Local news

A few things that visitors to Seattle should be aware of:

• The monorail probably won't be running while our guests are in town.
• You'd be well advised not to eat raw oysters just now, due to contamination in the local oyster beds. Places that serve raw oysters are supposed to switch to other suppliers, but the reason they're normally so good here is that they are from so nearby. Meanwhile cooking does seem to effectively kill the bacteria in question, so there doesn't seem to be any reason to worry about cooked shellfish.
• 10 day weather forecast. Obviously that gets less reliable after the first couple of days, but it should give you some sort of packing guidance.
• Airport security restrictions:
  • General rules at Seattle-Tacoma airport. As far as I know, the same rules apply at all other US airports, but it's worth checking locally.
  • British Airways' rules. These cover people flying from Seattle directly to London; they probably also cover all other flights to the UK, but it's worth checking with the particular airline.
  • For flights from the UK to the US.
• It's forest fire season. We're not likely to be affected in or around Seattle (including the hiking trails that are accessible by bus from here), but it does pay to check the local news or ask around before heading out to any forest area. Right now one of the access roads to Mount Rainier is closed to most traffic because of a fire in that area; I'll be keeping track of that for those who are planning on visiting there (don't worry - the other two routes are unaffected).

And finally: I am very glad that we didn't decide to take the risk of using the Olympic Sculpture Park for our wedding.