100 Weird Things to do in Seattle!

 Some are free, some other places may charge a fee, but there's plenty of Weird Things to Do in Seattle!

1. 1. Visit the Fremont Troll under the Aurora Bridge.
2. 2. Attend the annual Fremont Solstice Parade where people paint themselves in crazy colors.
3. 3. Take a photo with the "Waiting for the Interurban" sculpture in Fremont.
4. 4. Check out the Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) designed by Frank Gehry.
5. 5. Explore the quirky shops and cafes in the Ballard neighborhood.
6. 6. Go on the Seattle Underground Tour and explore.... Underground!
7. 7. Visit the Gum Wall in Post Alley near Pike Place Market.
8. 8. Take a ride on the Seattle Great Wheel on the waterfront.
9. 9. Visit the Center for Wooden Boats and take a free Sunday public sail.
10. 10. Attend the Seattle International Film Festival.
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12. 11. Visit the Seattle Pinball Museum and play vintage pinball machines.
13. 12. Visit the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) and see the iconic Hammering Man sculpture.
14. 13. Go to the Pacific Science Center and visit the Tropical Butterfly House.
15. 14. Take a ride on the Seattle Monorail.
16. 15. Visit the quirky shops and cafes in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.

Visit Seattle’s “Rubber Chicken Museum” at Archie McPhee’s in Seattle's Wallingford Neighborhood

The Archie McPhee store in Seattle, Washington has the world's only Rubber Chicken Museum in the world, and it's helping to Keep Seattle Weird!

The museum is located inside the store, which also sells other novelties such as the Famous Yodeling Pickle, Emergency Google Eyes and the Meditating Bigfoot. It features the world's largest and smallest rubber chickens, and also provides information about rubber chickens. The museum is open every day from 11 AM to 6 PM, and admission is free!  The store also sells such favorites as 12 Itty-Bitty Rubber chickens, Racing Rubber Chickens and a Rubber Chicken Emergency Clucker!

Archie McPhee's is located at 1300 N. 45th Street in Seattle.  Phone: 206-297-0240.

Snack Shack’in at the Snackin’ Shack!

Yes, it's the world's first Snack Musuem! Conveniently located near Seattle in Everett, Washington, this museum is an ode to the "snack", anythng sweet, salty and delicious. Meet Jaxen Snacks. Owner and CEO of The Snackin Shack, the worlds 1st Snack Museum🍬

Converted from an old garage, this museum offers snacks for your eyes and for your belly! From Hot Tamale Peeps to Watermelon Oreo's, if you like weird snacks, this is the place for you!

The Snackin' Shack is located at 2916 Hoyt Avenue in Everett, WA 98201. Present hours are Thursday through Sunday, noon to 4pm, but check FB and Insta for updates and changes. The Snackin' Shack on FB and The Snackin' Shack on Instagram

The Snackin' Shack on Evening Magazine!

Bakke Coffee Museum in Ballard

Seattle's long awaited Bakke Coffee Museum is finally here, a collection of espresso and coffee machines documenting the complete history of coffee. Coffee, according to the curator, is that one thing many cannot live without, that is shared, that makes or breaks a day. An everyday pleasure with more than everyday potential. Apparently, coffee can change your life! Learn more about the story of coffee and share your story at the Bakke Coffee Museum. 

The museum is plumb full of amazing vintage and fancy coffee and espresso machines from around the world. 

Washington State Troll Map

 

Washington State’s ultimate Trolls Road Trip. Hiding in different spots around the Seattle area are five of the six Pacific Northwest Trolls. This road trip will take you to find all five of these mythical creatures in around 3.5 hours of drive-time while also offering the opportunity to explore some of the more unique areas of Washington along the way. If you want to see the sixth troll, you’ll have to make the lengthy final leg of the drive just south of the border to Portland, Oregon where the final troll in this series awaits. What a magical experience!

1) Pia The Peacekeeper (Bainbridge Island)

2) Frankie Feetsplinters (Ballard)

3) Jakob Two Trees (Issaquah)

4) Bruun Idun (West Seattle)

5) Oscar The Bird King (Vashon)

6) Ole Bolle (Portland)

Thomas Dambo created and designed these trolls, with help building them from local volunteers. They are amazing. To see other trolls Thomas has built and to find an interactive map, go to Thomas Dambo's Troll Map.

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". 

Pop Culture Grocery Store in South Seattle

Tired of the same old grocery aisle and looking to shake it up a bit?  You’ll find the Shake and Bake right by the hip-shaking Elvis adorning the end-cap at this Grocery Outlet in Skyway in South Seattle, resplendent with pop culture icons, musical statuary, historical representations and vintage kitsch. 

I know, I know.... you think I am exaggerating, why would anyone go out of their way to visit a Grocery Outlet?  Well, these owners have let their freak flag fly.  You'll find canned goods down by the giant statues of Laurel and Hardy and dried fruit near the miniature fire trucks.  None of it makes any sense, but I guess that is its charm. 

Address:  11656 68th Ave. S., Seattle WA 98178

Seattle Grocery Outlet pays homage to Pop Culture

Breakfast in a Record Shop

 

Easy Street Records is the best little record store, cafe and cocktail lounge in West Seattle and it's almost single-handedly doing its best to keep Seattle weird!

East Street is an independent record store that opened in 1988 and they're a super-favorite here at Keep Seattle Weird.  They opened a small cafe inside and then later, an upstairs "speakeasy" cocktail lounge.  They are so beloved, when West 5 Bar and Restaurant closed up the street, they gave their beloved Mai-Tai recipe to the folks at Easy Street. They have record release parties, in-store performances and it serves as a mini-townhall of sorts for local residents.

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.

Seattle's Big Top Curiosity Shop is closing - Go to the last big sale

To the Staff at Keep Seattle Weird's utter sadness and despair, Big Top Curiosity Shop is closing.  

Their sad loss is your happy gain, however. 

Big Closing SALE this weekend! March 23rd-24th & 30th, 12-6pm.

Saturday 25% off of Everything!
Sunday Red Tag Sale!
Everything with a red tag is 50% off!
Saturday March 30th, last sale ever!
50% entire store!

Vintage, Collectibles & Oddities! Large selection of Velvet Paintings, Restaurant / Advertising Memorabilia, Beer Signs, Neon Signs, Collectible Toys: Hot Wheels, Star Trek, Star Wars, Batman, E.T. Animal Skulls, Taxidermy, Nautical, Clown & Halloween costumes, Cassette Tapes, Vintage Bikes, Street Signs, Knick Knacks, Circus Posters, Automobilia, Store Display items & more!

BIG TOP CURIOSITY SHOP:  8507 14th Ave South, Seattle, WA

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.

"Cindy's Bedroom" - a Bumbershoot exhibit

In 1962, Elvis came to the Seattle World's Fair and made a film "It Happened at the Fair". For the 50th Anniversary of the Seattle World's Fair, Elvis came back to the Seattle Center in the form of an art exhibit entitled Elvistravaganza. One of the exhibits was Cindy's Bedroom, a re-creation of an Elvis fan's bedroom, as imagined in 1962.

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.

"Something Weird Video" helps keeps Seattle Weird!

Something Weird Video is a film distributor company founded by the late Mike Vraney and currently run by his wife Lisa Petrucci, and based in Seattle. They specialize in exploitation films, but the content runs the gamut of exploitation cinema, from burlesque and striptease shows to stag and peepshow films, and even some drug and driver's ed shorts. 

We're proud to say "Something Weird Video" is helping to Keep Seattle Weird!

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.

Lennon in Fremont

Heart outlives politics

Seen by most as one of the most controversy of art pieces in Fremont, the sculpture of Lennon reminds us that art outlives politics

This sculpture took 10 years to complete and was installed in Slovakia in 1988 only to be toppled by Revolution in 1989.  

While teaching in Poland, American veteran Louis Carpenter discovered the sculpture lying facedown in the mud. Carpenter recognize the scale and craftsmanship of the statute as well as the boldness of design. Determined to preserve the statue, Carpenter decided to mortgage his house to acquire it and brought it back to his home in Issaquah Washington.

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.