Washington recommendations

[bigmatt718]

I'm flying in on Wednesday and staying through Sunday. Flying home to PHL on Monday. Trying to map out where I want to go as far as bars, restaurants, etc. Was there last year albeit briefly for 2 days before my cruise to Alaska. Anyone have any places I should look into?

 

[Tango Two]

Thursday, October 9 - Enjoy an evening of ping pong at SPIN Seattle.

Friday, October 10 - Show your Rutgers pride at a tailgate party and cheer on the Scarlet Knights.

Rutgers University Alumni Association

Calling Seattle-area alumni! Join fellow Rutgers University fans and friends to celebrate "Off the Banks." 🏓 Thursday, October 9 - Enjoy an evening of ping pong at SPIN Seattle. 🏈 Friday, October...

www.facebook.com

 

[Richie O]

Rutgers Football Travel Guide 2025: Eats, drinks and places to visit on road trips

A look at bars, restaurants, and sight seeing spots for Rutgers Football fans hitting the road to see their Scarlet Knights in 2025.

www.on3.com

 

[RUShea]

Enjoyed this brewery when I went up there last time we played.

Stoup Brewing - Award winning beers at a family-friendly brewery in Seattle's burgeoning Ballard 'Brewery District'

Opened in 2013 by husband-and-wife team Brad Benson and Lara Zahaba together with Robyn Schumacher. Stoup is more than a family-friendly brewery, the taproom is a place that embraces the fundamental essence of beer: a means of bringing people together, one pint at a time.

www.stoupbrewing.com

 

[Shelby65]

I'm flying in on Wednesday and staying through Sunday. Flying home to PHL on Monday. Trying to map out where I want to go as far as bars, restaurants, etc. Was there last year albeit briefly for 2 days before my cruise to Alaska. Anyone have any places I should look into?

Bring plenty of sedatives or skip the game entirely and enjoy every minute of your trip.

Thank me later.

 

[Knight Shift]

If you are a fan of rock music, in particular 90's Seattle music, this tour was awesome when I did it in 2018:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60878-d3860746-Reviews-Stalking_Seattle_A_Music_History_Sightseeing_Tour-Seattle_Washington.html

 

[aplus29]

Have a fortunate business trip, flying in Monday evening, and back home Saturday night on the redeye.
What section are ru fans in?

 

[RC1991]

For bars, Canon in Capitol Hill. Make a reservation…it’s worth a visit. Also Watts brewing in Woodinville, along with many wineries (Sparkman, obelisco, Long Shadows, Fidelitas, Mark Ryan, Delille) all worth checking out.

Canon Seattle

www.canonseattle.com

 

[WillieTheSilent]

Remember seeing Rutgers guy Mario Battali a couple times out there many years ago now.. before his "me too" moment.

 

[LeapinLou]

Big Matt,

This is my itinerary. Maybe some of these places will pique your interest as well.

Thursday - I'm going to try to hit the Space Needle, Chihuly Garden and Glass, and Museum of Pop Culture. Dinner at The Pink Door.

Friday morning - Pike Place Market

Friday afternoon - quick stop to Fremont area and Gas Works Park en route to the Stadium

Friday evening - Husky Mania

Saturday - Taking the ferry to Bainbridge Island. Supposedly the views from the ferry are great and the island has a few wine bars and a pizzeria for lunch. Going to try to hit some watering holes when we get back. Dinner at Spinasse.

Watering holes:
Canon bar, Queen Anne Beerhall, Rob Roy, Navy Strength, SomeRandomBar, The Diller Room, and Fremont Brewing's Urban Beer Garden. Probably won't get to all of them.

Cheers!

 

[Knight Shift]

Big Matt,

This is my itinerary. Maybe some of these places will pique your interest as well.

Thursday - I'm going to try to hit the Space Needle, Chihuly Garden and Glass, and Museum of Pop Culture. Dinner at The Pink Door.

Friday morning - Pike Place Market

Friday afternoon - quick stop to Fremont area and Gas Works Park en route to the Stadium

Friday evening - Husky Mania

Saturday - Taking the ferry to Bainbridge Island. Supposedly the views from the ferry are great and the island has a few wine bars and a pizzeria for lunch. Going to try to hit some watering holes when we get back. Dinner at Spinasse.

Watering holes:
Canon bar, Queen Anne Beerhall, Rob Roy, Navy Strength, SomeRandomBar, The Diller Room, and Fremont Brewing's Urban Beer Garden. Probably won't get to all of them.

Cheers!

Ferry to Bainbridge is great.

 

[RU#1fan]

Big Matt,

This is my itinerary. Maybe some of these places will pique your interest as well.

Thursday - I'm going to try to hit the Space Needle, Chihuly Garden and Glass, and Museum of Pop Culture. Dinner at The Pink Door.

Friday morning - Pike Place Market

Friday afternoon - quick stop to Fremont area and Gas Works Park en route to the Stadium

Friday evening - Husky Mania

Saturday - Taking the ferry to Bainbridge Island. Supposedly the views from the ferry are great and the island has a few wine bars and a pizzeria for lunch. Going to try to hit some watering holes when we get back. Dinner at Spinasse.

Watering holes:
Canon bar, Queen Anne Beerhall, Rob Roy, Navy Strength, SomeRandomBar, The Diller Room, and Fremont Brewing's Urban Beer Garden. Probably won't get to all of them.

Cheers!

Stayed in Bainbridge during our last RU game trip. Definitely worth the visit.

 

[aplus29]

Bought a ticket to the off the banks tailgate but now considering a sailgating trip…anyone do this?

 

[aplus29]

Itinerary

arrive late Monday , Linda’s tavern, Hendrix statue
Tuesday - Work dinner TBD
Wednesday - half shell happy hour, dinner at Shiro Sushi
Thursday - Kraken game, Late dinner at The Patio (Thai)
Friday - Museum of Pop culture, Off The Banks Tailgate or Sailgating, Rutgers by 100, Skerik/Moore/Walter/Coe show at Nectars Lounge
Saturday - viretta park, college football, pikes place

 

[Knight Shift]

NVM

 

[rutgersal_rivals139582]

Make dinner reservations at the Space Needle. An experience you’ll never forget.

 

[Knight Shift]

I'm flying in on Wednesday and staying through Sunday. Flying home to PHL on Monday. Trying to map out where I want to go as far as bars, restaurants, etc. Was there last year albeit briefly for 2 days before my cruise to Alaska. Anyone have any places I should look into?

Reccommendations: Umbrella and rain gear.

NWS Forecast:



Thursday
Rain likely, mainly before 11am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 61. Calm wind becoming north around 6 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Thursday Night
Rain likely, mainly after 11pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 52. North wind 3 to 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Friday
Rain. High near 61. Light and variable wind becoming south around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Friday Night
Rain likely. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 50. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Saturday
Rain. High near 59. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

 

[RC1991]

Make dinner reservations at the Space Needle. An experience you’ll never forget.

Restaurant in the Space Needle closed in 2017 when they renovated. Great view but subpar food. Space Needle not really worth it if it’s raining/cloudy as the mountains won’t be out.

 

[rutgersal_rivals139582]

Restaurant in the Space Needle closed in 2017 when they renovated. Great view but subpar food. Space Needle not really worth it if it’s raining/cloudy as the mountains won’t be out.

It’s reopened now. I had a wonderful time and thought the food was solid.

https://www.spaceneedle.com/lounge

 

[RC1991]

It’s reopened now. I had a wonderful time and thought the food was solid.

https://www.spaceneedle.com/lounge

I stand corrected. The food does look better than the previous restaurant as do the drinks.

 

[RC1991]

Just FYI but if anyone is planning on riding light rail or driving to the game, the Mariners start time was updated to 5:08 pm PT and the Rutgers/UW game kicks off at 6 pm. Traffic out here is usually pretty bad at rush hour so just a heads up.

 

[Knight Shift]

Just FYI but if anyone is planning on riding light rail or driving to the game, the Mariners start time was updated to 5:08 pm PT and the Rutgers/UW game kicks off at 6 pm. Traffic out here is usually pretty bad at rush hour so just a heads up.

How jammed do you expect the light rail to be on the way home from game, heading back to the middle of Seattle?

And with that weather forecast posted above, seems there is only 1/10 of an inch of rain each day- typical Seattle weather with showers and no constant rain?

 

[wheezer]

Big Matt,

This is my itinerary. Maybe some of these places will pique your interest as well.

Thursday - I'm going to try to hit the Space Needle, Chihuly Garden and Glass, and Museum of Pop Culture. Dinner at The Pink Door.

Friday morning - Pike Place Market

Friday afternoon - quick stop to Fremont area and Gas Works Park en route to the Stadium

Friday evening - Husky Mania

Saturday - Taking the ferry to Bainbridge Island. Supposedly the views from the ferry are great and the island has a few wine bars and a pizzeria for lunch. Going to try to hit some watering holes when we get back. Dinner at Spinasse.

Watering holes:
Canon bar, Queen Anne Beerhall, Rob Roy, Navy Strength, SomeRandomBar, The Diller Room, and Fremont Brewing's Urban Beer Garden. Probably won't get to all of them.

Cheers!

Did, most of your Thursday itinerary when out there for the Washington state game
Finding The Pink Door was interesting, A restaurant that tries to stay hidden

 

[RC1991]

How jammed do you expect the light rail to be on the way home from game, heading back to the middle of Seattle?

And with that weather forecast posted above, seems there is only 1/10 of an inch of rain each day- typical Seattle weather with showers and no constant rain?

If you're going back into Seattle from the stadium that's southbound so it may not be as packed in that direction. Students will mainly be going north to U District or Roosevelt stops along with many of us eastsiders and you likely won't be packed with Mariner's fans as they would be returning from T-Mobile and going north into Seattle from there not south. Yes, definitely moving into the typical Seattle fall/winter weather this time of year. Tomorrow's weather has the rain mainly pushing out by evening but with the convergence zones it's never a bad idea to have some rain gear on hand.

 

[Rutgers Chris]

In case anyone digs this thread up for future trips to UW…
Flew in Friday afternoon. Ate at an Italian/brick oven pizza place just off University Commons and walked to the stadium. University commons was very nice, high end shopping and restaurants a stones throw from campus.

Checked out the waterfront and sailgating area which is such a cool concept. Would consider this for a future game.

Overall their tailgating scene was somewhat weak imo. I wonder if the mariners game had anything to do with that. The concourse being packed all game with people watching the M’s was a scene. Reminded me of watching Freeman’s walk off against the Yankees last year in the Coliseum.

Washington fans were nothing but nice and welcoming. Several stopped and wanted to talk about where we traveled from, etc

A security guard pointed us in the direction of where the Rutgers team came onto the field for warmups so we got to see them up close. Greg saw us when going onto the field and went out of his way to walk over and shake my family of four’s hands and thank us for coming to the game. Very cool moment.

Inside the stadium was clean, easy to access and well laid out. The stadium noise is somewhat overrated in my opinion, could tell it was often piped in.

The game was the game. Nothing to add there.

Saturday we did the Pike Place Market, well worth the trip and a ferry to Bainbridge Island which was ok. Had some great Asian food last night.

Today we walked the city near the Space Needle and went back to Pike Place for lunch.

Despite the loss, it was still a great trip. Would consider going again and seeing more of the area outside of the city.

 

[Knight Shift]

In case anyone digs this thread up for future trips to UW…
Flew in Friday afternoon. Ate at an Italian/brick oven pizza place just off University Commons and walked to the stadium. University commons was very nice, high end shopping and restaurants a stones throw from campus.

Checked out the waterfront and sailgating area which is such a cool concept. Would consider this for a future game.

Overall their tailgating scene was somewhat weak imo. I wonder if the mariners game had anything to do with that. The concourse being packed all game with people watching the M’s was a scene. Reminded me of watching Freeman’s walk off against the Yankees last year in the Coliseum.

Washington fans were nothing but nice and welcoming. Several stopped and wanted to talk about where we traveled from, etc

A security guard pointed us in the direction of where the Rutgers team came onto the field for warmups so we got to see them up close. Greg saw us when going onto the field and went out of his way to walk over and shake my family of four’s hands and thank us for coming to the game. Very cool moment.

Inside the stadium was clean, easy to access and well laid out. The stadium noise is somewhat overrated in my opinion, could tell it was often piped in.

The game was the game. Nothing to add there.

Saturday we did the Pike Place Market, well worth the trip and a ferry to Bainbridge Island which was ok. Had some great Asian food last night.

Today we walked the city near the Space Needle and went back to Pike Place for lunch.

Despite the loss, it was still a great trip. Would consider going again and seeing more of the area outside of the city.

Thanks for the report.
Our trip was abbreviated, as we had been to Seattle before, and we went to Bainbridge, and other islands, and to Victoria BC by ferry.

Got in Thursday on Alaska airlines from Phoenix, which was a very nice airline. We had dinner at Von's 1000 Spirits, which we liked so much, we returned for lunch on Friday. Fabulous food, cool atmosphere, outstanding service. Place came highly rated, and it lived up to the ratings. Highly recommend this place. They have homemade sourdough pasta and breads and pizza crusts.

We did the Rutgers event at the SPIN ping pong place, and that was a lot of fun. There were about 40 alums there, as well as the R Fund and Foundation people. Had a great time playing ping pong, and there was plenty of decent appetizer food being served.

On Friday, we had breakfast near Pike Place market. The Biscuit ***** was highly rated, but we were not aware that you basically ordered as a window and had to find a place outside to sit and eat it. The guy behind the window was a bit rude, and we found a place to sit down for breakfast, which was fine. We returned to the Pike Place market for lunch, and all of the decent places were packed and there were lines, so we went back to Vonn's.

We took the light rail 1 line from the airport, and we used that to go 3 stops to the Husky Stadium. Very easy, very clean and convenient. We met a few UW fans on the train, and they were very friendly and nice. We wandered around the tailgates, and it seems people who wanted to go the the On the Banks tailgate could not find it as directions were not provided? We did not register for that one. We ran into the very nice @LeapinLou and his wife, and we hung out with them in the sailgating area and crashed a large Rutgers tailgate and met some folks there.

I had originally thought having seats up by the press boxes would be cool, and it was very cool-terrific view of the lake and the mountains. But the seats were very high up, and the section was very empty. We stayed up there for the first quarter, where it was just me and the wife as the only RU fans plus one other young woman from Jersey who was with her group who were all UW fans. The first quarter gave us a lot to cheer about.

The stadium was pretty empty for homecoming. Tickets were going for like $8-9 in the upper sections (we paid $35), and in the lower sections they were down to $25. We went down to the RU section 104 and sat with @rucoe89 . Did not notice the piped in crowd noise, and thought it was unusually loud crowd noise for the size of the crowd. On the plus side, there was very little piped in loud rock music, which is much preferred. The game got out of hand, and we headed out with about 5 minutes left to go, and there was a manageable line to get back on the 1 train to get to downtown.

All in all it was a pleasant trip. Seattle has a large number of homeless living on the streets and in store vestibules. Someone corrected my terminology and said they were unhoused, and we did not quibble over that. Streets coming up from Pike Place Market can be very steep, but it was fun walking uphill. Would definitely go back, as the stadium experience and the sailgate area were top notch.

 

[JL23]

Great stuff guys, love hearing about road trips and all of the cool things
Went to Seattle last year for work in April, and did the following:

Mariners tour
Mariners game
Seahawks tour
Climate Pledge arena tour
Space needle
Glass museum
Pike's Place market

Ate at a seafood place on the water which was pretty good. As mentioned, the walk up to the street from Pike's Place is no joke. At PP, Saw the gum wall, the bull thing and the guy throwing fish & sent some salmon back to wife's parents. Walked by original Starbucks, line was 100 deep.

Lot of homeless on walk up from PP to Marriott, right next to Convention Center. Was walking with 2 female colleagues and had no issues. M's stadium is top notch, had this chicken right outside from a street vendor that was good. Their tour was great. Rest of stuff I did was cool as well - fun city, tons of potential if they cleaned it up a bit

 

[LeapinLou]

Did, most of your Thursday itinerary when out there for the Washington state game
Finding The Pink Door was interesting, A restaurant that tries to stay hidden

Lol - we had the same problem finding the Pink Door. We enjoyed that place, though.

 

[LeapinLou]

Trip Summary:

Thursday -
Space Needle - worth it. Awesome views.
Chihuly Garden and Glass - ended up not going
Museum of Pop Culture - it was just ok for me. If you have a particular interest in Jazz and African American Musicians, you should check it out.
Rode the monorail for the heck of it.
Got cocktails at Rob Roy and Navy Strength. Rob Roy was doing a halloween theme and we had a good time there. Navy Strength was just OK.
Dinner at The Pink Door - Really liked this place. Would go back
Ferris Wheel - worth it. Awesome views.

Friday -

Gas Works Park - we were up early due to the time change so eventhough this is on the way to the stadium, we went out of order. Cool place with a retired factory that is wide open and the old machines are painted different colors. Awesome view of the city and mountains from there.

Pike Place Market - walked the whole thing. It's worth checking out. We were disappointed to learn that if you want them to throw the fish, someone has to buy the fish. There is no "show" per se. I guess it's luck whether or not you see them do it. We weren't lucky.

Fremont Brewing Co- - quick stop for a beer on our way to the stadium

Stadium - Parked in one of the tailgate areas. The tailgating was good and some people were doing it right. But overall, my biased opinion is it is a notch below the RU tailgate scene. The sailgate area is super cool and as mentioned in this thread, I bumped into @Knight Shift and other RU fans. We then went to an RU tailgate sponsored by "Blue Lot Scott" and his crew. Great time.

Game - We spent the first half in our seats in the upper deck which had a great view of the action and of the water. Really an amazing view. The upper deck is covered. I assume that's for practical purposes since it rains so frequently. But it does make the place get loud as the sound bounces off and comes back at you.

Saturday

We took the ferry to Bainbridge Island. The views from the ferry are great. We ended up bringing our rental car onto the ferry with us so we drove around the island a bit for some sightseeing. As mentioned above, we did get pizza and did a few wine tastings before heading back.

Before dinner at Spinasse (my wife loved it - I thought it was OK) we went to Canon bar. This place is a highlight of Seattle. Google it. Walls are covered from floor to ceiling with booze. It was pricey but they had highly innovative cocktails and presentations.

For me, Seattle was a nice place to visit and I would go back. But here are some negatives for me:
- Nearly everyone dresses like a slob.
- People do not curb their dogs so you have to look down everywhere you walk.
- We observed people smoking crack in public areas and making drug transactions.
- Seeing so many "unhoused" folks is distressing.
- While we didn't feel unsafe, there was little to no police presence in the city. We were back in the AIrBnB by 10 PM every night.

We spent Sunday-Wednesday in Vancouver, BC. That would a whole thread unto itself. We lovedit.

Overall, a great vacation.

 

[Knight Shift]

Trip Summary:

Thursday -
Space Needle - worth it. Awesome views.
Chihuly Garden and Glass - ended up not going
Museum of Pop Culture - it was just ok for me. If you have a particular interest in Jazz and African American Musicians, you should check it out.
Rode the monorail for the heck of it.
Got cocktails at Rob Roy and Navy Strength. Rob Roy was doing a halloween theme and we had a good time there. Navy Strength was just OK.
Dinner at The Pink Door - Really liked this place. Would go back
Ferris Wheel - worth it. Awesome views.

Friday -

Gas Works Park - we were up early due to the time change so eventhough this is on the way to the stadium, we went out of order. Cool place with a retired factory that is wide open and the old machines are painted different colors. Awesome view of the city and mountains from there.

Pike Place Market - walked the whole thing. It's worth checking out. We were disappointed to learn that if you want them to throw the fish, someone has to buy the fish. There is no "show" per se. I guess it's luck whether or not you see them do it. We weren't lucky.

Fremont Brewing Co- - quick stop for a beer on our way to the stadium

Stadium - Parked in one of the tailgate areas. The tailgating was good and some people were doing it right. But overall, my biased opinion is it is a notch below the RU tailgate scene. The sailgate area is super cool and as mentioned in this thread, I bumped into @Knight Shift and other RU fans. We then went to an RU tailgate sponsored by "Blue Lot Scott" and his crew. Great time.

Game - We spent the first half in our seats in the upper deck which had a great view of the action and of the water. Really an amazing view. The upper deck is covered. I assume that's for practical purposes since it rains so frequently. But it does make the place get loud as the sound bounces off and comes back at you.

Saturday

We took the ferry to Bainbridge Island. The views from the ferry are great. We ended up bringing our rental car onto the ferry with us so we drove around the island a bit for some sightseeing. As mentioned above, we did get pizza and did a few wine tastings before heading back.

Before dinner at Spinasse (my wife loved it - I thought it was OK) we went to Canon bar. This place is a highlight of Seattle. Google it. Walls are covered from floor to ceiling with booze. It was pricey but they had highly innovative cocktails and presentations.

For me, Seattle was a nice place to visit and I would go back. But here are some negatives for me:
- Nearly everyone dresses like a slob.
- People do not curb their dogs so you have to look down everywhere you walk.
- We observed people smoking crack in public areas and making drug transactions.
- Seeing so many "unhoused" folks is distressing.
- While we didn't feel unsafe, there was little to no police presence in the city. We were back in the AIrBnB by 10 PM every night.

We spent Sunday-Wednesday in Vancouver, BC. That would a whole thread unto itself. We lovedit.

Overall, a great vacation.

I tried to be discreet with my crack pipe.