Finally! A question I'm an expert on.

I'm going to have to go with Belltown, though there may be a bit of douche-baggery involved. It's a good choice, though, as there are dozens of bars within walking distance including some that are among the last of the true garbage-pits of Seattle (Kelly's), some that have cleaned up a bit (5-spot) and some that have cleaned up more than a bit (Rendez-vous) and some that are unrecpgnizable from their previous incarnations (Frontier Room). Stay the fuck away from Belltown Billiards.

I'd start and end at the Rendezvous or 5 spot.

Matt's and Stumbling Goat are good choices. Tom D's joints are good (i alomst hate to admit it!) but if you want something in that budget that uses local ingredients, I'd go wiht the Goat

"Medium Expensive" is subjective and "relatives coming from out of town" does throw a bit of wrinkle into the mix. How far from out of town?

I ask because setting becomes extremely important if your relatives are not from the northwest. I've had relatives from New York come out and they absolutely adore Ray's Boathouse and Anthony's. These relatives were in their 60s and 70s and wouldn't know a tapas if it landed on their heads. The food is good if not exceptionally creative and the prices are what I would consider "medium expensive". Hell, they loved Salty's as well and that view is pretty cool.

If you're looking for something quirky how about Crow? It's at the high end of your budget, I would guess, but it rocks.

Pegasus comes to mind in the Dexter Horton Building. They are on 3rd twix cherry and columbia west side of street.

Craigslist.org comes to mind, but for retail choices you're probably looking at Big 5, Sports Authority, or even Fred Meyer.

Fucking hippies and their "I don't need a car, why do you?" bullshit.
Christ. Can't ask a simple question without getting greened on.

The two cheapest of the national chains are Enterprise and Dollar. The Dollar on Boren has been good for me.

But to go real cheap the very best thing to do is either put an ad on Craig's list looking for what you need or...

Buy a piece of crap. There are plenty of Chevy Celebrities etc out there and some go for as cheap as a hundred bucks- don't pay more than $500. Registration is about $60- taxes are dependent on the price you tell the licensing agent you paid (low ball them).

Insure the thing at geico or progressive or something (usually less than $50 a month or so if you have a decent driving record).

Drive the car. Afterwards, sell the thing for near what you paid, cancel your insurance. Conceivable, you just had a car for month for about $150 or so.

No. Technically, neither do bears. Few mammals do. Hibernation is a phenomenon requiring specific biological reactions that are rare in mammals. Raccoons do "den" though not very much in the martime regions like Seattle. Your racoons may be exploiting a seasonally available resource that has changed their previously observed behaviors.

Hotel reservations.

Atlas Shrugged. Don't know if it's a fave, but it scared the shit outta me.