Things to Do This Summer! By, Jim Clifford

Here we are in June with the longest daylight days of the year. In the Seattle area, we have approx. 16 hours of daylight on June 21st. Our least amount of daylight in December is about eight and a half hours. So, we have just under twice as much daylight in the Summer, what can we do with it?

If you have lived in the Northwest for more than a couple of years, you should already know about Sea Fair and Puyallup Fair, but a ton of other activities fill up almost every day of summer. Locally in Pierce County, there is the Taste of Tacoma https://www.tasteoftacoma.com/ June 21-23. In Puyallup, there is Meeker Days www.puyallupmainstreet.com/events/meeker-days Jun 14 & 15th. Plus there is Point Defiance Zoo ( https://www.pdza.org/) and park (https://www.metroparkstacoma.org/point-defiance-park).

In July the Tacoma Freedom Fair and airshow on the 4th plus fireworks on Ruston Way, Gig Harbor Wine and Food Festival July 27, Sumner Rhubarb Days July 28th, and Tacoma Ethnic Festival. In August there is the Brew Five Three (Tacoma) Hudson’s Bay Heritage Days (DuPont) and Classy Chassis Car Show (Sumner). To Find all about these plus many more go to the website https://www.traveltacoma.com/things-to-do/events/.

If you live closer to Seattle/Bellevue The China Town Parade July 21st, West Seattle Festival July 12-14th, Patriotic Dog run/walk in Bellevue on July 4; Milk Carton Derby on Green Lake (Seattle) July 13th; Beer & Blues Federal Way July 20th are just a few of the local activities for many communities. If you have a little extra energy there is the STP (Seattle to Portland) bike ride July 13th & 14th with over 10,000 other bike riders. For a more relaxed enjoyment check out the “concerts at the winery” series of entertainment Chateau Ste. Michelle in Woodinville, go to https://www.ste-michelle.com/ to see who and when. These are always crowded especially when there is good weather.

This year “Bite of Seattle” is July 19-21 at the Seattle Center. Should be interesting with the construction of the Seattle Coliseum in process but always a lot of entertainment and good food www.biteofseattle.com. The next week is the Seattle Torchlight parade, July 27th in downtown Seattle.

We live in a very beautiful part of the world and there are a lot of very good people who live here too. Take time to go with family and friends and enjoy this time of year. You can find the places and activities that will make living here more fun.