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Road Trip to Winthrop

Winthrop welcomes all comers—from fiddlers to insect wranglers.

By Jessica Orr July 20, 2011

0811_roadtrip

This article originally appeared in the August 2011 issue of Seattle magazine.

WHERE: Winthrop, Washington, in the Methow Valley.

WHY: For the BIG NORTH CASCADES OLDTIME FIDDLERS CONTEST (8/27. $15; kids younger than 12 are free. Spring Creek Ranch, 22 Belsby Road; 509.996.2111; winthropfiddle.org), where you’ll celebrate American folk music via hardcore fiddling competitions for all age divisions, from Pee-Wee to Senior.

BRING: Your own insect or arachnid for the Giant Insect Contest for kids 12 and younger. (We don’t know what it has to do with fiddling either, but we like it!) Ten extra points if the insect is alive; 10 points if it has all its legs; 25 points if the insect bites the judge. First prize is a hot air balloon ride from Morning Glory Balloon Tours (balloonwinthrop.com).

GETTING THERE: From Seattle take I-5 north to the North Cascades Highway and proceed to Winthrop. Watch (and listen) for Belsby Road.

 

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