Scenic seattle drive

February 8, 2011 12:33 PM

Good scenic/fun limo route from Lake City into downtown Seattle?

For my wife's birthday I'm getting us a ride in a vintage Rolls Royce limo from our place near Lake City Way into downtown Seattle. It's probably less than 15 minutes straight, but the limo has a 2 hour minimum, so I'm looking to stretch it out.

My current thought is to go around Greenlake and down through Fremont, then up over Queen Anne, stopping at Kerry Park for the scenic downtown view (and praying for good weather!). That's still pretty short, though, and not really any place new or interesting. Someone suggested Alki, but that's pretty far out of the way and would mean 20 minutes of bridge and freeway, which doesn't seem all that fun.

Anyone have suggestions about nice spots to hit, or good routes for cruising in a fun car? This will be about 6-7pm, so it will be too dark for anything not illuminated.

posted by bjrubble to Travel & Transportation around Seattle, WA (5 answers total)

Best answer: I was going to say "make a portion of the trip from lake city along lake washington on whatever street that is that runs into Sand Point Way", but then I noticed you expect to make the trip in the dark. It still might not be an entirely bad route, since you should be able to see the lights from the far side of the lake twinkling upon it, and if you go all the way down to 520 before starting to head back east, you'd get good views of the stuff on the water between montlake and i-5, stuff you probably are too busy to look at when driving....if marinas full of boats are your thing.
posted by nomisxid at 1:22 PM on February 8, 2011

er, "head back WEST". damn conceptual dyslexia.
posted by nomisxid at 1:24 PM on February 8, 2011

Best answer: Former limo driver/dispatcher/ trainer/ manager, here. I don't know Seattle but understand the business, and how to satisfy client needs. Talk to the limo company/owner. They probably have plenty of ideas. I used to LOVE trips like this, and often got referral calls from people who had arrived in town, and been told by their friends to get me to show them the sights. Not sure if this is applicable, but one thing that was fun to do was to go visit friends, and take them for a quick ride/photo-op. Also, make sure that the 2 hour minimum is actually 2 hours, and check into any possible travel-time charges.
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 4:23 PM on February 8, 2011

After Fremont go back up to Ballard, come back south over the Ballard bridge, then go to Discovery Park and around Magnolia (along Magnolia blvd). There are a bunch of nice places to stop there that overlook the bay. Then after Magnolia, go up and over Queen Anne. Stop at El Diablo and get a Cubano to gear you up for the rest of the night...

If it was a little bit later, you might have fun driving up 1st avenue through Belltown and Pioneer Square and watching the bar crowds...and having them watch you.
posted by Gorgik at 7:04 PM on February 8, 2011

Check the tide tables for your special night. Will there be a moonrise or moonset during your trip? For a moonrise, stop at spot on Lake Washington. For moonset, you want Puget Sound, maybe Sunset Hill Park. You can pull up right next to the overlook.

Also, check for celestial events. Jupiter (i think?)has been really bright lately in the Southwestern sky.

Enjoy your romantic evening!
posted by valannc at 10:52 PM on February 8, 2011