Tournament season is upon us! There’s a lot going on, and hunting down the information for competitions can be a bit of a challenge.

One of the last national youth competitions of the 2016 season will be held at Bellevue, WA at Rain City Fencing Center, the tournament called Rain City SYC. Being the last west coast SYC and being hosted by one of the most beautiful fencing clubs in the country, this SYC is very popular among all west coast fencers, and our own fencers are no exclusion.

Our dear friend, mom of two talented epee girls, Sonali Tikekar, who lives in the area, proposed to help our parents to navigate Seattle and the surrounding areas so that they can have the best experience possible at the 2016 Rain City SYC. She sent me an email with that information and I thought it might be used not only by our parents but by many visiting this SYC.

We’s like to thank her sincerely for sharing it with us!

In this post Sonali described everything from basic info about the tournament to detailed ways that you can make the most of your stay. Seattle has a lot to offer in addition to this fantastic tournament.

Registration

First off, the basics. Remember to check with the registration page for the most up to date information. Everything here is current at the time of this blog post, but things can possibly change with any tournament, so keep that in mind.

• Dates: April 22-25, 2016
• Venue: Rain City Fencing Center, 1776 136th Place NE, Bellevue, WA 9800, : (425) 747-6300
• Registration: Click here to register online at AskFred
• Fees: There’s a scale of fees that changes (and these are current as of the time of this writing). You’ll find that fees now have an added tax of 9.5% from the state of Washington.
  • Before March 25
    • – $30 registration fee ($32.85 with tax)
    • – $40 per event ($43.80 with tax)
  • After March 25
    • – $90 registration fee ($98.55 with tax)
    • – $120 per event ($131.40 with tax)
  • Schedule: You’ll definitely want to check the registration site for the most up to date schedule of events.

Where to Stay

Seattle is home to some fantastic hotels, and the RCFC club has negotiated discounted rates with 2 of the hotels close to the SYC venue.  Both these hotels are very close – within 5 mins of the venue and are well rated. No need to guess about quality with these guys. There’s also another great hotel nearby with a discounted rate – check out the details below. Finally, we’ve also included a couple of hotels that don’t have a discounted rate but that are close to the venue.

●    Fairfield Inn by Marriott

14595 NE 29th Place

Bellevue, WA 98007

425-869-6548

SYC Rate $129/night. Must book by 3/24/16.

http://tinyurl.com/RainCitySYCFairfield2016

●    Hampton Inn & Suites Bellevue Downtown

11405 Northeast 2nd Place

Bellevue, Washington, 98004

425-453-4100

SYC Rate $119/night. Must book by 3/15/16.

http://tinyurl.com/RainCitySYCHampton2016

●    Residence Inn by Marriott

Michele Khamis from North Texas Fencing Alliance was able to negotiate a discount rate for fencing and she has been kind to share this information with us. Use the link to get the discounted rate of $119.

Book your group rate for Rain City Fencing

14455 NE 29th Place

Bellevue, WA 98007

425-882-1222

●    Courtyard by Marriott

While this close by hotel doesn’t have a discounted rate currently, they are sure to give you a negotiated rate if you book multiple rooms under one club name.

14615 NE 29th Place

Bellevue, WA 98007

425-869-5300

●    Westin Bellevue Downtown

Very nice and has an amazing spa – a great place for Moms!

●    Hyatt Bellevue Downtown

Also lovely, with lots of wonderful amenities!

Transportation

Getting around is easy!

To and from the airport:

●     Rent a car: for pickup right at the airport.

●     Pre-book a cab: The taxi/limo company we use is Towncar Service (206) 261-6667. Ask for Russ or give our the host’s name as a reference – Prashant Ketkar. They are very reliable and will pick you from anywhere and drop you anywhere within the greater Seattle area. Charges are about $65-$70 from the airport to Bellevue.

●     Uber: another great option

From your hotel to the venue:

Most hotels are very close by and some of the hotels did run the shuttle last year to the venue. Do let the hosts of the tournament know once you book your hotels so they can reach out to find out if they will run a shuttle this year. Drop an email to sonalitikekar@hotmail.com or call at (425) 677-7505 or (510) 409-2396.

Exploring Bellevue

Downtown Bellevue is a fun place in the evening with lots of good restaurants and so much to do! Here are some of the wonderful things to do around the area.

Place and Activities:

Bellevue

• Downtown is just 5 mins away. Has tons of restaurants. The bowling alley is nice and has a good movie theater.
• Check out Enatai Beach park is very nice lakefront park about 10 minutes from the venue, it has a dock offering swimming & picnic area, plus seasonal kayak & canoe rentals.

Kirkland

• Downtown Kirkland is has a very nice marina. There are many beach side parks you can park at the marina and take a nice walk. Lots of restaurants, ice-cream parlors. By April you can also rent boats or take a Argosy cruise.

Seattle

• The Seattle Needle, Chihuly gallery, Pike place market and Pacific Science center are all within a 10 minutes driving distance from each other and about 25 minutes from Bellevue. There are lots of beaches on Lake Washington – Alki beach is very nice and in low tide you can see a lot of sea urchins, star fish etc.

Woodenville

• Located only 15 mins away it is wine country. Gorgeous views with many high end and some boutique restaurants around.

Hikes & Trails

• The greater Seattle Area is famous for its trails. King county trail map with details you can check out http://www.kingcounty.gov/operations/GIS/Maps/VMC/Recreation.aspx
• Poo-Poo Point via Chirico Trail is a very nice one if you have some time and energy. Gorgeous views from the top.
• Rattle Snake trail is also very nice.

Adventure Sports

• Biking: If you love biking check out the Duthie hill bike park. It is located about 20 minutes from venue (and literally in the backyard of our hosts) – it’s amazing! http://www.kingcounty.gov/services/parks-recreation/parks/trails/backcountry-trails/duthie-hill.aspx
• Skiing: If the snow lasts there is skiing at Snoqualmie pass and Steven’s pass. Check online at http://www.summitatsnoqualmie.com/ before you head out. Snoqualmie pass will be about 45 mins – 1 hour from the venue

Natural Attractions

• Tulip Festival: April is the Tulip season – So check out the http://www.shuttertours.com/tulip.php Its well worth a visit.
• Snoqualmie Falls: Beautiful falls not too far about 20- 25 minutes from Bellevue.

Restaurants:

• Bellevue:

Tons of amazing food very close to our venue!

• Din Tai Fung – amazing dumplings, does have a long wait on weekends and doesn’t take reservations. WORTH THE WAIT so if your fencer isn’t ready to eat you try this place
• Monsoon – Fusion Asian in Downtown Bellevue – takes reservations
• Pearls, Earls and Purple (Bellevue) – All three restaurants have good food–Kids are allowed, food and wines are good.
• Mediterranean Kitchen Bellevue – good middle eastern food – small place but excellent food, the Greek place across from Med Kitchen
• Garlic Crush is also good.
• Wild Ginger – Excellent Asian food
• Black Bottle – Great wines, good food – doesn’t allow kids under 18 so MOM and DAD’s this can be your date night if your kids are old enough to be left in hotel room.
• Drive around this area and there are many restaurants in Bellevue downtown and in the Mall. Most of them are great!

• Kirkland:

A beautiful marina – Lake Washington – is just absolutely gorgeous place to walk around.

• Cactus Mexican –good Mexican food
• Bin by the Lake Carillion point– right on the lake – gorgeous views and sea planes land and take off from there many times. Good food
• Many other options – just walk around

• Seattle:

Some amazing restaurants and some highly decorated chefs. It takes about 25 minutes to go to Seattle from Bellevue. There is toll on 520 bridge, no toll on I90.

• Chef Tom Douglas has quite a few restaurants – check out his website(http://tomdouglas.com/).
• Serious Pie is great for kids. Try the location in Pike since it has a very big Starbucks roasting plant inside the restaurant and Pike Place Market is close by.

• Woodinville:

A beautiful wine country is located about 15 minutes from Bellevue. There are many wineries and some amazing restaurants. The setting is just gorgeous and surreal.

• Barking Frog – try http://www.willowslodge.com/barking_frog/ or drive/walk around for many other food options
• Mamnoon http://www.mamnoonrestaurant.com/
• Ethans Stowell http://www.ethanstowellrestaurants.com/locations/how-to-cook-a-wol
• Poppy – For farm to table experience try Poppy http://www.poppyseattle.com – a host favorite
• Herb Farm is very famous – on the expensive side, needs reservations
• There are many more – just check Trip Advisor and if you aren’t sure, feel free to call me and I will give you all the details on it

Fencing related:

• Equipment: Rain City fencing center has a store which carries some equipment. They also have lot of club gear which can be rented if you forgot something.
• Open fencing and practice: Washington Fencing Academy would love to invite all of you to come over for open fencing or practice. Just let the host know when you would like to drop by (located about 15 minutes from the venue).
• If you need anything else while planning your trip or when you get there Sonali even agreed to give her contact email.: sonalitikekar@hotmail.com

We hope to see you in Seattle soon!

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