Wade into water fun at local parks

June 23, 2014 by 3 Comments

Summer is here! And so is the Seattle Parks and Recreation wading pool/outdoor swim/spraypark season.

Here’s the schedule for Northeast Seattle (and nearby) locations:

Wading Pools:

    • Dahl Playfield (7700 25th Ave. NE): June 24-August 18, Tuesday through Thursday, noon-7 PM
    • Green Lake Park (N 73rd St. & W Green Lake Dr. N): June 21-September 1, daily, 11 AM-8 PM
    • Magnuson Park (7400 Sand Point Way NE): June 21-August 24, daily, noon-6:30 PM

Summer Beaches (swimming allowed when lifeguards are present on weekdays noon-7 PM and weekends 11 AM-7 PM):

Sprayparks:

    • Northacres Park (12800 1st Ave. NE): May 24-September 1, daily, 11 AM-8 PM

Wading pools are filled when the day’s temperature has been forecast to be 70°F (21°C) or higher. If you want to double-check with Parks & Rec before loading up the picnic basket, there’s a Wading Pool Hotline you can call (updated daily by 9:30 AM): 206-684-7796.

The city-wide Wading Pool and Spraypark Schedule can be found here (small PDF; lots of Comic Sans).

Filed Under: Dahl Field, Events, Families, Kids, Magnuson Park, Matthews Beach, Northeast Seattle, Seattle Parks and Recreation

Schedule for 2014’s Outdoor Movies at Magnuson Park

June 11, 2014 by 4 Comments

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Outdoor movies at Magnuson Park (7400 Sand Point Way NE) are back for a fourth season starting Thursday, July 10!

Each Thursday evening, from July 10 through August 28, you and yours can head down to Magnuson for “big screen flicks, cirque performances by The Cabiri, movie trivia and Seattle’s best food trucks.”

Here’s the movie schedule (all on Thursday nights with seating opening at 7 PM and movies starting at dusk):

July 10: Grease (1978, PG-13, 110 minutes)

July 17: The Lego Movie (2014, PG, 100 minutes)

July 24: Gravity (2013, PG-13, 91 minutes)

July 31: Sixteen Candles (1984, R, 93 minutes)

August 7: Jurassic Park (1993, PG-13, 127 minutes)

August 14: Pitch Perfect (2012, PG-13, 112 minutes)

August 21: The Little Mermaid (1989, G, 83 minutes)

August 28: Ghostbusters (1984, PG, 105 minutes)

For the weekly food truck schedule, details on seating, parking, and more, visit the PEMCO Movies at Magnuson Park homepage.

Filed Under: Events, Families, Food, Kids, Magnuson Park, Northeast Seattle

Third Annual NOAA Open House on Friday, May 16

May 15, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Weather prediction? Tsunami detection? Sustainable seafood production? The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has you covered.

NOAA is an immense government agency, collecting and distributing scientific research and informing decisions that affect our daily lives. But the Western Regional Center of NOAA is in our own backyard, just north of Waren G. Magnuson Park at 7600 Sand Point Way. Friday’s open house is an opportunity to learn more and meet some folks doing this important work.

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Courtesy NOAA Western Regional Center

As part of the Seattle Maritime 101 Festival NOAA’s Western Regional Center campus will open its gates to the public on Friday May 16 from noon to 7PM! Come explore the work NOAA in Seattle does to support the maritime industry through weather forecasting, healthy ecosystems, safe waterways, protecting our coasts, and observing our planet. Come visit us for tours, hands-on activities, movies, and the chance to meet NOAA scientists.

Arrive early as tours will fill up on a first come, first served basis. Tours will include and are scheduled as follows:

WEATHER – Take a tour of NOAA’s National Weather Service Seattle office forecast center and learn how meteorologists work 24/7 to forecast the Seattle area weather from the waters of Puget Sound to the Cascade Mountains and everything in between. Tour is 45 minutes and start times are: 12:30, 1:45, 3:00, 4:15, 5:30.

OCEAN ANIMALS –This tour includes rare access to the NOAA marine mammal bone scientific collection that includes Orca Whale skulls and a Narwhal tusk! Then continue on to the Fisheries net loft where you will see how NOAA manages fisheries that produce sustainable seafood. Tour is 1 hour and start times are: 12:30, 1:00, 1:45, 2:15, 3:00, 3:30, 4:15, 4:45, 5:30.

OCEAN ENGINEERING – Step into NOAA’s engineering workspace where engineers are hard at work building and testing new technology to collect data from our oceans. See the evolution of tsunami sensing moorings and learn how we can now detect a tsunami smaller than a centimeter in the open ocean. Tour is 30 minutes and start times are: 12:30, 1:00, 1:45, 2:15, 3:00, 3:30, 4:15, 4:45, 5:30.

RESTORATION WALK (this may also be self guided at any time as well) – Take a walk with NOAA restoration experts and learn what we are doing to restore our campus shoreline on Lake Washington and habitats throughout Puget Sound. You will also learn about the history of our campus and various art installations along the way including the Sound Garden. Tour is 1.5 hours and start times are: 12:30, 2:15, 4:15.

Adding to the fun, the PIE food truck will be serving up sweet and savory pies (baked fresh daily) from 12:00-4:00 p.m. and Curb Jumper Street Eats will be serving speciality sliders, sandwiches, and fries from 12:00 – 7:00 p.m.  

If you have questions, contact Lauren Koellermeier lauren.koellermeier@noaa.gov or Rebecca Reuter Rebecca.Reuter@noaa.gov

Filed Under: Events, Kids, Magnuson Park, Restaurants, Sand Point

Spring and Summer Parks & Rec brochures are now available

March 6, 2014 by Leave a Comment

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Spring classes, and summer camps and classes, special events and pool schedules all await you the latest Seattle Parks and Recreation brochure. Hard copies are available in local community centers, but you can also download an e-edition right here (5.1 MB PDF).

Registration for summer camps has already begun, but registration for other types of classes starts on Tuesday, March 11.

 

Filed Under: Families, Kids, Magnuson Park, Meadowbrook Community Center, Northeast Seattle, Northgate Community Center, Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center

Seattle Parks & Recreation winter registration is open!

December 4, 2013 by 3 Comments

The weather outside is frightfully cold, at the moment. But your local community centers are nice and warm!

Head inside your local community center or pool to pick up a copy of the Winter 2014 course brochure for Northeast Seattle, or download it here (3.04 MB PDF).

Seattle Parks and Recreation 2014 Winter Brochure for Northeast Seattle (click to download; 3.04 MB PDF)

Seattle Parks and Recreation 2014 Winter Brochure for Northeast Seattle (click to download; 3.04 MB PDF)

The Northeast Seattle Parks and Recreation facilities covered in the above brochure are:

Community Centers:

  • Laurelhurst (4554 NE 41st St)
  • Magnuson (7110 62nd Ave NE)
  • Meadowbrook (10517 35th Ave NE)
  • Northgate (10510 5th Ave NE)
  • Ravenna-Eckstein (6535 Ravenna Ave NE)

Pools:

  • Helen Madison (13420 Meridian Ave N)
  • Meadowbrook (10515 35th Ave NE)

Course registration began on Tuesday, December 3, so hurry up and register today before “Hip Hop Tots” fills up!

Filed Under: Families, Kids, Magnuson Park, Meadowbrook Community Center, Northeast Seattle, Northgate Community Center, Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center

Mayoral Candidates come to NE Seattle on Wednesday night

July 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Primary ballots start appearing in mailboxes soon — Do you know who your Seattle mayor candidate-of-choice is?

If not, you can catch most of them at a Mayoral Candidates Forum put on by the Northeast District Council on Wednesday, July 17.

Your 2013 Northeast District Council Mayoral Candidate Forum participants (and their respective candidate homepages, if I could find them) are:

Meet and greet the candidates at 6:30 PM, with a forum from 7-9 PM.

The event is being held at the Seattle Musical Theatre in Magnuson Park.  You are warned, however, that there is a paving project happening along Sand Point Way NE and NE 125th St. If you’re coming from the north, head south on 35th Ave NE, then east on NE 70th St. If you’re coming from the south, you’re likely to encounter slow traffic on Sand Point Way NE.

If you’re walking to the event, or riding a bike, watch out for cars using neighborhood streets as detours.

Filed Under: Magnuson Park, Mayor's Office, Meeting, Northeast Seattle, Ravenna-Bryant Community Association, Roosevelt Neighborhood Association, Wedgwood Community Council

Outdoor movies at Magnuson Park return on July 11

June 25, 2013 by 2 Comments

Summer in Western Washington is said to officially start after July 4. And the same goes for the Outdoor movies at Magnuson Park series. (Nobody likes soggy popcorn!)

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All showings are on Thursdays, starting July 11, at Magnuson Park (7400 Sand Point Way NE). Seating opens at 7 PM, and the movies start at dusk. Cost is $5.

Also “showing” will be cirque performances (by The Cabiri), movie trivia, and food trucks. And the event is also billed as being dog friendly.

As for which movie you might want to attend, Ravenna Blog recommends ALL of them. Seriously. Look at this schedule:

  • July 11: Moonrise Kingdom (2012, PG-13, 94 minutes)
  • July 18: Singin’ in the Rain (1952, 103 minutes)
  • July 25: Finding Nemo (2003, G, 100 minutes)
  • August 1: Skyfall (2012, PG-13, 143 minutes)
  • August 8: The Sandlot (1993, PG, 101 minutes)
  • August 15: Raiders of the Last Ark (1981, PG, 115 minutes)
  • August 22: Singles (1992, PG-13, 99 minutes)
  • August 29: The Princess Bride (1987, PG, 98 minutes)

You can see information about event sponsors and which specific food trucks will be at each showing on the Movies at Magnuson homepage.

…

The Ravenna Blog’s 5th birthday is also scheduled for Thursday, August 15, but from 5-7 PM. Celebrate with us, *then* go fight Nazis with Indy.

RSVP to the party here. We’d love to see you!

Filed Under: Events, Families, Food, Kids, Magnuson Park, Northeast Seattle

Wading pool season opens on Saturday! Yay!

June 17, 2013 by Leave a Comment

It’s almost too hot right now to write this post, but I know you’re all wondering…

AND, YES, IT’S ALMOST WADING POOL TIME.

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I want to go to there.

Your two Northeast Seattle wading pools for 2013 are:

  • Dahl Playfield (7700 25th Ave NE) open T/W/Th from noon-7 PM, June 25 through August 15
  • Magnuson Park (7400 Sand Point Way NE) open daily from noon-6:30 PM, June 22 through August 25

And your closest spraypark is:

  • Northacres Park (12800 1st Ave NE) open daily from 11 AM-8 PM, now through September 2

Wading pools are open when the temperature is forecast to be 70°F or higher. Sprayparks, however, are open daily (unless thunder and lightning are present).

You can download the full Seattle Parks and Recreation wading pool, spraypark, and swimming beach schedule here (in all its Comic Sans glory; 302 KB PDF).

Filed Under: Dahl Field, Families, Kids, Magnuson Park, Northeast Seattle, Seattle Parks and Recreation

New eats and treats coming soon to Northeast Seattle (UPDATE)

April 12, 2013 by 24 Comments

Our favorite kind of news? NEW RESTAURANT NEWS.

And we have LOTS.

…

Coming soon, to the old Pied Piper Alehouse space (2404 NE 65th St) is…

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…a Patty’s Eggnest.

There are currently nine Patty’s Eggnest locations in Washington State, all of which are independently owned and operated. Patty’s specializes in breakfast. So much so that their Eggs Benedict have their OWN MENU. NINE different kinds, people.

Here’s more about their menu, from the About page:

We serve delicious, hearty meals made to order and made from scratch with fresh, choice ingredients. In a comfortable, family-friendly atmosphere, we’ll be happy to fill your table with home-cooked breakfast favorites. Fresh-squeezed orange juice, Swedish pancakes, scrumptious scrambles, and hearty chicken-fried steak are just some of the dishes that we feature on our menu at all locations. We also feature tasty lunches, like hot delicious sandwiches, big burgers with seasoned fries, and fresh salads. For several of our locations, we are open for dinner hours as well, serving fresh roasted turkey dinners and soup made-from-scratch.

…

Headed into some of the new restaurant space in the new south building at University Village is a new restaurant by Beecher’s Cheese Head, Kurt Dammeier: Liam’s.

Via Eater Seattle, Dammeier says:

We’ll serve all Northwest wine and our basic food I describe as ‘upscale homestyle’ — mostly dishes that are familiar or reasonably familiar to a suburban crowd, but made better.

Dammeier is also the guy behind Pasta & Co., which already has a home at University Village.

That same Eater piece claims that “a Joey’s and a Din Tai Fung will also be moving in.” That’s a lot of restaurants. But with 24,626 sq. ft. of restaurant space available in that new building, anything is possible.

…

Over in the Laurelhurst direction, Bill the Butcher is getting a new, unlikely neighbor:

Violet Sweet Shoppe, a vegan bakery and cafe, plans to open along NE 45th Street in May. If you’d like to help them along, financially, they’ve got a Kickstarter going.

I can't believe it's not butter. (Cake picture courtesy Violet Sweet Shoppe.)

I can’t believe it’s not butter.
(Cake picture courtesy Violet Sweet Shoppe.)

…

The old Casa D’Italia location (2615 NE 65th St) has been leased again, to a business under the name “Conception Hermosillo” (according to records with the Washington State Liquor Control Board).

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But this is about all we know so far. TO BE CONTINUED.

…

The overlap section of a hypothetical Northeast Seattle Venn diagram of “Cloud City Coffee” and “Magnuson Park” will be excited about this last one.

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Another find from the Washington State Liquor Control Board’s list of new liquor license applicants: CLOUD CITY SAND POINT.

O RLY? What’s the address? “6327 NE 74TH ST?”


View Cloud City Sand Point location? in a larger map

Hey, that’s inside Magnuson Park! What’s that address look like right now?

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Oh my.

Let’s zoom out.

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I don’t think it’s ready yet, do you?

Another one for the TO BE CONTINUED pile. We’ll contact Cloud City and Seattle Parks and Recreation on this one and report back.

UPDATE (5:35 PM): We’ve heard back from one of the Sand Point Tennis Center managers, Scott Marshall, who said, “Cloud City will be the cafe operator inside of our 6-court building. We are extremely excited about this partnership.”

Learn more about the Sand Point Tennis Center being built at Magnuson Park here.

Filed Under: Construction, Food, Laurelhurst, Magnuson Park, Maple Leaf, Northeast Seattle, Photos, Ravenna, Restaurants, Sand Point, University Village, Updates

Everybody into the [wading] pool, before it closes!

August 14, 2012 by Leave a Comment

It’s August, and Seattle summer is chugging right along: Lots of sun, temperatures consistently in the mid- to upper-70s…this time of year is why we live here.

So, naturally, the city’s wading pools are all preparing to close for the season.

Our region of the Seattle Parks and Recreation map (the Northeast) has two wading pools and two swimming beaches open during the summer. Here are their remaining days of use:

  • Dahl Playfield Wading Pool (7700 25th Ave NE): open August 14-16, noon – 7 PM
  • Magnuson Park Wading Pool (7400 Sand Point Way NE): open daily from noon – 6:30 PM through August 26
  • Magnuson Park Summer Beach (7400 Sand Point Way NE): open through August 26
  • Matthews Beach Park Summer Beach (9500 51st Ave NE): open through September 3

At this time, NE Seattle does not have any of the unstaffed sprayparks, which tend to stay open later in the season. However, Sarah (raintea on twitter) would like us to mention the brand new spraypark at Northacres Park (12718 1st Ave NE). It’s open daily from 11 AM – 8 PM through September 3. It is technically in Seattle Parks and Recreation’s NW geographic area, but when you and the kids are too hot, who cares.

You can find the full list of Seattle’s wading pools, sprayparks, summer beaches and pools and their schedules right here (280 KB PDF; comic sans).

Filed Under: Dahl Field, Families, Kids, Magnuson Park, Northeast Seattle, Open/Closed, Seattle Parks and Recreation
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