OK Time to Plan Our Next Meeting

Along those lines, Hamilton Viewpoint might be good for a pic with downtown Seattle in the background, but I've never been there so I don't know if there's good parking for such shots. IIRC, Sand Point Magnuson Park has some parking right by the water.

Of course, we've entered the time of year when good picture-taking weather is rare (environment-friendly cars look much better with blue skies behind)... maybe we should save the group beauty shots for next spring, and just meet somewhere we can hang out and show off for now.

Besides Northgate, some of the other shopping malls around here have parking lots expansive enough that we could park a bunch of Prii together (even on a busy shopping weekend) and be seen from the street. Bellevue Square is not one of them, nor is University Village or Redmond Town Center, really. Alderwood Mall in Lynnwood might ordinarily be, but is a mess of construction right now. Southcenter, the Tacoma Mall, or Factoria might be good.

 

Just read the thread all. I would recommend against Northgate. Nothin really special. It is technically Seattle city limits. Also south of Mountlake Terrace. (which is between Lynnwood and Seattle along the 5)

Couldn't make the last one as my computer was dying and I had no access to see final specs on the where/when etc. Will do my best for this one.

An idea I thought of is Kirkland. You all seem to want a park... 25% of Kirkland lakefront IS parks. It's a law the city made decades ago. You want a lake pic. See above. Kirkland LAKEFRONT. It's a midway point more or less so southend (like a few of you) and northend (like me and a couple others) can all get there relatively hassle free and no one on the eastside could possibly complain.

In addition it's an amazingly good area of town. There's coffee shops, little stores along Lake Washington Blvd, restaurants ranging from SUPER nice to Wendy's so regardless of what budget we're aiming for we'd be able to find a nice solution. There's additional shopping and food at the Park Place shopping center which is a touch further from the lake. Some restaurants in an affordable "family dining" price range I can think of right off are:
TGI FRIDAYS (I doubt anyone is unfamiliar w/ this one)
CUCINA CUCINA (Italian)
There's also a sportsbar-ish kind of place but with a full menu and bbq stuff. I forget the name but I went there with my family right before we went to my graduation. Really awesome food. Lake view too if I remember, and affordable.

If everyone wanted to go a bit more upscale (maybe we can trade off... cheaper place, nicer place, cheaper place, etc...)

Yarrow Bay Grill or The Beach Cafe in Carillon Point has got some awesome food. The Grill may still be dinner only on the weekends but there is NO better place in Kirkland for spectacular food AND sunset pics if it's clear enough. (Can y'all tell I used to work there?)

Close ENOUGH to the water but off the beaten path so parking ought to be better, there's an Outback Steakhouse, the flagship Costco store if anyone needs to do some shopping.

Well, there's some ideas. I say we try to keep it more in the eastside. Like I mentioned it's close enough for north and south siders and those IN the eastside or downtown have nothing to complain about.

Have fun battin this one around. I vote for Kirkland.

 

http://www.explorekirkland.com/

 

uh...duh

 

Dave, I think Brad meant that we could meet at one of the nice restaurants he mentioned in his post and then we (if weather allows) could go to a nearby park to take photos. The link he provides has many restaurants listed as well as waterfront parks. Kirkland is a good possibility as it is centrally located.

All we need is a specific place and time.

Brad, you mentioned a sportsbar-ish place that you really liked - have you figured out the name or location of it? I would be hoping for a family-friendly establishment as my 5 year-old will probably be with me (I can't always count on my childcare).

 

I would say it's family friendly. When I was there with my family I saw a few other little kids (little being like the 5-10 yr old range or so) It has lighting similar to that of a Claim Jumper if you've been there. The location is that if you're going downhill on Market and turn left instead of straight into Marina Park, it's on the right before the first light (Lake WA Blvd) I haven't really had a reason to head out to Kirkland recently, but that's where it is/was if anyone is closer.

And you're right, I'm suggesting Kirkland in general. It's central, LOTS of little shops and parks and restaurants, art galleries, etc. If the weather's great, woohoo! Pick a park and let's snap some photos. If it's just overcast there's still some great places to take pics. If it's just unloading from the heavens.... let's save the pictures for next time.

Restaurantwise I would vote for either Cucina Cucina on the cheaper end or Yarrow Bay Grill if anyone else has an interest in doing a more expensive, less expensive, more expensive, etc tradeoff for the places.

Both websites list prices, and on Cucina Cucina's I think there is a difference in price from lunch to dinner and am guessing they show the dinner menu. Both restaurants are located in Carillon Point which has covered parking in a huge underground garage. Or you can valet... Or we can park elsewhere... Lots of free parking too. Anyway, the restaurant websites ARE:
http://www.cucinacucina.com/
http://www.ybgrill.com/grill/index.html

And YES I KNOW Yarrow Bay Grill is pretty spendy (they do have a kids menu).... just tossing it out there as a suggestion. If we had a meeting every month and spent $20 it's no different than every other month and spending $40, right?

The Grill also has a little sister, the Beach Cafe at the Point, which is more burgers, sandwiches, salads, awesome stuff there as well, still in Carillon, just at the lake level instead of the plaza level (you go down a flight of stairs)
Their direct link is here:

http://www.ybbeachcafe.com/beachcafe/index.html

 

picture first and then food?

 

I'll only know my schedule a couple of days in advance, so when we DO decide on a date, it'll need to be more than a week away. Otherwise I'm stuck trying to give up a shift last minute and with as short handed as we are right now, I can tell you that that won't accomplish a THING.

Preferrably I'd say a slower day at work like Mon-Weds is better for me, but I think the majority of you may have M-F 9-5 jobs so... Best thing I can say is that I'll just need a good amount of warning. Unless you want to do it this Saturday night... I work in the AM and will be off by 3

 

Hi all.
How about meeting at the Ram restaurant in Puyallup.
Good parking, but near a shopping area; so not much of a background for the photo of everybody.

 

it only took me slightly less than three hours to get home.

 

Puyallup isn't a trip I'd really want to take... just my $0.02 The point of the eastside is that it's as considerate for all parties as possible i.e. a "central" location. Puyallup is kind of on the skirts of "as far away from the northend as it can get" being only more of an inconvenience for (is it Varko that lives in Arlington?) and Frank who's gonna hopefully join us from CANADA... I mean if we wanted to go TOTALLY central it'd prob be something around Auburn/Renton and, no offense to anyone there but umm... eww... plus the eastside and/or Seattle (downtown, not a "suburb") is a lot more developed and therefor gives us a LOT more options of things to do and places to go... If it were to be Puyallup, I wouldn't go... Of course with my work schedule I may not be able to get the time off anyway. The majority of Nov & Dec is a "blackout period" anyway, so who knows if I even CAN ask for it off...
Don't let this post come across as some kind of boycott or blackmail or some crap like that... just saying I wouldn't be willing to drive THAT far to get a $6.95 burger somewhere, snap *A* photo if there's still light, and drive all the way back...

 

someone suggested Kirkland and as I remember it, it's very pretty all along the water front and I do seem to remember there being lots of parking and such. Excluding my last trip down, it's been probably about 15 years since I've been down there but also there used to be a parking lot above Kenmore Air Harbour with a good view down the lake over looking a lot of float planes. Like I said before, if I'm going to drive down an extra 20 minutes or so of driving isn't a biggie.