Category: The Seattle Times

19 years in Seattle and I finally went up Smith Tower for the first time. It was INCREDIBLE. Well worth a look inside and a ride to the top. At 42 stories, Smith Tower isn’t particularly tall now, but it was the 4th tallest in the world when it opened 110 years ago. I loved…

When you live in a place, you wind up taking stuff for granted. I admit it has been years since I’d been to the Klondike Gold Rush Museum and I’d forgotten how nicely done it is. Super fun and super FREE.

Paul went on a school field trip to the ID — for some of the kids in the class, it was their first time in this neighborhood. (It’s 15 minutes away.) Paul came back raving about the restaurant where all the third graders ate. “Mama, it was so delicious! It was beautiful inside! And huge!”…

Happy 9 years old!

Celebrate Asian American Pacific Islander heritage month with a good book! Here are 10 fantastic picture books by AAPI Seattle-area authors and illustrators: Tricky Chopsticks, 2024, by Sylvia Chen (Kirkland)Brave Mrs. Sato, 2023, by Lori Matsukawa (Bellevue)Chloe’s Lunar New Year, 2024, by Lily LaMotte (Port Townsend)Let’s Do Everything and Nothing, 2022, by Julia Kuo (Bellevue)How to…

Fun day trip with kids! Right next to the Bremerton ferry terminal, there a great park with big fountains and a FREE naval museum. The naval museum has a cute kids play room on the second floor and friendly volunteers. Not far away, there’s a navy ship you can tour too, the USS Turner Joy…

Nice little walk through the Theler wetlands in Belfair. It’s a small reserve with a 3-mile trail with boardwalks over the wetlands. There’s a tiny playground at the start, and cool birds to be seen.

Skansie Park is the core of the harbor and super cute to walk around. There’s a fun seating area on the rooftop of the clean public restrooms. Free life jackets to borrow if you’d like while you’re exploring the dock. I searched and search for the parking meter before I realized parking is FREE in…

A ride on the ferry always feels like a tiny vacation.

Happy birthday! Officially a teenager!