Outdoors
Read More ›
Hop in the Car For a Quick Trip to Whidbey
Take a springtime road trip to Coupeville for the 29th annual MusselFest
This article originally appeared in the March 2015 issue of Seattle magazine.
Where: Historic Coupeville, Washington, on Whidbey Island.
Why: For the 29th annual Penn Cove MusselFest (3/6–3/8; Coupeville Recreation Hall, 901 NW Alexander St.; thepenncovemusselsfestival.com).
Where: Founded in 1986 by locally based Captain John Colby Stone, the festival is dedicated to the sweet, meaty, nationally revered mussels grown in Whidbey’s Penn Cove. (A member of the U.S. Merchant Marine, Captain Stone also offers charter tours of Penn Cove on his 52-foot ketch, Cutty Sark; svcuttysark.com.) Shellfish lovers delight in consuming approximately 3,500 pounds of mussels over the weekend, by way of a mussel-eating contest (who in the crowd can eat three keg cups of mussels the fastest?), a chowder competition (with local restaurants going head to head), cooking demonstrations and plenty of samples. Adults can wash ’em down in the beer garden with craft brews from Flyers Brewery, while kids rock out to live children’s music.
Side Trip: On the way to Coupeville from the Clinton ferry landing, stop in Langley at the quirky Kalakala Co. Mercantile (138 Second St.; 360.221.0161; kalakala.co), an artist-owned café and curio shop peddling strong local coffee, tasty local provisions and appealingly unusual local art.
Follow Us
The Northwest’s Gateway to Wine, Culture & Adventure
Escape the crowds. Slow down. Savor fall in the Lewis Clark Valley. As autumn paints the hillsides in gold, crimson, and amber, the Lewis Clark Valley becomes a picture-perfect place to slow down and savor the season. Where Washington and Idaho meet, fall brings crisp days, colorful landscapes, harvest among the vines, and plenty of…
Meet West Seattle’s “Freelance Beaver Detective”
A group of urban beavers helped Pamela Adams through a tough time. Now she’s returning the favor.
Pamela Adams was living in Port Townsend when her marriage fell apart. Little did she know at the time that she would soon find love again while doggedly pursuing the Five Families—not the ones of Mafia lore, but a four-legged sort living along the Longfellow Creek Watershed. Prior to moving to Washington, Adams resided in…
A Wellness Pilgrimage to the Olympic Peninsula
Two hours from Seattle, a new kind of luxury is taking root—one built on stillness, old-growth forests, and the subtle art of slowing down.
There is a school of thought among the overworked and overscheduled that the most subversive thing a person can do is stop. Put down the phone, close the laptop, and go somewhere that actively resists attempts to stay plugged in. The Olympic Peninsula has always offered this, in its blunt, mossy way. For some city…
Seabrook Is a Little Coastal Utopia
This walkable beach town gives families room to roam, relax, and leave the car parked.
There’s nothing quite like finding an edible mushroom in the forest with a five-year-old. The excitement and pride my son displayed when we found chicken of the woods were contagious, and after battering and frying the mushrooms, our wonderful day got even better. The dark, wet forests in which our mushrooms grew are part of…