5+ Winter Activities for the Non-Skier

The holidays are over—baking, white elephant exchanges and all—and your social schedule has opened up again. There are various local ski options to level your January blues, but if snow sports evoke torture for you, here are some mostly indoor activities to pry you away from Netflix this winter. From board game stores that invite you to try games free in their stores to bowling leagues to literature readings, this city has something for any cold-weather-hating mood, so fire up that sun lamp and go to town.

1. Games

Whether you’re entertaining friends or just tucked at home with your beloved, it doesn’t get cozier than a board or card game match. If it’s time to update your collection, two local shops not only offer a wide variety and educated advice, but also the invitation to test games free in their stores. Card Kingdom/Mox Café boasts a full sit-down eatery and hosts leagues several nights a week at branches in both Ballard and Bellevue. The Ballard shop is open until midnight on weekdays and 2 a.m. on weekends, the new Bellevue store (Mox Boarding House) is open from 10 a.m. to midnight daily. Queen Anne’s Blue Highway Games closes earlier (7 p.m. on weeknights and 11 p.m. on Saturday), but also lends out games in the store, and sells small snacks. Sandwiched between Starbucks and Café Ladro, guests are also invited to bring hot beverages into Blue Highway.

2. Bowling and Other Winter Sports

If winter for you = keep me inside–ideally with a drink in hand–bowling is your sport. Underdog Seattle has six co-ed leagues starting in January and February at the Garage, Imperial Lanes and Tech City, and you can sign up as an individual ($80) or a team of six ($450; three men, three women) for six weeks of play. Underdog also offers cornhole leagues (tossing a hefty beanbag toward a target) during the next few months, which according to its website is “big on fun, low on skill sets.” For more competitive spirits, they also offer dodgeball and volleyball (inside) and, for the brave and bundled, softball and kickball outside this winter.

3. Literature Readings and Lectures 

Elissa Ball reads poetry at Elliott Bay; photo courtesy of Elliott Bay Book Company

Sports and games not your delight? Check out the range of local literary events and lectures that help us earn our keep as the nation’s second most literate city (losing only to Washington, D.C., according to USA Today). Our resident indy book wonderland, Elliott Bay offers a free reading most days and sometimes more, as well as themed book groups on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The Seattle Public Library also hosts regular free readings—six throughout January, half at the downtown branch and half at others. Finally, for a hearty dose of civic pride, Town Hall presents 29 events in January—readings, lectures, films and music, all (prices vary).

4. Dance Classes

Primed to burn off some of those holiday pounds without the competition of a team sport? Drop by the Century Ballroom for an hour-long intro class in swing or salsa, Thursday through Sunday evenings ($15), and stay for an open dance afterward ($10, or free with lesson purchase). For those who want more, the Ballroom also offers five-week hour-long classes in tap, waltz, salsa, swing, lindy hop, bachata and kizomba for $65. For more options, UW’s Experimental College is also kicking off multi-week courses in adult ballet (three levels), belly dance basics, introduction to Appalachian clog dance, survival partner dancing and beyond in January (class durations and prices vary).  

5. Other Classes

If you love learning but have two left feet, UW’s Experimental College is chock full of other opportunities—in arts and crafts, culinary arts, house and home, language, photography, music, technology and more. Depending on the topic, classes are offered in series—including Basic Conversational French (six weeks), Start Writing Your Novel (five weeks), Hands on Home Repair and Maintenance (three weeks)—or as one-off experiences, such as Basic Lotion Making (two hours); Chocolates, Caramels and Confections (three hours) and Intellectual Property Law for Beginners (one-and-a-half hours). Classes are set around the city, and prices vary for UW students and the general public.