The four Seattle sites are:

9th Ave NW Park
Project Type: Open space – Park
Project Team: Site Workshop; WR Consulting; Advanced Electrical Services
Description: This project will transform a greyfield site in a residential neighborhood once home to a church, into a small local park which will include a community garden, a gathering plaza for community events, a skate-spot woven into seatwalls, and spaces for quiet introspection and children’s play. Community support for sustainability, articulated in several neighborhood workshops, will be implemented through material reuse and reclamation of road paving for rain gardens along the site’s street edge.

Bradner Gardens Park Development
Project Type: Open space – Park
Project Team: City of Seattle Parks and Recreation and Department of Neighborhoods; Barker Landscape Architects; Friends of Bradner Gardens Park; King County Master Gardeners; Seattle Tilth
Description: This park was designed and developed in collaboration with community volunteers. The result is a multi-functional, sustainable, accessible neighborhood park that includes community food gardens, organic gardening and ornamental, water-wise demonstration gardens, compost demonstration, a children’s A to Z garden, a seasonal wildlife pond and vegetated swale for on-site drainage, tractor play area, basketball court, native plant areas and a community gathering pavilion.

KCTS9
Project Type: Commercial
Project Team: KCTS 9; Mithün; Chris Webb Associates, Inc; WSP Flack + Kurtz; Swenson Say Fagét; Roen Associates
Description: This greyfield project envisions sustainable site design in conjunction with the redevelopment of the PBS station’s existing 60,000-square foot building to Platinum level LEED–EB performance. Focus will be given to the building’s 32,000-square foot roof, half of which will be transformed into a food garden to exhibit urban horticulture. On-site energy generation and water collection will occur on the roof’s other half, all of which will be visible from the nearby Space Needle.

Theater Commons and Donnelly Gardens
Project Type: Open space – Park
Project Team: Seattle Center, City of Seattle, Gustafson Guthrie Nichol, Weinstein AU, Magnusson Klemencic Associates,Pivotal/AEI
Description: Theater Commons, a 1.6-acre site within a major urban park and cultural center, revitalizes an existing campus vehicle entry into a pedestrian-friendly, multi-functional, tree-lined street overlooking new gardens, terraces and seating areas between two professional theaters. The site integrates sustainable design and highlights ecological features, such as Cascadia native plants and innovative stormwater infiltration, as a prototype for future campus projects.

There are seven additional projects in Washington state, including sites in Tacoma, Olympia, Fort Lewis, and Bremerton, among others.

The Sustainable Sites Initiative is an joint effort by the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin and the United States Botanic Garden to create voluntary national guidelines and performance benchmarks for sustainable land design, construction and maintenance practices.

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The Northwest is a great place to live for many reasons. One of the most compelling is the stunning natural landscapes. The Puget Sound area alone offers endless opportunities for being awed by nature’s bounty – mountains, bodies of water, and lush, verdant flora. The National Parks Conservation Association wants to make sure that you know all about the opportunities available to you to go out into this beauty by hosting Northwest National Park Family Day this Sunday, May 2.

From 10 am to 3 pm at Seattle’s Seward Park, national park rangers will be on hand to talk about our neighboring national parks, Mt. Rainier National Park, Olympic National Park, and North Cascades National Park Services Complex, which encompasses Ross Lake & Lake Chelan National Recreation Area. If you’ve never been to these parks, you’ve been missing out on chances for hiking, boating, bird watching, fishing, horseback riding, camping, backpacking, mountain climbing, bicycling, walking and just generally being out in nature.

To prepare you for your future visits, National Park Family Day will offer hands-on demonstrations on how to build campfires, cook marshmallows (few things in life are as great as marshmallows toasted over a campfire), and be safe outdoors. Local outdoor equipment retailer REI is sponsoring sessions on “Hiking in the NW” and “Leave No Trace Camping”. San Juan Island Historical Park presents a banjo performance. Washington Trails Association presents a hike through Seward Park to get you warmed up for hikes in the national parks. Lewis & Clark National Historical Park presents “Lost But Safe & Sound” – useful information on keeping yourself from danger should you wander too far from the trail and the Olympic Park Institute/NatureBridge give a demonstration on Water Quality Testing. Campfire stories and songs help make a festive day and a variety of wildlife encounters will teach you about the many species of animals living in our state.

The event is free and open to all.

Columbia City Farmers Market
Rainier Ave South and South Edmunds
3-7pm

Tickets go on sale on May 3rd, at all Metropolitan Market locations. Individual artists may have tickets on sale already through fan sites, so if you are worried about a particular date selling out, check the band’s site now. Great Big Sea (one of my personal favorites) for example, just had a pre-sale of tickets for fans last week. Lineup after the jump.

June 27th – Jewel with Radney Foster – $28
June 30th – Steve Earle with Joe Ely – $21
July 14th – Carbon Leaf – $24
July 18th – The Round 62 featuring Star Anna, Damien Jurado and more – $15
July 21st – Jimmy Cliff with Trevor Hall – $24
July 29th – Great Big Sea – $22
August 3rd – Mary Chapin Carpenter/Shawn Colvin – $24
August 11 – The Levon Helm Band with Joe Pug – $26
August 25th – John Hiatt and The Combo – $22
August 29th – Herbie Hancock and The Imagine Project – $27

Concerts happen rain or shine, so buy your tickets, hope for good weather, and bring a rain hat just in case.

The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife has given the go-ahead for some razor clam digging in November. Their season update approves digging at Twin Harbors November 14 – 17; Long Beach, Copalis and Mocrocks for November 14 – 15; and Kalaloch Beach for Monday, November 16 only. Additional dates have been tentatively scheduled through January. It is important to always verify the approved dates for clamming before you go out.

If you do decide to go clamming–and really, you should, it really is quite fun–you might want to take advantage of the special deal being offered by the Kalaloch Lodge in the Olympic National Park. Their Clam Digger Lodging Package offers clam diggers at all levels from first-timers to old hands a night of lodging in their beautiful facility conveniently located near to the beach plus breakfast in the morning. It’s available Monday, November 16, and is tentatively scheduled for Friday, December 4, Saturday, December 5, Thursday, December 31 and Friday, January 1, subject to approval from the Washington and National Park Services. Newbie clammers can book a room using the code CLAMDIGNEW for a package that starts at $169 and includes a night at the lodge, a bucket, shovel and net and breakfast for two the next morning. Clam diggers who already have their own tools can use the code CLAMDIGPRO for a package that starts at $129 and includes the room and breakfast. Guests can stay additional nights for just $99 a night, an excellent deal. Besides clamming there are all kinds of things to do and see in the Olympic NP which contains beaches, rain forest valleys, mountain peaks and far, far more different types of plants and animals than you can name. It’s one of the most beautiful places in our state, and, honestly, maybe in the whole world.

To learn more about the Kalaloch Lodge or to book your clamming experience, visit their website. (Even if you’ve decided that clamming is just not for you, it’s an excellent vacation spot and the lodge offers a bunch of great package deals aimed at a variety of interests.) To learn more about the Olympic National Park, visit theirs.

All the information you need to know about clamming in Washington (including how to clean and cook the tasty things) can be found in the Razor Clam section of their website.

Some basics: a license is required for any digger 15 years or older. Any 2009 annual shellfish/seaweed license or combination fishing license is still valid or you can get a razor-clam only license available in annual or three-day only versions. Buy a license online, by phone at 866.246.9453 or in person at any of the more than 600 authorized license vendors. ALWAYS check the weather and surf conditions before heading down to the beach so that you know what you’re facing and, seriously, don’t be stupid about the ocean. It may be a beautiful source of bounty but “killer waves” is a literal expression sometimes.

Go check them out during their last two weeks. Skillet is there serving dinner, and there’s Parfait Ice Cream as well. They always have music and their chef demos have been impressive and tasty every week.

Queen Anne Farmers Market
Queen Anne Ave and West Crockett
3-7pm, Thursdays

Last week I was given the opportunity to take part in the “Camp Woodmark” experience at The Woodmark Hotel, Yacht Club & Spa in  Kirkland, which just so happens to be the only hotel located on the shores of Lake Washington.  Camp Woodmark was designed with adults in mind, meaning they offer a grown-up kind of fun without any of the awkward moments or pre-teen angst from the summer camps of our youth.

Upon my arrival at The Woodmark I was cordially greeted by Brandon, one of the “camp counselors” entrusted with making each campers stay as relaxing and hassle-free as possible, who presented me with a welcome package that included several Woodmark t-shirts and reusable aluminum water bottles.  Not long after that I was on the balcony of my amazing fourth floor lakeside room, enjoying a cool breeze and feeling that there may just be some merit to escaping into your own city after all.

The Woodmark Hotel and terrace

The early part of the afternoon was spent touring the hotel grounds to learn a little more about what exactly The Woodmark has to offer, which as it turns out is quite impressive.  Featuring 100 rooms, 21 of which are suites, most with views of the lake and all with luxury amenities, The Woodmark is also home to a full-service spa, two exceptional restaurants (more on those later), and is one of the premier wedding venues and event spaces on Lake Washington.

Sneaking my way around the property for a few hours left me pretty thirsty, so I headed down to The Library Bar for the first of my scheduled camp events, a summer cocktail making class with Aziz, one of the friendliest and more theatrical bartenders I’ve met in my many years of bar patronage.  Aziz was insistent that I step behind the bar and attempt to fill his very knowledgeable shoes.  Who was I to argue?  Over the hour and a half that followed, Aziz let me mix drinks for the regulars and taught me how to make some of his personal favorites, from the Shinjuku Blossom to the “Aziz You Like It,” a frothy pineapple concoction of his own creation.

Right around the time my nerve was building up (that and a healthy amount of “sampled” drinks in my stomach) to start flipping bottles a la Tom Cruise in Cocktail, it was time to pick up my wife for dinner at bin vivant.  A procession of food like no other, courtesy of head chef Scott Lents, started crossing our table almost immediately.  Scallops P.L.T. (prosciutto, bibb lettuce, cured tomato), French onion soup, beef tenderloin, rack of lamb; everything was cooked to perfection and with great attention to detail.  The wine list is enough to make even the most earnest grape nut second guess their top picks for the evening.  With one of the largest wine preservation systems of its kind in the Puget Sound region, bin vivant takes wine to a new level by making available over 80 climate controlled wines by-the-glass with a state of the art Argon gas-based dispensing mechanism.  Rounding out an amazing meal and adding to the Camp Woodmark experience are tableside s’mores, where the marshmallows (made in-house) are toasted at the table so you can immediately capitalize on their warm, gooey bliss.

Late night at The Woodmark happens to be just as appetizing too.  From 11pm-1am, guests of the hotel are encouraged to “raid the pantry,” a Woodmark tradition where you emerge from your rooms in pajamas or sweatpants, head down to The Library Bar, and then fill your arms/plates with an assortment of delectables that have been laid out buffet-style.  Some drinks, chips, and a plate of what I’m calling spicy Asian meatballs later, my wife and headed back to the room, ready to top off our tanks for the night.  My head hits the pillow finding me stuffed, relaxed, and not quietly weeping while longing for home in any shape or form; basically the exact opposite of all my previous summer camp experiences.

Kayaking on Lake Washington

You may be asking yourself at this point, is all of this really necessary? Well no, actually, but therein lies the reasoning behind the recession-fueled staycation movement in the first place.  Perhaps it would be better if I let Brian Flaherty, general manager of The Woodmark, give you his take on the subject, “Every so often, it’s important for us to not take ourselves so seriously.  With our Camp Woodmark program, we’re encouraging adults to simply have fun while enjoying an unforgettable Pacific Northwest getaway this summer.”

The fun I had was only a small sampling of what Camp Woodmark has to offer their guests as well.  A more robust itinerary might include a cooking class with Chef de Cuisine Scott Lents, morning yoga on the lawn, kayaking on Lake Washington, or even a cruise around it aboard the 28-foot Woodmark II.  The Camp Woodmark packages start at a minimum of two nights, allowing you more than enough time to fill your stay with those “home away from home” kinds of experiences you’re looking for.  Because as I learned from my stay at Camp Woodmark, the goal of keeping it local isn’t just about trying to do more for less, it’s about taking the time to re-discover the adventures that await you in your own backyard.

My friends have been flocking to the beaches to beat the heat. I’ve been envious of their nighttime frolicking, but am too terrified of flesh-eating bacteria and toxic water to make the trek to meet them, let alone set foot in the toxic muck.

To counter my fears, a friend directed me this map and informed me that — counterintuitively — the water at Green Lake is cleaner than that in Lake Washington. I’m not sure that I can get over my lakey superstitions, but maybe this evidence will help you jump in.

For the colder, and somehow less scary, salt water beaches, you can check the Washington State Department of Health; here’s King County, looking “good” [doh].

Go fishing! We are fortunate to have a ton of rivers in the region. Here, my husband practices his cast on the Skykomish River just outside of Gold Bar, WA. Fishing licenses are cheap: $22 for a year. Even if you don’t catch anything, nothing beats standing in a nice cool river with a beer.

Puget Sound’s water is always beautiful and cool.

The “Gateway to the Olympics” is lush and verdant.

A mama seagull made a nice little home for her babies on a beam at the Kingston ferry terminal.

You can look across the Sound and see Seattle.

Downtown Kingston is quaintly charming and very small; it doesn’t take much time to walk all the way through it unless you stop to visit all the neat little stores they have there, of which there are quite a few. The Kingston Quilt Store had some amazing quilts; when it gets to be that time of year that I stop complaining about the heat because I’m cold, I’m definitely going to get some of their quilts to keep me warm. Before then I may go back to visit for their Saturday night concert series that runs through the month of August, the 2009 Tribal Canoe Journey or the First Annual Slug Hunt on August 8.

Despite its small size, Kingston hosts a number of ice cream places; I found myself drawn into Mora Iced Creamery where they have small batch ice cream and sorbet made from fresh ingredients in flavors like Cinnamon, Spicy Chai, Goat Cheese with Fig, Cantaloupe and Pink Grapefruit. I had a scoop each of Lavender and Lemon Bar (made with bits of real lemon bar crust mixed in!) and can’t wait to go back and try more flavors.

Kingston is definitely a fun place to visit. The ferry ride there and back is pleasant and the town is adorable. It’s well worth the trip.