Sights—The spectacular variety of Pike Place Market; the view from the Space Needle; the view of Puget Sound from the decks of a state ferry; the Volkswagen-crushing troll and other public art in Fremont; the historic buildings and galleries of Pioneer Square; the city skyline from Gas Works Park; the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks in Ballard.

Museums—The interactive music exhibits at the Experience Music Project and the adjoining Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame; Native American and African art at the Seattle Art Museum; Olympic Sculpture Park, on the waterfront; the impressive holdings of the Seattle Asian Art Museum; aviation and aerospace artifacts at the Museum of Flight.

Memorable Meals—The fresh seafood cuisine at Anthony's Pier 66 and Chinook's at Salmon Bay; Asian-infused seafood at Etta's Seafood; creative cuisine at Dahlia Lounge; fragrant duck at Wild Ginger Asian Restaurant; espresso everywhere.

Late Night—Dessert at The Dilettante on Broadway; jazz at Dimitriou's Jazz Alley; the best bands in town at Tractor Tavern or Chop Suey; salsa dancing at the Century Ballroom; viewing city lights from Salty's on Alki Beach; hanging out in Belltown; late-night breakfast at Thirteen Coins Restaurant.

Walks—Along Elliott Bay and through the Olympic Sculpture Park; panoramic views from Discovery Park; the Washington Park Arboretum and its Japanese Garden; Broadway on Capitol Hill to watch urban wildlife; Alki Beach for a hike; walking, biking or skating on the Burke-Gilman Regional Trail.

Especially for Kids—The Seattle Center, with its Children's Museum, International Fountain, miniature golf course and Pacific Science Center (robotics and virtual-reality games); the Seattle Aquarium; Woodland Park Zoo; Gas Works Park (especially the covered playground); the fish ladder at the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks.

Seattle borders Puget Sound, the salty inland waterway that flows through the Strait of Juan de Fuca into the Pacific Ocean. Several freshwater lakes also shape the city. Lake Union is home to the houseboat community spotlighted in the movie Sleepless in Seattle. Gigantic Lake Washington, spanned by two bridges, separates Seattle from Bellevue, Redmond (home to Microsoft), Kirkland and other suburban cities on the Eastside.

Seattle's waterfront hugs the curve of Elliott Bay. Pioneer Square, the oldest part of the city, is to the south, just up from the Alaskan Way waterfront. Next to it stand massive sports stadiums. One houses the Seattle Seahawks football team; the other, the Seattle Mariners baseball team. Pike Place Market enjoys a central location, above the Seattle Aquarium and waterfront. North of the Market is trendy Belltown. Seattle Center lies even farther north, about a mile/kilometer from the downtown core, at the foot of elegant Queen Anne Hill. Hip Capitol Hill rises to the east, on the other side of Interstate 5. North of the Ship Canal and Lake Union, the funky neighborhoods of Ballard, Fremont, Wallingford and the University District run west to east.

Seattle got its start in 1851, when a small group of courageous pioneers dropped anchor at windy, inhospitable Alki Point in what's now West Seattle. Soon the settlers moved to a better location across the water on Elliott Bay. They built a town in present-day Pioneer Square and called it Seattle after a friendly Native American, Chief Sealth. The first business, a lumber mill at the foot of Yesler Avenue, fed the demand for timber created by the California gold rush. The town survived the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, which nearly gutted the wooden business district. Optimistic residents built over the ashes, creating the handsome redbrick structures that still grace Pioneer Square.

Seattle boomed in the late 1890s, when prospectors struck gold in the Alaska-Yukon fields. The city became a major transit point for fortune hunters heading north. Merchants grew rich outfitting the gold rushers, and shipbuilders raced to create boats for the Seattle-Alaska route.

The city became an important shipping and industrial center in the early 20th century. World War II strengthened the logging industry and sparked shipbuilding, aviation and other war-related activities. The Boeing Corporation fueled the city's economy in the postwar decades. Seattle hosted the 1962 World's Fair on what's now Seattle Center, home of the Space Needle. In 1971, the world's first Starbucks opened in Pike Place Market, and Seattle soon became the espresso capital of the country. The city became a major player in the tech industry when Microsoft, Amazon.com and other companies set up shop in the 1980s and 1990s. The home base of such retail giants as Nordstrom, Costco and REI, Seattle is also a major port for foreign trade.

The ubiquitous Starbucks moniker arose from an old mining camp on Mt. Rainier called Starbo. This name reminded an original Starbucks partner of a character named "Starbucks" in one of his favorite books, Moby Dick.

Although Seattle is known for its prolific precipitation, Seattleites almost never use an umbrella when walking outside in the rain.

The term "Skid Row" originated in Seattle's Pioneer Square.

If you are getting directions from a Seattleite, keep in mind that the phrase "across the water" means across Lake Washington, which divides the city from the Eastside.

Ballard, the old Scandinavian fishing district, was once an independent city. A water shortage—exacerbated by a suspicious dead horse in the reservoir—forced the community to join Seattle in 1907. Embittered locals hung the flag at half-mast and draped City Hall in black crepe. You can still join the liberation movement by buying "Free Ballard" paraphernalia at Archie McPhee's pop-culture emporium.

Downtown's snarl of streets resulted from a founding-father squabble. David Maynard constructed in alignment with the compass points. Arthur Denny and Carson Boren built their grid parallel to Elliot Bay's shore. The result? Lost tourists and locals alike.

The Space Needle sways approximately 1 in/2.5 cm for every 10 mph/16 kph of wind, but 30-ft/9-m bolts keep it firmly anchored at the base of Queen Anne Hill. The tower's original name was Space Cage.

Mount Rainier is the highest point in Washington at nearly 3 mi/5 km. One of the world's most massive volcanoes, it first erupted about a half-million years ago. If it erupts again, it will cause catastrophic damage to the Seattle region.