Welcome to Seattle Close to Home — a weekly round-up of ideas for time-crunched Seattle-area residents, who want to get outside, volunteer, and eat good food, but don’t necessarily want to drive far (or at all).
Join your fellow orca fans. Puget Soundkeeper and the Orca Salmon Alliance kick off Orca Month on Sunday with music, sand-sculpting, and other activities from 1-5pm at the Golden Gardens Bathhouse.
Help out at Golden Gardens. If you’re at the park on Saturday, you can join volunteers for a beach clean-up from 9:45am-1pm. Contact the organizers for details.
Get Out! and explore the tide pools. Seattle Aquarium beach naturalists will be on hand at Golden Gardens and other area beaches during low tide (1pm-3pm) to answer questions about in-shore marine life. And, if you’re looking for a 4-mile round-trip beach walk, the low-tide window allows you to trek from Golden Gardens to Carkeek Park. Be safe and carry a tide table.
Fuel up at Little Coney. We’ve stopped here for soft serve, burgers, and fries at this little seaside eatery for years. Fancy it is not, but crowds do line up on a nice day. (It’s always has been worth the wait.) Open from 10:30am to 5pm, it is located just south of Golden Gardens Park (8003 Seaview Ave NW).
Leaving the car at home? Consider jumping on the Burke Gilman Trail and biking to Golden Gardens. If you don’t live near the trail, take the light rail to the University of Washington station for easy access via the new pedestrian/bicycle bridge to the trail. LimeBikes are readily available (as well as the orange and yellow ones) or you can bring your bike aboard the train. Multiple bus lines stop near the trail, and the #45 runs from the UW station to Golden Gardens (.5 mile walk to the beach).
If you’re biking the trail, we recommend Solsticio in Fremont (1100 N Northlake Way), which serves great coffee, smoothies, and breakfast fare from 8am to 5pm on weekends (from 6:30am during the week).
Weather forecast: Partly sunny with a high of 68 degrees on Saturday; cooler and cloudy on Sunday with a high of 61 degrees.
Seattle Close To Home 