Free and Cheap Stuff To Do in Seattle

Golden Gardens boasts Seattle’s only real sandy beach. Home to beach volleyball, barbeques, and sunbathers during the day, Golden Gardens also has firepits where you can gather with your friends at night.

As the first place I ever saw a dried-out Christmas tree turn into a towering pillar of flame, Golden Gardens will always have a special place in my heart.

All those beautiful shots you’ve seen of the Seattle skyline with Mt. Rainier in the background? They’re taken from Kerry Park. This was the view that convinced me to move to Seattle.

Some people come here to see the boats. Some people come to see the salmon swimming up the salmon ladder. But my favorite part of the Ballard Locks are the fish sculptures up top. They have a line of blue lights in them and if you dart your eyes past them quickly you can see the outline of a fish floating in mid-air. It’s trippy. Don’t miss it.

swimmer’s itch – n., the post-swim, full-body rash many Green Lake swimmers develop as a result of swimming in a high concentration of goose poop. It doesn’t make this pastime any less popular, but you should be aware.

I used to swim in Lake Union with a friend while he was training for a triathlon. We were a little mystified when he got sick for ten days straight, but then we learned about Seattle’s Combined Sewage Outflows. Overflow from the lakes typically flows into Seattle’s sewage system, but during times of very heavy rain the sewage system backs up and flows into the lakes.

The official position is that you shouldn’t go swimming within 48 hours of a rain storm, but you’ll have to make your own call on this one.

Seattle’s most prestigious art museum, the SAM has free entry on the first Thursday of every month.

There are art walks all over Seattle, but Pioneer Square’s remains the oldest and best. My favorite stop is 619 Western Ave, six stories worth of amazing artist studios.

Benaroya Hall is one of only a few concert halls in the United States to have a “permanent tracker pipe organ”, whatever that means.

There are free recitals during lunch every two months. Stop by and take a tour of the hall as well.

Live bluegrass music and warm meat pies combine forces to make Pies and Pints one of my favorite Seattle bars. Mainly populated by locals who come every week to hear the live band on Sundays and Wednesdays, it’s a great place to soak up some down home culture with your friends.