Seattle, WA

Digital Dreams

Are your brainy kids easily bored by run-of-the-mill museums and insipid learning tours? Then it's time to visit Seattle, where every attraction aims to please the budding Bill Gates in your family.

No, you can't take a tour of Microsoft just yet. But you can play a hot guitar lick, just like Seattle's own Jimi Hendrix, at the newly opened Experience Music Project (EMP). Or duel a 10-foot-tall robot in tic-tac-toe, take turns at virtual basketball, and create cartoons on computers at the Pacific Science Center's Tech Zone.

Seattle is also the "home of flying." At Boeing, the giant aircraft maker, kids can watch new planes being built. Or they can learn about Wilbur, Orville, and the history of flying at the Museum of Flight, which also houses Boeing's original factory.

Plan on at least two days to do the Seattle Center and Space Needle -- and another half-day at Boeing.