Things to do / Travel Guide
Northwest Washington and the Cascades is a region romantics can come back to again and again. For your honeymoon spend your time in Seattle, a beautiful city in the San Francisco tradition; a fantastic romantic getaway can be had on the Olympic and Kitsap peninsulas; and a weekend in the eastern slopes of the northern Cascades makes a memorable anniversary present. Lodging, dining, and activities are in top form throughout, the better for you to make the region your personal playground for all your romantic needs.
Romantic Lodging in Northwest Washington and the Cascades
The well-loved Seattle neighborhood of Green Lake Park is the site of perhaps this city's most romantic bed and breakfast. Just across the street from Green Lake itself is Greenlake Guest House, a 1920s arts and crafts-style bed and breakfast. The rooms are clean and neat, a king-sized bed gracing each, along with jetted tubs and floor tile heating in the bathrooms. Treat yourselves to a look at the extensive library of Best Picture DVDs, with movies stretching back to the 1920s.
The service at Greenlake is fantastic, and it all comes together in the presentation of the breakfasts. Start off with fresh fruit, and move on to granola or fresh pastries; or just go straight to the main dish, hot Swedish pancakes, cilantro omelets, or peach French toast. Everything is freshly-baked, and all main dishes come with an assortment of breakfast meats and herbs.
Cross Puget Sound, and you have more opportunities for a sojourn at a romantic bed and breakfast. Be welcomed to the Scandinavian town of Poulsbo, and use it as a base for excursions into the country which it crowns. One perfect place to stay, right on Liberty Bay opposite the town, is Chiff Chaffs, an excellent bed and breakfast if there ever was one. Breakfasts here are simply superb; the Dutch baby pancakes, or the cheese and artichoke omelets, are enough to make you fall in love all over again.
The rooms at Chiff Chaffs are immaculate and contain luxury hotel amenities, and the bathrooms come with hydrotherapy tubs and a towel warmer. Bring your bike, by the way, because Liberty Bay is great fun to bike around. To the west lies Olympic National Park, fully a rainforest, where you can explore and be awed by nature's wild bounty.
The subject of Puget Sound evokes images of numerous islands surrounded by perfect bluffs, impossible sunsets, and aquatic animals such as seals, salmon, and the bald eagle. Another great place to witness all this grandeur is in Langley, at the Inn at Langley. This is the ultimate getaway inn: Think private deck, think fireplace in every room, think a perfect refuge for you to reignite the passion.
One last lodging, this one on the mainland and away from Puget Sound: Chewuch Inn, in Winthrop, on the eastern slopes of the northern Cascade Mountains. This all-wood retreat is the center for a romantic adventure in the picturesque foothills of the Cascades. The rooms are quaint and well-supplied, while the inn's nearby cabins give feelings of rusticity with the care one expects from a respected hotel. Chewuch Inn is a perfect base for hiking and biking in the warmer months, and for skiing in the winter months.
Romantic Activities in Northwest Washington and the Cascades
If you can tear yourselves away from your room, there's the aforementioned outdoorsy fun to be had close to your home base, or urban adventures to be had in downtown Seattle. You can head to Green Lake and rent a boat, take walks around the lake or within the nearby neighborhood of Phinney Ridge, or grab an ice cream cone at Mix Ice Cream at the top of the lake.
Make your way downtown for some only-in-Seattle fun. For one, there's the Space Needle, the centerpiece of the 1963 World's Fair. Fantastic romantic views of downtown Seattle are at hand, as well as of Puget Sound. Otherwise, stroll Seattle's waterfront, or visit the Aquarium.
Romantic Dining in Northwest Washington and the Cascades
Fantastic food in a romantic setting is served up at the Inn at Langley. The place is the Chef's Kitchen Restaurant, and the cuisine is seasonal and displays the best Whidbey Island has to offer. Abounding on the summer menu are the Yukon salmon, shallot jam, roasted morels, and the lamb loin. Items on the winter menu are sweet onion soup, Affinuer cheese, and beef tenderloin on curried lentils. Desserts are special too, like the frozen vanilla-mango mousse with basil and coconut sorbet.
In Seattle, try SkyCity in the Space Needle. People love revolving restaurants, and this happens to be a fantastic one. Familiar to those who've seen that romantic classic “Sleepless in Seattle” starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, the restaurant's menu puts an emphasis on fresh; the sunset comes straight from the west every night.
More culinary delight awaits at Brasa, which serves Central European and Mediterranean fare in a contemporary setting. This is the perfect place for a quiet dinner for two, the lights dimmed, stellar service kept to an unobtrusive minimum. From aperitif to the after-dinner cheese selection, the ambiance is a taste of heaven. Try the oven-roasted sea bass, or the rabbit fabada. The wine selection is quite extensive, too.
On the eastern side of Washington Lake lies Willows Lodge, whose restaurant, the Herbfarm, provides sensual meals for a romantic evening. The meal is no less than nine courses long, with five or six wine pairings throughout, and the philosophy is to choose the best from land, sea, and air have to offer for the preparation of theme-based meals. Mostly the Northwest is celebrated, with nods to the majestic salmon, the lamb, and wagyu beef. Many of the veggies and herbs come from the Herbfarm's own farm, of which tours can be arranged. The wine list is more than 20,000 bottles-strong, and it specializes in Northwest fare.
Northwest Washington and the Cascades by Air
A great way to wrap up your romantic getaway in northwest Washington and Cascades, be it a honeymoon or an anniversary, or just because, is with a ride on a hot air balloon. It could be over the Olympic Peninsula, over Seattle or Puget Sound, or farther inland in the foothills of the Cascades. Think back on your experiences in the region, the great fresh food, the secluded lodgings upon the water, the rainforest. Memories in the making!
Romantic Vacation Ideas in Seattle, Tacoma, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, Washington and The Cascades
Romantic-Vacations-Getaways
Spencer Spit State Park Beach - Lopez Island, Washington
The Spa at the Sun Mountain Lodge
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