Category Archives: Family Fun

A Peak at Pacific City, Oregon

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Every so often I stray from my home state. Most recently, I visited the Oregon Coast, which I must admit has some appealing qualities that our coast does not, including more accessible beaches and gigantic rock formations in the water (you’ve probably heard of Haystack Rock). This time I stayed overnight in Pacific City, a tiny coastal town, so I’d like to share the possibilities it offers with you.

Beach at Pacific City, Oregon.

 

I stayed at the Inn at Cape Kiwanda, which is directly across from the beach and a few steps from a very good eatery, the  award-winning Pelican Pub & Brewery. My husband and I had been to Pacific City before, but never stayed overnight because the accommodations looked expensive from the exterior. As it turns out, they are not. Rooms at the Inn start at $139. All of the guest rooms have ocean views from a private, covered balcony, gas fireplaces, microwaves, small refrigerators and high speed wireless Internet. Really, what else do you need? If you want to bring your “best friend,” dogs love the beaches on the Coast and the Inn is pet-friendly.

What to do

As the iconic single’s ad says, “you can take a long walk on the beach,” watch sunrises and sunsets, look for glass balls and watch the waves crash.

Pelican Pub & Brewery and another Haystack Rock.

If you’ve come to storm watch, you might also want to read a good book and create a scrapbook of memories.

Kids can search for agates in the sand, feed bread to the seagulls, go horseback riding and eat s’mores on the beach.

And then you can get a good night’s sleep, slumbering with ocean noises in the background and find even more activities for the next day.

A good breakfast spot is The Grateful Bread, which is a full-service restaurant and a bakery.

Cinnamon roll french toast at The Grateful Bread.

Tip:  In Oregon, an employee always pumps your gas for you. There are no self-serve gas stations.

What is your favorite coast and why?

Fascinated by Fascination

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I have a new favorite game. It’s not as accessible as Words with Friends but it is equally addicting and even more fun plus it’s a little physical.

I just returned from a trip the northern Oregon Coast and in Seaside at the Funland Arcade I had the opportunity to play Fascination.

Invented in the 1920’s, it’s a game similar to Skeeball or Rollerball. You roll a ball under a Plexiglas screen and when it falls through one of the 25 holes provided, a light lights up on the backboard. Your goal is to get a “bingo” either across, down or diagonally with the lights. An auctioneer-type emcee lets everyone know how many lights they need for a bingo to keep the challenge going.

Sometimes he gave us two balls, which really confuses non-multitaskers like myself or sometimes we played black out. In the end I finally won a Frisbee. Others walked away with Seaside coffee mugs, six packs of soda made in Seaside and saltwater taffy.

I highly recommend it as a delightful family activity free of video games and screens. Fascination is operated by relays like our telephones used to be.

The Fascination Room is open seven days a week in the summer and on Thursday, Friday and Saturday the rest of the year.

Indoor Skydiving Lands in Seattle

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Indoor Skydiving Lands in Seattle

Last month, my grandson celebrated his 13th birthday with four of his friends, by skydiving indoors at the new I Fly facility located near Southcenter.

This experience rated better than any of those video games he usually asks for and gets tired of within a few weeks. Elias and his friends still talk about the I Fly experience and what a great time they had. And when they will return and get more skills checked off on their certificates.

 

I Fly uses a vertical wind tunnel that moves air up, creating an actual flying experience, not a simulation. Multiple fans located at the top of a large plastic tube produce and air flow that makes flying smooth and fun.

Professional instructors help you get your bearings because once you enter the tube you’re flying and to many that’s quite a surprise. What’s really fun for spectators is that after an instructor finishes helping his assigned group of “flyers” he or she then does tricks that only a skilled flyer is capable of.

For birthday parties, all the guests get a certificate of accomplishments and the guest of honor receives a video of their experience flying.

Children as young as 3 years of age may participate and there’s no upper age limit. Everyone looks like they are having the time of their life.

I would love to try this. The fun seemed contagious.

Reservations are recommended.

Fantasy Lights at Spanaway Park

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Proclaimed to be the Northwest’s largest holiday drive-through event, Fantasy Lights continues through January 1, 2012. With more than 300 colorful and dazzling light displays, it’s one event that should not be missed.

Last year Fantasy Lights spawned three successful marriage proposals and lots of pay-it-forward situations where the driver in front paid for the car behind him. Because I’m recovering from foot surgery, a drive-through display from the warmth of our car made perfect sense.

When this holiday tour was first born 17 years ago, it held just 38 displays. Now with over 300, you will see everything from animated bears flying kites, snow boys kicking field goals, a sea serpent that breathes fire, frogs jumping on a lily pad and Santa and Rudolf sail a tall ship to every holiday theme imaginable. Watch out for the reindeer jumping over your car.

My personal favorites were the illuminated aliens built by Rogers High School’s Welding Class. The aliens range in height from 5-7 feet and are 3-7 feet wide. Students from Rogers High have built many of the displays in the past including the flowers, gingerbread people and candy canes.

You’ll hear lots of “awes” and “ohs” from the kids sticking their heads out of car windows and sunroof tops. And maybe a few from inside your vehicle. Take as many passengers as your car holds because you pay by the car load.

When you arrive at the park gate, tune your radio to the suggested station and you’ll hear Christmas music throughout your drive.

Polar Plaza Coming to Tacoma for the Holidays

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Skate to your heart’s content. Wear an Ugly Sweater to get $1 off admission. Watch the Thunderbirds Hockey Team take the ice. Enjoy live music. Choose your Christmas tree. Shop for gifts. Do it all in one central location.

 

This holiday season Tacoma residents won’t have to trek to Bellevue or Seattle to experience an open-air outdoor ice skating rink with all the trimmings. Tacoma will have their own. The Franciscan Polar Plaza, which will be located directly across from the Tacoma Art Museum at Tollefson Plaza on Pacific Avenue, will be open from November 25 through January 2, 2012.

The skating rink will measure 40 feet by 100 feet and can accommodate 150 people. Admission will be $8 and skate rental will be $2. After paying these fees you can stay all day if you like and enjoy the music, special events, and purchase coffee, tea or hot chocolate.

I am really looking forward to this although I don’t ice skate, but I do love to watch skaters. To get there and avoid the parking crunch, I think I’ll park at the Tacoma Dome Station and take the Tacoma Link light rail to the Polar Plaza. That’s all free so I can spend more when I get to my destination.

Classic Restaurant Opens in Kent Station

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Last month Cal’s Classic American Tavern introduced diners to their own brand of comfort food with incredible taste when they opened in Kent Station in Kent, Washington.

Popcorn with brown butter and sea salt

Although, the new dining option is called a “tavern,” it’s definitely family-friendly. Located at 504 Ramsay Way in Kent, the restaurant seats 110 in the dining area and up to 65 at the bar.

A few of the bar tables come with their own spigots for beer, so you charge what you think you’re going to drink and then keep pouring until the tap runs dry. Sounds like fun to me.

A couple of their appetizers called my name before I even ordered a drink – popcorn with brown butter and sea salt and fried peanuts. The popcorn definitely rated as a lively, fun and tasty appetizer. I’ll have to return to try the fried peanuts.

A very tasty hamburger according to my grandson.

Chef Shannon Galusha, who has worked at both the French Laundry and the Bastille Café & Bar, puts his own spin on classic comfort dishes like Chop Chop Salad with green beans, potatoes, olives, Feta cheese and tuna; Open Face Meatball Hoagie comes with fennel in addition to the whole milk mozzarella and tomato sauce and Wood-Fired “Old Forge” Pizzas including one with Shepard’s Pie toppings. Of course there’s tomato soup, chicken noodle soup, pot roast and chicken pot pie, but probably not the tried and tired recipes you’re expecting. You can stay home and open a can of Campbell’s. To really savor comfort food, you need to visit Cal’s.

As many ingredients as possible come from the area including farms in the Kent Valley and Skagit County. Taylor Shellfish and Carpinito’s Farm are also represented. All the purveyors used at Cal’s are listed on a gigantic whiteboard posted in the dining area.

The covered, heated outdoor patio and fireplace, can accommodate 40 people for most of the year – just not in the intense winter months.

Cal's decadent brownies are served with a glass of milk and a very rich chocolate sauce.

 

Open 11 a.m. – midnight, Sunday – Thursday and 11 a.m. – 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

Cue Sun and Tucson Botanical Gardens

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Washington’s summer was one to remember, but not because of warm temperatures and clear skies. It made the record books when in July we’d only had 4 ½ hours of temperatures above 80 degrees. So we had to go some place where we could not only enjoy the sun, but also refamiliarize ourselves with it. We chose Tucson, Arizona.

Last week everyday the temperature in Tucson rose to the mid-90’s. It was heavenly.

Owl Butterfly

We stayed at the Embassy Suites in Williams Centre and the hotel offered a shuttle to any place within a five-mile radius. We took them up on their offer and traveled to the Tucson Botanical Gardens one day. What an interesting attraction.

To make it even more fun, “Butterfly Magic at the Gardens,” a temporary exhibit, is on tap until April 30, 2012. A vast variety of butterflies can be seen and may even land on you tickling your fancy. The “Owl” was one of my favorites as it has an “eye” on its wing that makes it look just like an owl. You can also watch the butterflies emerge from their chrysalis and hang until they are dry before being taken into the main butterfly house.

Butterfly exhibits seem to be fairly rare as they have to have specific controls on temperatures and enough personnel to answer questions and monitor the influx and outflow of visitors. If you get a chance to visit this one, you really should do so.

 

At the Botanical Gardens, five acres of regional plant life with 16 specialty gardens introduces you to the flora common to the Tucson area in a delightful and interesting way. I especially liked the Zen Garden and the Cactus and Succulent Garden.

Art Reigns at the Schack

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The newly opened Schack Art Center, in downtown Everett, is a work in progress just like the work of the artist’s there. Artists can work there, display their craft and/or teach classes on the premises. The total space measures 19,000 square feet, but some of that hasn’t been developed yet.

Glass blower artist at work and it's hot in the Hot Shop

What you’ll see when you visit now is 2,700 square feet of exhibit space, the Schack Shop, which serves as a retail art store; studios and a hot shop where you can watch glass artists create their own distinctive pieces.

Art for sale. 

Named after John and Idamae Schack for their support of Everett’s cultural institutions, this art center even displays art in the restrooms. It’s everywhere. And the center offers all kinds of classes – Fine Art for Kids, Creative Expression (also for kids), beadmaking, bookmaking, painting, jewelry and much more.

This week you can join in with the Schack-Toberfest, which happens on October 21, 22 and 23, 2011. Pluck a glass pumpkin from the Pumpkin Patch and you can buy it to take home, watch glass blowers demonstrate how they create this Halloween vegetable or take a gander at some expert pumpkin carvers. On Saturday night treat yourself to the Beer, Brat and Glass Pumpkin Event which includes beer, bratwurst, live music and a competition pitting glass blowers against one another to see who can make the largest pumpkin.

 

A fun way to experience art!

Jaunt Up to Joe’s Gardens

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For the freshest and most delicious produce around, a trip to Joe’s Gardens in the Happy Valley district of Bellingham is in order. They grow tons of different vegetables and more than 300,000 potted plants.

 

For something very special, try their Romano beans. The flavor is nothing short of amazing.

Joe’s Gardens has been around since 1933, which says a lot about their success.

Fall brings beautiful braids of garlic grown from seed brought to the U.S. from Genoa, Italy. Shallots, apples, pumpkin and Fall squash varieties line the shelves along with fresh fruits and vegetables. All the crops grown on site are grown without pesticides. Quality and flavor prevail instead of prolonged shelf-life in a grocery store.

 

And everything is affordable, but hurry – Joe’s Gardens closes mid-October.

Come back next year in early March for bedding plants, vegetable starts, potting soil and compost so you can grow your own bounty.

Apples and More at BelleWood Acres

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Sansa, Sunrise, Zestar, Tsugaru and Pink Pearl. What do these all have in common?

John Belisle talking about some of his favorite apples

They represent just some of the varieties of apples grown at Bellewood Acres in Lynden, Washington. John and Dorie Belisle grow 20 different varieties of apples – some you might recognize like Gravenstein, McIntosh and Honeycrisp.

Besides being a working farm, Bellewood Acress also provides education to children and adults alike. A self-guided tour is offered that includes the orchard, packing shed, juice parlor, bakery and farm store. Each year in their garden, the Belisle’s grow something new. This year it’s Atlantic Giant Pumpkins, but because the Northwest has suffered from a lack of sunshine this year, the ginormous pumpkins probably won’t be that big.

At the packing shed they pack over 200,000 pounds of fruit a year. In the coolers you can see the sizing tables. The largest apples are sold in the Farm Store, medium-sized ones go to the grocers and the sweet little ones make their way to some of the local school districts.

A breakfast of hot, flakey apple turnovers and Bellewood Acres Bubbly makes a great start to your day

After learning about the farm and taking a tour, a visit to the farm store should be on your agenda. Apple pie, apple turnovers, Bubbly, peanut butter and gifts galore await you. I’m sure you’ll leave with lots of goodies for your dining table and maybe even some décor items. I know I did.