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Road Trip: Kite Festival at Long Beach

Get ready for a colorful, small-town getaway

By Jake Laycock July 6, 2016

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This article originally appeared in the August 2016 issue of Seattle magazine.

WHERE: Long Beach, a small town in the southern coastal corner of Washington, a three-and-a-half-hour drive from downtown Seattle.

WHY: The Long Beach–based World Kite Museum’s annual Washington State International Kite Festival (8/15–8/21, kitefestival.com). The seaside skies will be ablaze with colorful kites during this weeklong celebration and competition, which attracts professional kite flyers from around the world as well as tens of thousands of spectators.

BERRY NICE: Take a break from the high-flying fun and get bogged down at the Cranberry Museum (cranberrymuseum.com), where you can finish your self-guided tour of the working farm’s crimson fields with a scoop of sweetly tart ice cream from the gift shop.

BEACHSIDE BREKKIE: Those local cranberries often appear in the bread and pancakes served at Laurie’s Homestead Breakfast House (Facebook, “Laurie’s Homestead”) in neighboring Seaview. Bring an appetite: This casual breakfast and lunch spot is known for its huge portions of hearty morning staples.

 

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