Compact in size, yet filled with opportunities to experience both spectacular scenery and culture in many forms, and facilitated by a functional public transit system, Seattle is an fun and easy city to visit. Most visitors find the downtown area attractive. The urban core contains excellent restaurants, live music venues, art museums and galleries, bookstores, an active regional theater hub, the renowned Pike Place Market, the Seattle Symphony and Pacific Northwest Ballet Company, as well as the Seahawks pro football and Mariners major league baseball teams.

Many of Seattle’s top restaurants feature African American chefs and/or owners. I recommend the efforts of Daisley Gordon, executive chef at Campagne Restaurant and Café Campagne; Wayne Johnson, executive chef at Andaluca, Mulugeta Abate owner/chef of Pan Africa Market Restaurant; Richard Dwyer owner/chef at Casuelita’s Caribbean Cuisine; co-owner/chef Sabrina Tinsley at Osteria La Spiga Italian Restaurant; and a few miles south of downtown, Jacques Saar, chef at Afrikando Afrikando, serving food based on the cuisine of Senegal.


My other favorite restaurants in or near downtown are Wild Ginger for Pan-Asian cuisine; Black Bottle for informal dining in a stylish, youthful atmosphere; Boka Restaurant …

Seattle’s African American community has developed many organizations over the years. A branch of the NAACP was formed in 1913, only three years after the founding of the national organization.

For the out-of-town visitor, I recommend four institutions: (1) the Northwest African American Museum (NAAM), (2) the Central District Forum for Arts and Ideas (CD Forum), (3) the First AME Church, and (4) Mount Zion Baptist Church.

There are more things to do around and about Seattle than most visitors will have time to experience, but if you’re here for an extended period or want to try something a little off the beaten path, try one of these:

1. A ferry ride from downtown Seattle to the village of Winslow on Bainbridge Island.

2. Visit the Museum of Flight, located a few miles south of downtown.

3. 25 miles north of Seattle, you’ll find the Future of Flight Aviation Center & Boeing Tour. Public tours of the Boeing Everett factory are available. The factory features production lines for the Boeing 747, 767, 777 and 787 Dreamliner aircrafts, and is the world’s largest building. You can see airplanes being built during the tour.

4. Bellevue, Washington is located just across Lake Washington from Seattle. It has two major shopping centers, Bellevue Square and the newly-opened Bravern, should you wish move beyond Seattle’s department stores and stylish boutiques.