Burke: Oh, the places we’ll go, once we’ve kicked covid to curb
Published 1:30 am Monday, December 21, 2020
By Tom Burke / Herald columnist
It’s time; time to move on to life beyond politics and pandemics.
The Trump nightmare ends in 31 days. Biden will begin to build back better. Covid will be controlled (God willing) in the months that follow if people accept the vaccine and continue to mask and social distance through the spring.
In other words, it’s time to make a Western Washington bucket list of places to go and places to play, when it’s safe. Here’s some of my picks. What are yours?
Beginning with the obvious:
• Space Needle
• Pike Place Market
• International District (shop at Uwajimaya and dine almost anywhere)
• Chihuly Garden
• A ferry ride
• Boeing Factory Tour
• MoPOP
• Museum of Flight
• Seattle Great Wheel on the waterfront
• Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum
• Hiram M. Chittenden Locks (it ain’t quite the Panama Canal, but…)
• A ball game (foot, soccer, or base), and the
• Freemont Troll.
Next, my list of underrated destinations:
• Neah Bay and the Makah museum (it’s gotta-see world-class history), the fishing, the camping/cabins at Hobuck Beach, and Cape Flattery (about as far west as you can go and stay dry.)
• Fort Worden (near Port Townsend) with festivals (Bluegrass rules!!), historic buildings, and the Coast Artillery Museum to learn how Puget Sound was kept safe from invading hordes (Canadians?). (Craft-brew and munchies in the Post Prison.)
• Fort Casey on Whidbey Island. A great meadow-like park, iconic lighthouse, and the “disappearing” cannon (rescued from the WWII Corregidor fortress in the Philippines.)
• The Point Elliot Lighthouse in Mukilteo. Nice beach, nice lighthouse, nice view of ferry boats; but it’s real significance: it’s where the (in)famous 1855 “Treaty of Point Elliott” was signed and most of Western Washington was stolen from the indigenous peoples.
• Tulalip Tribes Hibulb Cultural Center (another outstanding Native American museum) and the casino for a bit of gaming.
To the “North,” there’s:
• Tulalip Reservation Boom City, the place for fireworks. (If you’re on your way to Anacortes, try the “Grenade” fireworks park on the Swinomish reservation.)
• Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in April. (Daffodils bloom earlier in the month).
• Chuckanut Drive between Bow and Bellingham on Highway 11. Iconic ride with great views and a decent en-route restaurant.
• The Alaska Ferry Terminal in Fairhaven. Go on Friday afternoons to watch folks sailing north (and setting up their tents on the deck for the voyage to Alaska). Also the “Historic” downtown.
• Deception Pass between Whidbey and the “mainland.” Awesome overlook, nice park, and camping. (And a few miles north of the pass, great fried shrimp at the “Shrimp Shack.”)
And further afield:
• Mount Baker, both winter and summer. (Great boarding/skiing in the winter; Artists Point in the summer.)
• Nooksack Falls
• Port Townsend for the September Wooden Boat festival plus stately homes, a zillion out-of-the-water boats (some for sale/sail), downtown shopping/strolling, and, on the way, the Port Townsend Aero Museum (small, but great planes you can actually touch).
South and West
• Paradise at Mount Rainier. Or any part of Rainier. (Picnic in Paradise.)
• Mount St. Helens.
• Chambers Creek Regional Park for the strange concrete monoliths. (Look ‘em up on Google but don’t tell companions, let ‘em guess).
• Auburn’s Emerald Downs during the racing season.
• Ellensburg Rodeo (YeeHaw!)
On the Peninsula:
• Hurricane Ridge Visitors Center (Awesome glaciers).
• Lake Crescent Lodge for oh-so-gracious drinks and yummy snacks in a refined, semi-Victorian setting, plus great lake views.
• Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort, to “take the waters;” or the Olympic Hot Springs that are “in the wild” near Boulder Creek. You hike in to get there.
• Hoh Rainforest
• Dungeness Spit
• Shi Shi Beach
• La Push (surf’s up)
• Forks Timber Museum
Closer to home:
• The 99 Ranch Market in Everett if you can’t get to Uwajimaya. (And the T&T Seafood Restaurant is next door for real-deal dining.)
• Samir’s (NE 43rd Street) in the U District for best Middle Eastern food in Washington. (At least the firefighters at Seattle Fire Station No. 17 think so.)
• Carcreek Park
• The Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett: totally interactive, addictive for little kids, and safe for them to roam.
• Double D Meats in Mountlake Terrace for an old-fashioned butcher.
• Center for Wooden Boats in Seattle.
• The Islands (San Juan, Orcas and Lopez)
• Ocean Shores in the off season. (Drive on the beach.)
• And, finally, the Cascade Mountain Men Rendezvous and trade fair, March 13 and 14, 2021 at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe. (Covid permitting.)
It’s all something to look forward to; something to plan for on those dark winter nights; and a way to get out and about (covid permitting).
Got more suggestions? Send me a note and I’ll update the list.
Be safe. And Happy Holidays!
Tom Burke’s email address is t.burke.column@gmail.com.
