Best Seattle Dive Bars

Anyone can make a list of the fancy places in town. But here at Keep Seattle Weird, we love the older places with character (and characters!), good bourban and beer and great burgers. 

 As Adam Michelson once said, "A dive bar is where you're worried about being stabbed, and a dive-themed bar is where you want to stab everyone". 

Ivar's Dancing Clams

On a muggy misty day at the beach, Ivar's Dancing Clams run wild and free.

Ivar Haglund was a true Seattle character and icon. He was known as an entertainer, folksinger, restaurateur and ultimately the "King," "Mayor," or "Patriarch" of the waterfront. The story of Ivar's Seafood Restaurants began in 1938 when 33-year old Seattle native Ivar Haglund opened his city's first aquarium on Seattle's Pier 54. Droves of people lined up and paid a nickel to view the sea life that Ivar had collected from the surrounding Puget Sound. Noticing that his patrons often came with an appetite, Haglund began to sell red clam chowder and fish n' chips from the site—an instant success that began his career as a restaurateur.  You can still visit Ivar's today, still helping to Keep Seattle Weird!  

Ivars Hoax Ivar's Restaurants

Poop Walk - Waterworks Gardens wastewater treatment art installation

If you want to get out of the city and have a fun and educational walk, go visit Lorna Jordan's Waterworks Garden a few minutes outside Seattle, near beautiful downtown Renton. Lorna's design for Waterworks Gardens combined classical garden design, wastewater treatment infrastructure and habitat restoration. The garden is a great place to stroll and get out doors, while enjoying an art installation and understanding how nature cleans dirty water to provide us with clean drinking water. The artist was inspired by her study of Italian gardens and the sense of theater that she observed there. The Grotto was hand made from stone and concrete and, with its flowing water, pools, native plantings, mosaic, and stone seating, remains a favorite gathering place for visitors to the site.

Weird, Wonderful, and Worrisome Objects in Washington State's Museums - Appearance and Talk by Harriet Baskas

*Free Event courtesy of Humanities Washington!

Register at: https://www.wrvmuseum.org/.../weird-wonderful-and...

Most museums display no more than 10 percent of their holdings, often citing “not enough space” as the reason. But there are also a wide range of cultural, philosophical, political, environmental, historic, and even superstitious reasons why museums keep some objects from public view.

In this talk, explore a wide range of hidden objects found in the back rooms of museums in our state and around the country. Examples include a Spokane institution that holds Bing Crosby’s toupées and a museum in Lynden that’s home to a 150-year-old pickle. When possible, we will have local museum curators on hand to answer questions, participate in our discussions, and unbox a few hidden treasures.

Harriet Baskas is the author of nine books, including 111 Places in Seattle That You Must Not Miss and Hidden Treasures: What Museums Can’t or Won’t Show You. She writes about airports, museums, travel, and a variety of other topics for outlets such as NBC News, The Points Guy, and her own site, StuckatTheAirport.com. She produced a radio series on hidden museum artifacts that aired on National Public Radio. Baskas has a master’s in communications from the University of Washington.

Seattle's Bubbleator

The Bubbleator what is a giant bubble used as a hydraulic elevator. Built specifically for the Seattle worlds fair in 1962, the giant machine was in the old Armory, which then became the food circus in now is Centercourt at the Seattle Space Needle campus.

In its heyday, it made thousands of people up and down through the center of the old armory.

The current owner is Gene Achziger. In the 1980s he went looking for it, as he was curious about what happened to it after the worlds fair. He said a contractor donated it to the children's orthopedic hospital, but they didn't know what to do with it and, by 1984 it was stuck in a warehouse in South Lake Union.

Seattle's W Hotel "Sound Suite", a hotel room with a recording studio

W Hotels introduces the first W Sound Suite in North America, a private recording studio and creative space for artists to use whenever inspiration hits. With a capacity for up to 25 people, this 380 square foot sound proof space includes a vocal booth, mixing equipment, and lounge area to host your next reception.  Innovative recording technology invites you to unleash your creativity and channel your musical genius into your very own masterpiece. 

Seattle has always been a city of pioneers, leading the world in everything from coffee to technology to music. The launch pad for a spectrum of successful musical careers from Jimi Hendrix to Macklemore and Pearl Jam to Brandi Carlile, Seattle remains the city of who’s new/next in music

W Hotel in Seattle

Weird shopping in Seattle

 

Seattle is pretty much the furthest away you could get without dropping off United States border into Canada, Seattle has a lot of weird stuff at some good shopping.

Seattle's "Holiday Tree" lights up the neighborhood all year 'round

Photo by Ryan Whitney

Since the mid-70's, Herb Allwine and his wife, Mary Lou, have decorated the tree on the corner at their house for every holiday. Each year it became more elaborate to the delight of all the neighbors. Mary Lou passed away a few years ago, but Mr. Allwine still decorates the house in honor of his wife. Here's a video below with the whole story.

Purple Power - Lilac Wishes and Lavender Dreams at the Purple Store in Seattle

Yes, there is a store in Seattle called the Purple Store and yes, everything in it is PURPLE!
You can get purple furniture, purple kitchen appliances, purple goth items and even stuff for your purple wedding!  Visit it online or in person at

The Purple Store is located at Pike Place Market.

Sound of Light Reflector Art Installation

Artist Dick Elliot has created an incredible public work of art that you can see from your car or get out and examine more closely. The cool thing is you can see it even at night, as it's made out of reflector buttons that light up as autos pass by.

Nevertold Casket Company on Capitol Hill

If you've got a thirst for gore, goth and the macabre, you'll love the Nevertold Casket Company a strange and wonderfully unusual shop located on Capitol Hill in Seattle. As you can see, they sell things "old or new, made of gold and diamond or of simple paper mâché, mass produced or painstakingly hand made. It may be a fragile object d’art or a durable part of everyday life. A haunted good is an object of desire. It is haunted and it haunts. It instills the most sublime awe, even fear in the person that owns it and yet to the one haunted by it, there is nothing so beautifully perfect and comforting." Started first in the basement of an old apartment building and now located in a storefront by Seattle University (the exact address is 509 13th Ave, Seattle WA 98122) ** CLOSED **

You'll love Nevertold Casket Company if you like weird things like stuffed chicks standing on their hind legs, random pieces of taxidermy, old funeral items made out of human hair and other ephemera.  This shop is the very best example of what makes Seattle weird!

Seattle's Luna Park Cafe - Still crazy after all these years

The original building constructed by Chris Boysen right after World War II. You can still see his namesake on the adjacent apartment building. Originally built as a neighborhood tavern, the building went through various identities over the decades. The last one being the infamous “Pat & Ron’s Tavern” which closed in 1988. After months of work on the space, it reopened on March of 1989 as Luna Park Cafe. The name coming from the former boardwalk park that existed in West Seattle in the early 1900’s. Over the years it has become a museum of sorts for all generations to enjoy. With a 1958 Seeburg Jukebox, other coin-ops like Pepe the Dancing Clown and the mini Orchestra above the front door and plenty of nostalgic decorations, this diner is a haven to it’s regulars and a spectacle to newcomers. The idea behind the cafe is to serve delicious food and great milkshakes in a 1950’s diner atmosphere and they definitely succeed! 

 Luna Park is located at 2918 SW Avalon Way, Seattle, WA 98126

Luna Park Celebrates 25 years (with 25 photos)

 Find other weird things to do by visiting Keep Seattle Weird map

Fremont Solstice Parade

The Fremont Solstice Parade takes place on Summer Solstice Saturday in downtown Fremont.  The historic Fremont Solstice Parade is produced solely by the Fremont Arts Council, a non-profit organization, and they have been delighting crowds at the Center of the Universe with fantastic floats, marching bands, and other free-spirited street performances since 1989.

Everyone is welcome to participate in the Solstice Parade. Public art workshops are held early May through June to prepare for the parade.  For more information on joining the parade, please contact volunteer@fremontartscouncil.org or visit the website www.fremontartscouncil.org  for more information on ways to get involved.

The parade has been made famous (infamous!) by the inclusion of the Solstice Cyclists (Solstice Cylists.org), a celebration of 1500+ naked-but-painted bike riders, who are released onto the parade route before the start of the Solstice Parade.  This event celebrates the rebel in all of us!  It is a “nude not lewd” event, where families are welcome to watch their friends bare all, paint up, and ride through the streets of Fremont!

The parade ends at Gas Works park where you will find food trucks, a beer garden, art installations, and four stages of band performances.  

Find other weird things to do on the Keep Seattle Weird map