Holiday Magic

Speaker 1: [0:00] Hello, hello, and welcome to another edition of the Awesome in Seattle podcast. This one is gonna be a fun one. It is a holiday-inspired podcast, and I got the one and only Reed Watson here with me. Reed, welcome.

Speaker 2: [0:13] Thank you

Speaker 1: [0:15] I know that you and I both love everything holiday this time of year. Mm-hmm. Um, you almost more so than me- which is impressive. So, uh, thank you for joining me on this podcast. Let's, uh, let's go over today some of the different holiday activities that are still hopefully going on even with the world that we know it in right now, where half the things aren't actually working and closed. But there's quite a bit open. I wanna go over that. I know with me, we have three kids obviously, and we are always looking for something to get out and do during this holiday time that is COVID safe, of course. And I hope this, this is gonna be a good rundown for others that are in a similar situation. So Reed, let's go over some stuff. What's going on?

Speaker 2: [1:01] Yeah. Well, the good news is that there is more open this year than there was last year. Mm-hmm. So that's exciting. Um, and a very timely one that I just love to do in the winter, and I've been, you know, doing it since I was a kid, is ice skating. That's one of my favorites. Yay. I'm clumsy, so you think I'd be like a baby horse on the ice, but I do okay. Um.

Speaker 1: [1:22] Whenever I go ice skating, I am so sore. My legs, like- Yeah … it just uses muscles I don't generally use for some reason.

Speaker 2: [1:29] Mm-hmm.

Speaker 1: [1:30] And I'm always so sore after I go ice skating. Yeah. But it is very fun.

Speaker 2: [1:34] So you know I had to sneak just a tiny bit of Seattle history in here as well. Um, so back in the old days, Green Lake actually used to freeze over entirely.

Speaker 1: [1:43] Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2: [1:44] Um, and that was kind of the place to be to go ice skating, and Greg's Bike Shop right next to the lake would- Yep … rent out ice skates by the hour. But today we mainly have to go with our manmade ice rinks, and the Seattle Center's Winterfest seasonal ice rink is not back this year- Aw, man … but we do have some really good options. Um- Yes. Yeah. Have you been to the new Iceplex? I

Speaker 1: [2:07] have not. I've driven past it- Yeah … but I've heard that it is awesome, the new Kraken Community Iceplex- Mm-hmm … by Northgate, or at Northgate. Um, I, from what I hear, they've been absolutely packed since they opened. Yeah. So if you are gonna go, don't assume you can just roll up and get in there. You probably wanna plan ahead. So-

Speaker 2: [2:26] Mm-hmm … Speaker: um, there are … While there … If you are gonna go, they do have, like, drop-in hockey games, broomball, curling. Um, if you've never gone curling, it is a lot of fun. Yeah.

Speaker 1: [2:38] Um, it's, it's awesome.

Speaker 2: [2:40] So. You wouldn't think, but

Speaker 1: [2:41] Yeah. Who would … Yeah, who woulda thought? You do … You are required to wear extremely weird pants when you curl- Mm-hmm just so you know. Which is true. Um, no you're not. I just made that up. But, uh-

Speaker 2: [2:52] Just like snow pants … it's true.

Speaker 1: [2:55] Um, the downtown Bellevue ice rink is the largest seasonal ice rink around, and they have, you know, year-round fun over there. Um, certain days they have free ice skating lessons. Um- They have fun themes where you can do like an ugly Christmas sweater or a holiday sweater skate time.

Speaker 2: [3:14] Mm-hmm.

Speaker 1: [3:14] Um, some days when you can just get like a free cup, uh, free toppings on your Molly Moon's ice cream if you show your skate pass. You know, fun stuff like that

Speaker 2: [3:23] Yeah, that's supposed to be a pretty big one. Um, so that one looks great, especially for kids. It's a very holiday-themed one. Mm-hmm. I have to just put out there, 'cause this is where I always went when I was a kid, is the tried and true Highland Ice Arena- Yes up in Shoreline on Aurora. Mm-hmm. They have been there actually since 1962, and have one of my favorite hot chocolate machines. It just always tastes better after you've been ice skating as a young child, right?

Speaker 1: [3:51] Yeah, exactly. Is it, like, one of the old, put your blue cup in the thing and it-

Speaker 2: [3:55] Oh, yeah. Mm-hmm. Oh,

Speaker 1: [3:56] that's awesome.

Speaker 2: [3:57] So that's a favorite of mine. Another favorite of mine, um, as we move away from ice skating, is the Sheraton's gingerbread display. They have these really huge gingerbread houses that they create and have in the lobby of the Sheraton. However, that as well as the teddy bear suite at the Fairmont Olympic are both closed this year due to COVID, but they still have some kind of window displays that you can go and check out, and they've put a lot of work into those if you are downtown. Um, you can pass by those hotels and just look in the window.

Speaker 1: [4:31] Um- Yeah, that's good.

Speaker 2: [4:31] Yeah.

Speaker 1: [4:32] I mean, it… We've done that in the past and it was really fun to walk through and try to stop the kids from trying to- Mm-hmm … steal the candy off the gingerbread houses and things like that as you're walking through.

Speaker 2: [4:42] Yes. Right. So

Speaker 1: [4:43] I understand why it's not open during COVID- … because of that reason alone.

Speaker 2: [4:46] Yeah, that's a, that's a good point.

Speaker 1: [4:48] Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2: [4:48] Absolutely. ' Speaker: Cause that's what they would do. Pike Place, Pike Place Market, there's a lot of different, um, like Santa photo days where kids can meet and do crafts. I mean, that sounds awesome. They have the holiday night market, which emerges, uh, for one night only, and this year that's gonna be December 16th. So definitely mark your calendar. Um, that's where they turn the market into a winter wonderland of stocking stuffers, ornaments, and one of a kind gifts. I don't know if you could tell, but I read that off their website. Um, shoppers can, uh, you know, rejuvenate at the Polar Bar with beverages and live music and it just, it's gonna be cool. I've never personally been to that, but I've heard, and it looks awesome, so. It sounds really cool.

Speaker 1: [5:31] Seattle Center always has, you know, they're always decked out with beautiful lights. It's just a fun place to go. Like, if you're on a date night or something, just go down there and walk through. It's just-

Speaker 2: [5:40] Oh, 100%. I went to a… I actually went to a Kraken game recently, which was- Nice … really exciting. But the second highlight, uh, um, secondary to the game, was we just at night strolled through the Seattle Center, and the lights were truly beautiful. They've done an amazing job with them this year.

Speaker 1: [5:57] That's awesome.

Speaker 2: [5:58] Yeah. I haven't

Speaker 1: [5:58] been down there. I need to go

Speaker 2: [5:59] check out a game too.

Speaker 1: [6:00] One thing that has returned to Seattle Center is the Pacific Northwest performance of the Nutcracker at McCall Hall. That is obviously a Normal yearly trend. I don't think it happened last year. I don't honestly remember, but I assume it didn't 'cause it didn't seem like anything- It was, um…

Speaker 2: [6:17] Right, it was virtual last year.

Speaker 1: [6:19] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, so, uh, that's amazing that that's back. It's obviously, like, you go to that and you f- truly feel like you're 100% in the spirit after you walk out of there, so… And then, you know, downtown Bellevue, they've got their Garden Delights in the botan- Botanical Gardens. Their, you know, this one's awesome, the iconic Snowflake Lane. Um, that's open again. Um, if you haven't done that, it's basically they deck out the main drag right between the, I guess, Belle Square- Mm-hmm … and Lincoln Center, and it's like a parade that comes through. Um, every single night there's fake snow that comes down. They have a drum line with, like, the Nutcracker guys dressed up. Mm. I know when I've gone they handed out a lot of candy, and I think one year I had one of my kids on my shoulders and they just stuck their, uh, sucker, or their, not sucker, but their, um, candy cane in my hair. So that was awesome- Oh, man … as they were sitting on my shoulders, so, um- I had- But it's, it's great. It's super fun.

Speaker 2: [7:22] Yeah. I had friends who were, um, they would, as a winter break job in high school they would be the snow princesses-

Speaker 1: [7:30] Oh, nice … Speaker 2: um, that all the little kids wanna take photos with. Yes. And that was always fun. That sounds awesome.

Speaker 2: [7:36] Yeah. That was a blast. So not perhaps as decked out as Snowflake Lane, but there are lots of places to see really beautiful lights around the city if you don't want the whole parade scene. Downtown Seattle, there are just a ton of beautiful lights. Everywhere is decorated, and if you wanna just go and check those out, I would recommend doing the Downtown Seattle Association's holiday scavenger hunt along with it. Yeah. You can find that online at compassoutdooradventures.com/seatownholidayhunt. So that could be a good way to enjoy the downtown lights. Also, both Volunteer Park and Green Lake will be hosting menorah lighting events outdoors, and the Strom Jewish Community Center actually has an interactive light display, which sounds really cool. And that's going all- through the month of December, so you can go and check that out.

Speaker 1: [8:30] Cool.

Speaker 2: [8:30] I didn't know this, but the Point Defiance Zoo claims to have the oldest light display in the area. Um, but they do zoo lights at the Point Defiance Zoo. They have displays of 800,000 LED lights, and that goes from November 26th through January 2nd. If you wanna get out on the water, the Argosy Cruise Christmas Festival offers a ship complete with carolers and its own very festive lights that takes you around to many different little waterfront communities all over the city that have their own festive lights going. So you get to look at the beautiful lights from your ship decked out in beautiful lights. That's a really popular one. And then a quick one that my family always used to do, and then we'd go drive around and just look at other people's Christmas lights as well, was, um, and still is, Candy Cane Lane over in- Mm-hmm Ravenna. Yep. It's just a little drive through circuit, and they've been going all out for Christmas for years. I don't know how they coordinate this, but they- Yeah … do it extremely well, and it's, it's just one of those where everyone on the block is known to go completely all out for Christmas, and-

Speaker 1: [9:44] Mm-hmm

Speaker 2: [9:45] it's a blast.

Speaker 1: [9:46] Yeah.

Speaker 2: [9:46] Um-

Speaker 1: [9:47] It's… If you don't know where that is- Yeah … it's basically just north of U Village on 55th and near… I think just off of 55th. Maybe it's like- Yeah … 56th or 58th or something like that, and, like, 25th Avenue Northeast. Mm-hmm. So it's, yeah, it's, it's awesome. They usually do, like, some sort of a canned food drive or some sort of something where you can donate- Yeah and they, you know, they, they help the community out with that, which is cool, so.

Speaker 2: [10:15] Mm-hmm. And then I just have to talk about my personal favorite. It's been a personal favorite for years- Mm-hmm … is Wild Lanterns at the Woodland Park Zoo. It's just truly magical for anyone of any age. I've, I've only been a few times as a teenager and an adult, and I love it. I think it's great for kids, too. It's a little different than your traditional holiday lights, um, you know, strings of lights. This, they create larger than life- lantern animals and this beautiful pathway and kind of circuit through the zoo that you walk through. But they have everything from, you know, the penguins to, I believe they have a really cool looking dragon this year.

Speaker 1: [10:57] See.

Speaker 2: [10:57] Uh, but it's one of my favorite things. It's just kind of transports you into what feels like a different world, and it's so beautiful at night. That's my absolute favorite, and if you've never heard of it, I just encourage you to Google it and look at a couple of pictures because once you do, I think you will really wanna check it out.

Speaker 1: [11:15] Let's talk about what every, not every, but most children want.

Speaker 2: [11:20] Mm-hmm.

Speaker 1: [11:20] And that's to sit on Santa's lap. Now-

Speaker 2: [11:22] Oh, yeah … Speaker: the actual sitting part is not happening this year, I don't think anywhere. But there's a lot of different creative ways that they are allowing you to get your photos taken with Santa all over the place. Mm-hmm. And it was a lot harder last year 'cause everything was still, you know, so unknown and up in the air. But this year everyone's had a little more time to figure out how to make these Santa photos seem, you know, more fun and more creative. Mm-hmm. And I, I, from what I looked at, it looked like they're pretty much, pretty much everywhere is available. It's just, you know, what creative method of doing it do you want? Yeah. The, the big one that a lot of people do, the true Seattle experience is probably getting your picture taken with him at the Space Needle. Yep.

Speaker 1: [12:08] Um, a lot of people do- Very Seattle … yeah, exactly. Downtown, was it Nordstrom or- Yeah, mm-hmm yeah, I think it was Nordstrom. They always built that huge outdoor structure for it. Yeah. I assume they're doing something like that this year again. U Village always has a great way to, to get your photo taken there- Mm-hmm … as well. Um, it's just kinda all over the place, so.

Speaker 2: [12:26] Yeah. Another good one if you wanna be somewhat outdoors, this is what I used to do with my family when I was little, was we would go to Swanson's Nursery-

Speaker 1: [12:33] Mm-hmm

Speaker 2: [12:34] and we'd kind of make a whole day out of it. We would pick our Christmas tree because they have a great selection of trees. Mm-hmm. And then go, you know, see Santa, and they also have, um, reindeer and- Yep … a really nice Christmas, you know, the little miniature Christmas train, and they kind of transform the whole nursery into a little winter wonderland. So that's another one I'd recommend for sure.

Speaker 1: [12:58] I will second that. Yeah. It's pretty cool bringing the kids and, you know, them seeing reindeers and going, "Whoa, what the heck? Why are Santa's reindeers here?"

Speaker 2: [13:07] Yeah.

Speaker 1: [13:07] I, I know we've done that. For a completely different experience, you could go to the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma and spend 10 minutes with Santa underwater as he, um- fishes before, you know, checking out the zoo lights.

Speaker 2: [13:21] I,

Speaker 1: [13:22] I should-

Speaker 2: [13:22] That's a- I should clarify that you won't be underwater.

Speaker 1: [13:25] Yes. But

Speaker 2: [13:25] Santa will be-

Speaker 1: [13:26] Santa will be, yes … Speaker 2: in the tank. Santa will be in the tank underwater. Yeah. You will be outside of the water, and you get to, you know, see a different view of Santa than you've ever seen before. That's for sure.

Speaker 2: [13:38] That one sounds great. Um, another slightly different one, and this one is for the adults, had to throw something in there for the grownups, is, uh, Seattle's 2021 SantaCon. I didn't know anything about this, but apparently- I've,

Speaker 1: [13:54] I've never even heard of this … Speaker 2: I hadn't either, but it's huge, and it happens nationwide. SantaCon is a bar crawl that happens on December 11th. It starts at noon, and it's a bar crawl, um- Across the city, I think. Honestly, I'm not sure. Hmm. But it gets you into… And I believe it's that your Santa outfit specifically gets you into- Oh … over 15 bars and venues that have live music and drink specials, you know, all that fun stuff. So it's something a lot of groups of young people will do and kind of just make a day out of drinking while dressed as Santa. Sounds fun. Uh, we-

Speaker 2: [14:35] Keep an eye out for that on December 11th … we gotta…

Speaker 1: [14:38] Yeah, we gotta tell Jason, 'cause I know he has a Santa costume. So we'll let him know about this-

Speaker 2: [14:43] Definitely and see if he wants

Speaker 1: [14:45] to join. Um- Absolutely … so being the Evergreen State, we have just no shortage of amazing, magical things out there that are related to the holiday season. Mm-hmm. Like you cut your own tree farms. They are all over the place. If you've never done that and you have a real tree, um, definitely go try and do one of these cut down your own tree farms. Um, they're… Just Google it. They're all over the place. There's a ton of them. Um, some of them have, you know, other things that go around with it. So you know, some of them will have, like Santa and other things like that that you can do while you're there. Other ones are literally just, it's a, it's a farm that has trees and you just find your tree and cut it down. So, um, look it up online. Try and find one that you like. Something that we are doing, my family are, what we're doing this year for the first time ever, and I've only heard of it, but that's going to Leavenworth's Christmas Town.

Speaker 2: [15:42] Ooh.

Speaker 1: [15:43] And I mean, the reason that we're going is we actually went to Leavenworth. I mean, I'm born and raised in Seattle, like you, Reed.

Speaker 2: [15:50] Mm-hmm.

Speaker 1: [15:50] Um, I had only gone to Leavenworth once in my life before this past summer, and that was probably when I was like-

Speaker 2: [15:56] I still haven't been … Speaker: yeah, I was like five or six and I, I kind of remembered it- Mm-hmm … but I hadn't been forever. And last summer we went and it was so cool. It was so fun, and we just kept hearing how amazing it was during the Christmas holiday season. And so we were like, "Well, let's book a weekend and go once the kids are out of school." And so that's what we're doing. We're gonna go check it out. We looked it up online, and it just looks so cool. They light up the entire town to make it look like in a real-life snow globe almost. Wow. Like, you're inside the snow globe. And we, we had a pretty… I, I should have known that this is what it was gonna be like, because they have a year-round, um, store in Leavenworth, downtown Leavenworth, that is only a Christmas store. They sell- Wow … like ornaments year-round. Huh. And it was always packed every time this past summer when we walked through. It was literally packed all the time. But, uh, but yeah, it's super cool. If you haven't checked it out, definitely you wanna put it on your list of things to do. I, I doubt honestly that there's anywhere left to stay, unless there's some last-minute cancellations- True … 'cause everything gets booked out so far in advance. But if it's something that you might be interested in, maybe look ahead and book next year. Or you could always just do a day trip too. It's only an hour and a half-ish away, depending on traffic of course- Yeah … uh, from Seattle. So you could definitely do it in a day, go up there, walk around. I mean, if you need to get in the spirit and nothing else is doing it for you, I, I don't think- there's any way you wouldn't walk away from there not feeling the Christmas spirit, so. Yeah, I can't imagine. You'll have to, uh, roast a chestnut for me. I'm interested in that particular activity.

Speaker 1: [17:35] Yes. I'll see how in the world I do that.

Speaker 2: [17:38] Yeah, no idea.

Speaker 1: [17:40] Yeah, and they also have, like- Maybe they roast them

Speaker 2: [17:41] for you.

Speaker 1: [17:42] Maybe. Most likely. Um, but they have, like, Krampus, which I don't really know. I know that's, like, a creepy-looking dude and, but yeah, they have, like, a Krampus night, which is weird.

Speaker 2: [17:53] Yeah, and all- Um- … sorts of Christmas characters that you can, like, I assume like Scrooge and kind of other Christmas-type characters. Yeah.

Speaker 1: [18:04] You know, I'll have to give a report when we come back.

Speaker 2: [18:06] Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 1: [18:08] Because it, I'm guessing it's gonna be really cool, but I've, I've just, we haven't been. Yeah. So we shall see.

Speaker 2: [18:14] How exciting.

Speaker 1: [18:15] Well, thank you for listening to this one. Thanks for joining me, Reed, on, on this awesome podcast. Uh- Oh,

Speaker 2: [18:22] thank you for having

Speaker 1: [18:22] me I hope that everyone got a lot of good tips out of it. Again, as Reed and I, we are both born and raised Seattleites. We love our city. We love to share the fun, little, unique things that we have here that kinda separates us from the rest of the world. So, uh, hopefully a lot of these ideas spark your interest and you'll go explore this awesome city of ours. So thank you, Reed, for all your help on this podcast and, uh, and for, for yeah, for sharing all these awesome things that we got in our city.

Speaker 2: [18:50] Yeah. Happy holidays, Christian.

Speaker 1: [18:52] Happy holidays. Thank you. Happy holidays

Speaker 2: [18:54] to everyone.

Speaker 1: [18:54] And we'll, uh,

Speaker 2: [18:55] we'll…

Speaker 1: [18:56] Yes, happy holidays to everyone, and we will see you next time on another episode of the Awesome in Seattle podcast.