Beat the Post-Holiday Blues with a January Trip to Seattle
 

SEATTLE, Nov. 28, 2007 – Savvy travelers often choose the off season for trips for good reason: better prices, fewer crowds, greater options. Seattle in January is one of those great off-season destinations.The summer crowds are gone, you can actually stroll leisurely and comfortably through the Pike Place Market, hotels offer some of the best rates of the year, post-holiday shopping bargains abound and there is an abundance of indoor cultural and recreational events to enjoy.  Topping the list of January attractions is the Seattle Boat Show, the largest on the West Coast and the third largest in North America.A boater and would-be-boater’s veritable giant candy store.

Visitors to Seattle in late January can wander the Boat Show by day (to pick out their next boat, attend a seminar to hone their boating skills or learn about cruising in Canada or Alaska), take in a show by night, and in between dine at some of Seattle’s finest restaurants. (It’s crab and oyster season in January, so no better time to try our world renowned seafood.) Other January 2008 attractions include a west coast premier of Prokofiev’s Romeo et Juliette ballet choreographed by Jean-Christophe Maillot and the opportunity to view Lorenzo Ghiberti’s famous Renaissance masterpiece Gates of Paradise, the first time they have been shown in the United States.  There’s something for all tastes and interests and members of the family.

JANUARY & FEBRUARY SEATTLE EVENTS

61st Annual Seattle Boat Show
Thursday, January 24 – Saturday, February 2, 2008
The Seattle Boat Show attracts visitors from 34 states. It features 1,000 recreational watercraft, seminars and the latest innovations in accessories at the Qwest Field Event Center, plus 200 world-class boats in their natural habitat at Chandler’s Cove on south Lake Union.

Unique to the Seattle Boat Show is the large variety of boats on display. At other shows, you may find yourself in a sea of bass boats and wakeboard boats. At the Seattle show, the boats on display are representative of the wide range of boating available in the region. The Pacific Northwest is home to perhaps the largest variety of boating in the world – whether it’s wakeboarding on the inland lakes, salmon fishing on the Puget Sound, sailing in the San Juan Islands, kayaking in the streams and rivers, or cruising to Alaska. Every type of boating available in the region is on display at the Seattle Boat Show.  

While in Seattle, stay at the beautiful Crowne Plaza Hotel or Silver Cloud Inn – the official hotels of the Seattle Boat Show. Discount rates apply for boat show attendees. For more information including rates and reservations, click on www.seattleboatshow.com

Seattle Art Museum: The Gates of Paradise: Lorenzo Ghiberti's Renaissance Masterpiece
January 26–April 6, 2008
Michelangelo is credited with dubbing them “the gates of paradise,” and sixteenth-century artist and writer Giorgio Vasari called them “the finest masterpiece ever created, either in ancient or modern times.” Three stunning panels from Lorenzo Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise, one of the most celebrated works of the Italian Renaissance, will be on view at SAM Downtown. This exhibition marks the first time that the gilded bronze panels have traveled to the United States since their creation over 550 years ago. www.sam.org

Pacific Northwest Ballet: Roméo et Juliette
January 31–February 10, 2008
The Pacific Northwest Ballet is one of the largest and most highly regarded ballet companies in the United States. The arrival of Jean-Christophe Maillot's Roméo et Juliette is the fulfillment of Artistic Director Peter Boal's dream of offering PNB audiences a contemporary full-length ballet. This is a West coast and Seattle premiere of Sergei Prokofiev’s classic. www.pnb.org

Seattle Opera: Pagliacci, by Ruggero Leoncavallo
Sat., Jan 12, 2008 – Sat., Jan 26, 2008
A favorite of audiences since its premiere in 1892, Pagliacci is still one of the top 15 operas performed in the U.S. Pagliacci’s most famous aria “Vesti la giubba” became the first recording to sell a million copies in America. www.seattleopera.org

Seattle Repertory Theatre: The Breach by Catherine Filloux, Tarell McCraney & Joe Sutton.
January 10 – February 9, 2008
The Seattle Repertory Theatre has achieved international renown for its consistently high production and artistic standards, and was awarded the 1990 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre.  In The Breach three unique and separate stories from survivors of Hurricane Katrina are woven together. The Breach is currently being presented as public readings in theatres and FEMA trailers throughout the South, providing opportunity for public debate on the broader issues of poverty, patriotism and the responsibility we have to one another. www.seattlerep.org

Seattle Boat Show — Indoor and Afloat is produced by:
Northwest Marine Trade Association (www.nmta.net) and the Northwest Yacht Brokers Association (www.nwyachtbrokers.com.)

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About the Northwest Yacht Brokers Association
The Northwest Yacht Brokers Association www.nwyachtbrokers.com is a non-profit marine trade group founded in 1988 consisting of over 340 marine brokers, dealers and other industry professionals representing over 230 marine-related businesses in the Pacific Northwest. Subscribing to the strictest code of ethics, NYBA members are committed to bringing integrity and professionalism to the buying and selling process of new and previously owned pleasure craft. NYBA plays an active role in marine youth and education programs and is active in creating a greater interest in the welfare and safety of the boating public. Along with the Northwest Marine Trade Association, NYBA's January and September Boats Afloat Shows connect thousands of boating enthusiasts with marine professionals and the finest pleasure craft the Northwest has to offer.