Washington’s Magazine
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WASHINGTON February | March
volume 13
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Visit Ainsworth Hot Springs Resort in BC & let the restorative mineral waters of the natural hot spring heal your mind, body, & spirit. BOOK YOUR STAY WITH US TODAY! ainsworthhotsprings.com | 1.800.668.1171 | info@ainsworthhotsprings.com
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* No origination fees apply to loans $250,000 and under. You must be a BECU member in good standing, comply with our loan program requirements, meet all the underwriting requirements, pay any applicable loan fees and execute all loan closing documents. The specific amount of your credit limit will be determined based on information obtained while processing your application, which includes, but is not limited to, your credit report, your income, occupancy and available equity in your home. Certain restrictions apply. Loans are subject to credit and collateral approval and not every applicant will qualify. BECU must be able to perfect a mortgage lien on your one-to-four family residence. Primary residence and Second Home/ Vacation Home property must be located in one of the following states: WA, OR, CA, AZ, KS, MO, IL, PA, ID and SC. Rental/ Investment property must be located in the State of Washington. Insurance to protect the property against hazards (including flood insurance, if applicable) is required. Borrower is also required to pay for optional services (e.g. if borrower retains an attorney that borrower is not required to use). In South Carolina, where the law requires use of an attorney, BECU will be solely responsible for paying all attorneys’ fees and costs necessary to open the HELOC, and will perform this responsibility fully by paying all reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs related specifically to the closing based on rates typically charged by attorneys in the local market for the closing of similar HELOC transactions. Additional state or local mortgage fees or taxes may apply. An Automated Value Model (AVM) may be obtained in lieu of an appraisal at no cost to member. Loan programs, terms and conditions subject to change without notice.
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Up In the Air photography by James Harnois The Space Needle’s $100 million renovation changed the way visitors can see Seattle. Unlike when the Space Needle opened in 1962, today there is 176 tons and 20,000 square feet of glass. Paul Best is the head glass keeper, making sure all of it sparkles and shines. (pg. 56)
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Willows Lodge in Woodinville brings luxury to Washington wine country.
FEATURES FEBRUARY | MARCH 2019 • volume 13
50 Local Luxury Plan your next getaway with our guide to the state’s best resorts— whether you want to dip your toes in the ocean or get lost in the mountains, get ritzy or go rustic, we’ve got a spot for you. written by Sheila G. Miller
56 Glass Act The Space Needle’s recent facelift added tons of glass—on the floor and the observation deck. Meet the man responsible for keeping it sparkling. written by Corinne Whiting
62 Our artist in residence, Kiliii Yüyan, makes beautiful photos of Native people and Native activities. The photos are so compelling, in fact, we decided to feature his work in our gallery as well. photography by Kiliii Yüyan
Jeff Caven
Back to the Land
If Savory is in your nature, Spokane is your destination.
Spokane’s epicurean options feature fine cuisine and delightful wine and spirit pourings. Travel back in time to the speakeasy era, or indulge in the latest dining trends at our many award-winning restaurants, wineries and pubs. Salud! visitspokane.com/things-to-do
DEPARTMENTS
LIVE 14 SAY WA?
FEBRUARY | MARCH 2019 • volume 13
Start 2019 off right with festivals and farmers markets. Get inspired by Heather “Anish” Anderson and her new hiking memoir, then resolve to see more live music with the Seattle Symphony’s new space.
48
20 FOOD + DRINK
Try something new with Author Mead’s crisp flavors, and get ready for serious flavor at Mana, a restaurant in a little yellow house in Leavenworth. Resolved to cook more? Check out the state’s best cookware stores.
24 FARM TO TABLE
At Vashon’s Farmstead Meatsmith, the goal is humane butchery and the focus is on pork. Bonus—the owners will teach you the skills as well.
28 HOME + DESIGN
This creative cabin in the South Puget Sound is the definition of a thrifty livework balance. Plus, learn how to salvage to create your own special space.
34 MIND + BODY Jackie Dodd
Bellingham’s Krissy Moehl travels the world as an ultramarathoner, but her favorite trails are right out her front door.
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36 ARTIST IN RESIDENCE
Kiliii Yüyan’s photography reflects the connection between people and the natural world.
THINK
46
40 STARTUP
LumberUnion is doing a lot of different things, from media to clothing, and the goal is to do all of it very well.
42 WHAT’S GOING UP
New hotels around the state are a great reason to hit the road.
44 WHAT I’M WORKING ON Olympic Peninsula Visitor Bureau
Upstream Research provides environmental health data for your neighborhood in an effort to provide you with more health tools.
46 MY WORKSPACE
Greg Lehman
At Legends Casino in Toppenish, dealer Angela Smith just might be your lucky charm.
10 11 86 88
Editor’s Letter 1889 Online Map of Washington Until Next Time
48 GAME CHANGER
Seattle Chocolate is 100 percent woman-owned and certified by the Rainforest Alliance. Plus, it has started a new line of chocolate, jcoco, that donates a fresh serving of food for each bar sold.
EXPLORE 70 TRAVEL SPOTLIGHT
On the shores of Lake Washington, hit the NOAA Art Walk and discover “A Sound Garden” (yep, that’s where Soundgarden got its name).
72 ADVENTURE
More cyclists are getting into gravel riding—learn about the equipment, the best trails and the coolest events.
76 LODGING
Lakedale Resort on San Juan Island basically invented glamping, and it’s still improving on the concept.
78 TRIP PLANNER COVER
photo by Daniel Stark Alderbrook Resort & Spa in Union, Washington (see Local Luxury, pg. 50)
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FEBRUARY | MARCH 2019
Drive the perimeter of Olympic National Park, hitting all the hot spots of this rainy, snowy, windy wonderland.
82 NORTHWEST DESTINATION
Oregon’s northern coast combines history with eats well beyond your typical seafood fare.
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CONTRIBUTORS
CORINNE WHITING Writer Glass Act
JACKIE DODD Writer and Photographer Beervana
NAOMI TOMKY Writer Trip Planner
JAMES HARNOIS Photographer Glass Act
Profiles have always been my favorite to write, and this interview with the Space Needle’s head glass keeper proved no different. I love Paul’s enthusiasm for a job I had never before considered, and it makes me reflect on the countless unsung heroes whose daily efforts help keep this city beautiful. I’ll never look at that iconic structure in quite the same light. (pg. 56)
Interviewing brewery owners about how they began their journey into the world of craft beer is never an arduous task. The owners of Métier in Woodinville made it a job I didn’t want to let go of. They’re inspiring in a way that made me a fan, a repeat customer, and a consummate supporter of what they do. The delicious beer also made it hard for me to leave the taproom—it’s fantastic! (pg. 20)
Tackling the entire Olympic National Park felt insurmountable—as I say in the story, it’s huge. But pulling out a big paper map and circling things I wanted to see before creating a route was half the fun, and left room for discovery. I’m a food writer at heart, so my favorite part of the trip was finding out there is good food in Forks—and it comes in a homemade tortilla. (pg. 78)
Watching the clouds break and sunlight pour over downtown Seattle from the top of the Space Needle at sunrise will be something I remember for a long time. For Paul and the rest of his crew, it’s just another day. Shooting here is a photographer’s dream—the reflections, architecture and views offer so much to the creative eye. (pg. 56)
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FEBRUARY | MARCH 2019
EDITOR Kevin Max
MANAGING EDITOR Sheila G. Miller CREATIVE Allison Bye MARKETING + DIGITAL MANAGER Kelly Rogers
WEB MANAGER
OFFICE MANAGER
DIRECTOR OF SALES
Aaron Opsahl Cindy Miskowiec Jenny Kamprath
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Cindy Guthrie Jenn Redd
BEERVANA COLUMNIST
Jackie Dodd
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Melissa Dalton, Michelle DeVona, Catie Joyce-Bulay, Lauren Kramer, Ben Salmon, Cara Strickland, Naomi Tomky, Corinne Whiting, Gina Williams
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
Jackie Dodd, Gemina Garland-Lewis, James Harnois, Jordan Hughes, Greg Lehman, Daniel Stark, Kiliii Yüyan
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FEBRUARY | MARCH 2019
1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE 9
FROM THE EDITOR ONE OF THE best things about Washington is her resorts. They appear in rainforests, on the coast, on the sound, in the woods and overlooking massive waterfalls. They cater to wild retreats, to raucous adventure, to romantic reprieve and to gamblers’ delights. In this issue of 1889, we crossed the state and filtered through our favorite escapes for your benefit. I have been to many of these, but learned about new resorts that are now on my 2019 To (definitely) Do List. Wanderlustful people, follow me into Olympic National Park for a circumnavigation of the peninsula with strategic forays into its belly. South of the park by 100 miles is Astoria, Oregon and the start point for a northern Oregon Coast adventure. Covered with intrigue, history and small towns, this seafood haven is all America rolled up into one spot. Grab your gravel bike next and truly get away. Chart your ride through a vast network of unpaved gravel roads in state and national forests and take in views along roads seldomly used. In Gravel Riding in the PNW Mecca on page 72, we look into some of the most scenic rides in Washington, Idaho and Oregon. When you’re ready to reenter civilization, best to do it slowly, and with bacon. At Vashon’s Farmstead Meatsmith, the Sheards are as intent on teaching people how to butcher a pig as they are raising their own pigs.
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FEBRUARY | MARCH 2019
Stay in touch with the natural and spiritual through the fantastic photography behind an ideal of what it really means to live like an indigenous person. Kiliii Yüyan’s project is primal and sophisticated. It’s stylish and wild. Turn to page 36 to see his work. Out of that same contrast of wild and sophisticated comes the home of artist Anna Hoover. This South Sound modern wedge of a house is less than 700 square feet but lives large. Turn to page 28 and allow yourself a moment of small-house envy. Cheers!
1889 ONLINE More ways to connect with your favorite Washington content www.1889mag.com | #1889washington | @1889washington
washington: in focus Have a photo that captures your Washington experience? Share it with us by filling out the Washington: In Focus form on our website. If chosen, you’ll be published here. www.1889mag.com/ in-focus
photo by Faraz Kazmi
Seattle skyline
#1889WASHINGTON What does your Washington look like? Connect with us on social media by tagging your photos with #1889washington.
GEAR UP Show off your state pride with 1889 T-shirts, hoodies, tote bags and more from our online shop. www.1889mag.com/shop
FEBRUARY | MARCH 2019
1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE 11
SAY WA? 14 FOOD + DRINK 20 FARM TO TABLE 24 HOME + DESIGN 28 MIND + BODY 34
pg. 20 Métier Brewing makes great beer, and that’s just the start.
Jackie Dodd
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 36
say wa?
Tidbits & To-dos Seattle Wine and Food Experience
Saskia Potter
This festival, from February 21 to 24, features four events— one is sure to appeal. Our top picks? Comfort, an opportunity to try your favorite feel-good foods, and Sunday Supper, a new event this year that will include a prix fixe menu from some of the city’s most highly acclaimed chefs, wine and beer pairings and an afterparty meet-and-greet with the chefs. www.seattlewineandfood experience.com
your mark dar
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Anacortes Winter Farmers Market Winter days may be dreary, but the Anacortes Farmers Market holds a monthly winter market sure to brighten your day. Winter markets run on the second Saturdays of each month, January through April, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. inside the Depot Arts & Community Center.
With twelve onsite hives, the Salish Lodge & Spa in Snohomish has homemade honey all year round. You can re-create that experience when you get home from your romantic getaway with a jar of your own. www.salishlodge.com
www.anacortesfarmersmarket.org
14 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
Salish Lodge & Spa Honey
FEBRUARY | MARCH 2019
say wa?
Addition Beer Sauce
VeloTransit Backpacks
Does your beer need a little something...extra? Addition thinks so. This company makes Beer Sauce in three flavors—original, smoky and extra spicy—to add “complexity, flavor and heat to beer.” Think of it as a mixer, but for your beer. The company also sells cocktail spice that you can add to, yes, cocktails, but also sodas and other drinks.
If one of your new year’s resolutions was to cycle more, VeloTransit has you covered. Add a bike commute to your routine with the company’s waterproof cycling backpacks, which have laptop pouches, plenty of spots to attach lights, and a clearance to ensure you can see behind you.
www.drinkaddition.com
www.velotransit.com
ca mark y le our nd ar Irish Festival Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day! Celebrate all things Irish at the Irish Festival, March 16-17 at the Seattle Center Festál. The event will feature live performances, food, games and, of course, more than a little Irish jig. Visitors can trace their Irish roots in genealogy workshops or learn some words in Gaelic.
Saddleburn Media
www.seattlecenter.com/festal
FEBRUARY | MARCH 2019
1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE 15
say wa?
Musician
Still On Top
Seattle Symphony has a new performance venue written by Ben Salmon
The new venue will feature intimate spaces for musical performances.
IT’S HARD TO imagine how the Seattle Symphony could top its momentous 2018, but the world-renowned ensemble—a local institution for more than a century—will get off to a strong start with the March opening of a new performance venue, Octave 9: Raisbeck Music Center. The high-tech space will be inside Benaroya Hall, the symphony’s stately home in downtown Seattle for the past two decades. In addition to versatile, state-of-the-art audio and visual capabilities, Octave 9 will house the Seattle Symphony’s family, school and community programs, including sensoryfriendly concerts and workshops where symphony musicians work with parents in crisis situations to create lullabies for their children. As for its artistic programming, Octave 9 will squeeze an incredible number of exciting performances into the threemonth period between its opening and the close of the symphony’s 2018-19 season in June. The slate includes more than seventy composers, five world premieres, a twenty-four hour Contemporary Music Marathon, works by composer-inresidence Derek Bremel and more. “In this space, we will live and breathe today’s art and support contemporary composers with a dedicated medium for their work,” said Krishna Thiagarajan, president and CEO of the symphony. “Arts are the way a society articulates itself, and Octave 9 signifies the importance of supporting the voices of today.” When some doors open, of course, others tend to close, and Octave 9’s debut will roughly coincide with the departure of Ludovic Morlot, the symphony’s music director since 2011. 16 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
FEBRUARY | MARCH 2019
The modern ceiling hides microphones, speakers, cameras and lights.
Over his final year with the group, he has focused on the works of fellow Frenchman Claude Debussy, commissioned a piano concerto by Pulitzer Prize-winning violinist and composer Caroline Shaw, celebrated three new Grammy nominations for symphony recordings and won Orchestra of the Year at the 2018 Gramophone Classical Music Awards. Seattle was the only nonEuropean ensemble nominated. In interviews, Morlot has held his future plans close to his vest, preferring instead to focus on the time he has left with Seattle Symphony and the thrill of working in Octave 9. “We have always sought to expand what it means to ‘Listen Boldly,’ and I look forward to continuing our creative adventure together” at the new venue, he said. “I am tremendously curious to explore the creative possibilities of the new space.”
Spokane’s own Grammy Award-winning baritone, Thomas Hampson, explores poems and songs from over 250 years of US histor y for an engaging journey through American culture. Works by Foster, Bernstein, Ives, and more.
8 PM SPONSOR:
Frank Knott
SPONSOR:
BMW of Spokane
| 8 PM
Watch the complete lm on large screen with live score by the Spokane Symphony. Jorge Luis Uzcátegui, CONDUCTOR MARTIN WOLDSON THEATER AT THE FOX
509.624.1200 | SpokaneSymphony.org
say wa?
Bibliophile
On The Trail Racing along the Pacific Crest Trail with Heather “Anish” Anderson interview by Sheila G. Miller
EARLY IN HER new memoir, Thirst, Heather “Anish” Anderson finds herself under the punishing sun on the Pacific Crest Trail, without water and debating whether to press the button on her emergency beacon. She keeps going—and that’s the lesson at the core of the book. Keep going. Put one foot in front of the next. Anderson writes about her successful attempt in 2013 to record the self-supported fastest known time on the Pacific Crest Trail—sixty days, seventeen hours and twelve minutes. She had hiked the PCT, as well as the Appalachian Trail and the Continental Divide Trail by age 25. Her message—be courageous and do what makes you happy. You’re more capable than you might believe. What inspired you to write this book? I started writing it right after I finished, in 2013. It’s kind of been a work in progress ever since. I started writing as a way to really process what had happened on the trail. I kept a journal while I was out there, but I wanted to work through all the things that had happened along the way, and the best way to do that for me was by writing. A lot of people had told me I should write a book from the moment I got off the trail, so it was always in the back of my mind. I was just waiting until I was ready, and that took a long time. What message do you hope readers walk away with? Definitely the idea that it’s worth pursuing your dreams and that it may not work out, but it’s important to try the journey, the process of go-
18 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
Heather “Anish” Anderson at Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada.
ing after something that makes you feel fulfilled. You have to take your own path, whether that’s “normal” or not. You have to be courageous enough to go after your dreams and not just always wonder. The PCT was made famous by the book and movie, Wild. Have you seen the results of that on the trail? I’ve run into a lot of people who hiked the PCT or portions of it because of the book or the movie. They’re all unique, and they all have different stories. I don’t think anything that gets people out on the trails is a bad thing. But there’s definitely a lot more people out there. That’s also just a greater trend of social media in general. PCT hashtags are really trendy. So whether it’s from the book or just
FEBRUARY | MARCH 2019
from seeing pretty pictures online, there are a lot more people on the trail these days. There are certainly drawbacks, there are more issues with crowding and resources in trail towns, but I think in general the more time people spend outdoors the better. Besides food and water, what can’t you live without on the trail? You definitely need a comfortable pair of shoes. If your feet are not happy, you’re not happy. And I hate being cold, so I always have a warmer sleeping bag or extra warm layers, because it can save your life—hyphothermia is no joke. I have essentially a full set of pajamas that are these long, fleece head to toe things that never come out of my pack unless I’m dry and in my tent.
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food + drink
Cocktail Card recipe courtesy of The Hardware Distillery Co. photography by Jordan Hughes
Cozy Sweater
Métier owner Rodney Hines chats with a patron at the bar.
1½ ounces The Hardware Distillery Co. Aquavit ½ ounce cinnamon simple syrup (see recipe below) 2 dashes orange bitters Place the aquavit and orange bitters in a glass and set aside. Top off glass with the simple syrup. Chill before serving. Garnish with an orange peel and serve.
FOR SIMPLE SYRUP ½ cup water ½ cup sugar 3 cinnamon sticks Combine water, sugar and cinnamon sticks in a small saucepan and cook until sugar dissolves. When cool, remove cinnamon sticks and chill for 30 minutes. Simple syrup can be stored in refrigerator for about a week.
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Beervana
The Mighty Métier written and photographed by Jackie Dodd TO THE RIGHT of the bar at Métier Brewing is a large board, something I’ve never seen at a taproom before and that speaks to the heart of who the owners are and what they’re doing. Rodney Hines smiled as he glanced to the board behind him. “Beer It Forward,” it reads in block print, with dozens of names underneath. It’s a way to buy a beer for someone— anyone—who isn’t there at the time. “A Canadian,” someone wrote, prepaying for a beer from the next ex-pat from the North who walks in the door. Giving back, in one way or another, is the heart of the mission for Hines and his co-owner, Todd Herriott, as well as general manager Dreux Dillingham. “Beer is just an entry point, a vehicle to connect with people,” Hines and Dillingham said at the same time when asked about their long-term plans for the brewery. They see beer as more than just a product. It’s an entry point, an avenue to traverse on a path toward creating a better community. They are making exceptional beer, but that’s the point of entry in a world of outstanding craft beer. Of course it’s good—it has to be. Only five months in and Métier is already winning medals and making waves, but that’s just a jumping-off point to the real reason they take up space in a Woodinville warehouse. As he talked, Dillingham’s voice lit up in a way that gets in your bones.
FEBRUARY | MARCH 2019
He’s passionate—about the beer he makes, about the inclusion he wants to see in the beer world. As one of the heads of the first and (so far) only African-American owned brewery in Washington, Dillingham is driven to expand the craft beer conversation to people who don’t already have a seat at the table. He sees a craft beer world that includes more women, more people of color and more people with diverse experiences. He’s working on an internship for underrepresented people in craft beer. They’re thoughtful about every aspect—beautiful label art by women and people of color, highlighting local small business with diverse owners, finding charities they can partner with, making space for those who don’t have the doors open as widely to them in an industry like craft beer. Hines, Herriott and Dillingham hope to create a space that feels open and welcoming to everyone and to cultivate a crowd of people who want the same. A large hall filled with communal tables flanks the kid-friendly, dogfriendly and event-friendly taproom. Although it’s big, it’s cozy. It feels good. The team hopes it will be used for events, fundraisers, gatherings, even as a polling location in the next election. That’s how they think—what do we have and how can we use it to make the world better?
COME, EXPLORE, & VISIT
T
D E R I S A T I W LLERY C ® D R A H O HE A Craft Distillery in Hoodsport, WA
.
Gin•Whiskey•Vodka•Bee’s Knees®•Liqueurs
AWARD-WINNING AQUAVITS made from our pear Vodka
Classic • Dill • Cardamom Gift Shop . Tasting Room . Tours 206-300-0877 • hardwaredistillery.com 24210 N Hwy 101, Hoodsport, WA
The annual Fjordin Crossin celebrates the great Norwegian tradition of sending Aquavit on a sea voyage, which in 1807 was discovered to improve its taste.
1943 Columbia Park Trail Richland, WA 99352 509.943.4100 | www.visitthereach.org
The Hardware Distillery honors this tradition by hand carrying a barrel of Dill Aquavit from the distillery to the Hoodsport Dock where it is launched on a boat and begins its Fjordin Crossin to Tahuya and back, an hour’s journey. The Aquavit boat is followed by “Paddle the Canal” participants in canoes, kayaks, and small sailboats, and a celebration with food and events at Hoodsport Dock.
fjordincrossin.com
food + drink
CRAVINGS SZECHUAN WITH A PNW TWIST The Kitchen makes fast, fresh Asian food with a distinct island flair. Local vegetables and meat go into dishes that make you feel healthy—try the Szechwan pork with sesame rice cakes for a special treat. While you’re there, be sure to have one of their housemade drinking vinegars. 249 PRUNE ALLEY EASTSOUND www.thekitchenorcas.com
BASIL DAISY Think you’ve never had a Daisy before? You might know it by its Spanish name: the Margarita. South’s version includes fresh muddled basil and the chili-salt rim offers just enough kick. The tequila delivers the rest. 913 FRONT STREET LEAVENWORTH 7 NORTH WORTHEN STREET WENATCHEE www.southrestaurants.com
DOUGHNUTS Author Mead leaves out the cloying sweetness often found in meads.
Gastronomy
Author Mead
FOUR SEATTLE LOCATIONS www.gpdoughnuts.com
written by Cara Strickland MAYBE THE WORD “mead” makes you think of medieval times, or cloying honey sweetness? Think again. The folks over at Author have created something called “draft mead” which relies on craft brewing techniques to create a carbonated beverage miles away from syrupy iterations. Author thinks of itself as somewhere between craft beer and hard cider—both as complex and balanced as well-crafted beer and not overly sweet (but still gluten-free) like cider. Start with the semi-sweet, then branch out to the IPM (India Pale Mead) and the raspberry and marionberry flavors, all made with local fruit, honey and hops. Look for a Vancouver tasting room coming this spring, and in the meantime pick up Author Mead at select retailers in Southwest Washington and Oregon. VANCOUVER www.authormead.com
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Star chef Renee Erickson—you might know her from The Walrus and the Carpenter, among other ventures—offers fresh, seasonally flavored doughnuts at General Porpoise. There are the classics, of course, like lemon curd, but be on the lookout for the different and delightful, like apricot cherry and rose.
FEBRUARY | MARCH 2019
DINER FARE This Olympia staple calls itself “the best diner in the galaxy,” but we’ll let you be the judge. King Solomon’s Reef is the place for burgers and malts, breakfast and killer fries. It’s everything you’d expect from a diner, plus a few extra things you might only find here, like the minted apple breakfast side, which is perfectly refreshing. 212 4TH AVENUE EAST OLYMPIA www.kingsolomonsreef.com
food + drink
KITCHEN STORES WORTH CHECKING OUT
THE KITCHEN ENGINE This is your one-stop shop for a large selection of kitchen equipment and gadgets, sure to delight cooks of all levels. Knowledgeable staff are there to help you find the right fit for you, whether you’re trying out a new espresso maker or leveling up your knife game. This is the place for cooking classes for all ages, as well. 621 WEST MALLON, SUITE 416 SPOKANE www.thekitchenengine.com
D’OLIVO TASTING BAR This isn’t just a kitchen store, though you’ll find a wonderfully curated selection here. You’ll also find a host of oils and vinegars and other delicious items to up your cooking game. Taste your way through, and be sure to ask the staff about their favorites. 10 EAST MAIN STREET WALLA WALLA www.dolivotastingbar.com
THE GOURMET’S GALLEY An island staple since 1969, this is your spot for specialty foods, cookware, and just about anything else you need in the kitchen (as well as some island-specific items). Wander in and get lost for the afternoon among the pans and tea cozies. 21 SPRING STREET FRIDAY HARBOR www.sites.google.com/site/ thegourmetsgalley
Mana offers an eight-course tasting menu that runs three hours.
Dining
Mana written by Cara Strickland IN A LITTLE YELLOW house just off Leavenworth’s main thoroughfare, you’ll find a fine-dining oasis of local, often organic, and even foraged dishes in an elevated yet homey setting. You might recognize the great minds behind Mana from their Seattle venture, Sutra. Whether you’ve experienced their hospitality before, we think you’ll agree it’s something special. You’ll want to plan ahead for this tasting-menu-only experience, available Friday and Saturday nights, one seating only, for a three-hour, eight-course meal, optionally paired with wine or non-alcoholic elixirs and tonics. During the meal, the chef will talk about dishes and ingredients, sometimes with a chance to see the building blocks up close. On Sunday nights, enjoy a slightly more relaxed five-course meal. Looking for more Mana in your life? Check the website for cooking classes and other community events. 1033 COMMERCIAL STREET LEAVENWORTH www.manamountain.com
FEBRUARY | MARCH 2019
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farm to table
Brandon and Lauren Sheard raise a small number of pigs on the Farmstead Meatsmith property. These animals will be used as part of “The Family Pig” workshops as well as for meat for the Sheard family.
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farm to table
Farm to Table
A Cut Above Talking all things pork with Vashon’s Farmstead Meatsmith written by Corinne Whiting photography by Gemina Garland-Lewis FOR THOSE KEEN to learn about pork, Brandon and Lauren Sheard of Farmstead Meatsmith are apt teachers. This entrepreneurial duo has created something special over on Vashon Island, after dreaming up a destination where the narrative could remain unbroken—from the field to the table. What started as a small family business has evolved into a triple-tiered abattoir, butchery and educational operation—the only of its kind in the nation—and an incredibly successful one at that. Now, they’ve become trusted experts on the subject in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Although the business officially launched in the fall of 2010, it began when the pair met in academia in 2007. Brandon Sheard said the pair was “totally going the full professor route, planning to stay in school forever.” Then, he said, “We got disillusioned and wanted to do something real—in the most vague sense possible.” That’s when they decided to relocate from Southern California to Vashon Island. Seeking work, Brandon traveled door to door until happening upon a butcher shop that had opened the day before. The venue had a seven-cow dairy and made its own cheese and wine, something Brandon knew a bit about thanks to prior work at Whole Foods. Despite the scene being “absolute chaos,” he quickly realized the benefit of a workplace where one has to be ready to dive into anything. “If you wanted to learn,” he said, “you could jump in.” Soon he was making the rounds at farmers markets, teaching himself how to cook and even skinning sheep heads when he “could barely hold a knife.” When the recession arrived and the butcher disappeared, he suddenly found himself staying up at night to cut meat. “I was working backwards—from the culinary end … from learning how to cook,” he recalled. Between the small farm jobs and farmers market gigs, he was soon clocking sixty to seventy-hour workweeks. Lauren, who recognized the need for her husband’s services, had the idea to start the business. “How we found out it was our calling,” Brandon said, “is people kept calling us. Meatsmithing kept being in demand.” FEBRUARY | MARCH 2019
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These days, they live on 2.5 acres in the Vashon forest. They typically harvest for small-scale family farmers in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana, though Brandon has been flown to the East Coast, Midwest and UK, too. They cater to those raising a couple of pigs, a few sheep or a flock of poultry for their own household. Farmstead prides itself on keeping animals on the land they know and employing “peaceful and humane kill methods specific to each animal’s nature.” They then offer every part of the animal back to the farmer. And, as the company promises on its website: “Because the dinner table is where the rubber meets the road, particularly with unfamiliar cuts, innards and extremities, Brandon makes himself available for advice long after he leaves your farm.” Several times a year, the Sheards offer a hands-on, three-day workshop called “The Family Pig.” This series allows participants to use their hands and antique cutlery to transform two pigs of heritage breed into fresh, cured and cooked pork. One thing carried over from their academic years, Brandon said, was an “undeniable impulse to teach.” Their classes provide “an earnest education,” where nothing is diluted or dumbed down. “You go home to do this by yourself and for yourself.“ While some students see the workshop as an investment and food provisioning for the future, others are restaurant chefs wanting to broaden their skills. Mostly the course is geared toward small-kitchen and home chefs. The days can be long and laborious, but each involves a rewarding meal during which students enjoy food deemed “better than anything you can buy— and easier.” After the first class spent outdoors, the group gathers for a late lunch of fresh offal. (This is the dish Brandon makes for those who think they don’t like liver.) The second day usually features a meat pie made from the kidney of the pig, while the third day features “blood sausage, pâté, whatever we are able to make.” Lauren typically serves a loaf of bread and kale salad. Brandon promises the meat “tastes nothing like what anyone’s ever had before.” So what’s the workshop’s desired outcome? “Prowess and authority,” Brandon said. Their workshops aim for “the opposite of coming home with 1,000 recipes.” Instead, he wants students to walk away with authority for culinary decisions. Farmstead seems to be unique in offering this experience— from kill to meal. “I’m probably the only one crazy enough to put sharp knives in newbies’ hands for three days,” Brandon said. Among its loyal fans, the class has even counted vegetarians and vegans—those choosing to not eat meat because of what’s commercially available. “I really love watching people have epiphanies,” Brandon said. When it comes to the food we typically eat, most of the processing has been obscured, making the end product a mystery. “Yet here, the food has traveled maybe 20 yards,” he said. “You see the full story. … You can easily fit the whole narrative in your head.” FROM TOP The butcher shop is where the magic happens here at Farmstead Meatsmith. Brandon and his wife, Lauren, met while finishing their graduate degrees and have since gone on to start their own business and are raising six children on their Vashon property.
farm to table
Bacon is best made with a few simple ingredients.
Blood Sausage
SEATTLE / Patagōn YIELDS 20 4-OUNCE SAUSAGES 4 cups diced yellow onion 2 cups water 2½ pounds pork shoulder, cut into 1-inch cubes 3 tablespoons kosher salt 1 teaspoon pink salt 1 pound pork fat, cut into 1-inch cubs 4 cups pork blood ½ cup red wine vinegar 1 cup jasmine rice, cooked and cooled Pork casing ¼ cup spice blend FOR SPICE BLEND 1 cup sweet paprika 2 tablespoons habanero powder 3 tablespoons dried oregano 3 tablespoons cumin 1 tablespoon ground ginger 2½ tablespoons ground coriander 1½ tablespoons black pepper 1½ tablespoons white pepper 1½ tablespoons fresh grated nutmeg 1½ tablespoons dried thyme
Washington Recipes
Makin’ Bacon (And Sausage) Bacon
WOODINVILLE / The Herbfarm Chris Weber Pork belly 2.5 percent salt by weight 0.5 percent white or brown sugar or maple syrup by weight 0.25 percent pink salt by weight Chef Chris Weber of The Herbfarm recommends keeping it simple, using high-quality pork and the right wood— applewood, preferably, though alder, oak, cherry or maple will serve as good substitutes (avoid firs). Weigh the belly, then determine the amount of salt and sugar you’ll need. For example, a 1,000-gram pork belly would call for 25 grams salt, 5 grams sugar and 2.5 grams pink salt. Rub the belly thoroughly with the salts and sugar, then wrap tightly first in plastic wrap and then in tin foil. Cure in the refrigerator for eight days. After eight days, unwrap and let it dry on a rack in
the cooler for a day or two. This will form a pellicle (a skin or coating on the meat) that helps smoke stick to it. After the exterior of the belly is dry to the touch, smoke over applewood for at least four hours. At The Herbfarm, Weber hands the bacon over a fire and feed soaked logs to the fire. If you have a smoker, that’s probably best. At home, Weber typically hang the belly in the chimney of his fireplace. All you really need to do is get a lot of smoke on it—there’s no real right or wrong way about it. You’re not looking for subtlety. Afterward, check the temperature. You’re looking for an internal temperature of 145 degrees, and you can bake it in a 300-degree oven to finish it if you haven’t gotten to that temperature. Once the internal temperature is at 145 degrees, let the bacon rest at room temperature for fifteen minutes, then press gently with a few pounds of pressure to even the thickness of the belly—a baking sheet with a cast iron pan on it works well—and chill overnight.
In a large saucepan, sweat the sweet onions with 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Sear pork shoulder until there is light caramelization. Deglaze the pan with water, and bring the liquid to a light simmer. Continue to simmer until the water reduces by half. Let the mixture cool slightly, then add chopped pork fat. While warm, run the mixture through a meat grinder with the mince blade. Return pork and onion mixture to large saucepan. Over low heat, add fresh pork blood to the mixture through a chinoise and bring to light simmer. Fold in cooked rice and spice mixture. Make sure the blood is fully incorporated and not congealing together. Taste sausage mixture to check spice level. Transfer the mixture into sausage stuffer. With sausage stuffer, create 4-inch links, weighing 4 ounces each, with tight links. Use a cake tester to pop any air bubbles that form. Tie links in groups of twelve pairs, twisting between links. Tie off ends of groups with butcher’s twine. Bring a large stockpot of water to a light boil. While the water is heating up, prepare an ice bath. Place sausage in boiling water for five minutes. Remove and place in ice bath. Once bundle is completely cooled, remove from ice bath to prevent the sausage from getting waterlogged. Hang sausage for eighteen hours under refrigeration.
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home + design
A Creative Cabin
Anna Hoover built this studio to showcase a printing press and a variety of art.
An artist-activist crafts a studio on family land in the South Puget Sound written by Melissa Dalton
Benjamin Benschneider
ANNA HOOVER CHUCKLED when asked what prompted her to build her art studio several years ago. “The building was inspired by the need for a home for this beautiful printing press that I was given by my parents,” Hoover said. The bright orange press was sizeable, which Hoover estimates weighs around 800 pounds. It was designed by Glen Alps, a printmaker and professor at the University of Washington, and he only made a limited number of them. “I studied printmaking in college and then I got this beautiful printing press, so I really felt like I needed a studio to put it in,” Hoover said. “So that’s where it all began.”
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home + design
As the daughter of John Hoover, a Native Northwest painter and sculptor of Aleut descent who died in 2011, Hoover is no stranger to artistic pursuits. Her studio sits on a small patch of land on the family’s 3-acre parcel in the South Puget Sound-area, where the younger Hoover was born and raised. Her mom’s house and her father’s former workshop are just down a short, wooded path. “It’s a special place to my family,” Hoover said. Tucked back from the road and surrounded by towering cedar, hemlock, and fir trees, the studio’s site imparts a feeling of stillness, stemming from the view of the water’s glassy surface in the distance. “I have a lot of fond memories of that area and that body of water,” Hoover said. For the studio’s design, she tapped Olson Kundig Architects, the celebrated Seattle firm that has a reputation for distinctly modern wilderness cabin designs throughout the Pacific Northwest. “I like how [their work] can be stark and modern, but it can also fit very snug and nice in its setting,” Hoover said. She paired up with architect Les Eerkes, who now runs his firm Eerkes Architects but was employed at Olson Kundig at the time. “Anna loved this location,” Eerkes said. “And part of loving some place when you put a building on it is asking how you can enhance it.” He and contractor Schuchart/Dow endeavored to do that, all while staying within Hoover’s tight construction budget. The studio’s compact footprint—just 693 square feet—belies its exterior scale. It floats atop six concrete piers, which were cheaper than pouring an extensive foundation and did less to disturb the land, then rises up neatly beside the nearby trees. The exposed framing system, composed of weighty beams with substantial bolts and metal cross-braces, gives off a certain solidity, while a cantilevered bedroom and an oversized eave make for an eyecatching silhouette. “We went for a 10-foot overhang on the roof, rather than 8, just to give it a little more drama,” Hoover said. Wide double doors, clad in gray-painted Hardie Panel, lead inside, “where you’re immediately greeted by the Puget Sound,” Hoover said. The ground-level has an open kitchen and living area with doubleheight ceilings and glass expanses that frame the outlook to the water, yet the building seems to envelop you upon entering. A wood stove in front of the couch beckons. “I really just wanted it to be nothing more than what you need,” Hoover said. Eerkes thought carefully about how to use glass in the project, to both capture the view and flood the interior with natural light conducive to art-making. “Glazing is what we craved, and it’s one of the more expensive components to any of the homes that we 30 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
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home + design
The studio’s compact footprint—just 693 square feet—belies its exterior scale. It floats atop six concrete piers, which were cheaper than pouring an extensive foundation and did less to disturb the land, then rises up neatly beside the nearby trees.
Photos: Benjamin Benschneider
FROM TOP The studio is on a 3-acre parcel in the South Puget Sound. Double doors lead into the living area.
build,” Eerkes said. At the time he was working on a remodel of his own home and experimenting with sheets of insulated glass. Schuchart/Dow was game for incorporating the product into a window system. “They’re a big contractor with lots of capability, but they’re mad about design,” Eerkes said. The 9-foottall insulated glass units are joined with thin strips of metal in order to minimize the framing and get more view. “It’s a pretty efficient system, but very simple,” Eerkes said. Upstairs, a lofted bedroom joins an office space via a narrow catwalk. The bedroom needed an egress window and ventilation, so the team came up with a solution involving a panel, painted red on the exterior, counterbalanced with heavy weights on chains. The panel can be tugged down to create a large unscreened opening, bringing in the breeze and the feeling of sleeping in the tree canopy. “It’s just so wonderful to be able to move big things with gears,” Eerkes said of the set-up. “It’s something to engage with. Buildings that have parts and pieces that you can manipulate, almost like on a boat, create relationship.” As far as finishing touches went, the team’s approach was to “reduce, reuse, recycle,” Hoover said, thus earning the project’s nickname “Scavenger Studio.” To that end, salvaged materials include the studio’s maple and steel stair treads, a boat porthole at the top of the stairs, kitchen cabinets pulled from a Seattle house slated for demolition, and exterior landscaping saved from a backhoe. When she got word the plants were to be discarded in a yard remodel, “I rented a U-Haul and brought my shovel and a wheelbarrow,” Hoover said. In other places, the team chose inexpensive finishes, like Masonite for the floors, polycarbonate for the clerestory windows, and plywood for the ceiling. Hoover rolled up her sleeves and tackled a fair amount of the finish work herself, even picking up a wood-burning torch to char the exterior wood for a blackened Shou Sugi Ban effect. Despite not having construction experience, she had no qualms about taking such a hands-on approach. “I fish commercially every summer in Alaska, and it’s hard work,” Hoover said. Now, the studio is filled with art from family and friends, from the tall carved cedar “Salmon Woman” statue by Hoover’s father to the Glen Alps printing press. These days, Hoover’s medium is film, as she earned a graduate degree in indigenous documentary filmmaking and submitted a short fiction film to 2017 festivals. Her studio is there when she needs it. “I do get to write there,” Hoover said. “It’s a magical place to enter and have a seat.” FEBRUARY | MARCH 2019
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home + design
Benjamin Benschneider
Anna Hoover’s home is filled with scavenged, salvaged and thrifted goods.
DIY: Repurpose, Salvage and Source Unique Décor USE THE FOLLOWING TIPS to incorporate salvaged and unique discoveries into your next decorating scheme. staircase with black marine netting in order to make the ascent safer for children and stay on-point.
1 KNOW THYSELF
Anna Hoover combines her artistic side with her fishing background to great effect in her studio, where paintings from her father’s early career commingle with marine memorabilia. Ask yourself: What are your ongoing interests or favorite hobbies? A theme can be developed from the answers.
4
Sometimes working within a tight budget can encourage ingenuity. For instance, the team used polycarbonate for the clerestory windows in order to keep costs down. The opacity of the material lets light through, just like glass, while also adding a textural interest to the façade.
2 GO BEYOND THE BIG BOX STORES
Identify unique places to shop, like the marine supply store, salvage yards or even just a different aisle you don’t usually visit in the hardware store. Check Craigslist and NextDoor as well in order to cast a wide net for sources. THINK CREATIVELY
For every item that intrigues, ask how it might be used in your project and try to think beyond its obvious purpose. Hoover did this by lining her 32 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
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RECONSIDER STANDARD MATERIALS
5
STAY CONSISTENT
Repetition of the same materials will help bring everything together. For Hoover’s studio, plywood was used for both the interior ceiling and to clad the underside of the roof overhang, creating continuity. Inside, the staircase is fashioned from hot-rolled steel and the same material was used for a nearby bookcase, rather than wood, to avoid visual clutter.
home + design
A Little Bit Industrial, a Little Bit Cozy Product finds inspired by the Scavenger Studio
The product line for the Seattle-based Good + Well Supply Co., which includes home fragrances, adventure goods and apothecary items, is inspired by the founder’s love of the great outdoors. Check out the wide variety of cabin sprays, such as the “Lodge” scent meant to evoke a cozy cabin tucked in the woods.
Scot Eliott
www.goodandwellsupplyco.com
Rejuvenation’s Tolson Cage Wall Sconce is a refined version of a maritime classic, built to order in their Portland facility and available in four different finishes. Use it to illuminate the front porch or give a little twist to a traditional bathroom.
The folks at Urban Reclamations love to find beautiful old wood intended for a landfill or burn pile and give it new life at their Seattle workshop and furniture studio, which fashions one-of-a-kind pieces from salvaged lumber. We like the Reclaimed Wood and Hand-Forged Dining Chair for its robust profile and a natural patina that references days gone by.
www.rejuvenation.com
www.urbanreclamations.com
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mind + body
Always On The Run Krissy Moehl travels the world as an ultramarathon runner written by Lauren Kramer KRISSY MOEHL NEVER takes her running shoes off at work, because for the 41-year-old, running is literally what she does for a living. The veteran elite ultramarathon runner is a professional, sponsored athlete who runs around the world competing, directing races, coaching and public speaking. Her ultramarathons have taken her from Tanzania and South Africa to France, Switzerland, Japan, China and Hong Kong. “Running has allowed me to explore the world,” she said. Based in Bellingham’s historic district of Fairhaven, Moehl bought a home on the cusp of the Interurban Trail so she could easily access her favorite trails in the Chuckanut Mountains and the Bellingham Greenway. The Chuckanut 50K, an annual race that she now directs in Bellingham each year in March, was her first introduction to ultrarunning in 2000. Eighteen years later she has participated in more than 100 races, has achieved fifty-five female wins and two outright wins, and holds many of the fastest known times for some of Washington’s most epic runs. As a coach, Moehl travels worldwide to train and inspire other runners for their bucket-list races. Despite the number of races she has completed, there’s still advance work to be done and she’s first to admit feeling anxious before a race. “I prepare as much as I can, not just with physical preparation but also with spreadsheets, visualization and meditation, to get myself to calm down,” she said. “Ultrarunning is a test of patience, so when I’m out doing these longer distance races I’m constantly shown different ways that patience pays off,” she said. “I’ve also learned that you’re going to see the best version of someone when they are given the chance to be outdoors in natural places.” To those who say they could never do it, Moehl disagrees. “It’s really what you set your mind to,” she said. “Granted, there are some body types that do better for endurance, but it comes down to what you do with your mind. Your mind makes a lot of things possible.” In 2019, Moehl is looking forward to trail running camps in Colorado, New Hampshire and Europe, and will be race directing the Chuckanut 50K for the seventeenth time. “My dad always says, you never have to go to work if you love what you do,” she said. “I get to do my passion on a daily basis and it doesn’t feel like a job. Yes, there are challenges, but when you love what you do those challenges are worth it.” 34 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
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mind + body Krissy Moehl runs along trails near Bellingham.
Krissy Moehl Ultrarunner
Age: 41 Hometown: Bow Residence: Bellingham
NUTRITION BREAKFAST: Greek yogurt, Flora Health’s omega sport oil, maca powder, granola, fruit and maté tea. SNACK: Trail Butter and a banana … sometimes wrapped in a tortilla LUNCH: Massive salad or quesadilla. Dark chocolate, always around 3 p.m. SNACK: Chips and guacamole, cheese and crackers, hummus and veggies, or charcuterie DINNER: “I don’t limit myself, instead I listen to what my body wants. The more color and ingredients the better. I love trying new things and sharing meals with good people. I also love the simplicity of standing in my kitchen and sharing a meal with my pup.”
WORKOUT “I love running from my door into the Chuckanut Mountains with my pup. Give me that run any day of the week. Mileage for that ranges from 5 to 15 miles. Ideally, I incorporate one day of yoga a week and two days of strength training. When training for a race, I incorporate more focused workouts to prepare. I have a few key favorites that I share in my book, Running Your First Ultra, like 5-minute intervals with 1-minute recovery jogs between repeats, pyramid workouts, ladder workouts, and tempo runs. Easy runs are a key element of training. I find it is important to not always run at the same pace. Instead I appreciate knowing there are some casual miles in the week and this also allows my body to recover and teaches the variety of paces available to me.”
Brandon Sawaya
INSPIRATION “I love reading, particularly women’s running stories. I follow a lot of runners and chefs on Instagram and love the color that each brings to my screen. Mostly I am inspired by passion. I love seeing someone truly loving what they are doing, whether it is driving a bus, cooking a meal, feeding their child or running in the mountains. I can find that same inspiration when I do the things I love and am with the people I love.”
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artist in residence
Kiliii Yüyan travels the world, capturing the connection between people and the land.
One With the Land
Kiliii Yüyan practices his indigenous identity TALES OF FISH, fish bigger than you could ever imagine. Legends of heroes riding on the backs of orcas. Stories describing women transformed into swans. Seattle-based indigenous Nanai-Hézhè and ChineseAmerican photographer and filmmaker Kiliii Yüyan grew up listening to fantastic legends and tales full of heroes and adventure, told by his indigenous Nanai-Hézhè grandmother. Even as his parents emphasized embracing modernity, Yüyan absorbed those stories and yearned to hear more from his grandmother about her homeland of far southeastern Siberia’s Amur River basin. He longed to know more about his indigenous identity. He wanted to know what it would be like to truly live as an indigenous person—not just culturally, but as one with the land.
Photos: Kiliii Yüyan
written by Gina Williams
artist in residence
FROM LEFT A portrait of Lynx Vilden, part of Yüyan’s Living Wild project. Yüyan has also documented ancient arts like falconry.
See an With his immersive, hands-on approach to life and art, maintain a deep cultural relationship with the land, while extended Yüyan turned his attention and lens early on to learning increasingly Westerners seek to return to these landgallery of Kiliii Yüyan’s about and presenting alternative visions of what he calls based lifestyles. What they have found is an essence that photography “humanity’s greatest treasures—community, culture and escapes description.” on pg. 62 the earth.” In his Ancient Arts series “Falconer and Trapper” At 19, Yüyan met Lynx Vilden, a former British punk rocker who featuring accomplished falconer Aaron Allred of Anacortes left the wild life of Amsterdam for the wilderness of America and and trapper and back-to-lander Jim Gnapp of British Columbia, founded her “Living Wild” school in north central Washington, Yüyan returns to a recurring theme of also documenting nonteaching people survival skills and how to truly live off the land Native people who live close to the land. long-term. Yüyan ended up spending six weeks one summer with The desire to be close to the natural world is inherently Lynx and her students and eventually began a long-term project human, Yüyan said, yet what that connection looks like changes documenting her life and work. over time. “Can modern people live and go back to being and seeing For Yüyan, survival skills have proven valuable and even lifethrough Native eyes?” Yüyan asked. “Can any of us see the world saving. “As a wilderness expeditioner, I often face situations that through Native eyes?” require me to be self-sufficient and deal with nature on its own Since those early days, Yüyan has gone on to become an expert terms. My experience with expeditions has taught me how to in everything from traditional kayak-building to primitive skills. find shelter where there is none during rainstorms, how to deal Yüyan runs Seattle’s Seawolf Kayak and teaches boatbuilding with intense wind and cold in coastal and arctic environments,” workshops around the globe. He’s lived with indigenous people in he said. “Because of that extra safety margin, I feel safe and at Alaska and Greenland. As a photojournalist, he has contributed home in places that most outsiders would feel unsafe or exposed.” award-winning features for National Geographic, TIME and But he also acknowledges that for some modern humans, National Public Radio, among others. On assignment, he said, he’s including himself, the need to live close to the rhythms of nature “fled collapsing sea ice, weathered botulism from fermented whale is essential on another, less concrete level. For Allred and Gnapp, blood, and found kinship at the edges of the world.” He is now a for example, Yüyan said the reward of practicing ancient arts National Geographic Expeditions Ambassador for the Arctic. through long-term apprenticeship and commitment goes far Yüyan describes his overall mission as writing “new narratives beyond survival—a need that results in deep fulfillment. of minority and indigenous cultures, especially those who live It’s that fulfillment and satisfaction Yüyan continues to realize close to the land.” by documenting issues and subjects close to his heart—interests “As a photographer I am drawn to the connection between sparked while listening to his grandmother’s stories all those people and the land,” Yüyan said. “Native cultures strive to years ago.
MORE ONLINE
Learn more about Kiliii Yüyan and his work at www.kiliii.com. For information on Lynx Vilden and her wilderness workshops, head to www.lynxvilden.com.
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STARTUP 40 WHAT’S GOING UP 42 WHAT I’M WORKING ON 44 MY WORKSPACE 46
pg. 48 Jean Thompson, of Seattle Chocolate, is brightening up the industry.
Jackie Dodd
GAME CHANGER 48
REFRESHED
Mount Baker
REFRESH YOUR SPIRIT in the breathtaking outdoor beauty of Whatcom County. COZY UP indoors with local comedy, arts, theater and hyper-local comfort food.
Wings Over Water Festival in Blaine
Spark Museum
Bellingham Bay
@BellinghamExperience
bellingham.org
startup
PNW Lifestyle
A growing startup celebrates the new Pacific Northwest experience written by Corinne Whiting
LumberUnion melds apparel with media and a lifestyle brand.
THERE’S AN EMERGING apparel-meets-lifestyle media collective that speaks to all things Pacific Northwest. The website logo says it all—a friendly-looking lumberjack’s head perched above two crossed axes and, below that, a heart anchored by a central pine tree. The LumberUnion team, having conducted much research on the environmental and human impact of the apparel industry, intentionally aims for fashion with a cause. For every product the brand sells, American Forest plants a tree. The tally so far this year—more than 900 trees. Founder Anthony Bergin launched the company in 2015, “to bring to life the Pacific Northwest in a brand that matched the outside lifestyle with the modern-ness of city life,” explained Seattle-based marketing director Dare Egan. In this growing town of professionals and techies, Egan noted that worker bees also have thriving lives outside the office, whether that translates to hiking expeditions in the mountains or urban adventures within city limits. The brand intends to seamlessly mesh those two worlds—while giving back at the same time. “We see a lot of NGOs and institutions around the world doing some great work. We understand how important it is for the southern hemisphere to be reforested,” Bergin said. “But, over the last ten years with climate change happening so dramatically up here at home, we knew there was only one partnership for us. AmericanForests.org is the only entity reforesting America. It is the most expensive tree program on the planet, but there’s a reason for that. Over 120 years, no one knows home like AmericanForest.org.” LumberUnion’s lineup features fashion inspired by the spirit of the PNW (motto: “Different Tribes, Same Vibes”). So far, some of the hot sellers have included hoodies, headwear like beanies and flat-bill caps, Seattle-produced candles including those 40 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
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with a dreamy “campfire” aroma, and scarves that are warm yet lightweight, thanks to a “cash-wool” blend. Although the brand recently hosted a couple pop-ups at the downtown Thompson Hotel, a brick-and-mortar shop is set to open in early 2019. Egan said the company is transitioning to reconfigure and elevate the brand—in 2019, customers will see a revamped website, color palette and plenty of new products. LumberUnion is also expanding into entertainment by producing more digital content and live events that celebrate the unique Pacific Northwest experience. Within the last year, developments have ranged from securing a new partnership with Amazon to bringing on industry powerhouses from the fashion world, including new CEO Barry Miguel, who previously ran 7 For All Mankind. The company has big media goals, including seeking partnerships with streaming and broadcasters and promoting content through the company’s social media, website and local publications. The company creates a variety of content, including music videos, an animated series called “Lost Lake” and a TV show called “7AM on a Saturday,” which follows two chefs as they shop and prepare a meal to bring along on an outdoor adventure. All of the content focuses on the Pacific Northwest point of view. And with so many transplants relocating to Seattle, the brand seeks to help them understand that unique Point of View. “They’re almost helping us tell our story even more,” Egan said. “We can be an outlet for people to get a sense of this place before moving here.” Like most startups, everyone on Egan’s team wears multiple hats. Sometimes this means shifting roles around until each employee finds the best skillset match—projects they feel excited to tackle every morning. “We know where we’re headed,” Egan said, “and we know we’re going to make an awesome thing.”
where every moment is picture perfect Request your travel packet today! 800.365.6948 ~ www.pullmanchamber.com
what’s going up?
Hot New Hotels New places to rest your head around Washington
Photos: Kathleen Nyberg
written by Sheila G. Miller
IN APRIL, THE HISTORIC Tacoma Elks Lodge will emerge reborn, as a McMenamins hotel property. Purchased in 2007, the company began working on the McMenamins Elks Temple in 2017. The seven-story building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, dates to 1915 and will now feature a hotel with bars, a ballroom, restaurants, a brewery, even a secret room— this is a tried-and-true concept the McMenamins have tested throughout Oregon and increasingly in Washington. Hotel Indigo, a brand owned by InterContinental Hotels Group, is building three properties in Washington—in
Vancouver, opening in early 2020, and in Everett and Spokane, opening in summer 2019. The boutique hotels, which will range in size from 112 rooms to 142 rooms, work to show visitors what’s special about the neighborhoods. Finally, Seattle will welcome to its downtown core a new mixed-use tower called Arrivé. The building is slated to be complete in early 2019, and the 142-room hotel within will open in February. The spot, called The Sound Hotel, is the first Tapestry Collection by Hilton property on the West Coast and will be operated locally by The Hotel Group. The Sound will occupy the first ten floors of the building.
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT The McMenamins Elks Temple includes this restored ceiling medallion on the sixth floor. The sixth floor also has a variety of chandeliers. The building, in Tacoma, will be a hotel with bars, a restaurant and brewery, even a ballroom.
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Gold
Fort Worden
Magical moments, miles of coastline. Arts • Ideas • Wellness • Play • Community
PORT TOWNSEND, WASHINGTON
FORTWORDEN.ORG
360.344.4400 @FORTWORDEN
what i’m working on
My Environment, Myself Upstream Research puts health data in your hands with its hyperlocal reports interview by Kevin Max
IF YOU’VE EVER wondered about the cleanliness of the water you drink, the air you breathe and the soil you tread, meet Upstream Research co-founder and CEO Nick Bedbury. In an effort to help you gain control of your health, the company provides Upstream Reports, which detail toxicity data and disease presence in your neighborhoods. What was the impetus for Upstream Research? We believe that where you live, work and play matters to your health. Our initial vision was to help health care clients apply the power of spatial analytics to forecast and prevent disease by looking at “Upstream” environmental health risk factors. But the dysfunctional incentives of the American health care system favor treatment over prevention. The only time a health care provider or insurance company asks for your address is to know where to send a bill. They really don’t care about the health risks around you. What can the company’s research tell us about our immediate environment? We can provide an environmental health version of a CarFax-style report for your neighborhood on possible risks to the air, water and soil today and over the last three decades. For example, our data has highlighted hundreds of neighborhoods across the country that pose a higher lead exposure risk to children than the neighborhoods around Flint, Michigan. We created the Upstream Risk Score to help distill a massive amount of informa44 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
Co-founder and CEO Nick Bedbury.
tion down to something easy to use. Beyond sharing, our goal is to help empower individuals and organizations to go further and to study and limit the risks in their neighborhoods—whether it be testing surfaces inside and outside your home for lead, installing a better filtration system, placing PM2.5 air sensors near schools or telling your legislators you want stronger protections for your air, water and land. What has surprised you most in your data mining? It was a shock to learn from EPA data that large sections of Seattle have some of the highest air toxins and airborne carcinogen exposure in the country. Of the 3,000+ census tracts with estimated risk for air pollution exposure, King County is home to two dozen of the top 100. A number of factors contribute to these risks, from the Duwamish industrial corridor to our heavy traffic and unique topography. We expected to see high-risk areas in other parts of the country, in areas of heavy industry, mining and refining. We were not expecting Seattle to have some of the highest exposure risk in the nation for toxic air. Who are Upstream Research clients?
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We created Upstream Reports in late 2017 to provide our information to the public directly. Right now, we are looking for funding and partnerships that will enable anyone in the nation to know what is in their air, water and soil. We also provide academic and nonprofit research institutions with information and tools to build better research cohorts around issues like cancer and to advance the science of environmental health risk, and provide intelligence to political advocacy groups. What’s next for the company? For a startup leveraging a new technology to change consumer behavior, a combination of things need to line up perfectly to be successful. We are just part of what needs to happen. I am confident that in five or six years, whether it is Upstream, another organization that has not been created yet, or a mix of large nonprofits, we will find ways to begin distributing and integrating cheap, internet-addressable air sensors as well as water and soil test kits that will help us redefine what environmental protection looks like. It’s time to build an open-source format that will usher in a new era for civic empowerment.
what’s going up?
My Workspace
Take a Chance On the floor with one of Washington’s casino dealers written by Catie Joyce-Bulay photography by Greg Lehman
Born and raised in the Yakima Valley, Angela Smith, a dealer and supervisor at Toppenish’s Legends Casino, has been in the business for nineteen years. She began when the casino, operated by the Yakama Nation, opened in 1998.
Smith’s favorite part of her job is interacting with guests, especially the regulars. “They’re like our extended family,” she said. “If someone doesn’t come in that day we say, ‘Hey, where’s so-and-so?’” She also enjoys meeting out-of-town guests.
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what’s going up?
Often helping guests on her breaks, she was once asked to watch a woman’s machine while she ran to the bathroom, and then saw the machine win $1,200.
Most players know how to play, but she’ll teach those who don’t. “It’s always fun to see them,” she said. “They’re usually intimidated by the game and walking by really slow, but I invite them to come and sit and tell them it’s super easy—I do all the math.”
Smith says counting cards is very rare—“it’s not like in the movies.” But during dealer training there is a class on cheating. If she suspects someone of counting, she notifies her supervisor and it is handled up the chain of command.
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game changer
Fighting Hunger with Chocolate Seattle Chocolate is about a lot more than just pleasing your tastebuds written by Michelle DeVona photography by Jackie Dodd
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Seattle Chocolate
game changer
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT A Seattle Chocolate employee boxes treats for Valentine’s Day. Chocolates travel down a conveyor belt at the Seattle Chocolate factory. Jean Thompson at a cacao farm in Peru.
FOR MOST PEOPLE, making the leap from software marketer to chocolate maven seems unimaginable. However, Jean Thompson, current owner and CEO of Seattle Chocolate, was up for the challenge. After a successful stint as a high-tech marketer for Microsoft in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Thompson, along with a dozen others, invested in the small startup chocolate company. As an at-home mother raising two children, she had no intention of running the place. Then in 2001, the brick building that housed Seattle Chocolate collapsed after an earthquake hit the city. “We were basically going out of business if somebody didn’t step up,” Thompson said. “I stepped up.” Now, she’s combining a successful business with next-level philanthropy. It wasn’t long before Thompson completely took over the struggling business, making Seattle Chocolate entirely womanowned. Using her marketing background, Thompson remodeled the brand. She switched out the earth-toned packaging for bright colors. “You don’t need to be so literal with your colors—a shelf should have a lot of beautiful color and design,” she said. Recently, Seattle Chocolate has further advanced the packaging by collaborating with artists to create whimsical truffle bar designs. “We over-invest in our packaging design because we think of chocolate as a small gift—something you can give somebody in gratitude of driving your kid to school every day or whatever it might be,” Thompson said. Since taking the reins at Seattle Chocolate, Thompson has also introduced new flavors with ingredients sourced from
local purveyors, such as toffee and biscotti from Woodinville and mint grown by Yakima Valley farmers. However, a desire to learn about the inner workings of the industry has brought her to several origin countries where cacao is grown, such as Brazil and Peru. Thompson described her travels as eye-opening experiences. “It’s a difficult industry for farmers,” she said. “We went to really remote places where they take their beans, load them in a wheelbarrow, and walk maybe a mile to find a co-op to have them traded.” Though the company is certified by the Rainforest Alliance, Thompson wants to further improve working conditions. “We’d rather pay a little bit more for the bean and know that farmers are getting more money because we’re paying more, rather than paying more money for certification.” Perhaps most ambitious is Thompson’s jcoco line, a philanthropic project she founded in 2012 that partners with food banks in Washington, New York and California. For every jcoco chocolate bar sold, a fresh serving of food is donated to those in need. Hoping to elevate chocolate as not just a candy but a food, Thompson worked with local tastemakers to bring more culinary-forward flavors to jcoco, such as chocolate edamame sea salt bars and agave quinoa sesame. “One in six Americans are food challenged,” Thompson said. “So as a food company, we want to help fight hunger. So far we’ve given 3.1 million servings. We do hope to expand to other regions, but we don’t just want to sit in the wind and write a little check—we’d rather move the needle in a more substantial way.” FEBRUARY | MARCH 2019
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Salish Lodge sits at the edge of Snoqualmie Falls.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO FAR TO GET AWAY—WHETHER YOU'RE LOOKING FOR A MOUNTAIN RETREAT OR A SPA SPLURGE, WASHINGTON HAS A RESORT FOR EVERY ITINERARY
LOCAL LUXURY
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NE OF THE great joys about the state of Washington is its variety. You can start in a big city in the morning and feel far away by late afternoon. The same can be said for Washington’s resorts. They are many and varied, just like this gorgeous place. We can’t pick favorites—it wouldn’t be right. Instead, we curated a list of spots you might want to check out depending on what you’re looking for. Maybe the goal is to watch the snow settle on the mountains, or to hear the water lapping at your feet. Whether ritzy or rustic (or a little bit of both), these resorts will set the right mood.
Salish Lodge & Spa
RY
written by Sheila G. Miller
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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Alderbrook Resort & Spa sits on the Hood Canal. Semiahmoo Resort Golf & Spa is huge, with 300 acres to explore. Rosario Resort & Spa is all luxury on Orcas Island.
Andy Porter
Sleeping Lady puts thought into every detail.
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Rosario Resort & Spa
Sometimes the mountains just If you’re a big fan of mountain pull you in. Even if you’re not meadows, craggy mountains and a winter sports enthusiast really, really good food, Sleeping eager to strap on your board Lady Resort in Leavenworth is and head into the wilderness, a good bet. It may appear a bit there’s plenty to do around these rustic, but thought has been put parts year round. Or you can into every detail. The majority of curl up next to a roaring resort reservations include fire—whatever you need, breakfast and dinner at QUICK HIT these places have it the Kingfisher Restaurant, in spades. with locally sourced food, Sun Head to the Methow Mountain and there’s a play barn on Lodge Valley, tucked into the site with pool, board games Methow foothills of the North and table tennis. Valley $218+ Cascades, and start at Sun Or swing to Suncadia Sleeping Mountain Lodge. If you’re Resort, in Cle Elum, Lady Resort a cross-country skier, make Leavenworth which has a big lodge $253+ first tracks on the trails. If with 250 rooms, as well as Suncadia you’re a hiker or mountain the Suncadia Inn, which Resort biker, there are tons of has fourteen rooms and Cle Elum choices here too. If you’re four large suites, and a $169+ none of those things, no smattering of cabins. When worries—the lodge has a spa, a you show up to check in, you game room, horseback riding, receive a “destination taste,” a bite and a beaver pond where you of locally sourced food, and it just and the kids can look for beavers gets better from there. With three making their dams. This is the golf courses, a full spa, scooters kind of place that allows for as you can borrow and a 1,000-step much or as little activity as you staircase to a riverfront park, might want. you’re going to stay busy.
Jeff Caven Photography
In the Mountains
Spend Your Clams at These Casinos With twenty-eight tribe-operated casinos around the state, you can try your luck from Tulalip to Toppenish and Chewelah to Shelton. We picked a few of our favorites. LITTLE CREEK CASINO RESORT SHELTON Many of the rooms here were just renovated, and while not as extravagant as some of the other casinos in the state, this spot has a cigar bar, a spa and a game room for the kids. The hotel also includes a tribal art collection.
Semiahmoo Resort
www.little-creek.com
On the Water Washington is that lucky state 40-acre retreat feels luxurious, with water in all its forms, even though its pricing is from thrashing waves to glassy very reasonable. Some of that stillness. By extension, the state may come from the excellent also has resorts up against many restaurant on site—The Mansion of those great bodies of water. Restaurant offers local food that is all about creativity. Indoor We benefit from the state’s QUICK and outdoor pools, plenty beautiful diversity. HIT of room to wander, and a Semiahmoo Resort Golf & Spa is a resort in the Semiahmoo slow pace make this place a Resort must see. The mansion on grandest sense. This place Blaine $169+ the property has a museum is huge—300 acres at the Rosario worth a look, too. tip of the Semiahmoo & Spa And don’t forget Spit in Blaine. Just south Resort Orcas Island Alderbrook Resort & Spa, of the Canadian border, $119+ this spot offers whale- Alderbrook which is only two hours watching tours or fishing Resort & Spa from Seattle and strikes Union a subtle and stylish pose boat charters that leave $159+ along the Hood Canal. straight from the resort. Rent a bike, paddleboard or other The scenery is beautiful, there’s outdoor gear from the beach a nearby golf course, and the onactivities center, or just hang site restaurant is the epitome of close to home with great dining fine dining. Add in comfortable and a spa. rooms and sixteen cottages that On Orcas Island, Rosario are perfect for family getaways, Resort & Spa gleams on the and you have the makings of a shores of the East Sound. This great getaway.
ANGEL OF THE WINDS CASINO RESORT ARLINGTON This big and beautiful casino and hotel is growing. An expansion started last year will add slots and gaming tables, as well as an enclosed parking garage and new restaurants (including a 60-seat steakhouse!) and bars. Plus, there will be a bowling alley and a new 8,500-square-foot entertainment facility for concerts and other events. www.angelofthewinds.com ILANI LA CENTER ilani caused quite a stir when it opened in April 2017, and that’s for good reason—this spot was developed by the Cowlitz Tribe in conjunction with the Salishan-Mohegan and partners with the Mohegan Sun, the famous casino in Connecticut. The casino is more than 100,000 square feet and has fifteen restaurants, bars and stores. www.ilaniresort.com SUQUAMISH CLEARWATER CASINO RESORT POULSBO This hotspot recently got a facelift, and the rooms are even more beautiful than before. The waterfront property has beach access, is popular for weddings and other events, and has a golf course. www.clearwatercasino.com NORTHERN QUEST RESORT & CASINO AIRWAY HEIGHTS Just outside Spokane, Northern Quest has a huge casino that’s open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, but it’s also known for offering bigname entertainment and having a full-service spa that looks like something right out of a movie. www.northernquest.com
A Dash of Ritzy Willows Lodge in Woodinville is a bit of an anomaly because it’s so close to Seattle and the bustle of city life, and yet once you set foot inside, you feel a world away. Rooms here come in nice, nicer and nicest, there’s a full-service spa with a host of luxurious treatments (detoxifying wrap and body polish, anyone?), and one of the best restaurants in Washington, QUICK Barking Frog, is HIT on the premises. If you even need to Willows Lodge venture out, you Woodinville can hit up more $269+ than a dozen wine Inn at Langley tasting rooms just Whidbey minutes away. Island Also near Seattle $325+ is the Inn at Langley, Salish Lodge & Spa on Whidbey Island. Snoqualmie Every room has a $219+ view of the water, and the resort doesn’t welcome children under 12 (dogs are fine). Breakfast, movie passes and yoga are all included, and the open kitchen restaurant with huge fireplace is a bonus worth paying for. Meanwhile, there’s a spa, of course, and the rooms are all an indulgent 400 square feet or bigger. As for the Salish Lodge & Spa, it sits on the edge of Snoqualmie Falls. As though that weren’t enough, it has a romance concierge who will help you turn up the love quotient on your next getaway. Dine in the dining room or at The Attic, where you can overlook the falls, and get ready for local food—the onsite apiary produces honey and homegrown herbs spice up all the dishes.
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CLOCKWISE FROM FAR LEFT Experience incredible cuisine at Barking Frog on the Willows Lodge campus. Doe Bay has yurts, cabins and camping. The Inn at Langley has water views and big rooms. Campbell’s Resort has been on the shores of Lake Chelan since 1901.
Talitha Bullock Campbell’s Resort
An Earthy Rustic In the San Juans, Doe Bay Resort guest rooms and looks like a & Retreat has cabins, yurts and supersized log cabin. There are campsites on 38 acres. This is views of a small lake, fifteen one of those places where you cabins available for rent, and a breakfast buffet each day. feel your body exhale and This is a great jumpingrelax as you arrive—it’s QUICK HIT off point for adventures got that magical quality in the mountains, or just to it. Each year, the Doe Bay sitting in the year-round resort hosts a four-day Resort & Retreat hot tub. grassroots music festival Orcas Island Once again, “rustic” (this year from August $76+ (2-night minimum) isn’t quite the right word 7 to 12) and you get a 10 percent discount on Freestone Inn to describe Campbell’s Methow Resort on Lake Chelan. your accommodations Valley $229+ Instead, historic is when you book a whalewatching trip with Outer Campbell’s probably the right term. Resort This spot has been around, Island Excursions. Plus, Chelan and been improved upon the Doe Bay Cafe has a $94+ many times, since 1901, menu filled with fresh ingredients, many from the Doe and has 170 lakeside guest rooms and a private beach on Bay Garden outside. Freestone Inn is tucked into the 8-acre site. In the summer the Methow Valley, and it’s rustic there are beachside concerts and only insofar as it has fireplaces the kids can learn to fish with in every one of the sixteen lodge the resort’s fishing program.
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GLASS ACT 56 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
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SS
Head glass keeper Paul Best cleans the new glass on the observatory deck before the Space Needle opens to visitors.
TOURING THE REVAMPED SPACE NEEDLE WITH HEAD GLASS KEEPER PAUL BEST written by Corinne Whiting | photography by James Harnois FEBRUARY | MARCH 2019
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ON A BLUSTERY NOVEMBER MORNING, I JOINED PAUL BEST
at the top of the 605-foot-tall Space Needle—undoubtedly Seattle’s most recognizable icon. I soaked in the 360-degree views, as surprise rays pierced through streaky clouds and illuminated the skyline. Paul Best, head glass keeper since 2017, had already finished most of his morning duties but was happy to talk shop as the venue around us bustled. The doors had yet to open to the public, but we found ourselves in the midst of contractors tackling a punch list and worker bees setting up Santa’s glass sleigh, which would soon fill with eager youngsters. There was a faint aroma of sweetness (coffee? popcorn?) wafting through our sky-high perch. Holiday tunes added to the festive buzz. Best’s morning had begun hours earlier, when he arrived around 5:30 a.m.—his favorite part of the day. At this deserted hour, he happily pumps his music, grabs a coffee and watches the sun rise over Mount Rainier as it turns brilliant shades of pink, purple and orange. Or, on grayer days, he eases into things by watching clouds roll lazily across the city, rains descending onto neighboring Bellevue. Before long, he “gets in the groove” and begins cleaning the 176 tons and 20,000 square feet of glass under his care. Throughout our conversation, Best paused to point out smudges he’d caught sight of from across the room. He also does this at stores and people’s homes, he admitted, but keeps those findings to himself. His eyes are trained to scour every inch of this place—his second home of sorts. Best seeks perfection for guests.
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The Space Needle, which took approximately 400 days to build, officially opened to the public on April 21, 1962, for the Century 21 Exposition, a space agethemed world’s fair. And now, thanks to a “multi-year, multi-phase” $100 million “spacelift” renovation that began in September 2017, the visitor experience has been enhanced. The newand-improved Needle helps realize the original vision of the tower’s designers, who were limited by building materials available to them at that time. Among other highlights, the privately funded project elevates the observation deck experience with floor-toceiling glass on the interior and exterior, replacing wire safety “caging”. Most notably, the Needle is now home to the first-of-its-kind, rotating glass floor, on which guests can walk (or lie down) while taking in downward views of the structure’s base and colorful Seattle Center below. All in all, there’s been a 196 percent increase in the amount of glass installed at the Space Needle since renovations began, meaning Best and his team have their hands full. Truth be told, Best seems to like it this way. “I am so in love with this entire remodel,” he said. “Every morning, I am still overwhelmed with what they were able to do.” One of his favorite parts of the job involves watching guests’ reactions as the elevator doors part, revealing initial glimpses out the windows.
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Best takes his glass-cleaning kit down the stairs from the observation deck to The Loupe, which now has a rotating glass floor. WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE 59
THROUGHOUT OUR CONVERSATION, BEST PAUSED TO POINT OUT SMUDGES HE’D CAUGHT SIGHT OF FROM ACROSS THE ROOM. … HIS EYES ARE TRAINED TO SCOUR EVERY INCH OF THIS PLACE—HIS SECOND HOME OF SORTS. BEST SEEKS PERFECTION FOR GUESTS. When asked whether he minds the smudges left by folks leaning foreheads and fingers against the glass, Best joked, “We encourage it. … It’s job security. As long as I’m here, I’ll be busy and employed.” The biggest culprits? Lipstick from window “kisses,” imprints of kids’ gooey fingers and adults’ lotion-covered hands, plus hair product residue from those who’ve sprawled across the glass floor in optimal selfie-taking position. Best’s team currently covers three separate shifts—two people work from about 5:30 a.m. until 2 p.m., one from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and two others from 2 p.m. until 10:30 p.m. “I’m extremely routine-oriented,” Best explained. The day begins by getting set up and doing a walkthrough—assessing what’s been done the night before, and how well. Cleaners then get their kits together (a bucket, soap, pole, etc.). Plenty of research determined which products were the right ones, and they landed on an anti-glare option called Halo. Best and an assistant start with the barrier walls circling the observation deck on upper Atmos, since these take the longest—between two and two-and-ahalf hours to finish all forty-eight panes. They also need to get beneath the twenty-four new glass benches to keep those sparkling as well. “It gets a little manic at times,” Best said. “The entire goal is to get it shipshape before opening.” So far, they’ve only used a Lalopod machine (named Frank) a couple times to clean the exterior of these barrier walls. The contraption, with a slim arm pole that reaches around to spray water and squeegee, takes only fifty seconds per section. However, it takes ten to fifteen minutes to move the machine between each of the deck’s forty-eight panes. The team also does window inspections every week or so, reporting back to a committee about any damage or scratches. 60 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
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Cleaners then move down one level to The Loupe, tackling those 360 windows and the revolving 37-ton glass floor. The floor, made up of ten layers of glass provided by companies in Switzerland, Germany and California, rotates smoothly thanks to its twelve motors and forty-eight rollers. The window exteriors here also get sporadically cleaned by an engineer standing outside in a suspended basket as he pulls himself manually around the Needle’s perimeter. On this level, the team only needs to clean the most visible part of the glass on a daily basis, though they reach the tip-top of the windows about once a month. “Smudge patrol” happens continuously, though, using a pole-less wiper covered in cloth diapers provided by nextdoor neighbor Chihuly Garden and Glass. Occasionally, the cleaners also have to head below the main floor, in between glass panes, and into the crawlspace below the new Oculus Stairs. They do this at night, when the uplighting helps with visibility.
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT Best prepares his kit, which includes a pole and an anti-glare window cleaner called Halo. A new glass floor, made of ten layers of glass, slowly rotates. Best considers smudges from little fingers (and noses) “job security.”
The day we met, Best wore only a fleece to step outdoors. The week before, he had pulled out the white windbreaker provided by the venue. “Come rain or shine,” he said, “we’re out here.” Best said the learning curve that accompanies working in a glass-covered space is still underway. Every day is an educational process for the next year, as the team discovers how the glass reacts to evolving weather patterns in every season. For example, employees constantly have to battle dew that reveals hidden imprint, as well as rain that’s “not pristine,” Best said. “I’ve become a little prissy about the glass.” The job also brings a certain level of engagement, with visitors often asking Seattle-centric questions ranging from directions to citywide recommendations. “We’re glass keepers, but we’re also tour guides,” Best aid. When hiring, this is a consideration he keeps in mind. He tells new employees, “If you’re not familiar with the city, get learning.”
Best loves chatting with patrons and welcomes their curiosity. However, there are a few questions he’s heard one too many times, like, “Will you come and clean my windows next?” Also: “Do you clean your own windows at home?” (Best’s favorite response: “No, I shut the blinds.”) He still chuckles about one frustrated guest who wanted to know why she couldn’t find the Space Needle when taking in the city’s panoramic views … from the Space Needle. When Best got married last May, he took only three days off for his Tacoma wedding and Portland honeymoon, finding it a challenge to spend time away from his beloved venue. (There is talk of a proper getaway sometime next year.) “I totally love this place,” he said. “The entire feel has changed.” Ironically, it seems being suspended this far above terra firma can give the best perspective. “If you’re starting to get stressed,” Best said, “you just come here to get grounded.” FEBRUARY | MARCH 2019
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Lynx Vilden, who runs Living Wild classes in Twisp and other parts of the world, casts her fishing line.
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BACK TO THE LAND photography by Kiliii Yüyan
KILIII YÜYAN SEEKS photography subjects who live close to the earth. He’s documented Lynx Vilden’s “Living Wild” classes, as well as trappers, falconers and others who practice what he calls ancient arts. All have one thing in common—seeking to thrive on the land, rather than just survive it.
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FAR LEFT, FROM TOP
ABOVE
After three exhausting days of hauling logs to build a new shelter, the Living Wild group celebrates by singing together.
The Living Wild group gathers on a mountain ridge to watch for wildfires in the evening.
A Living Wild group member makes a fire by spinning the shaft of a bowdrill into the coals.
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A falconer goes hunting with his goshawk in the fields of Anacortes. FAR LEFT, FROM TOP Trapper Jim Gnapp practices shooting on an icy lake in central British Columbia, near his trapline. His antique weapon shoots both rifle and shotgun rounds—useful for hunting small game or defense in a hurry. Huskies on a dog team stop for a moment to roll and eat snow. The love they have for running is evident in their high energy and enthusiasm for pulling.
TRAVEL SPOTLIGHT 70 ADVENTURE 72 LODGING 76 TRIP PLANNER 78
Olympic Peninsula Visitor Bureau
NORTHWEST DESTINATION 82
pg. 78 Hurricane Ridge is the start of adventure in Olympic National Park.
Travel Spotlight
NOAA Art Walk “A Sound Garden” and other art delights the senses written by Sheila G. Miller TAKE A WALK in Magnuson Park on the shores of Lake Washington in Seattle, and you’ll find a “historic district” on this former military base with brick and metal structures built in the ’30s and ’40s, as well as 4 miles of walking trails and public art installations. Reach the edge of the park and you’ll discover that, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and with photo identification, you can enter the neighboring National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s Western Regional Center and enjoy an art walk on the property. The art walk was created in the 1980s and has six outdoor artworks. The most notable of them is “A Sound Garden”, by sculptor Douglas Hollis. It has organ-style pipes that make various sounds depending on wind speed and direction. The Seattle grunge band named itself after the art installation, and the haunting sounds it produces are worth a visit. Make sure to contact NOAA to ensure times and availability.
“A Sound Garden” was designed by sculptor Douglas Hollis.
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adventure
Gravel Riding in the PNW Mecca Get off the pavement and into the backcountry on gravel roads across the Pacific Northwest written by Kevin Max
I CLIMBED THE last hundred feet out of my saddle, my bike tires spitting up a gravel road with Ponderosa pines towering overhead. I had gotten used to the feeling of pleasure and pain commingled in my body. Wide vistas of Idaho’s Pioneer Mountains narrowed to the width of the gravel road as I pushed up the last big climb of Rebecca’s Private Idaho, the brainchild of cycling legend and Ketchum, Idaho, resident Rebecca Rusch. Nothing seemed harder. Nothing seemed more gratifying than this, my introduction to gravel riding. Gravel, in its forms of speech, has described scratchy voices and roads to dead-end residences. Now, gravel is an honorific describing a burgeoning trend in cycling and some of the best ways to experience the Pacific Northwest through either competitive races, group rides or self-guided exploration. This discipline of cycling marks the convergence of three phenomena—increasingly unsafe road riding with distracted drivers, the discovery of seldom-used BLM and U.S. Forest Service gravel roads, and a cycling industry serving up what people want. “It’s like a perfect medium in between mountain biking and road riding, and, of course, the best part is just the scenery,” noted Anne Marie Stonich, a Seattle resident and long-time cyclist. “It’s generally gorgeous on any gravel ride. You’re guaranteed to be on some beautiful, remote road.” For bike manufacturers, gravel has created a new challenge and new demand. Bikes designed for gravel riding generally 72 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
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look like road bikes but have wider, more durable tires than road bikes, and are more upright and longer for stability. In 2018, this phenomenon led to record sales for gravel bikes, according to the Bicycle Product Suppliers Association. Gravel riding offers a license to ride virtually anywhere there are dirt roads and out of the path of distracted drivers. America has approximately 1.3 million miles of unpaved roads. Idaho has about 14,000. Washington has about 20,000. Oregon has 71,000. “People are looking to get off the highway and are really enjoying this experience called gravel that isn’t new by any means, but is intriguing,” said Dave Jones, a Boise-based gravel rider. “People like to be out where they’re not getting buzzed by cars, and they’re in new places that they haven’t seen, or they’ve only seen by a car.”
Washington With miles of forest and service roads through beautiful topography ranging from high alpine to high desert and coastal rainforest, Washington has some of the most pleasing traits to win the gravel pageant. For the casual gravel rider, multiday expedition gravel bikepacker or gravel grinder racer, the Evergreen State is an all-in-one mecca. Take the Cross-Washington Mountain Bike Route, a 684-mile mixed trail that extends from La Push on the western bank of the Olympic Peninsula across the high alpine Snoqualmie Pass
adventure Riders race in the 2018 Gran Fondo Ephrata in Washington.
TOP RIDES AND EVENTS Here are some of the top gravel rides and races in the PNW. If you’re not competing, use this as a resource for your own exploration. OREGON Oregon Gorge Gravel Grinder www.oregongravelgrinder.com • Gorge Gravel Grinder (The Dalles): April 7 • Cascade Gravel Grinder (Bend): April 26-28 • Oregon Coast Gravel Epic (Waldport): May 4 • Sasquatch Duro (Oakridge): May 18 • Oregon Gran Fondo (Cottage Grove): June 1
Vicious Cycle Events
• Oregon Trail Gravel Grinder (Sisters): June 19-23
and into the rolling terrain of Eastern Washington, ending south of Spokane on the Idaho border. Much of this trail makes for great gravel riding. Not far from Seattle, Darrington is a mini haven for gravel riders. Wedged between the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest to the south and east and Mount Baker National Forest to the north, Darrington is a town with plenty of access to gravel. This is emerging as one of Washington’s best hidden gravel goldmines. Farther north up to the Methow Valley, dirt roads abound. On the edge of the North Cascades, small towns such as Winthrop, Mazama and Twisp are connected by more than 100 miles of trails, that, in winter, are groomed for crosscountry skiers. In summer and fall, they find dual use for hikers and bikers through fields of wildflowers in vast mountain meadows. Just west of Olympia in the Capitol State Forest, cyclists buzz the miles of gravel and dirt roads of the Black Hills, also home to one of Washington’s top gravel races—Cascadia Super Gravel, which falls on March 30. Of course, we can’t introduce rideable forest service roads without mentioning Ellensburg, which is a great jumping-off point for hundreds of miles of dirt roads leading into the southern reaches of the OkanoganWenatchee National Forest. Just a little north, Liberty
Oregon Triple Crown: May 4, May 18, June 1 www.oregontriplecrown.com Ochoco Roubaix: Aug. 24 www.ochocogravelroubaix.com WASHINGTON Cascadia Super Gravel (Olympia): March 30 www.racecascadia.com Vicious Cycle’s Gran Fondo Series www.rideviciouscycle.com • Ephrata: March 17 • Goldendale: April 14 • Beezley Burn: April 27 • Leavenworth: May 19 • Ellensburg: June 16 • Winthrop: Sept. 21 IDAHO Rebecca’s Private Idaho—Queen’s Stage Race: A multi-day festival that finishes with a race on Sunday. The main event (the Big Potato) covers a little more than 90 miles. www.rebeccasprivateidaho.com Camps: Rebecca Rusch’s Academy offers three gravel-riding camps this summer. www.rebeccarusch.com • Wildhorse Gravel: June 5-9 • MTB or Gravel Academy Smokeys: June 12-16 • MTB or Gravel Smokeys: July 31- Aug. 4
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adventure
GRAVEL BIKE 101 TIRES: Gravel bike tires are wider than road bikes and cross bikes. They are knobbier, too. Gravel tires range from 35-41 mm wide. Cyclocross tires are in the range of 32-43 mm. Road bikes are close to 23 mm. GEARS: Gravel bikes usually have a bigger range of gears to accommodate many different conditions. FRAMES: Frames are typically made of aluminum, carbon or steel and have options to attach gear and luggage for longer rides. The head tube is taller than a road bike for a more upright and comfortable riding position. HANDLEBARS: Gravel bike handlebars have more shallow drops than their road and cross brethren. Some gravel bikes now have a new option of hover bars, a second crossbar which acts as additional shock absorption. DISC BRAKES: Most gravel bikes come with disc brakes because they are more reliable in various terrain and weather conditions.
Beehive Road or NF 9712 between Wenatchee and Cle Elum is an arduous route with soaring mountain views.
Oregon Like Washington, Oregon has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to unpaved roads. Similarly, astute explorers can select the ideal season for each climate and topography. In spring, Southern Oregon is the warmest, drier than the coast and without the snow depth of Central and Eastern Oregon. Early summer and before fire season is the best time for getting back on forest service roads in Eastern Oregon and the Columbia River Gorge. After fire season and after the first frost, Central Oregon is at its best when it has lost its high elevation snow and high alpine mosquitos. In Central Oregon, trails into the Deschutes National Forest, Ochoco National Forest and Willamette National Forest offer many opportunities for gravel geeks. One beauty is to take McKay Creek Road out of Prineville and into the Ochocos on a 45-mile loop of mixed pavement and gravel and 2,150 feet of climbing. Another favorite is the back route from Bend to Sisters via NF 4606. This 50-mile out-and-back route is relatively flat, yet remote. From Hood River or Government Camp, you’re close to accessing opposite ends of the historic Barlow Road, a 44-mile unpaved wagon route on the Oregon Trail. End your ride with excellent breweries in either town.
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A cyclist races in the Gravel Grinder series.
Cycle Oregon, an organization long known for its scenic road outings, tapped into the gravel trend and added a two-day gravel ride in October in the Tillamook State Forest, a 364,000-acre, state-owned forest an hour west of Portland. Indeed, the entire state of Oregon can be traversed top to bottom on continuous gravel ride. The Oregon Outback ride extends 364 miles from Klamath Falls on the southern border to The Dalles on the Columbia River. This is for the experienced bike packer and can be done over five to seven days. See www. oregonbikepacking.com for more information.
Idaho One of life’s true treasures is riding out of Ketchum on the Harriman Trail and up through the valley between the Sawtooth, Pioneer and Smokey ranges. This well-maintained, 55-mile outand-back gravel route climbs gently to Galena Lodge, where you can access more trails or grab a beer and a sandwich before descending back to town. On the more epic side of life, try the 133-mile loop beginning in McCall and winding counterclockwise up to the famed Burgdorf hot springs, then northwest to Riggins and south to McCall on mixed roads. Outside of Boise is a little gem of a gravel ride. Beginning at Little Gem Cycle Park about 20 miles northwest of Boise, a relatively short 22-mile loop has some gritty climbs and thrilling descents before ending where it began.
Meet me in centralia
Explore i n 360 Downtowncentralia.org
Thomas M. Barwick
ACCOMMODATIONS
Lisette Wolter-McKinley
Among the first to use the term “glamping,” Lakedale goes beyond tent camping to offer experiences at every level of roughing it. Beyond the numerous camp sites, canvas cabins (both with and without restrooms) allow you to get close to nature. The lodge is perfect for a romantic getaway (no kids allowed) but the log cabins just down the way offer the comforts of home, and you can bring your little ones as well as your furry friends. The yurts are new to Lakedale, with a fireplace and bathroom and cozy beds inside, and a grill and hot tub on each deck. The Airstream offers a little vintage glamour.
ACTIVITIES
Choose from a range of activities from swimming and fishing in the three stocked property lakes to horseshoes, volleyball and bocce ball. Rent a paddle boat, kayak, canoe or paddle board, or try your hand at a scheduled arts-and-crafts project like tie-dying or building a birdhouse.
DINING
If you’re staying in a canvas cabin, enjoy a complimentary breakfast at the mess tent—you’ll find hot and cold options. Guests of the lodge enjoy a complimentary breakfast in the dining room, complete with an egg dish, housemade granola and afternoon treats. The log cabins are equipped with full kitchens and the yurts offer limited kitchenettes. Grab groceries or something hot on the go at the general store, open Memorial Day through Labor Day.
Lodging
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Lakedale has a range of accommodations, including tent camping. The Lake House has a fireplace in the living room. Camp in one of the new yurts. Or try a canvas cabin, with or without a bathroom.
Lakedale Resort written by Cara Strickland THERE’S SOMETHING for everyone at San Juan Island’s rustic Lakedale Resort. Whether you’re keen to camp (in tents, canvas cabins or RVs), want to cuddle up in a log cabin or the adults-only lodge, or try something different in a luxury yurt or vintage Airstream, you’re in luck at Lakedale. 4313 ROCHE HARBOR ROAD FRIDAY HARBOR www.lakedale.com
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Sol Duc Falls is a short hike from the nearby resort and its soaking pools.
Stalking the Perimeter Find your piece of Olympic National Park written by Naomi Tomky
COVERING NEARLY 1,500 square miles of the Olympic Peninsula, with terrain ranging from craggy coastlines and sandy beaches to dense, lush rainforest and skyscraping mountains, the Olympic National Park looms large over Washington. Penetrated by few roads and many hiking trails, mapping a trip around the park—and with no roads actually through it, you are truly going around the park—can be challenging. Visitors can trace their way along the perimeter of the park, popping in for a boat tour here and a beach walk there. A full circle of the park over the course of three days provides opportunities to see every aspect of the Washington’s wettest and wildest peninsula. From selfguided nature walks to hosted rainforest tours, clamdigging beaches to frigid mountain tops, the park offers a world of options—it’s just a matter of choosing a route and planning your stops.
Day
Olympic Peninsula Visitor Bureau
CHARCUTERIE • SKI SLOPES • HOT SPRINGS If you’re coming over on the Edmonds-Kingston ferry, start your trip by popping into Butcher and Baker Provisions in Port Gamble to load up on supplies. Great food is not easy to find in the park, and you don’t want to have to spend time driving around in search of something to eat when you could have squirrelled away some of the store’s artisanal charcuterie, pickles and a loaf of bread. Load up on fancy snacks before making your way around the top of the park. From there, head to the top of Hurricane Ridge. In winter, it’s one of only three ski resorts operated within a national park—it gets more than 400 inches of snow each year and has plenty of gentle, beginner-friendly
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slopes. For non-skiers or in the off-season, there’s always snow play (yes, year-round!). Just trying to stand up in the famous winds that gave the ridge its name can be entertaining. In warmer months, skip the ridge in favor of getting out on Lake Crescent—either on one of the boat tours or by renting a kayak and paddling yourself around. Finish off your day by pulling into the Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort. There’s no cell service, no internet, and the cabins are spare: disconnect from the world and sink into the sulfur-scented pools, which will leave your skin baby-soft. Young deer amble between the buildings and angel wing mushrooms sprout from the trees, quickly transporting guests into a world far from buzzing cell phones and nagging duties. That remoteness means dining options are slim (there are no options), but the restaurant on site, The Springs, does an impressive job considering, bringing in local ingredients to bolster crowdpleasing standards—local salmon and steak share the menu with burgers and salads. Sol Duc closes for the winter, re-opening in mid-March, so if you’re visiting while it’s closed, head a little farther to the coast, where the Lost Resort at Ozette—the westernmost outpost in the continental United States—lets you pay the weather for your cabin. During the offseason, whatever the temperature is in Fahrenheit when you arrive at the resort, that’s how much it costs.
Day
Day WATERFALLS • TIDEPOOLS • TACOS Get up early at your cabin in Sol Duc—the soaking pools are open at 8 a.m. only for people staying there, which gives you a quiet session watching the sun gleam over the horizon and filter through the steam as you soak. Follow that with a quick hike out to the waterfalls, about a mile and a half round trip, before heading west for a morning at Rialto Beach. There, seastacks shoot up from the chilly waters and tidepools gather along the smooth-stoned beach, making for spectacular scenery on both a grand and minute scale. Continue your journey by turning south toward the town of Forks, where the Twilightfueled tourist boom of the late 2000s has never really faded. Ignore the hullabaloo and head straight for Taqueria Santa Ana, where the homemade tortillas, salsa bar and friendly staff 80 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
seem to be one of the only businesses immune to the vampire invasion. Turn inland at the Hoh Rainforest entrance to learn what fruits in a place that gets more than a dozen feet of rain each year. A series of hikes leave from the visitor center, ranging from a short amble through the woods guided by informative signs to longer day or overnight hikes. Any of them will allow you to walk among the gnarled knots of trees felled by the excessive damp of the area, and resting gently on the forest floor, where they sport new growth that look like something out of a Dr. Seuss book. Finish off your day with a final drive down to Lake Quinault Lodge, where you can get a taste of a bit more luxury in the upscale lodgings with stunning views over the lake. The lodge, which dates back nearly a century, feels more quintessentially “national park” than anywhere else nearby—the fireplace roars in the grand lobby, guests relax in Adirondack chairs as their children run about on the sprawling lawn. But things are a bit fancier here—there are flat-screen televisions, mostly functional wi-fi and a warm pool in the basement, along with a sauna. It’s the kind of place you want to cozy up in the winter and base yourself for long hikes in the summer— just enough creature comfort to wind you back up for a day enjoying the great outdoors.
RAINFORESTS • INSTAGRAM • OYSTERS The best way to enjoy that day outdoors from Lake Quinault is the rainforest tour, which runs year-round daily starting at 9:30 a.m. The fourhour guided van tour takes you through the history of the area, from the local native peoples to historic homesteads. It introduces you to the plant life and waterfalls of the region on a series of short walks, and depending on the time of year, provides an introduction to a few of the animals of the region and takes you to all the most Instagrammable places around. Finish your drive around the park by pointing yourself toward a different view of the animal life of the peninsula: the oyster bar at the Hama Hama Oyster Saloon in Lilliwaup. End your trip just outside the park at this shellfish farm’s rustic outdoor eating space, watching storms roll in over the tide flats with a pint of beer and a pile of oysters, clams, salmon chowder, crab cakes and more.
FEBRUARY | MARCH 2019
OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK, WASHINGTON
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EAT Butcher and Baker www.butcherandbakerprovisions.com Taqueria Santa Ana www.bit.ly/2CTqRIO Springs Restaurant at Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort www.olympicnationalparks.com/ lodging/dining/sol-duc-hot-springsresort Hama Hama Oyster Saloon www.hamahamaoysters.com/pages/ oyster-saloon
STAY Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort www.nationalparkreservations.com/ lodge/olympic-sol-duc-hot-springsresort Lake Quinault Lodge www.olympicnationalparks.com/ lodging/lake-quinault-lodge Lost Resort at Lake Ozette www.lostresort.net
PLAY Olympic National Park www.nps.gov/olym Boat Tours of Lake Crescent www.olympicnationalparks.com/ things-to-do/boat-tours-of-lakecrescent Sol Duc Hot Springs www.olympicnationalparks.com/ things-to-do/mineral-hot-springspool-at-sol-duc-hot-springs-resort Rainforest Tours of Lake Quinault www.olympicnationalparks.com/ things-to-do/tours-of-lake-quinaultrainforest
Photos: Olympic Peninsula Visitor Bureau
Skiing at Hurricane Ridge www.olympicnationalparks.com/ things-to-do/skiing-at-hurricane-ridge
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT Rialto Beach has seastacks and a smooth beach. Hurricane Ridge is one of three ski resorts in a national park. Sol Duc Hot Springs has several pools. Hike through the Hoh Rainforest.
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northwest destination
Coasting Along Oregon’s Northern Coast has history, hearty fare and a whole lot of charm written by Sheila G. Miller
The Astoria-Megler Bridge is the longest continuous truss bridge in North America.
THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT Oregon Coast air that forces relaxation. Whenever I go to the beach, I take in the air with gulps—I cannot get enough. And then I take a nap. But there’s a lot more to the coast than napping—if it’s adventure you seek, or shopping, or just a stroll along the water, this is the spot. My advice—start at the top and work your way down. Astoria sits in the mouth of the Columbia River, and is filled with history and the type of food and drink that usually shows up in a much larger city. Just down the road is Fort Stevens State Park, which served as a working military fort from the Civil War to World War II and today is a 4,300-acre park that provides the visitor with the run of 82 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
the abandoned fort. Walk down to the beach to check out the wreck of the Peter Iredale, the hull of a ship that ran aground in 1906. In Astoria, you can continue your history tour at the Astoria Column, a hand-painted spiral frieze that was dedicated in 1926. The scenes along the column depict, among other things, Capt. Robert Gray discovering the Columbia River and the end of the Lewis and Clark expedition. You can climb to the top of the column for a spectacular view of the area. The city also has a couple museums worth a look—the Columbia River Maritime Museum has great exhibits and the Flavel House Museum is a true step back in time. When you get hungry, Astoria has plenty of
FEBRUARY | MARCH 2019
My advice—start at the top and work your way down. Astoria sits in the mouth of the Columbia River, and is filled with history and the type of food and drink that usually shows up in a much larger city.
To avoid thunderous crashing waves, wildlife sightings and secluded beaches, don’t visit us in the winter.
cannonbeach.org
HOW TO ACT LIKE A KID AGAIN IN SEASIDE Walk, don’t run, towards the beach. Once you hit the sand, toss your flip flops off and RUN! Extra credit for letting out a yip, hoot or a holler as you do. Build a sand castle. Dig a hole to the center of the earth. Bury someone bigger than you in the sand up to their neck. And hey, if you forget the jump rope, that big long piece of kelp will more than work in a pinch.
seasideOR.com
EAT
Don Frank Photography
NORTHERN OREGON COAST
northwest destination
Drina Daisy, Astoria www.drinadaisy.com Bowpicker, Astoria www.bowpicker.com Bridgewater Bistro, Astoria www.bridgewaterbistro.com Baked Alaska, Astoria www.bakedak.com Pig’n’Pancake, multiple locations www.pignpancake.com Ecola Seafoods Restaurant & Market, Cannon Beach www.ecolaseafoods.com The Irish Table, Cannon Beach www.theirishtable.com
STAY Tolovana Inn, Cannon Beach www.tolovanainn.com CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT The Astoria Column depicts historic events in a spiral frieze. Cannon Beach is home to iconic Haystack Rock. The Wreck of the Peter Iredale is a must-see at Fort Stevens State Park.
Inn at Cannon Beach, Cannon Beach www.innatcannonbeach.com Stephanie Inn, Cannon Beach www.stephanieinn.com Cannery Pier Hotel & Spa, Astoria www.cannerypierhotel.com
PLAY Oswald West State Park www.oregonstateparks.org Cannon Beach Distillery www.cannonbeachdistillery.com Columbia River Maritime Museum www.crmm.org Astoria Column www.astoriacolumn.org McMenamins Gearhart Hotel www.mcmenamins.com/ gearhart-hotel
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restaurants punching above their weight— Drina Daisy is a Bosnian restaurant with Mediterranean and Eastern European-style comfort food. Bowpicker is your spot for fresh-caught fish and chips (but be ready to wait in line and bring cash). And if you’re feeling fancy, Bridgewater Bistro in the Cannery Pier Hotel & Spa is a perfect destination, and a nice spot to lay your head, as well. From Astoria, stop in nearby Warrenton for a zipline tour of the forest with High Life Adventures, then head south on Highway 101 to Seaside. This is a hub for much of the Northern Coast, and while it’s rarely elegant, it has all the amenities of a good vacation. There’s the Seaside Aquarium where you can feed seals, several blocks of arcade and amusement rides like bumper cars, and a carousel in the mall on Broadway Street, the main drag. Seaside is also the jumping-off point for an aggressive 6-mile one-way hike along Tillamook Head, which ends in Ecola State Park near Cannon Beach. The hike is along a promontory used by William Clark and members of the expedition, after Clark split from Lewis in 1806. FEBRUARY | MARCH 2019
If you end up in Ecola State Park either on a hike or by car, check out the 9 miles of coastline and the park’s network of trails. Then head south to Cannon Beach, one of the area’s most well-known destinations and home to the iconic Haystack Rock. This quaint town has a sand castle contest every June that’s entering its 55th year, but there are reasons to be here year round. The town is home to Cannon Beach Distillery and several breweries, if you’re hankering for a drink. Or, head over to Cannon Beach Hardware and Public House, also known as the Screw & Brew, and pick up some paint and a pint. The Irish Table is fine dining at its best, or take it easy by picking up some fresh seafood at the Ecola Seafoods Restaurant & Market—for here and to go. When it’s time for more exploring, head south on 101 to a few more beautiful state parks, including Oswald West State Park. Named for the governor who established the beach highway law that protected our state’s beaches as public land, the park features Short Sands Beach, a favorite for surfers and just a half-mile walk through old-growth forest to the stunning sands.
1889 MAPPED The points of interest below are culled from stories and events in this edition of 1889. Oroville Bellingham
Friday Harbor
Republic Colville
Mount Vernon Port Angeles Coupeville Forks
Okanogan Lakewood Marysville Everett
Port Townsend
Newport
Seattle Port Orchard Shelton Aberdeen
Montesano
Wilbur
Waterville
Bellevue Renton Kent Federal Way Tacoma
Spokane Davenport
Wenatchee Ephrata Ritzville
Olympia
Ellensburg Colfax
Chehalis
South Bend
Yakima Pomeroy Richland
Cathlamet Longview Kelso
Prosser
Pasco Kennewick
Dayton Walla Walla
Goldendale Vancouver
Stevenson
Live
Think
Explore
18 The Pacific Crest Trail
40 LumberUnion
70
“A Sound Garden”
20 Hardware Distillery
42 McMenamins Elks Temple
72
Gravel Riding
22 Author Mead
44 Upstream Research
76
Lakedale Resort
24 Farmstead Meatsmith
46 Legends Casino
78
Olympic National Park
34 Chuckanut Mountains
48 Seattle Chocolate
82
Northern Oregon Coast
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Asotin
Oregon’s Willamette Valley. A paradise for the palate.
Experience the allure of Oregon truffles and wine at the
Oregon Truffle Festival Yamhill Valley Weekend
February 15, 16 & 17
The secret lies deep in ancient volcanic Jory soil. Between the misty foothills of the Cascades and the coastal range, the terroir is elementally perfect for growing world class truffles and wine grapes. The result? A seductive offering of taste encounters that evoke a sense of place like no other. tickets on sale:
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Until Next Time
Francis Bacon
Until Next Time
Francis Bacon written by Cara Strickland
All-Alaskan Racing Pigs, LLC
written by Cara Strickland
I WAS 11 IN 1999, the year they introduced the Alaskan racing pigs to the Spokane Interstate Fair. They were piglets, wearing colored jackets like racehorses might, running around a small track with grandstands on both sides that were an eighth the size of the ones at Joe Albi Stadium. As a fan, you could end up with a blue or red ribbon depending on your section and how well your pig did. For me, the greatest delight was watching the tiny pigs, with names like Oreo and Bucky, as they jumped over small obstacles and ran in circles. I wanted nothing more than to adopt an Alaskan racing pig and walk it down Manito Boulevard on a leash just like I did with my dog. To mark the occasion, the theme of that year’s fair was “The Real Squeal Deal.” To welcome the pigs, the fair decided to create a racing pig mascot. They held a contest to name the pig. My mom picked up a form at the library, and I waited until I thought of just the right name before entering. I was down the hall in my bedroom when my mom answered the phone one Friday. I had named the fair mascot. The name was “Francis Bacon” and they added the middle name “Blazin’” in an effort to emphasize his speedy nature. I am told that the greatest number of entries went to the name “Greased Lightning.” The contest form came with a little illustration of Francis wearing racing goggles and a scarf. The glasses had helped me make a leap to a philosopher. For my trouble, I won two family tickets to the fair, presented to me by a fair official on a podium at the fairgrounds, along with a pig balloon animal. The local news called my house. They wanted to interview me, the pig-namer. I selected my Minnie Mouse sweater, a coordinating turtleneck and the new glasses I only needed for reading. A reporter came and asked me a few questions. I 88 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
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don’t remember much about the interview. I don’t remember whether I was nervous. We found out the schedule and taped all of the spots on a VHS. In one version, the newscaster called me “Carla,” adding an “L” where it didn’t belong. This still makes my pride smart a little. For a moment, I felt a little famous. I was proud I had won a contest for something I had done, not simply for showing up. There was a writeup in The Spokesman-Review, my first time being quoted in a publication. I can still hear the shock in my voice as I read the quote: “I’m all excited. I’ve never won a contest before.” The paper tells me that there were more than 100 entries and that I said I was “trying to think of good pig names.” I am quoted as saying that my mind jumped to bacon “because of pigs, you know?” The reporter noted that the fair officials added the middle name “to give the moniker a little sizzle and zip.” Like the extra “L” in my name, that fact has always grated on my nerves a bit. I had hoped to be subtle. The fair has changed in the years since, but though I’ve finally realized that the piglets grow bigger, not staying small forever, I always stop to watch at least one race.
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