Seattle is famous for rain, coffee and airplanes. It is the home of Microsoft, Amazon.com, Starbucks, and Boeing. Surrounded by water and mountains, Seattle residents enjoy a mild climate, clean air, and proximity to natural beauty. The seafood is particularly good, and there many excellent sushi restaurants in town. The Canadian city of Vancouver, British Columbia is a three-hour drive to the north, and Portland, Oregon is a three-hour drive to the south. Seattle and nearby Tacoma both have active ports through which much of America's trade with Asia flows. Seattle's most famous landmark is the Space Needle (pictured) built in 1962 for the World's Fair. Mount Rainier National Park, though a two-hour drive from the city, is spectacularly beautiful and well worth a visit if you have time.

    Downtown Seattle attractions include the lively Pike Place Market, where fresh produce, fish, and flowers are sold; the critically acclaimed new central library building designed by Rem Koolhaas; the Asian supermarket Uwajimaya in the International District; historic Pioneer Square and the historical undergound walking tour; and the waterfront where you can take boat tours of Puget Sound.

    The waterfront is where you can catch ferries to Bainbridge and Vashon islands. Although close enough to the city to function as suburbs, the islands are an oasis of natural beauty with a slower pace of life.

    Also worth visiting are the boat locks and fish ladder, where you can see salmon swimming upstream to spawn.

    One popular way to get a quick view of the city's major attractions is to take an amphibious duck tour.

    Like any major city, Seattle also has a vibrant nightlife, a great local music scene, lots of good restaurants, major league sports, museums and performance spaces. Feel free to ask at the ICMPC11 Information Desk about activities that might appeal to your interests.

For more information, see:

City of Seattle guide for visitors

Seattle guide from Seanet Corp.

NEW! Special rates for ICMPC delegates!
    

As you are planning your recreational time for Wednesday, we wanted to make you aware of a few special rates for ICMPC participants at several Seattle attractions. Please note that ICMPC attendees are responsible for making necessary reservations and arrangements directly with the various venues.

Experience Music Project – the museum will offer ICMPC participants $12.00 admission on Wednesday August 25. Just show your conference badge at the admission desk to receive the reduced rate. For information on the museum exhibits visit: http://www.empsfm.org/

Blake Island Tillicum Village – A 45-minute narrated cruise from downtown Seattle to Blake Island State Park leaving at 6:30pm. Upon arrival to Tillicum Village, you will be greeted with an appetizer of steaming clams in nectar. Inside the longhouse, watch as whole salmon are cooked over an alder-wood fire on cedar stakes in the traditional Northwest Coast Indian style. As you finish your meal, the lights dim while the myth and magic come to life in the spellbinding performance of Dance on the Wind, featuring dances in the spirit of coastal tribes. You return to the pier in downtown Seattle at 10:30pm. ICMPC11 participants can participate in this entire event for only $60.00 per person. Just email donnav@argosycruises.com to sign up and mention UW – ICMPC11 to get the special rate or call Donna at 1-888-623-1445 after August 16.