Since joining Seattle Met in 2011, Allison Williams has overseen the magazine’s travel and outdoor coverage, and has contributed to all sections of the magazine. Allison was raised in Olympia and earned degrees from Duke University and University of Alaska. She began her career in New York City in the newsrooms of Metro newspaper and Time Out New York, then hightailed it back to her native habitat so she could write guidebooks and climb mountains.

Long Weekends

Craving a Seattle Staycation? Stay in These New Hotels

Staycation, all I ever wanted.

12/20/2017 By Allison Williams

Long Weekends

How to Take Advantage of Alaska’s New Nonstop Flight to San Luis Obispo

In less than 3 hours, find yourself eating BBQ and drinking fresh-pressed juice underneath that Central California sunshine.

12/20/2017 By Allison Williams

Long Weekends

An LA Food Tour: Eat Your Way Through the City’s New Star-Studded Restaurant Scene

From Tartine to Eataly, heavy-hitting restaurateurs are suddenly congregating in La La Land.

12/20/2017 By Allison Williams

Long Weekends

Suttle Lodge: Fine Dining Tucked Away in Central Oregon Mountains

By luring the region’s best chefs, remote Suttle Lodge has turned a quiet corner of the Deschutes National Forest into a cozy getaway for the food minded.

12/20/2017 By Allison Williams

The Truffle Shuffle

Do Some Serious Gourmet Mushroom Hunting in Eugene

How to search for—and eat—the best of Pacific Northwest mushrooms and truffles.

12/20/2017 By Allison Williams

Long Weekends

Need Some New Adventure Friends? Meet Them at Loge’s Community-Focused Hotels

With locations in Westport and Leavenworth, these lodges (er, Loges) offer scenic hangouts with fellow surfers and skiers.

12/20/2017 By Allison Williams

Travel

9 Incredible Long Weekend Getaways

Ditch Friday. Call in sick Monday. Pack your bags for sunshine, funky hotels, city skiing, or winter surf.

12/19/2017 By Allison Williams

Doors Wide Shut

Amazon Key Literally Lets Delivery Drivers Come Right Into Your Home

What do we risk when the door’s always open?

12/19/2017 By Allison Williams

Black Hole Fun

How Nobel-Winning LIGO Lab Detects Gravitational Waves

The LIGO Hanford facility was part of a breakthrough discovery that won the Nobel Prize in October after scientists “heard” ripples in space-time. This isn’t science fiction, though—it’s a cosmic thriller.

11/20/2017 By Allison Williams

Road Trip

How to Find Peace and Quiet in a Whistler That’s Bigger Than Ever

Under new Vail Resorts ownership, North America’s biggest ski mountain isn’t getting any smaller. But it does have some pockets of serenity.

11/20/2017 By Allison Williams

Fees, Please

Would You Pay $70 to Visit Mount Rainier?

What about the Olympic National Park? The park system is pondering one heck of a rate hike.

10/25/2017 By Allison Williams

Explainer

Is Seattle Ready for Safe Injection Sites?

Earlier this year, city and county officials proposed opening the first spaces in the United States for the supervised use of illegal drugs. Depending on whom you ask, the proposition is a life saver or an unconscionable enabler of substance abuse.

09/20/2017 By Allison Williams

Oeno Files

The Best of Washington Wine 2017

A wine-drenched weekend away in Walla Walla. Our annual list of the 100 best wines in the state. There are so many ways to raise a glass and celebrate our proximity to incredible cabernet, syrah, chardonnay, and more.

09/13/2017 By Sean P. Sullivan and Allison Williams With Allecia Vermillion Illustrations by Jordan Kay

Road Trip

Walla Walla Isn’t Napa—and Thank the Wine Gods for That

The question is whether things can stay this affordable and this chilled out.

09/13/2017 By Allison Williams

Road Trip

Taste the Top 100 at These Walla Walla Wineries

From scenic patios to vinyl-spinning living rooms, confidently sip your way through Washington's unofficial wine capitol (and go home with a few bottles—or cases—for later).

09/13/2017 By Allison Williams

Oeno Files

The Best of Washington Wine 2017

09/13/2017 By Sean P. Sullivan and Allison Williams With Allecia Vermillion

Weekend Pass

Dude Ranches Are Going Strong, So Saddle Up for a Cowboy Vacation

They combine the best of a chill vacation with a peek into the world of real cowboys. Bull Hill Guest Ranch welcomes hapless city slickers, but they’re running a thriving cattle business in the background.

08/17/2017 By Allison Williams

The Dating Life

How to Fix Seattle's Single Tech Bros, According to a Dating Coach

Marina Lavochin has an easy recipe for turning the city's hesitant, single newcomers into viable dating material.

08/15/2017 By Allison Williams

Travel Features

Secrets of the Olympic Peninsula

Sure, it’s home to everything from rain forests to high culture, an entire mountain range, and eight Indian reservations, but can it still hold surprises?

07/20/2017 By Allison Williams

Olympics 101

First Time in the Olympic Peninsula? Here's What to See.

Scenic vistas, stunning beach walks, and main street strolls: Here's what should be on any first-timer's to-do list.

07/20/2017 By Allison Williams