May 2007
Calendar Highlight
Boats, Boats and More Boats
Head to the Seattle waterfront May 12 for the Seattle Maritime Festival’s Family Fun Day. First, get an overview of the working waterfront by taking a FREE harbor tour offered by the Port of Seattle and Argosy Cruises. Hour-long cruises start at 11am, 1pm and 2:30pm. Tickets are limited to four per adult, and may be picked up at the Pier 66 Information Booth.
Activities taking place all day long include display booths, wooden boat building for kids, kids’ inflatable rides, a kid’s activity center, remote control model boat demonstrations, FREE admission to the Seattle Aquarium for kids with a paying adult, and FREE admission to the Odyssey Maritime Discovery Center. Tours of vessels are offered aboard a Canadian Navy tugboat, U.S. Coast Guard patrol boat, Port of Seattle police boat and several others.
Of course, the paramount reason for attending the Seattle Maritime Festival is to experience those things that are unique to the waterfront. The World Invitational Survival Suit Races take place 11am-12:30pm at Bell Harbor Marina. The Quick & Dirty Boatbuilding Competition pits industry teams against one another (9am-3pm, Bell Street Pier/Pier 66, followed by a boat race at 4pm). And the piece de resistance is the Seattle Tugboat Race Championship, the largest tugboat race in the world, with more than 40 participating boats, plus a simulated Coast Guard air-sea helicopter rescue, fireboat demonstrations and a special choreographed tugboat and fireboat ballet (12:30-3:30pm; race starts at the Grain Terminal at Pier 86, with the finish line at Pier 62/63).
11am-5pm. FREE. Waterfront Park, Pier 66/Bell Harbor Marine and Pier
62/63, downtown Seattle waterfront. 206-728-3163. www.portseattle.org.
Calendar Hot Tips
Popular Zoo Programs Reopen for the Summer
Several popular summer-time attractions reopen this month at Woodland Park Zoo. Willawong Station and the carousel both open May 1, while Butterflies & Blooms reopens May 25. Willawong Station is a walk-through experience that emulates the wilds of Australia with 150 free-flying birds. Feed the birds, if you wish ($1 per seed stick). The restored 1918 carousel, originally built by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company for the Cincinnati Zoo, offers rides for kids of all ages in the zoo’s North Meadow ($2 per ride). Butterflies & Blooms delights visitors with a display of nearly 1,000 free-flying North American butterflies. 9:30am-6pm daily. Included with zoo admission. $15, $10 ages 3-12, free ages 2 and younger. Woodland Park Zoo, 601 N 59th St., Seattle. 206-684-4800. www.zoo.org.
Colossal Fossils
Go back millions of years, to the time dinosaurs roamed the earth, in the new Pacific Science Center exhibit opening May 26, Colossal Fossils: Dinosaurs Around the World. Visitors will be fascinated by the fossils, eggs and embryos, but especially by the huge dinosaur skeletons from China. Learn what the latest scientific research is telling us about these giants that inspired Chinese dragon legends. Included are hands-on dig pits where would-be paleontologists can search for bones. 10am-5pm weekdays, 10am-6pm weekends, May 26-Jan. 6, 2008. Included with admission. $10, $8.50 seniors, $7 ages 3-12. 200 Second Ave. N, Seattle. 206-443-2001. http://pacificsciencecenter.org.
Pigs on Parade
The pigs are back! First seen at Seattle’s Pike Place Market in the summer of 2001, life-sized fiberglass pigs were an instant hit with the public. Starting in May, 100 brand new artist-decorated pigs will be on display on the Western Bridge at the market. In June, the pigs will parade through the Market, and then will be displayed at various locations throughout downtown Seattle through September. Parking available at the Public Market Parking Garage, 1531 Western Ave., Seattle. www.pigsonparade.org.
Go Figure!
Visit Bainbridge Island’s Kids Discovery Museum (aka KiDiMu) starting
May 12 for the new exhibit Go Figure! Five popular children’s
books are brought to life in giant walk-through reproductions (Arthur’s
Pet Business, The Doorbell Rang, The Quilt, Frog and Toad are Friends:
A Lost Button and Goldilocks and the Three Bears). Inside
each book visitors solve a math challenge relating to that book’s
narrative. Children and adults are encouraged to make connections between
math and everyday life. Also opening May 12 is the exhibit Gardentopia,
a larger-than-life garden exhibit full of activities and challenges. The
museum is located within easy walking distance of the ferry landing on
Bainbridge Island, a 35-minute ride from Seattle. 10am-4pm Tuesdays-Saturdays,
noon-4pm Sundays. $5, free younger than 1. 305 Madison Ave. N, Suite C,
Bainbridge Island. 206-855-4650. www.kidimu.org.
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