With its carnival rides, miniature golf and arcade games (complete with stuffed-animal prizes), the Fun Forest is a nostalgic journey to fun of the past. Tickets can be a bit pricey, but unlimited ride bracelets are available during the summer months.

The trendiest club on the Eastside draws a sizable 20-something crowd to dance to the Afrodisiacs -- a poppy cover band -- and live DJs from Seattle. The club also boasts free pool, big screen TVs and nightly drink specials.

It's easy to see why this place is named after a Spanish palace - lofty ceilings, artistically hued concrete floors, and huge iron structures showcasing designs from as far as Turkey and as close as Los Angeles. There is a world of options here for the store's wide base of customers, women 20-50, including dainty silk dresses, flowy scarves and velvet yoga pants, not to mention - well, okay, we will - furnishings such as art deco cabinets and pieces made of marble and wrought iron. It's the little things, however, that add that exotic flair, such as amethyst jewelry appropriate for the earth mama or socialite, hand-painted glassware and hot tea by the door that you can sip while shopping.

Tip: Alhambra has live jazz every Saturday from 1-5 p.m.

The upper entrance to this forested park hangs at the edge of a ridge of glacial rock debris overlooking Lake Washington. A newspaper clipping of an old photograph currently at the trailhead kiosk shows the old cable-car trestle bridge that spanned the ravine during the late 1880s over to Leschi attractions. The park was donated in 1906 by John M. Frink, who lived in a mansion above the park and had a multi-faceted career as a schoolteacher, businessman, park commissioner and senator. Included in the Olmsted brothers' landscaping plan for Seattle parks, Frink Park gained many amenities for the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, including a bridge over the ravine, dams with pools, paths and benches.

Andaluca offers a Mediterranean menu influenced by Pacific Northwest ingredients. Although vegetarian entrees are very limited, the one we tried, a wild mushroom risotto, was impressively flavorful and savory, mixing mushrooms with onions, spicy jack cheese, and a hint of lemon. Carnivores will have no trouble finding beef, lamb, chicken, or even rabbit dishes to keep them busy, and a tempting seafood stew beckoned to us from the menu. A generous appetizer plate of mussels was practically a meal unto itself, served with an addictive, buttery garlic/rosemary/chardonnay sauce. Andaluca's stylish atmosphere balances a creative and unexpected design with a cozy, intimate feel, and the service was attentive and friendly. A wine list that earned the attention of Wine Spectator and an appealing assortment of cocktails round out the offerings.

Amici means "friends" in Italian, and watching owners Gianni and Rose Sassioti table-hop, you get the distinct impression this cozy little restaurant is filled with just that - their friends. You could take the kids, but instead take my advice: Get a sitter. This is a great date restaurant with a rustic Old World charm that feels romantic day or night.

Bustling, cozy, modest gem. Firm-crusted pizzas sparkle. Grinders, lasagna, ravioli, manicotti, cannelloni shine. Freshness, pride evident wherever tomato sauce and cheese are involved. Some regulars swear by the barbecued ribs, served with spaghetti or lasagna.

Rainier Avenue South is not a great place to walk, with its buzz of traffic and string of gas stations and fast-food restaurants.
But get off the main drag in the Rainier Beach neighborhood in South Seattle, and you'll find a string of small parks to explore, each rich in local history and views.

not the airport, but a major one.

Fairmount Playground is your average playground, complete with a swing set, merry go round, slide, monkey dome, and much more. It is always busy on nice days.

Sandy beaches, trails that meander through madrona groves and meadows, and a resident deer herd that mingles with campers make Jones Island one of the most popular San Juan Islands destinations for kayakers. Other boaters enjoy it too, so much so that campsites are often scarce on summer weekends. For ferry foot-passengers with kayaks, this trip offers a route alternative using a launch at the public dock next to the Friday Harbor ferry terminal on San Juan Island. This area can also be combined with a circumnavigation of Shaw Island

This park is located on Henderson Bay on Puget Sound near Tacoma. Noteworthy are the scenic views and dramatic sunsets across Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains. The park covers 109 acres, with 5,600 feet of saltwater shoreline. A unique element of this park is Cutts Island (also called Deadman's Island), which is located 0.5 mile from shore and is accessible only by boat. (There is no camping on the island.) The park has sandy beaches, located about 250 yards down the hill from the camp. Two miles of hiking trails are available. Fishing access is available by boat only. A boat launch is located not far from camp.

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