The Seattle metro area and Washington State is one of the most dynamic tourism destinations in the world. Where else can you visit the highest volcano in the continental U.S. one day, and tour the world’s biggest airplane factory the next? We have three national parks just a few hours drive from our convention hotels.
Bellevue and Seattle are exciting cities with great shopping and nightlife. Seattle’s waterfront and Pike Place market are alive with shops and tours both on land and on water. Our ferry system is the nation’s largest and the views from the rail are of breathtaking scenic beauty. Many people who come here for conventions, couple their convention experience to a vacation. Some are even planning an Alaska cruise. Ships leave from the Seattle and from nearby Vancouver, Canada.
Washington is the second largest producer of wine in the U.S. and well established wineries along with many upstarts are very close to our Bellevue headquarters. Yes, it rains in Seattle, but September is typically one of our nicest months with sunny skys and temperatures in the 70s.
Railroads
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DuPont Museum:DuPont Village was established in 1909 the by the DuPont Company to support an explosives manufacturing plant. A three foot narrow gauge railway was used to move materials and finished products throughout the plant site and to the shipping wharf on Puget Sound. Blasting materials were shipped all over the west coast of North and South America for use by lumber and mining companies.Several pieces of rolling stock survive and are being restored. A 12 ton Plymouth locomotive is still in serviceable condition. Right of way and track materials are available to reconstruct up a mile of track. The line used 30 pound rail and tie plates. |
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Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad: The longest continuously operating steam train railroad in the Pacific Northwest, the MRSR is the result of one man’s passion to preserve a colorful slice of America’s heritage. As a young man Tom Murray, Jr. first heard the unforgettable sound of geared locomotives working on the steep wooded hillsides of his father’s timber holdings. Mr. Murray was a hands-on witness to the closing days of steam locomotive logging in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. He resolved to do whatever he could to save for posterity some of the relics of that unique and colorful experience. |
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The Northwest Railway Museum at Snoqualmie was founded in 1957 as the Puget Sound Railway Historical Association. In September 1999 the name was formally changed to The Northwest Railway Museum. It is the largest and most comprehensive railway museum in Washington State. Restoration work is carried out in an 8,200 square foot building constructed in 2007. A new 25,000 square foot display building houses the growing collection of vintage railway equipment. |
Museums
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Museum of Flight: Seattle’s Museum of Flight is one of the world’s premier aerospace museums, from this fully restored B-17 bomber to the first 747, to the first 707 used as Air Force One. Bill Boeing’s original factory is actually part of the museum. Want to see a Concorde? The Museum of Flight has one, along with a Connie and a Corsair. The list goes on and on. |
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Future of Flight: From the past to the Future of Flight. This is not just a museum about where flying is heading, but is where you buy your tickets to tour Boeing’s massive Everett factory…the world’s largest building by volume. Here Boeing builds the new 787 Dreamliner, the 747 8, the 777 and the 767. Tickets quickly sell out for these tours, so get yours well in advance. |
Parks
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Mt. Rainier National Park: www.nps.gov/mora/ Mt. Rainier is one of the nation’s oldest national parks. It is one of the world’s most massive mountains in the world, rising 14,411 feet above sea level. It is a volcano. And while it has not erupted in more than 100 years is considered by scientists to be active. |
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Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument: Mt. St. Helens last erupted in 2004. It’s best known for a massive eruption in 1980 that took the top 1,500 feet off the mountain. In the decades since, it’s become a laboratory of how nature heals itself and has become a laboratory for scientists, It can be viewed directly by visitors from the Johnston Ridge observatory which has an extensive interpretive center on the history of the mountain. While not technically a national park, it is national monument and is overseen by the U.S. Forest Service. |
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North Cascades National Park: North Cascades is one of America’s newest national parks, and contains stunning mountain scenery, and is home to a wide variety of wildlife, including grizzly bears. People can see much of it driving along highway 20. |
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Olympic National Park: Olympic National Park is actually two parks in one, containing incredible mountains that dominate Washington’s Olympic peninsula, and an incredible and wild seashore along the Pacific Ocean. |