Bundle up the kids and take a trip to a sparkling winter wonderland less than an hour south of Everett, traffic permitting, of course.
Many families make it a tradition to visit the Seattle Center at this time of the year.
And why not?
Seattle Center Winterfest 2007 offers many gems for couples and families, including the Winterfest Ice Rink, open through Jan. 6.
Whether you wobble on ice skates, clinging to your honey for balance, or glide around the rink on one foot, this icy start to a holiday visit gets blood pumping and endorphins cranking. It might even generate a laugh or two.
The ice rink is at the Fisher Pavilion, and as with all the events at the center that are not free, the cost is low, at $5 for adults.
When it gets too cold or rainy, head inside the Seattle Center House where huge snowflakes on the dance floor created a hopping game with our kids during a recent visit. Inside the center, a ring of vendors serve pizza, Thai food, burgers and drinks — just to name a few choices.
But our kids were so transfixed by the Winter Train and Village, a spectacular miniature holiday landscape filled with snow-laden roofs, perfectly poised skiers, bundled-up kids throwing snowballs and so much more that we realized we could have stayed there for hours.
The train that zig-zags its way in, out and around people skating, feeding animals or walking their children, is operated from a little caboose-type area at one end. Children are encouraged to line up and help the station master make the train move around the village while onlookers peer over the partitions. When the kids have brought the train around the tracks and back to the station, they receive a wooden whistle and a free pass on the Monorail.
Speaking of the Monorail: As if it’s not thrilling enough to swish through Seattle above shoppers and city dwellers, Santa will ride the Seattle Monorail Holiday Express from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Dec. 22.
This quick and comfortable way to get to Westlake Mall means no trudging out in the cold or damp to get to the car or take a walk.
Westlake Mall is the perfect place to window shop on your way to the Qwest Carousel just across the street. We found our kids, 5 and 2, less interested in the window shopping and more into yanking our arms out to the street so they could ride the carousel. Being out in the drizzle was more than worth it to see the looks on their faces as they approached the colorful carousel guarded by giant nutcrackers.
This carousel operates through Dec. 30, and a $2 donation is suggested for a ride that thrills the young and young at heart. Visitors stand in line under a warm canopy tent to giddyap on beautiful horses.
After soaring through the chilly December air on galloping horses beneath twinkling lights, we stopped off at one of the many welcoming coffee shops for hot chocolate and cookies.
Our energy renewed, we headed over to Sixth Avenue and the The Seattle Sheraton hotel lobby to ooh and ahh over the items constructed by local architects and staff members and chefs from the hotel, culminating in the 2007 Gingerbread Village.
The village display is free and open through Jan. 2. Donations benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
Visitors can vote for their favorite structure, whether it’s the Chinese dragon made with hundreds of gleaming gold coins snaking over a green candy pagoda roof, or the planet Earth rotating to show attractions such as the Space Needle and the Pyramids of Egypt popping from the globe.
Gingerbread men surrounded by red-and-white-striped candy canes peek from the Christmas tree, and candy animals, including a walrus made with gum, jelly beans and circus peanuts, are a feast for the eyes.
A short walk back to Westlake Center to catch the monorail was a much appreciated crisp jaunt in the evening air, even if it was raining.
The magic of the holidays is alive and well in Seattle, where couples and families can enjoy a day, an evening, or a weekend of festive fun — and it doesn’t have to cost a fortune.
Our little troupers were asleep by the time we approached I-5’s northbound lanes, no doubt with visions of sugarplums, gingerbread and carousels dancing in their heads.
Christina Harper is a Snohomish County freelance writer. She can be reached at harper@heraldnet.com.
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