What to do for the holidays: 5 Activities

Between the 150+ days of rain a year and the sun setting by 4 p.m., winter isn’t everyone’s favorite season around here. Nevertheless, we can fuel our holiday spirits with these five wintry pursuits.

Lexi Krawiec Staff Writer

1. Bellevue Ice Skating

There is no better way to spend a cold December day than ice skating. When you step onto the ice you are transported to a magical world. Classic holiday tunes play as you glide around the rink, enhancing the holiday spirit. This rink in Bellevue is outdoors, so it can get chilly, but they offer hot chocolate and cider to warm you up. With the coziest and most comforting winter drinks in hand, you will be sure to have a good time. No matter your skating skill level, the energy at this rink will make it worthwhile. This rink is already open, so head over before it closes Jan. 8, 2023. Nov. 18, 2022 - Jan. 8, 2023

NE 1st Street and 100th Avenue NE

3. snow tubing

Nobody dislikes a snow day, getting to skip school and going sledding. Let’s be real though, Mercer Island does not get too many snow days. However, it is a different story up at Snoqualmie Pass. Head over to the mountain where there is plenty of snow during the winter season and take a ride down the inner tubing slopes. It feels like extreme sledding, the same as backyard sledding, but more thrilling because the hill is steeper and you go faster. With seven plus lanes and a vertical of 40 feet, this experience is exhilarating. The mountain is already open on the weekends this month.

4. nutcracker

A wonderful way to celebrate the holiday season is going to see the live production of The Nutcracker. Pacific Northwest Ballet dancers have been performing this annually since 1982. The story follows a girl after being gifted a living nutcracker, she journeys through different winter scenes in an attempt to battle the Mouse King. This is performed through ballet, typically accompanied by detailed costumes and scenery. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky also composed music played by an advanced orchestra for the production. Just over in Seattle, this beloved classic is performed through December at McCaw Hall.

5. paper lanterns

With 2022 coming to an end, there are so many ways to celebrate this year beyond your traditional midnight countdown and New Year’s resolutions. The Seattle Water Paper Lantern Festival is a great way to welcome you in 2023, as this could help with anything that was holding you back in the previous year. At a beautiful aquatic spot, you write down anything you want to let go of onto a paper lantern that you are given with your ticket. You can also write some positive aspects of your life you would like to embrace. Then everyone sends their lanterns off, and the water lights up. It is similar to the scene in “Tangled” where they sent off paper lanterns, but this time into the water, PNW (Pacific Northwest) style. The experience is magical, and seeing your lantern glowing in the water is an exciting event. To make it even better, every lantern is made from rice paper and wood making it completely eco-friendly, as well as cleaned up by staff afterward.