I am going to Seattle with my family for a weeks vacation, leaving in 7 days. I need some info from anybody who lives there or visited recently.

1. I am planning to take the ferry up to Victoria, Canada. I know I need a picture ID and birth certificate, my question is, will they take the small card version issued by my state vital records department, or do they demand the large microfilm version? I need to know ASAP since I do not have the large version on hand.

2. Are there any good gunshops or military surplus dealers in the Seattle area? (I will have a car)

3. I'll be seeing the usual tourist stuff like the Space Needle, Mt St Helens, Olympic Nat Park, Museum of Flight. Any other suggestions?

Thanks for any help, especially on the birth certificate question.

1)Never needed anything more than a drivers license to get in to Canada.

2)The 2 best gun shops in the Seattle area are Wades Eastside Guns & WSI....both on the west side of I-5, in the Bellevue area.

3)One of the best day trips is a ferry ride to the San Juan Islands. Beautiful place, lots of wildlife to be seen.

There are tons of surplus stores around Tacoma , the best one is called the Foxhole , just stay away from their USGI mags , they're asking $39 for them ! Unless your military or a LEO then their $19 .

If you've got the time:

BALLARD has the Locks and fish ladder at Salmon Bay.
Only a few minutes from downtown.  Lots of fun and interesting to see.

ALKI BEACH has a great view of Seattle from across Elliott Bay.  
It gives a good perspective of the skyline and layout of the city.
Also a few minutes from downtown.

FERRY BOAT ride from downtown to Bremerton is a good way to kill a couple of hours and see the view from the water.

PIKE PLACE MARKET in downtown at 1st & Pike;  goes directly down to the waterfront.
IVAR'S ACRES OF CLAMS restaurant on the waterfront is fun, too.  Call out your order and then feed the seagulls.
WATERFRONT STREETCAR from Chinatown to Pier 70.

CENTRAL GUN EXCHANGE is on 1st Ave. about University St.  
Nice folks and lots of stuff to look at.

With all the other stuff you've got planned, you may be able to work out some of the closer things in a day or two.

Seattle is a great city.
The Pacific NorthWest is a great place.
Enjoy yourselves.

Both are on the east side of I-5.

Mt. Rainier is worth the day trip.  Are you planning on going to see the Pacific?  If you are Long Beach is the worlds longest continous sand beach.  

Yeah, maybe pre-9/11 terrorist attacks. Today you may or may not get into and then back of  Canada from the US with just a driver's license. The Canadian border guard is just as likely to tell you that your driver's licence is not proof of citizenship, but just a permission note to drive in the US. I think your birth cerificate card would be acceptable. A passport would be better yet.

As someone who's job takes them back and forth across the border, I'm simply telling you the way that it is [b]NOW[/b]. It's not all that big of a hassle, just be prepared.



Also among the most expensive and, not coincidentally, most populated by latte slurping yuppies. Check out Ben's Loan and Pawn down in Renton.



Yes, absolutely stunning on a nice summer day.

Also, if you are into airplanes, Boeing gives tours at it's Everett plant. The main building is unbelievably huge. I think it's the world's most volumous building, covers something like 70 square acres and is 10 stories tall. You can see the 747 assembly line.

The best stocked gunshop I've been to is [url]www.kesselrings.com[/url]  The webpage doesn't do the store justice nor does it come close to listing 1% of what they carry.  For a good day trip drive up to Kesselrings then down to highway 20 west to Whidbey Island.  Stop at deception pass and walk out on the bridge.  Drive 20 south all the way down Whidbey Island to Clinton where you catch a 15 minute ferry over to Mukilteo and head toward I-5 and Everett driving past the largest building in the world (Boeing widebody factory).  Lots to during the trip.  Be sure to stop by Green's gunshop in Oak Harbor while on Whidbey.  Bring an umbrella!
 If you hear anyone talk about a bumbershoot it's what some people call an umbrella out here.

If you are visiting the Olympic National Park I'd suggest seeing the Sol Duc hot springs, Hurricane ridge and the Hoh rainforest.

Also please be sure to visit the Red Hook brewery for me.[beer]

Alex

Does everybody go to gun stores on a family vacations?

Lets put it this way...there's no shop anywhere near Seattle that carries the variety of black rifles as these two places. By far the most impressive inventories, and I personally know people, at least at Wades, that are extremely knowledgable about firearms. Latte's or not, they know guns.

As for prices, I bought a new in box pre-ban Bushmaster from WSI for $1,100.00 about a year ago. Sounds like a decent deal to me.

My slip-up....the East side is correct. After all, it is called Wades [u]Eastside[/u] Guns!

I always found them to have a fairly weak inventory. A few pieces of eye candy, but just a few, and the prices are high as well. At least it's right downtown, so if you're there seeing other things, I guess stopping by can't hurt.

1) I don't know about post-9/11, but pre-9/11 they never even asked for ID.  It was a drive-through window:  "Citizenship?" "U.S." "Ok, get moving, you're blocking traffic."

2) Depending on which weekend(s) you are here, see if there is a gunshow:  [url]http://www.washingtonarmscollectors.org/shows.asp[/url]

3) Snoqualmie Falls, the San Juans, and Fremont.

c) Fremont is the Center of the Universe.  Several interesting statues there, including the Fremont Troll, the Rocket, and Lenin.  Lots of good places to eat.  One of the best art-glass galleries in Seattle, "Edge of Glass Gallery" on 36th.  (Also see the galleries downtown while you're near Pike Place.)

b) You can catch a ferry from Anacortes to Victoria, which will take you through the San Juans.  At the very least, this route is much more scenic than either the Victoria Clipper hydroplane (nonstop from downtown Seattle) or the B.C. ferries from Vancouver.  At the very best, on your RETURN TRIP, I believe you can stop in on the various islands in the San Juans chain.  I would recommend the main island, which is San Juan Island, obviously enough.  The last U.S./British war, in the 1870's, was fought there (net casualties:  one British pig).  There are federally-run parks at both American Camp and British Camp.  British is more scenic if you only have time for one;  American is just a grassland with a few bits of rubble and an educational exhibit.

a) Snoqualmie Falls is an easy 45-minute drive from downtown.  Just go straight out I-90 and look for the exit signs; I think it's exit 27.

San Juan Islands:
[url]http://www.gosanjuans.com/[/url]

The Pig War:  1859-1871
[url]http://spellbinder.dowco.com/pig.html[/url]
[url]http://www.nps.gov/sajh/pig_war.htm[/url]
[url]http://www.nps.gov/sajh/home.htm[/url]

Snoqualmie Falls:
[url]http://www.wpnw.addr.com/falls/snoqualmie.htm[/url]

The Museum of Flight:
[url]http://www.museumofflight.org/[/url]

Boomer's suggestion of the Boeing plant tour is a great one, but the last information I heard was that Boeing has discontinued it after 9/11.  Call and check (the Museum of Flight would probably know), but I don't think it exists any more.

After going on a tour a few years ago, I am now only ~4,999,999 parts away from having my own 777. [:D]

Ben's Loan and Pawn in Renton. I bet they have more black rifles than Wade's and WSI combined.



That's a damned good price. And totally atypical of the prices you will find at WSI or Wade's. Like I said, they cater primarilly to eastside yuppies and their prices in general reflect it.

I don't bother with either store anymore.

True, Kesselring's does have a huge inventory, but their prices in general aren't as good as they used to be and they tend to cater more to the hunting/competitive target shooting crowd. Their selection of black rifles is very limited and they are not priced very competitively. They also hide the black rifles in a back corner behind a display so it's tough to just browse them. For the true black rifle afficionado, a trip to Kesselring's won't be very fulfilling.

The Everett Tour Center is still open for biz. Give 'em a call at 1-800-464-1476 for more info.

If you have time I'd take the ferry over & check out the San Juan islands.
Orcas is my favorite.

Beautiful up there!

Boomer,
I thought $895 for a new colt was a pretty good deal, of course they want $895 for an armalite too.  Any pre-ban stuff up there will probably be overpriced because it's on consignment from the glory days of y2k.  If a person is interested in more than black rifles it is a must see.  They have numerous rifles that I have never seen anywhere else.  Besides the usual remington, winchester, and browning, they carry dakota, jarret, krieghoff and alot more.  I don't think there are better prices on Leupold scopes anywhere.  Only store I've been in that didn't bat an eye when I asked for 50bmg ball, and yes, they had it.  All that without the attitude from Wades or plain high prices of WSI.  Wades used to be one of the best places around until they moved to the new store.  Guess they have to pay for it somehow.  Of course I am a competitive shooter so I suppose that has something to do with my bias.  
 Well it looks like I've crossed the line from customer to defender.  
 Slufstuff the real must see things in Seattle for me would be Ivar's and the Old Curiosity Shop, Pike Place Market and all the shops nearby including Post Alley.  Take the underground tour in Pioneer square.  Modern day Seattle is built up on the ruins of the old city and the underground tour goes through part of the old city.  One last suggestion is catch a Mariners game, not too many chances to see the best team in baseball.  Bring your own food unless $5 burgers and $5 fries don't faze you.
 PS if you've never had one try a mocha from one of the many latte stands you will encounter and enjoy yourself!  You're on vacation after all.

Bruce, don't get me wrong, Kesselring's isn't bad, it's just that they don't seem to be what they used to be. I'm talking 10-15 years ago. They used kick EVERYONE'S ass on prices, but with the rise of the Internet, a lot of gunshops have gotten more competitive so many of the prices at Kesselring's now just seem so-so compared to what the difference used to be.

I've purchased a lot of guns, ammo, and reloading components at Kesselring's over the years. In fact, that's where I bought my first AR.

Yes, Kesselring's will likely appeal to anyone with a broad interest in guns. If you're going there looking for just black rifles, though, more often than not it's just a mediocre experience.

Guess I've been lucky. Never had anyone at Wades give me any attitude.....and got a great deal on a pre-ban AR at WSI.