baker are destinations. Whistler is about 4 hours away. Washington skiing doesn’t usually involve the bleak blistering cold of Montana and Wyoming, and the average snowfall for resorts is more than double that of Aspen, coming close to that of Alta in Salt Lake City and Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Then there’s that one time, during the 98-99 season, when Mt. Baker had 1,140 inches of snowfall, or 95 feet, a world record...the world record. Picture the lifts being buried. Not to the chairs, or even to the top of the chairlift, but well over. They had to shut it down for too much snow.

So there’s the glowing, shimmering, almost blinding silver lining on the eternal cloud that allegedly hangs over Western Washington. No, its not just a rumor. Its a blessed fact. Water is our friend. Clouds are our friend.

Just ask Californians, who’ve experienced some form of drought every week over the last 376 weeks, according to NBC news. Its not all good on all of the West Coast. But no, they’d rather live there, because it...rains too much here?

I say it doesn’t rain quite enough. I like giant puddles, constant deluges, reminding me of the snow piling up in the mountain while I wax my board and sharpen the edges. I like the gray climb up the pass, when the rain drops hitting the windshield turn to flakes. I like how the rivers and beaches transform every winter due to swelling of the waterways.

Camping and Hiking

Washington has a strong, concerted conservation effort that provides endless enjoyment of the outdoors. There’s easy hikes, short hikes, steep hikes, long hikes. You can backpack for a week straight in some places and see new country the whole way. There are innumerable campgrounds throughout the Cascades, and along the lowland rivers and lakes. There’s wilderness camping in the national forests.

In case you somehow trek, and commit to memory, the thousands of miles of hiking trails, and kayak and fish all the rivers, and hunt all the conservation land, the Sound still awaits you.

Puget Sound

1,020 square miles of saltwater. There are over 150 islands at high tide, and even more at low tide. The 4 major ones, where there are well-established communities, camping, and resorts, are serviced by ferries running several times each day. Cross over to the Peninsula and find another wealth of wilderness. Charter boats are available for exploration, marine life encounters, and fishing. Owning your own boat will open up a new world to you.

There are over 200 species of fish in the sound, including an abundance of salmon and crab. If you want to know more, the Seattle Aquarium is a valuable resource for information on the species of the Puget Sound.

Seattle, WA, is the best city in the Pacific Northwest, on the West Coast. You’ll never get around to seeing everything that’s here, but trying to is the best decision you will ever make.

Better Properties Eastside can help you set yourself up to make the most out of the area. Begin your exploration of the Puget Sound by finding a home base that suits your needs. Contact one of our agents at 425-990-3333 for local market insight and expertise.