1889 Washington's Magazine | December/January 2021

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TRIP PLANNER: BELLINGHAM PG. 86

Washington’s Winter Olympic Hopefuls

DIY: Build Your Own Sauna

Luscious Oysters

ROMANTIC GETAWAY GETAWAYS AROUND THE SOUND

SNOWSHOEING: EXTREME BEAUTY SLOPESIDE GLAMOUR: WINTER HOLIDAYS IN SUN VALLEY 1889mag.com $5.95 display until January 31, 2022

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WASHINGTON

December | January

volume 28


ALCOHOL BEVERAGE LAWS VARY BY STATE. PLEASE BE GUIDED ACCORDINGLY. © 2020 ELYSIAN BREWING COMPANY, SEATTLE, WA


You don’t have to go to the depths of the ocean to be a discoverer. Or produce one of the world’s first maps of the ocean floor, like Marie Tharp, a pioneering geologist and cartographer whose important work helped bring to life the unknown ocean world. You just have to chart your course to Discovery West. Nestled in Bend’s Westside, this community is alive with the spirit of discovery. Not to mention proximity to schools, parks, close-by trails and more. Visit discoverywestbend.com to learn about the neighborhood, Marie herself – and how you could even find your new home on Tharp Avenue. Or head on over to our Discovery Pod at the corner of Skyline Ranch Road and Celilo Lane and map out your future.


Set, Drift, Shuck photography by Reva Keller ON WASHINGTON’S ONLY saltwater fjord, the sun is rising, and the world is silent and still, but for the stirring of otters— and Alice and Van Helker. Get a glimpse of the hard, dirty and rewarding world of oyster farming, its loyal community and their fight to save an industry from the effects of climate change. (pg. 24)

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FROM LEFT Alice Helker stands on the beach in the early afternoon during low tide at Set & Drift, the oyster farm she runs with her husband on Hood Canal. Fjordlux oysters retrieved from the water at Set & Drift.


Ryan Mooney/U.S. Ski & Snowboard

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Love on the Road

Old World, New Fun

Aphrodisiacs are all around—windswept beaches, misty mountains and romantic lodges for snuggling up inside with spa treatments, tasting menus, steamy libations and heady local wines. Here are eight venues around the Sound that are made for rest, rejuvenation and invigorating adventures among the evergreens.

This pictorial peek at old-world-style Christmasornament making may ruin your beliefs about elves. But who knew your favorite new designs (the bowl of mac ‘n’ cheese ornament, the passport ornament, the avocado toast) came from customers of this Spokane business? photography by Young Kwak

written by Corinne Whiting

64 ‘Gravity Girl’ Grows Up She’s dreamed of skiing in the Olympics since she was in first grade. Meet the 22-year-old from Redmond who’s all in for crushing it in February in Beijing—fingers crossed. Plus, find out what motivates two other local hopefuls who’ve set their sights on representing the U.S. in snowboarding and Nordic skiing. written by James Sinks

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FEATURES DECEMBER | JANUARY 2021

DECEMBER | JANUARY 2021 • volume 28


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DEPARTMENTS

LIVE 14 SAY WA?

DECEMBER | JANUARY 2021 • volume 28 Sarah Anne Risk

Salmon-Safe whiskey, Badass Barware, a daring Seattle photographer and Shakespeare for the people. Plus, the history and culture of Northwest skiing.

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20 FOOD + DRINK

Craft cocktails and more libations paired with dishes in Wenatchee’s historic downtown. Soothe body and soul with Bainbridge Organic Distillers’ recipe for hot buttered whiskey.

24 FARM TO TABLE

On Washington’s only saltwater fjord, this couple loves the dirty yet rewarding work of oyster farming, their loyal community and fighting the effects of climate change—while harvesting savory, briny “Fjordlux” oysters. Plus, Northwest chefs’ recipes and sauces for oyster devotees.

30 HOME + DESIGN

Practical and eye-catching bathrooms. Reap the health benefits of your own private, peaceful place to sweat with our step-by-step guide for a DIY sauna and a kit from an expert source in Woodinville.

40 MIND + BODY

Scrolling trances and social media addiction can block you from creating your best life. This expert offers strategies to help, including ten steps for a DIY digital retreat.

42 ARTIST IN RESIDENCE

Step into Barbara Earl Thomas’ world of deep, nuanced and vital ideas.

48 STARTUP

We all have our public speaking nightmare stories. This team’s artificial intelligence platform promises to turn them into business success dreams.

50 WHAT’S GOING UP

Homes for the holidays include apartments, solar-powered houses and tiny homes to serve veterans and others in need.

52 WHAT I’M WORKING ON

What keeps this assistant professor of behavioral health at Washington State University’s Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine awake at night?

54 MY WORKSPACE

This café and chocolate factory minutes from Pike Place Market is steeped in Belize beanto-bar traditions and cacao’s Mayan history.

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Miranda Estes

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Barbara Earl Thomas; photo by Spike Mafford/Seattle Art Museum

THINK

Editor’s Letter 1889 Online Map of Washington Until Next Time

56 GAME CHANGER

Since she was a young adult, this tireless champion of low-income homeowners and renters has served vulnerable communities. She’s poised for another battle.

EXPLORE 78 TRAVEL SPOTLIGHT

Inside a renovated, 70-year-old building in downtown Walla Walla, a new hub aims to foster community with art classes, themed pop-ups and merchandise of purpose and elegance.

80 ADVENTURE

Take off the house slippers and walk a few miles in different shoes—snowshoes. A guide to routes of extreme beauty.

84 LODGING

This inn and restaurant on a meticulously restored, century-old farmstead in the foothills of the Blue Mountains sources ingredients from surrounding vineyards, farmlands, orchards, coastal waters, and ranches.

COVER

86 TRIP PLANNER

photo by Stephen Matera/TandemStock.com Snowshoeing in Mount Rainier National Park (see Adventure, pg. 80)

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From skiing at Mount Baker to feasting on seafood from the bay, the holidays in Bellingham are a rite of passage.

92 NW DESTINATION

Gorgeous days, glamorous nights—Sun Valley and charming Ketchum promise fun, excitement and haute après ski style.

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HERE’S TO WHATEVER OPENS YOUR DOOR Timberline Vodka is created by and for the “Outer Class” in a little part of the world called Hood River where there’s a lot more outside than inside. We distill our enthusiasm with Pacific Northwest apples, grain, and glacier-fed spring water from Mt. Hood. Outwards! D O U B L E G O L D W I N N E R 2021 San Francisco World Spirits Competition

A proud partner of The Freshwater Trust, a nonprofit with a mission to preserve and restore freshwater ecosystems, including rivers, streams and creeks across the West. Distilled and bottled by Hood River Distillers, Inc., Hood River, Oregon. © 2021 Timberline ® Vodka, 40% Alc/Vol, Gluten Free. www.timberlinevodkas.com. Stay in Control ®.


CONTRIBUTORS

REVA KELLER Photographer Farm to Table

JAMES SINKS Writer ‘Gravity Girl’ Grows Up

SUCHITA KALELE Photographer My Workspace

ISABEL MAX Writer Adventure

“Despite heavy rain, winds and a small-craft advisory in the area, Alice and Van Helker still managed to have great attitudes while showing me around the beach where they harvest oysters. Slurping fresh oysters with marine scientists turned shellfish farmers was well worth the soggy socks, and an excellent adventure.” (pg. 24)

“For most of us, it’s not a good thing when our lives go downhill fast. Then again, most of us aren’t slalom phenom Katie Hensien, from Redmond. Talk to Katie and other Olympic hopefuls, and you’ll learn that in life and on the slopes, you can’t let risk slow you down.” (pg. 64)

“This story was a perfect opportunity to get an up-close and personal look at the fine art of chocolate making. As a chocolate lover who has a tremendous sweet tooth, I enjoyed it so much. Talking to the founder of indi chocolate, Erin Andrews, about how she got into making small-batch chocolates and how she sources her single-origin cocoa beans directly from farmers and co-ops was truly enlightening. I have to say, now that I know what goes into the making of artisan chocolates, I appreciate them even more.” (pg. 54)

“The Methow Valley is my happy place. I grew up skiing and running in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest, and the opportunities to experience incredible vistas, beauty and fun in the snow seem infinite. So, I was excited to share some snowshoeing adventures with readers who are itching to explore.” (pg. 80)

Reva Keller is a James Beard Award-winning food and drink photographer. She lives in Seattle with her partner and their rescue dog.

An award-winning journalist and wannabe runner, James Sinks loves exploring the pockets of the Pacific Northwest and profiled border hamlet Point Roberts in the September 2017 issue of 1889. He lives in Salem.

Suchita Kalele is a freelance food and product photographer who lives in the Pacific Northwest with her family and dog. Besides photography, she enjoys running half marathons, hot yoga, DIYs and traveling.

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Isabel Max is a student at Princeton University who is taking a gap year and living in Bend, Oregon, where you may spot her out on the trails. At Statehood Media, she manages the social media of 1859 Oregon’s Magazine and 1889 Washington’s Magazine, where she finds joy in connecting with a diverse community of Pacific Northwest enthusiasts.


EDITOR-AT-LARGE Kevin Max

MANAGING EDITOR Cathy Carroll CREATIVE DIRECTOR Allison Bye

WEB MANAGER

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

OFFICE MANAGER

DIRECTOR OF SALES

BEERVANA COLUMNIST

Aaron Opsahl Isabel Max Cindy Miskowiec Jenny Kamprath Jackie Dodd

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Melissa Dalton, Carmen Fallon, Shirley A. Hancock, Isabel Max, Kent Miller, Keith Moore, Cassidy Mundo, Ben Salmon, James Sinks, Gretchen Springer, Cara Strickland, Misha Tompkins, Corinne Whiting

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Jackie Dodd, Miranda Estes, Brent Henry Martin, Suchita Kalele, Reva Keller, Young Kwak, Petar Marshall

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All rights reserved. No part of this publiCation may be reproduCed or transmitted in any form or by any means, eleCtroniCally or meChaniCally, inCluding photoCopy, reCording or any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written permission of Statehood Media. ArtiCles and photographs appearing in 1889 Washington’s Magazine may not be reproduCed in whole or in part without the express written Consent of the publisher. 1889 Washington’s Magazine and Statehood Media are not responsible for the return of unsoliCited materials. The views and opinions expressed in these artiCles are not neCessarily those of 1889 Washington’s Magazine, Statehood Media or its employees, staff or management.

DECEMBER | JANUARY 2021

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FROM THE

EDITOR-AT-LARGE NOTHING LASTS forever except the notion of forever. So it is with the turbulent year of 2021. Good riddance to the year that brought us quarantines, forced solitude and loneliness. As we emerge from this mood ring and jump into the new year, we note that one group of people never slowed down and never gave up. Washington’s Winter Olympic hopefuls have been on snow and ice throughout and focusing on the top step of the podium. On pg. 64, read the story of 22-year-old alpine skier Katie Hensien from Redmond and two others from Washington as they compete for making it onto the U.S. Olympic teams . While we’re thinking about winter and snow, you may be intrigued by the challenge posed in our DIY section—converting a small room into your own sauna. We look to Norwegian heritage and Brekke Lysaker of Cedarbrook Sauna and Steam in Woodinville (pg. 36) for best practices on how to create your own Scandinavian sauna. He notes that maybe one of the best things about saunas is that your phone will overheat if you deign to bring it in. So don’t. If you’re not quite as handy and want to find your mind and body escape outside your home, you can find eight such places beginning on pg.

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58. Romantic getaways around the Sound takes us from reclusive redoubts on the Olympic Peninsula to stately manors and crisp linens on the banks of Lake Washington. Reemergence never felt so good. Our Trip Planner (pg. 86) takes us to Bellingham for seafood, nature and culture. We had just finished writing this piece when floods triggered landslides and highway closures that reminded us how easily we can be cut off from places we love. Show a little extra love by planning your next trip to Bellingham and losing yourself in oysters. Oysters are also the subject of our Farm to Table (pg. 24) as we follow Alice Helker and her husband, Van, on the Toandos peninsula of Hood Canal as they work Washington’s only saltwater fjord to raise some of the state’s most delicious oysters. The recipes that follow are creative takes on mignonettes and granitas for oysters. To take the chill out of the new year, kick back with your lover, a Bainbridge Hot Buttered Whiskey made with the recipe on pg. 20, tune in to Brandi Carlile’s In These Silent Days, one of our best Washington albums of the year and breathe. This year is already off to a better start than the prior.


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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 Molly Lowney

www.bit.ly/statehood mediadigital

The afternoon sun washed the Puget Sound in gold and sailboats weaved around each other as we took the ferry back to Seattle from Bainbridge Island.

DECEMBER | JANUARY 2021

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SAY WA? 14 FOOD + DRINK 20 FARM TO TABLE 24 HOME + DESIGN 30 MIND + BODY 40

pg. 42 Step into an installation by Barbara Earl Thomas and discover a world of deep, nuanced and vital ideas evoked by her silhouettes.

Barbara Earl Thomas, courtesy of Claire Oliver Gallery; photo by Spike Mafford

ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 42


Experience

winter fun

Join us in beautiful Central Oregon! Explore the great outdoors, experience Sunriver in a horse-drawn sleigh, relax and rejuvenate at Sage Springs Spa, or enjoy dinner with a view. The new indoor Cove Aquatic Center is open year-round and is the perfect place to unwind after an action-packed day. Winter fun at Sunriver Resort is full of endless possibilities!

VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION AT SUNRIVERRESORT.COM


say wa?

Tidbits + To-dos A whiskey on the rocks is no place to drown sorrows over challenges to rivers and watersheds. Happily, Seattle’s Copperworks Distilling earned Salmon-Safe certification for Whiskey Release 039—an American single malt. It’s made with a single variety of malted barley from Mainstream Malt, a family farm in Walla Walla that’s Salmon-Safe certified, meaning its land-management practices protect water quality and wildlife habitat for native fish. The distiller reported that it’s the nation’s first SalmonSafe whiskey. Plus, its flavors reflect cedar and fruity red wine, dramatically different from spirits made with other grains. www.copperworksdistilling.com

Tess Farnsworth

Salmon-Safe Whiskey

Raising the Bar At Raising the Bar, Northwest native and former history teacher Renee Cebula of Spokane takes you on a deep dive into American cocktail culture and drinking history as well as chic and swanky, one-of-a-kind barware and the stories behind it. She offers mixology workshops, private cocktail classes, tours, pop-ups and lectures as well as vintage Badass Barware and kits such as the Spokane House Aromatic DIY Bitters Kit. Bring out your inner alchemist blending prairie sage of the inland Northwest with peppery spice and hints of citrus, which enhance the flavors of amber-hued spirits. www.raisingthebarnw.com

CA mark LE yo ND ur AR

Bronwen Houck

The Winter’s Tale

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Seattle Rep’s Public Works’ hybrid film and live theatrical experience of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale is set for December 16 through 19. It’s the culmination of a year of free community workshops and classes, a groundbreaking community engagement initiative creating theater of, by, and for the people of the Northwest. Partnerships with nonprofits bring together people of diverse backgrounds and ages to create ambitious works of participatory theater. And, how will they stage the Bard’s famous direction at the end of Act 3, Scene 3: “Exit, pursued by a bear”? With free in-person and streaming tickets. www.seattlerep.org


say wa?

Coro Coro, the woman-owned salami company building on its acclaimed origins as Seattle’s Salumi, is thinking outside the casing. Varieties draw upon global influences: mole with cocoa and cinnamon; lemongrass and cumin, or cardamom and orange, for example. A new limited edition, porcini leek salami highlights Pacific Northwest porcini mushrooms, sweet leeks, dry pinot gris and plenty of herbs. Coro’s slow-aging process, ethically sourced pork and fat, proprietary double-grind for the right proportion of fat and meat and a slow mix for the perfect texture, well, has our mouths watering.

CAmark y LEN our DA R

Imogen Cunningham/Seattle Art Museum

www.corofoods.com

“Imogen Cunningham: A Retrospective”

www.seattleartmuseum.org

Head + Heart

CA mar LE k yo ND ur AR

“Imogen Cunningham: A Retrospective” is at the Seattle Art Museum through February 6. It celebrates Cunningham’s immense contribution to the history of twentieth-century photography, with nearly 200 works from her seventy-year career, including portraits of artists, musicians and Hollywood stars, elegant flower and plant studies, poignant street pictures and groundbreaking nudes. Cunningham grew up in Port Angeles and Seattle and opened what is considered the first studio for artistic photography in Seattle.

End 2021 and start 2022 mindfully. Every Tuesday, Spirit Session with Mara Branscome includes yoga, mediation and journaling as well as special events for the new and full moons. Every Saturday morning, the Virtual Breathwork Gathering with Ana Lilia focuses on intention setting, energy healing and the power of doing breathwork as a global community. www.headplusheart.com

DECEMBER | JANUARY 2021

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say wa?

BEST 2021 ALBUMS OF

Washington’s stoner-rock to electro-pop and its singer-songwriter superstar written by Ben Salmon

FROM OLYMPIA to Bellingham, from Spokane to Seattle’s world-famous music scene, Washington’s pint glass runs over with incredible sounds created by world-class bands and solo acts. Here are the twenty best albums released by Washington-based artists in 2021. Brandi Carlile In These Silent Days Brandi Carlile may be more famous than everyone else on this list combined, and deservedly so. The Ravensdale-born and Maple Valley-based Americana singer-songwriter has turned fifteen years of killer songs and shows into superstardom: Grammy awards, arena tours, a bestselling memoir and so on.

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Lest you think it’s all going to her head, In These Silent Days delivers passionate performances, perfect production and plenty of dramatic moments that prove Carlile’s here to stay.

Devin Champlin How to Change from Blue to Green This solo album from a Bellingham-based member of

DECEMBER | JANUARY 2021

country-rock band The Sons of Rainier announces its intentions within the first few seconds of opening track “Out and About,” which begins with gently strummed acoustic guitar alongside the glassy tones of what sounds like a vintage keyboard. Champlin skillfully walks this line for ten more tunes, veering back and forth between sparsely arranged folk songs and muted electronic experiments.


say wa?

Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio I Told You So

The DLO3 are a proven powerhouse in the live setting, where they’ve built a sizable fan base which flocks to their sizzling shows across the Pacific Northwest. But don’t overlook their two albums, including 2021’s I Told You So, which captures the Seattle band’s muscular take on instrumental soul, funk and jazz.

The DLO3 are a proven powerhouse in the live setting, where they’ve built a sizable fan base which flocks to their sizzling shows across the Pacific Northwest. But don’t overlook their two albums, including 2021’s I Told You So, which captures the Seattle band’s muscular take on instrumental soul, funk and jazz. The drums rat-tattat, the bass bounces and the keys flutter and glow. Close your eyes and soak in the sounds of a band at the top of its game.

in fuzzed-out riffs that sound like they could anchor a medium-sized yacht. Written and recorded during the pandemic, Ultra swaggers like a band that has been at it for decades.

Everardo Malo y Bueno Backed by an influential record label (Rancho Humilde) and riding a wave of major YouTube success (his videos have millions of views), Esgar Everardo Hernandez emerged from Kent to become one of Washington’s biggest musical success stories in 2021. His debut album brings together traditional Mexican folk music, crisply plucked acoustic instruments and hip-hop’s style into a sound that’s vibrant, forward-thinking and incredibly fresh.

based on the strength of Perfect Version, her debut album as a solo artist. (She is best known as a member of the band Chastity Belt.) Zorked may be even better. Here, the Seattle-based rocker cranks up the swirling shoegaze vibes, cocooning her melancholy pop songs in a haze of guitar jangle, echo and overcast noise. It is a testament to Shapiro’s talent, then, that her sparkling melodies still shine through.

Left at London t.i.p.a.f.y.h. Left at London—aka the trans indie-pop artist, poet and comedian Nat Puff—first made a splash a few years ago by producing funny Vine videos that went viral. That easily could’ve derailed her “serious” music career, but Puff has expertly navigated the aftermath of fleeting online stardom by focusing on making catchy, sturdy electro-pop songs packed with relatable lyrics about mental health, relationships and queer existence. A promising debut for a talented artist.

Kadabra Ultra Shout out to Kadabra’s record label, Heavy Psych Sounds, for cutting to the chase. The Italian company releases albums by some of the best stoner-rock, doom metal and psychedelic bands going, and now that list includes Kadabra, a Spokane-based combo that specializes

Travis Thompson BLVD BOY For years, Burien’s Travis Thompson has been the regional rap scene’s next big thing, steadily taking steps toward a breakthrough. BLVD BOY hasn’t made him a household name (yet), but it’s a typically excellent collection of Thompson’s distinctively emotive flow, tracks built from big beats and warbling soul music, and famous guests like G-Eazy, Juicy J and Westside Boogie. Thompson’s upward trajectory continues unabated.

Julia Shapiro Zorked Two years ago, Shapiro appeared on this list

12 MORE ALBUMS WORTH HEARING Antonioni | Antonioni

Enumclaw | Jimbo Demo

Meridian Odyssey | Second Wave

Noel Brass Jr. | various releases on Bandcamp

Fretland | Could Have Loved You

Holly Michelle | On One

The Gobs | The Gobs EP / Halloween EP

Eli West | Tapered Point of Stone

Mirabai Kukathas | Songs to the Monster Under My Bed

Wolves in the Throne Room | Primordial Arcana

Rosie Cerquone | The How and the Why Dark Time Sunshine | Lore

DECEMBER | JANUARY 2021

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say wa?

Bibliophile

Author and ski mountaineering legend Lowell Skoog at Washington State Ski & Snowboard Museum, which he cofounded, in Snoqualmie Pass.

A Century on Snow A deep dive into the history, culture and fun of Washington skiing interview by Cathy Carroll

IN WRITTEN IN the Snows, Across Time on Skis in the Pacific Northwest, renowned Washington skiing historian Lowell Skoog delves into the rich history of the past century of Northwest ski culture, from dramatic and colorful stories of wilderness exploration to the evolution of gear and technique, complete with compelling images evoking the friluftsliv, the open-air-living spirit of backcountry skiing. Skoog addresses how skiing has been shaped by larger social trends, including immigration, the Great Depression, war, economic growth, conservation and media. In turn, Northwest skiers have affected their region in ways that transcend the sport, producing local legends such as Milnor Roberts, Olga Bolstad, Hans Otto Giese and Bill Maxwell. He’s logged more than 8,000 hours on the project since starting in 2000, weaving his own observations and experiences into the larger history, showing that skiing is far more than mere sport or recreation. 18

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DECEMBER | JANUARY 2021

Even though you’ve been deeply involved in Northwest skiing since the 1970s, what was the most surprising discovery you made in researching this book? That’s an easy one. The most surprising discovery was that the first ski champion on Mount Rainier was Seattle’s Olga Bolstad, a 24-year-old Norwegian woman who defeated all the men in a ski jumping tournament held at Paradise in the summer of 1917. She was lost to history before I rediscovered her story. This led to a desire to reenact that ski tournament on antique skis a century later. What has driven the explosive growth in backcountry skiing? The growth has been greatly boosted by improvements in equipment. Online media and social media have also ramped up the cool factor of backcountry skiing. A sport that was previously pursued in obscurity by scattered groups now has high visibility, with ‘influencers’ producing video content that is shared worldwide. What are some favorite examples of friluftsliv, the spirit of backcountry skiing? The most memorable examples for me are the reenactments that I’ve organized to commemorate historic events in Northwest skiing history. These have been very informal things, where a few folks in the community have gathered to celebrate the past and humble ourselves by imitating our forebears using old gear and clothing. A few of these events are described in my book. Others include the 2005 reenactment

of the geschmozzel (mass start) of the 1934 Silver Skis race on Mount Rainier; 2008: reviving Nordic ski jumping (on a small scale) in Leavenworth; 2016: reviving the Mountaineers Patrol Race after eighty years. Your book also focuses on the importance of wild places and climate change. What do you advise people to do about it? Get political. As I write in the epilogue to my book, it’s important for individuals to make their personal lives responsible with respect to climate change, but it’s even more important to join with others to work toward systemic change. That means pushing for nationwide and worldwide cooperation to move from the use of fossil fuels to an energy system based on sun and wind. What would you people who want to try backcountry skiing? There are several ski guiding outfits now in the Northwest. For the do-it-yourselfer, I would recommend skiing in or around the boundaries of a lift-skiing area after it closes in spring. Places like Stevens Pass, Mt. Baker or Crystal Mountain can be great for getting acquainted with backcountry ski gear and ungroomed snow conditions. Just make sure to check that the ski areas have okayed uphill skiing after the lift season has ended. Connect with groups like The Mountaineers or the Washington Ski Touring Club. These groups organize outings and provide mentorship for new backcountry skiers.


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food + drink

Beervana

Mosaic State of Mind Brewery leaders launch a collective aimed at promoting diversity in the beer industry written and photographed by Jackie Dodd THE DIVERSITY of beers is seemingly endless, with a range of ingredients finding its way into brew kettles throughout the centuries. The history of craft beer is diverse, too, with contributions from cultures around the globe. This makes the lack of diversity among America’s brewery owners that much more glaring. If asked to conjure an image of a craft-brewery owner, you’re likely to instantly The Mosaic State Brewers Collective members gain insight into careers in the craft beer industry during hop harvesting in Yakima. think of a man. A white man, probably with a beard, in a T-shirt and jeans, and for good reason—most of them are. For a diverse country such as ours, the discrepancy is astonishingly stark. When General Manager Dreux Dillingham helped co-owner program: Do I have a place in the industry? Where is my place in the Rodney Hines open Métier Brewing in Woodinville, they brought industry? How can I become a leader in the industry? Dillingham and Robbins assist people interested in a career in the number of Black-owned breweries in the state to a grand total of one. Only one brewery in one of the biggest craft beer markets craft beer to gain knowledge of brewing, marketing, sales, fostering talent and making connections in the tight-knit Washingin the county has Black ownership. While this lack of diMORE ONLINE ton beer scene. To raise funds and increase awareness of versity has been a topic of conversations over a round of For more The Mosaic State Brewers Collective, Reuben’s Brews and pints for years, Dillingham decided that talk was great, information, visit Métier Brewing collaborated to brew Ombili IPA and funbut action was more his speed and started The Mosaic www.reubens brews.com/ nel proceeds to support the program. Pronounced “ohmState Brewers Collective with Grace Robbins, co-founder foundation/msbc bee-lee,” the word is one that Robbins learned while livof Reuben’s Brews in Ballard. The Mosaic State is a mentorship program, a talent incubator, ing in Namibia, and it means “peace, harmony and all good things.” a hands-on experience and a society formed to nurture talented When the beer sold out, Dillingham and Robbins brewed a chicory people from diverse backgrounds who may not feel welcome in an stout with the next cohort to teach brewing and continue raisindustry dominated by white, heterosexual men. The program has ing funds for the program. They plan to continue to release beer three levels, limited to ten people in each, with new cohorts starting brewed by the students to expand The Mosaic State. The motto of The Mosaic State is inspired by an African proverb about every four months. Each level is centered around three questions aimed at addressing which Dillingham and Robbins summed up as “go far, go togeththe most pressing barriers to entry for people of color, women and er”—as the community of craft beer grows, welcoming more people people of the LGBTQIA (LGBT and Queer, Intersex and Asexu- with a variety of experiences will help it become stronger and richal) community. The questions each frame a different level of the er. With those not yet fully represented, craft beer will go far.

Cocktail Card recipe courtesy of Keith Barnes/ Bainbridge Organic Distillers, Bainbridge Island

Bainbridge Hot Buttered Whiskey 20

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• 2 ounces Battle Point Whiskey • 5 ounces hot water • ½ cup butter

• • • •

¼ cup brown sugar ½ teaspoon cinnamon ¾ teaspoon nutmeg 1 pinch clove

FOR THE BUTTER MIX: Bring butter to room temperature. Add to a bowl with brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove. Whip briefly to combine. (Can be stored up to 10 days in the refrigerator, or longer in the freezer.) TO SERVE: Combine all ingredients in heat-proof glass, stir to incorporate.

DECEMBER | JANUARY 2021


winery · restaurant · inn & spa · event center


food + drink

CRAVINGS BARBECUE It’s usually busy at Olympia’s Ranch House BBQ, but a little wait is worth it. Owner Amy Anderson already had an established barbecue catering business when she opened in 2004, and she’s been competing (and winning) internationally in barbecue since the late ’80s. Try one of her sampler platters—smoked chicken, pork rib tip, pulled pork and beef brisket, cooked low and slow. Don’t forget a bottle of sauce for the road. 10841 KENNEDY CREEK ROAD SW OLYMPIA www.ranchhousebbq.com

PIZZA If you think hops are just for beer, wait until you try them on pizza. HopTown Pizza started as a mobile pizza oven by two farmers’ daughters (one of them a hops farmer). You’ll find a sprinkle of hops on each delicious wood-fired crust. Don’t worry, there’s plenty of local beer on tap, too. ABOVE Tony’s Coffee, roasting craft coffee for fifty years, has pledged to be carbon neutral by 2030. AT RIGHT Tony’s Coffee Brew Bags let you brew java the way you would tea.

CREPES

Gastronomy

Tony’s Coffee written by Cara Strickland IN 1971, THE Northwest’s ubiquitous coffee culture was just getting started. Starbucks perked up Pike’s Place Market that year, but so did Tony’s Coffee, which continues to roast all of their beans in Bellingham. While you can find Tony’s Coffee nationally, mostly in health food and specialty stores, they’ve intentionally kept their operation small enough to keep the roasting process creative, sustainable and high-quality. They were one of the first to source fair trade and organic coffee, and you can now buy twenty different coffees—their team will help match you with a custom blend just for you. They’ve recently released brew bags (like tea bags), perfect for coffee on the go, as well as coffee subscriptions to keep you caffeinated without leaving home. With all this expansion, they haven’t strayed from their roots. You can still go order a cup at their coffee house in the Fairhaven District.

At PAVZ Café Bistro, the crepes are large enough to share, but you don’t have to. Try the rajas con crema crepe for a savory option with poblano peppers, corn, sour cream, onion and cheese or go for a sweet crepe, such as the Black Forest, stuffed with chocolate gelato and cherries preserved in Port wine. 833 FRONT ST. LEAVENWORTH www.pavzcafebistro.com

FISH AND CHIPS You might not expect to find delicious fish and chips in landlocked Ellensburg, but when you stop by The Porch, you’ll want to give them a chance. Try the halibut, keeping in mind that the portion sizes are generous, and ask for the malt vinegar to complement all the house-made sauces. 608 N. MAIN ST. ELLENSBURG www.theporchellensburg.com

2033 DIVISION ST. BELLINGHAM www.tonyscoffee.com

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2560 DONALD WAPATO ROAD DONALD www.hoptownpizza.com

DECEMBER | JANUARY 2021


food + drink

BEST PLACES FOR

PASTRIES ROOST COFFEE This Pullman favorite recently expanded, but their pastries and house-made drink syrups are still on the menu. Try a croissant, cookie, or cinnamon swirl with your coffee or tea and stay a while. 125 SE SPRING ST., SUITE 102 PULLMAN www.roostcoffeepullman.com

LA VIE EN COFFEE BAR & BAKERY This gourmet Italian coffee bar and French-inspired bakery is the perfect place to rendezvous with a friend for an indulgent afternoon of cappuccino and a raspberry croissant, or pick up a mini quiche for breakfast and a salted caramel chocolate hazelnut tart for an evening dessert. 35 S. WENATCHEE ST. WENATCHEE www.lavieencoffeebarbakery.com

BROWN BEAR BAKING There’s almost always a line at this Orcas Island staple, but if you don’t mind a wait, you’ll soon be treated to the talents of owners Lee Horswell and David Ellertsen, who chose to study craft baking as their second act. Bite into any of their French pastries and you’ll agree they made the right call. 29 N. BEACH ROAD, #1966 EASTSOUND www.brownbearbaking.com

Beer, wine and craft cocktails pair deliciously with dishes such as spicy prawn and smoked gouda carbonara, fried cauliflower at downtown Wenatchee’s Stones Gastropub.

Dining

Stones Gastropub written by Cara Strickland

This bustling cafe used to be a grocery store before some creative remodeling turned it into the place to meet on Spokane’s South Hill. Everything is baked in-house, from the sprinkled cupcakes and giant cookies to the cream cheese Danishes and chocolate croissants.

IN THE HEART of Wenatchee’s historic downtown, there’s a little gastropub serving burgers, house-made gnocchi and fresh Washington seafood. They pair it all with Washington wines, whiskeys and beer. Stones has been a mainstay in Wenatchee since 2015. In March 2020, Stones chef Seth McKee and his wife Gina Imperato bought the business right before having to close for the first of two pandemic shutdowns. In spite of the setbacks of their first months, they are still intent on offering craft cocktails, vegan, gluten free and vegetarian options (McKee spent some time working at a wellness resort that catered to dietary needs) and offering seafood from the area where McKee grew up, Whidbey Island. Don’t miss the fried cauliflower, or the Puget Sound seafood boil.

315 E. 18TH AVE. SPOKANE Rockwood Bakery on Facebook

120 N. WENATCHEE AVE., #120 WENATCHEE www.stonesgastropub.com

ROCKWOOD BAKERY

DECEMBER | JANUARY 2021

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farm to table

Farm to Table

The Oyster Outlook Hood Canal shellfish farmers connect with land, sea and people while working for climate policies to protect our waters written by Corinne Whiting photography by Reva Keller SET & DRIFT Shellfish co-founder Alice Helker says that working on an oyster farm is unlike anything she’s done before. In 2017, she and husband Van completed the first harvest on their tidelands at the northern end of the Toandos Peninsula in Hood Canal, Washington’s only saltwater fjord. The duties are incredibly hands-on and labor intensive. “Yet,” she said, “Even if it’s raining, you’re outside, and on a beach.” On a recent morning, Helker set her alarm to arrive by 5 a.m.—a late start compared to some seasons. After dragging herself to the beach, the rewards became immediately clear. “There was a silence and a peace, you could practically touch it,” she comments. Helker finds magic in that twenty-minute window when the sun is rising and the world remains still, the otters just stirring. “The beautiful surroundings are a juxtaposition of how dirty and hard the work is,” she said, smiling. Especially since the pandemic began, she’s felt fortunate to find a constant outlet in nature. “I like being a part of something that is so much bigger of me, part of a natural process.” Her job requires experiencing it all—sunrises, rainstorms, snowfalls. Helker and her husband had worked professionally in the marine sciences, and as officers aboard vessels with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. After getting married they landed in Seattle, where they lived aboard a boat moored across the street from Ballard’s The Walrus and the Carpenter, restaurant-fishing pub with tallboys, crisp muscadet and piles of chubby oysters. It’s where the idea of starting their own farm began percolating in their minds. “We felt a strong pull to build something of our own,” Helker said. Soon she began working for the Puget Sound Restoration Fund. “I fell head over heels in love with the shellfish world and a direct connection to my surroundings,” she says. “To be a shellfish farmer, you have to be a real steward of the water and the land.” After several years of research, countless trials and devoted work, their dream came true. From the start, they’ve bought their seed (or baby oysters) from Jamestown Seafood, a collaborative effort with the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe. Helker praises them for their quality of seed, and willingness to work with small farms like theirs. Set & Drift’s oysters are initially tumbled, meaning they lightly agitate against 24     1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE

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farm to table

Alice and Van Helker separate oysters according to size at a sorting table on the beach at their oyster farm, Set & Drift.

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farm to table

Alice and Van Helker at their oyster farm, Set & Drift, on Hood Canal.

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farm to table

ABOVE, FROM LEFT Van Helker empties an oyster bag on the sorting table, where oysters will be sorted by size. Alice Helker wears a mesh glove to prevent injuries while shucking a Fjordlux oyster on the beach at Set & Drift.

each other, then are finished with a bag-on-beach method. The conditions allow the products to grow stouter (known as “a deep cup”). The farm’s location features a “merroir” marked by flushes of ocean-crisp waters from the north, and the couple describes their Fjordlux oysters, a name they created themselves, as “savory and briny, with a long finish of nori and melon rind.” Early on, the Helkers partnered with Hama Hama oysters, which helped them get into big restaurants in the Seattle market (Westward, Coastal Kitchen and The Walrus and the Carpenter) and made them excited to see their products on the menus. They’ve experienced continual growth ever since. Yet 2020 forced the Helkers to completely change course. As the pandemic set in, the couple felt for all their restaurant partners. “We love the individuals, chefs and all pieces of the industry,” Helker says. This led them to pivot last fall and winter, offering sales directly from their oyster skiff on Lake Union. They sold out on most Thursdays, and the enthusiastic response from customers offered a huge confidence boost. A built-in clientele of neighboring houseboat residents drove their success, as did walk-up patrons. Helker appreciates their loyal shellfish-loving community. “I didn’t anticipate how much energy it would give me,” she said. “I feel so much love and caring for these customers.” Yet 2021 has had challenges, too, with a painful stretch that felt like one thing after another. First, the fisheries community lost a pivotal member, Kurt Grinnell—Jamestown S’Klallam

Tribe elder and co-founder of Jamestown Seafood—whom Alice commends for being “such a leader, such a collaborator, such a believer in education.” Then, when the extreme heat of June arrived, they were unable to harvest. The local industry saw either shellfish die-offs or temperatures so extreme it made the products unsuitable for consumption. (The Helkers’ farm is a member of the Shellfish Growers Climate Coalition, more than 200 businesses in the U.S. and Canada advocating for policies addressing climate change’s impacts on their lives and livelihoods.) Yet despite all the hurdles, Alice says her community is a hardy crew. “If you’re a shellfish farmer, you made a big investment to [do so]. It speaks to you,” she says. “You have a strong resilience to keep farming.” About an hour-and-a-half away, also on Hood Canal, Alderbrook Resort & Spa entices shellfish lovers to wander its beach, where tasty Japanese Pacifics grow. Cynthia Sund, Alderbrook’s director of marine services, said their oysters reach their prime in the springtime. “They begin their preparation for reproduction in late summer/early fall. Once they ‘do their thing,’ they look like they have been ridden hard and put away wet. They are skimpy in girth and not very flavorful. As the water cools in the fall and winter sets in, the oysters begin to recover—eating and fattening up by filtering the cool, nutrient-rich waters. By spring they are once again full in their shell, firm in consistency and packed with flavor.”

“I fell head over heels in love with the shellfish world and a direct connection to my surroundings. To be a shellfish farmer, you have to be a real steward of the water and the land.” — Alice Helker, Set & Drift Shellfish co-founder DECEMBER | JANUARY 2021

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farm to table

Washington Recipes

Fan-sters of Oysters: Take Note Pacific Oysters Sauces SEATTLE / TIDAL+ Caleb Espinosa

FOR APPLE MIGNONETTE •  4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar •  1 tablespoon apples, small and diced •  3 tablespoons shallots, small and minced •  1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped •  1 tablespoon sugar •  Mix well, and serve over fresh oysters

Grilled Oysters with Roasted Garlic Nuoc Cham BAINBRIDGE ISLAND / BaSa Trinh Nguyen and Thai Nguyen

FOR THE NUOC CHAM •  2 bulbs garlic, cut in half •  ¼ cup vegetable oil •  1/3 cup green onion, chopped •  2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped (both stems and leaves) •  1 tablespoon sugar •  2 tablespoons fish sauce •  ½ teaspoon salt •  1 lime, peeled and juiced •  ¼ cup water

FOR BLUEBERRY CHIPOTLE GRANITA •  1 tablespoon blueberry puree •  1 teaspoon chipotle in adobo sauce, puréed and strained •  2 tablespoons red wine vinegar •  2 teaspoon lemon juice •  2 tablespoons water Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and transfer into freezer. Once frozen, use a spoon to shave the granita out of the container. Serve over fresh oysters.

RED WINE MIGNONETTE • 1/2 small shallot, peeled and small diced •  1/8 cup red wine •  ¼ cup red wine vinegar •  1 tablespoon black pepper, toasted and course ground Add red wine to a small sauce pot, and reduce by half on medium heat. Once reduced, add diced shallot, red wine vinegar and the toasted and ground pepper. Remove from pot, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 45 minutes.

lime skin, green onion, sugar, fish sauce, salt, lime juice and water until well combined. FOR THE OYSTERS Preheat grill to 450 degrees. Place oysters on the hot grill and cook until oysters open, approximately 4 to 6 minutes. Remove the top shell from the oysters and place bottom shells on a plate. Top each oyster with a dab of garlic nuoc cham.

Add prosecco to a small pot and cook on medium heat to reduce it by half. Once reduced, add Champagne vinegar, sugar, small cucumber and half of a small shallot. Immediately remove from heat and blend until smooth. Pour into a small container and freeze. Once frozen, use a fork to scrape the granita; place the ice directly on top of the oyster.

Pro Tip: The roasted garlic nuoc cham goes great with shellfish and grilled fish, too.

FRESH HORSERADISH •  1 small, fresh horseradish Peel and grate the horseradish. Don’t grate ahead of time, as it will affect the color. PICKLED FRESNO CHILI •  3 Fresno chilis, seeded and diced small •  1 cup Champagne vinegar •  2 tablespoons sugar •  11/2 tablespoons kosher salt •  ½ teaspoon black peppercorns, toasted and left whole •  ½ teaspoon coriander seeds, left whole, and toasted

OPTIONAL FOR GARNISH •  1 chive, thinly sliced (both whites and greens) •  1 garlic clove, thinly sliced and flash fried •  Micro cilantro FOR THE NUOC CHAM Cut the garlic bulbs in half, drizzle with oil, and bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 35 minutes. Let cool for 10 to 15 minutes or until warm to the touch. Remove garlic from the skins. In a blender, pulse the garlic,

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SEATTLE / General Harvest Restaurants Brian Clevenger

PROSECCO AND CUCUMBER GRANITA •  11/2 cups prosecco •  ¼ cup Champagne vinegar •  1 tablespoon sugar •  1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced • 1/2 small shallot, peeled and chopped

Optional: garnish with chives, garlic chips, and micro cilantro.

FOR THE OYSTERS •  6-8 small oysters, Pacific oysters when possible

Sauces for Kusshi Oysters: Red Wine Mignonette; Prosecco and Cucumber Granita; Fresh Horseradish; Pickled Fresno Chili

Grilled Oysters with Roasted Garlic Nuoc Cham, a sauce that’s excellent with other types of shellfish and grilled fish, too. (photo: Tony To)

DECEMBER | JANUARY 2021

In a small pot, add Champagne vinegar, sugar, salt, black peppercorns and coriander. Bring to a boil, and add three Fresno chilis which have been small-diced and seeded. Immediately turn off the heat; pour the mixture into a glass container and refrigerate. Once cold, add to the top of shucked oysters.


farm to table

Lou Deprile

Seattle’s General Harvest Restaurants’ Sauces for Kusshi Oysters include: red wine mignonette; prosecco and cucumber granita; fresh horseradish; and pickled Fresno chili.

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farm to table

Details in this Vashon Island bathroom are inspired by the owners’ travels to Greece and Europe.

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Photos: Miranda Estes

home + design

ABOVE, FROM LEFT Brass plumbing will age beautifully, as the finish gains a patina when exposed to water or oils in people’s hands. Shower walls boast creamy, hand- made zellige tile for an old-world feel.

Three Bathrooms, One Designer

An interior designer unfolds strategies behind three bathroom remodels and styles, from insouciant to eye-catching written by Melissa Dalton

IF EVER THERE were a place to blend form and function, it’s the bathroom. Amy Vroom, a Seattle-based interior designer, explained. “Obviously, a bathroom’s going to serve some very functional purposes, but it can give us a different mood or feeling, depending on the homeowner’s aesthetic and how it works with the house,” said Vroom, who started her interior design firm The Residency Bureau in 2016. “Your bathroom can feel more spa-like, or it could be more playful and whimsical, or it could be kind-of moody. It’s really about how the clients want it to come to life,” she said. Vroom offers up examples of this with three diverse designs.

Vashon Island: Light and Airy Main Suite Set in the middle of Vashon Island on a working farm, this farmhouse had all of the potential to look older than its actual construction date, which was some time in the 1990s. For example, the main suite “didn’t get the memo that it’s supposed to be an old farmhouse,” said Vroom. The room was previously burdened with an oversized jacuzzi tub and glass-block shower. “That was

part of my challenge: to infuse some of the character and charm that you’d find in an older home.” First, the room was gutted, and the use space from adjacent closets immediately gave the layout more breathing room and an airier feel. The client’s inspiration photos included a cement sink they photographed on a trip to

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home + design

“It’s very much a mix of old and new things. … [It] feels a little bit more interesting and curated, but not in an expected way.” Greece, and old European farm interiors abundant with patina-rich items. “Knowing that we needed to add more character and patina to this space, and keep it light and airy enough for the artwork to be center stage, this really became a study in texture,” said Vroom. The interior designer covered the floors in terracotta tile, specified a plaster finish for the walls, and anchored the room with an antique French counter, which had to be craned through the window at install. The shower walls now boast creamy, handmade zellige tile for an old-world feel. Even the brass plumbing is slated to age beautifully: it has a “living finish” to encourage patina when exposed to water or oils in people’s hands. “The theme is things that are perfectly imperfect,” said Vroom. To introduce a little unexpected tension, Vroom capped the antique vanity with two modern rectangular cement sinks and framed by wall sconces with exposed bulbs. The finishing piece was a large abstract painting from the owner’s collection, its vibrant colors contrasting with the paler palette, giving off an insouciance befitting a farmhouse bathroom.

Vashon Island: Moody Powder Room Vroom also tackled the downstairs powder room in the same farmhouse. At the start, it had two things worth preserving: the five-panel wood door and the wallpaper, an old pattern from fashion designer Vivienne Westwood’s collaboration with Cole & Son. The pattern “has little insects on it and felt fun and farmhouse-y,” said Vroom. “We didn’t want to rip that out or have any damage to it.” Fortunately, the contractor succeeded in preserving much of what was already there, all while adding a tile accent wall, replacing the vanity and flooring, and removing a tricky recessed toilet paper holder in the wall. Wallpaper was patched where needed, using an untouched roll found in the client’s closet. 32     1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE

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This Vashon Island powder room’s moody palette includes a custom walnut vanity, dark green zellige tile, cast-iron sink basin and the ceiling trim painted black to match the floor.

“Our amazing wallpaper installer really performed a miracle with that,” said Vroom. This being a powder room, everyone felt comfortable taking more design risks, so opted for a “moody” palette. A custom walnut vanity floats against a dark green zellige tile backdrop. A cast-iron sink basin sits proud of the soapstone counter, with both materials giving a nod to the farmhouse context, but read more modern in their treatment. The floors are concrete tile etched with a star pattern, and the ceiling and trim was painted black to match it. “It’s very much a mix of old and new things,” said Vroom, adding that such a mix “feels a little bit more interesting and curated, but not in an expected way.”

Miranda Estes

— Amy Vroom, interior designer


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L FE OUTDOORS

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Photos: Brent Henry Martin

home + design

Edmonds: Polished and Playful Kids’ and Guest Bath The brief for this hallway bathroom remodel in an Edmonds midcentury home asked for two outcomes that would, on the surface, seem to oppose one another. The room needed to be playful enough for its primary users, two young boys, while also looking polished for visiting guests. “It was about having a little bit more fun with it,” said Vroom. “[The clients] didn’t shy away from color and pattern, and they wanted to bring more personality to the home.” After slimming the room’s footprint and tweaking the layout, everyone fell in love with a rich blue cement tile in a hexagon

shape with a starburst pattern. White rectangular field tile was stacked vertically as a wainscot behind the sink, and wraps the shower. All of the tile gives the kids “space to be messy,” noted Vroom, but is also easy to clean for incoming visitors. The sink is practical and eye-catching—it has two faucets to accommodate both children at once, and the basin was painted a pretty shade of blue to sync with the tile. “By using a wall-mounted sink, we opened up that whole floor space,” said Vroom. A floating oak shelf, oversized round mirror, and accessible storage are the finishing touches in the cheerful new space.

ABOVE Practical and eye-catching are the key words in this Edmonds bathroom. Two faucets serve both children at once, and the basin’s blue syncs with the rich blue cement tile in a hexagon shape with a starburst pattern. A floating oak shelf, oversized round mirror, stylish lighting and accessible storage create a cheerful, functional new space.

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A New Wine Country

Destination A World Away in Walla Walla Beautifully nestled on 300 acres in the rolling wheat fields and vineyards of Washington wine country, Eritage Resort is a tribute to the history, beauty and warmth of Washington’s farms and vineyards. Only minutes from downtown Walla Walla and its regional airport, Eritage features luxury suites opening to patios with expansive views of the Blue Mountains, rolling

Book Your Stay Today 1319 Bergevin Springs Rd. Walla Walla eritageresort.com 509.394.9200 | 1.833.ERITAGE

farmland and a pristine, man-made lake. Dine at Eritage Restaurant, with a menu inspired by the region’s seasonal bounty and strong connections with local family farmers and suppliers. Sip Washington wine, beer and spirits, as well as special selections from around the world. Or head outside and explore the vineyards via cruiser bike, or paddle out onto Lake Sienna.

Eritage Resort is an unparalleled wine country experience.


Photos: Cedarbrook Sauna & Steam

home + design

Here are the basic steps for turning an existing room into a sauna: PICK A SPOT Your new sauna doesn’t need to be big–Lysaker has seen a closet converted into one. He suggested a space of 4 feet by 4 feet, up to 8 feet by 10 feet, or anywhere in between. PREP Take the room down to studs and tap an electrician for the proper wiring for lights, switches if wanted and the heater. Sauna heaters require 220 volts of power, except infrared. The floor should be non-permeable, like tile, cement or pavers.

Reap the health benefits of your own peaceful place to sweat, and build a sauna with a kit from Cedarbrook Sauna & Steam in Woodinville.

DIY: Convert a Room to a Sauna IT COMES AS no surprise that Brekke Lysaker built his first sauna at age 13. After all, the Lysaker family hails from Norway, having moved to Seattle via Minnesota in the late 1960s, after which Lysaker’s father started a sauna-building business in 1971. “He brought a sauna back from Minnesota and sold it in The Seattle Times classified ads,” recalled Lysaker. “That was the seed that started Cedarbrook.” Based in Woodinville, Cedarbrook Sauna & Steam does a brisk business selling anything you might need for building your own personal, peaceful place to sweat. “It’s an ancient tradition, so the health benefits are not arguable,” said Lysaker, who sits in his own sauna several times a week. The practice is especially great for these modern, tech-addicted times: “Your phone overheats in the sauna,” said Lysaker. Prospective sauna enthusiasts would do well to check out Cedarbrook’s website. There are sauna kits, for either erecting a prefab outdoor sauna building, or converting an interior room, as well as heaters and accessories galore. A Precut Home Sauna Kit includes tongue-andgroove cedar boards sized to fit along with a heater, door, benches and accessories, starting at $3,615. Detailed instructions and videos on the website offer further guidance. 36     1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE

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INSULATE Insulate the walls and add a specialty aluminum sauna-foil vapor barrier, which is necessary for traditional sauna construction. It reflects heat into the space and contains vapor. ADD CEDAR Encase the walls and ceiling in tongueand-groove cedar paneling. Enjoy the wood’s delicious smell—and natural antimicrobial properties. Add removable cedar grating or duckboard to the floor, which is also found in a kit at Cedarbrook. INSTALL HEATER Attach the heater to the wall using mounting brackets, leaving space for it to vent below, as well as an exit vent for cross-ventilation. Surround the heater with a guardrail for safety. Bring the electrician back to connect wiring. FINISHING TOUCHES Trim out the places where boards meet, install the benches for lounging, and don’t forget the door. A pre-built, pre-hung cedar sauna door will be the easiest to install. RELAX “Put the phone down. Get in the sauna, and just sweat it out,” said Lysaker.


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home + design

Colorful Bathroom Goods Hand-poured in small batches in Seattle, the coconut and apricot wax candles from Cancelled Plans are a perfect pop for the bathroom. With scent names like “Alone Time” and “Do Not Disturb,” you’re practically obligated to shut yourself away in a bubble bath and relax. www.cancelledplans.us

A macrame wall hanging adds unexpected texture as an art piece. Check out the artist designs at the Portland-based Modern Macrame, from the calming blues and yellows of “Lunar Intentions” to the rusty red hues of “Desert Sunset.” www.modernmacrame.com

Yes, this is technically called a ceramic salt bowl, but its petite size makes it perfect for odds and ends such as hair ties or a stray earring, and keeping a vanity counter organized. Handmade in Wren, Oregon by Land Bird Ceramics, and available at Tender Loving Empire, the simple white exterior is a fun contrast to the bright, colorful glaze inside. www.tenderlovingempire.com

Interior Designer Amy Vroom uses zellige tile, a glazed terracotta tile handmade in Morocco, for instant character in the bathroom. Vroom’s Vashon Island picks came from the California-based Clé, which offers a range of shapes and sizes, and a rich spectrum of color, from light pearlescent blues and greens, to a moody midnight port, like the wine. www.cletile.com 38

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Experience the Canadian Rockies, Fernie Style.

Photo: Matt Kuhn

Over 30 Ft of Snow Annually | 3,550 Vertical Ft | Top Elevation 7,000 Ft 2,500 Acres of Lift Access Terrain & Thousands of Acres for Catskiing

Located in the Rockies of southeast British Columbia, Fernie is known for its deep powder snow and cool local vibe. Just over a 100 miles north of Whitefish & Kalispell, Montana, Fernie is easy to get to. Add the great currency exchange rate that saves you 20–25% on everything, a trip up is well worth it!

Fernie Alpine Resort – 4 Nights Ski-in Ski-Out Suite & 4 Days of Skiing from US$278/night for two. FWA Catskiing – Single Day Snowcat Skiing from US$396/person, early or late season. Island Lake Catskiing – 2 Nights & 2 Days All-Inclusive from US$1580/person. Book today and visit safely this winter! | ExploreFernie.com | #ferniestoke


mind + body

Untethering Together

One expert’s strategies for setting down the phone and creating your best life written by Cathy Carroll

AS A PSYCHOTHERAPIST for sixteen years, Christina Malecka had a front row seat to the emotional toll that “always on” culture— smartphones and social media—was having on her clients. It included notably increased loneliness, anxiety and alienation. She, too, was feeling the negative effects of constant, relentless distraction of screens. In 2016, she took herself on a week-long, tech-free retreat: no phone, laptop, tablet or TV. “It was so much harder than I thought it would be,” said Malecka, of Seattle. “For the first two days I was anxious, bored and irritable.” But she committed to meditation, time in nature, self-reflection and connection with good friends and her partner. 40     1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE

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“By day three, I felt myself drop into my body and into a state of deep relaxation and contentment,” she said. “I was flooded with insight and inspiration and felt joy and peace that I had not been able to touch for years.” She made a commitment to herself to moderate her use of technology and has been able to stick with it since. (“For the most part—I am human,” she said.) She wanted to bring this experience to others, so she booked a retreat center, and was thrilled that people came and loved it. That spurred her to launch Screen Time Lifeline, a “shame-free community designed to help people beat screen addiction, rightsize your relationship with technology, and reclaim your humanity.” Instead of shame, an ineffective tactic in addressing addiction and emotional health, Malecka said, the focus is on helping people who feel on some level that they’re wasting precious time in life on things that don’t matter. The goal is to spend less time on screens and more on things that give our lives meaning—including nurturing relationships, exploring our talents, learning a craft, reading, traveling and trying new things. “The key to my work is not just about offering people tips for tech-life balance,” she said. “We often use smartphones to shield us from the messiness of human relationships, awkwardness and discomfort. I want to give people an experience of deep connection to remind them it’s worth pushing through awkwardness to know each other and know themselves. Helping people remember and develop skills for social connection is the primary purpose of my retreats.” Couples have reported deepening connection, artists have described more focused creativity, and most participants find better tech-life balance, she said. For Stephanie Hunter-Dines of Seattle, that meant being able to be more present with her five-year-old daughter, which she wasn’t able to do with a lingering desire to check her phone. “For me, the social media trance comes when I’m looking for an escape or a brain break from work, stress, kids, life, etc. Christina supported me in finding my triggers and making an accessible plan on how to fulfill my needs outside of social media or a screen … (and) prioritize my attention within the day appropriately.”


mind + body

“When we are always able to pick up our phones to distract ourselves we lose the benefit of deep emotional inquiry and boredom, which is key for creativity and knowing self and others.” — Christina Malecka, founder of Screen Time Lifeline Malecka said another participant developed the courage to come out as gay after self-reflection and connection with other LGBTQ participants. Beyond wellness, her aim is to address social justice issues including how social media and other digital platforms intersect with capitalism and cause harm. She said it’s important to note that this technology is so new that research findings are constantly changing. “Think about it: humans had hundreds of years to adapt to the massive cultural and neurological changes brought about by the printing press. Yet we have only had 12 years to adjust to smartphones.” The average American spends about four hours a day on their phone and ten hours a day total on screens, she said. “What we do know is that this time spent in the digital world optimizes our brains’ networks for information processing and gives us surface level connections to thousands of people. However, neuroscientists know that when we spend too much time glued to our screens we weaken the neural networks needed for contemplation, deep thinking, sustained attention and emotional connection.” She cited other health effects. Blue light from screens before bedtime interferes with melatonin production and restful sleep, and research indicates that time spent communicating through machines decreases empathy. Bottomless feeds, notifications, twenty-fourhour availability and “like” buttons keeps us in sustained adrenaline-fueled sympathetic nervous system states. This is the fight-orflight stress state that can eventually lead to heart attack, stroke and other serious health problems. “When we are always able to pick

up our phones to distract ourselves we lose the benefit of deep emotional inquiry and boredom, which is key for creativity and knowing self and others,” she said. But, Malecka added, there’s good news: our brains never stop growing, and we can rewire our capacity for focus, creativity, contemplation and social connection by learning to work without distraction, tolerate boredom and connect with people, face-to-face, in real time. Starting the journey can be as easy as doing a do-it-yourself, tech-free retreat at home. Malecka’s offers a free, five-page guide with ten simple steps to do this as well as a “cheat sheet” of several dozen simple strategies for “digital wellbeing.” She also offers one-hour workshops, local weekend retreats (Finding Stillness & Connection in the Digital Age: A Screen-Free Retreat at the Whidbey Institute in Clinton, May 13 through 15) or a sevenday “Unplug, Reconnect and Restore: A Digital Fast and Yoga Retreat” in Mexico March 12 to 19.

10 STEPS OF A DIY DIGITAL RETREAT 1. Prepare: Block off Unplugged Time on Your Calendar 2. Sit Quietly & Meditate on Your Intentions for this Retreat 3. Make a Plan to Engage All Senses You Have (Look at something beautiful, eat something delicious, feel textures in your environment, find scents inside and outside to experience, listen to ambient sounds, enjoy music.) 4. Spend Time in Nature (Even in your backyard or a park) 5. Journal (What have you been meaning to make time for, but never get around to?) 6. Investigate Your Relationship with Social Media (How can I get those emotional needs met in “real life?”) 7. Commit to In-Person Connections (Contact at least three people to meet up—screen time does not meet the physiological need for human connection.) 8. Strategize to Reduce Your Screen Time (Pick a few from Screentime Lifeline’s free guide.) 9. Reclaim Your Time (Schedule the priorities and activities you wrote about in step five.) 10. Close with a Meditation & Gratitude Practice (Sit quietly, reflect. Can you name five things you are grateful for today?)

Christina Malecka believes people need to feel good about themselves to be able to have a positive impact on the world.

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Details at: www.screentimelifeline.com

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Jovelle Tamayo

artist in residence

Ideas, Illuminated After decades of shows around the U.S., Barbara Earl Thomas’ Seattle exhibits address innocence, racism, resilience written by Cathy Carroll

STEP INTO A ROOM composed entirely of paper, with thousands of images and patterns cut out of the 12-foot-high walls, and you are stepping into the mind of Barbara Earl Thomas. You may notice the shapes of snakes, flowers or a motif of millions of triangles, illuminated like a delicate paper lantern, an intricate version of one you may have made in elementary school. You arrive in this part of the exhibit “The Geography of Innocence” after taking in ten glowing papercut portraits of Black boys and girls, and glass pieces, including candelabra, which she made to accompany them.

Barbara Earl Thomas advises aspiring artists: find out how to hear your voice, and work hard, then you can trust it.

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Your Next Adventure Starts Here

salishan.com

Photography credit: Mark McInnis


artist in residence

FROM LEFT “The Geography of Innocence” at Seattle Art Museum. “Boys in Night Light” by Barbara Earl Thomas.

“It’s so that my viewer can be surrounded, so that my viewer has a place to think about some of the things perhaps I’ve told them, and that they can be inside of what I’ve considered,” said Thomas. “I call it ordinary magic. This is what’s in the world, and this is the way I see it.” Part of the idea for the exhibit, which runs through January 2 at Seattle Art Museum, began to emerge for Thomas after the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut. “I thought, now if nothing happens in terms of violence in our schools or violence anywhere, if we can’t all come together around what happens to children, then we really are not as evolved as we think we are,” said Thomas, who lives in Seattle, where she was born and raised. These thoughts prompted her to begin doing portraits of friends’ children, many of them in her Mount Baker neighborhood, and one from the photograph of a 42-year-old friend at age 8, the time when she’d become friends with his mother. He didn’t know why she’d want to include him. “I said, ‘Dear, it’s not about you, it’s about the hopes and dreams that I had for you, and now you’ve fulfilled them all (he’s a master gardener who works for food justice), and had you been snuffed 44

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out at 8, I would not be able to know that … I wanted to say to people, this is what we lose. We might lose the next Martin Luther King, or we might lose the next Kennedy … but maybe we lose someone who’s going to help us understand what climate change is doing, and not just help us understand, but do something about it—that’s what we lose.” SAM’s Jon and Mary Shirley Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Catharina Manchanda, has noted that Biblical narratives form the backdrop of many of Thomas’ works, and she brings its symbolism to bear on the nation’s political climate. “In rethinking the values assigned to light and dark in Western culture, Barbara Earl Thomas adds an important new chapter to portraiture and to Black portraiture in particular,” said Manchanda. In new work slated to be unveiled this spring at Yale’s Grace Hopper College, Thomas confronts racism while contextualizing the history of the residential college’s name. She designed a new set of windows for the dining hall of the New Haven, Connecticut, college, which originally was named for 19th-century statesman and notorious slavery advocate John C. Calhoun. In 2017, the college was renamed for Hopper, a Yale graduate of the 1930s and trailblazing computer scientist and


Spike Mafford/Seattle Art Museum

Barbara Earl Thomas, courtesy of Claire Oliver Gallery; photo by Spike Mafford

artist in residence

mathematician. It was the year after a college employee used a broomstick to smash a dining hall window that depicted slaves working in a cotton field. Multiple windows in the hall were removed and are available for research at the university library. The broken pane was displayed in an exhibition on American glass at Yale University Art Gallery in 2019, according to the university. Thomas’ facility as a storyteller was immediately apparent to the university’s selection committee, said John Stuart Gordon, the art gallery’s Benjamin Attmore Hewitt associate curator of American Decorative Arts. “She has a gift for rendering deep, nuanced, and vital ideas through her silhouettes, and it is a language that translates seamlessly between various media. There is a sense of hope and historical awareness in her work that complemented the ideals of those living in Yale’s Grace Hopper College.” In the work, Thomas’ windows tell the story of the renaming, from Calhoun’s disturbing legacy to the honorable life of Hopper. The fate of another of Thomas’s recent works lies at the nexus of racism and history, although she couldn’t have known that would be the case. She created thirty-two steel-cut mural panels with gates for the exterior of the Multnomah County Central

Courthouse in Portland, Oregon, which opened in October 2020. The works depict the arts, culture and history of the county, but it has been boarded up since officials believed unrest over racial issues could damage the work, Thomas said. Her work is also in a new exhibit at The Henry Art Gallery at the University of Washington. “Packaged Black” is a collaborative, multi-media installation with New York-based artist Derrick Adams, about representation, Black identity, and practices of cultural resistance. The two artists began an exchange across geographic and generational distances (Adams was born in 1970 and Thomas was born in 1948) after exhibiting work alongside each other in a group show at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia in 2017. In “Packaged Black,” Thomas drew upon the role of media and fairytales in shaping social expectations and her own identity. She created an immersive installation conceived as a “transformation room,” with new cut-paper portraits of friends and colleagues that riff on the idea of a royal court, addressing relationships that span time and place and celebrate the creative resilience of Black communities. The exhibit runs through May 1. DECEMBER | JANUARY 2021

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STARTUP 48 WHAT’S GOING UP 50 WHAT I’M WORKING ON 52 MY WORKSPACE 54

pg. 54 This Seattle-based chocolate company began without chocolate.

Suchita Kalele

GAME CHANGER 56


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startup

Yoodli’s founding team, Ehsan Hoque, Esha Joshi and Varun Puri.

AI-Powered Public Speaking

A small Seattle startup helps take the anxiety out of big presentations with digital coach, Yoodli written by Cathy Carroll IN OCTOBER, Madrona Venture Group of Seattle announced an investment in Yoodli, a startup that uses artificial intelligence to help people with public speaking. Madrona expanded on why it was excited to be a part of this journey, noting that public speaking is rarely taught effectively in a classroom setting, and almost never beyond the C-suite of a corporate environment, yet studies show that the fear of public speaking affects more than two in three people. The venture group seems to be as impressed with the talents of Yoodli’s creators, Ehsan Hoque, Esha Joshi and Varun Puri, as it is with the technology. Since their first meeting at the AI2 Incubator, an initiative of Seattle’s Allen Institute for AI, they recognized the energy the team brought and the genuine, inspiring passion they have around Yoodli. The three founders came together over personal experiences in public speaking. Puri, a former nationally ranked debater, teamed up with Joshi while she was an Apple engineering lead and regular Toastmasters attendee. Together, they brought on Ehsan Hoque, the co-lead of the Rochester Human Computing Interaction group in New York, who adds decades of academic experience to the problem space. Madrona also saw that the Yoodli concept is capitalizing on broader trends in the coaching and betterment space. “Individuals are increasingly demanding self-serve options for upskilling and betterment,” according to Madrona’s announcement. “Rather than a full HR suite integration, they want to be able to use a lightweight (and often) web ‘app for that’—and in today’s remote team management world, soft communication skills have become an integral part of our daily jobs.” Yoodli, also based in Seattle, has fewer than ten employees and yet-undisclosed revenue, as it is still in beta testing. They are hiring for growth marketing and full stack engineering roles. We caught up with Varun Puri, Yoodli co-founder and entrepreneur in residence at the Allen Institute for AI, to see how AI could cure presentation anxiety. 48     1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE

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As a former nationally ranked debater, you gave the commencement address when you graduated from Claremont McKenna College in 2016. Have you experienced the cringe-worthy pain points you’re trying to help others prevent with Yoodli? I was eleventh at the U.S. National Championships in 2015. I’ve struggled (and have seen countless others struggle) as I prepare for any speaking engagement. Most times, I have the content and know what I need to say, however, figuring out how to say it is the hardest part. I try to practice in front of a mirror, use a stopwatch and ask a friend to give me feedback. However, it’s uncomfortable to stand in front of a mirror or ask friends to watch your half-baked speech. Hence the idea of an AI-powered coach. How does the platform work? Yoodli provides real time analytics as you’re speaking. It also shows you a personalized dashboard with insights about your speech. Through Yoodli, you can connect with coaches and asynchronously collaborate on speeches with teammates. Famous entrepreneurs such as Tim Ferriss tout the importance of public speaking in business success, whether it’s a presentation for funding or a TED Talk, etc. What are your thoughts? I couldn’t agree more. We all know dozens of people who are extremely smart but don’t get the recognition they deserve because of the way they present their ideas. I experienced this first hand at GoogleX, where many of my engineering colleagues would do the hard work behind the scenes. However, when it came to explaining the work to a large audience (which, in turn, affects outcomes such as your promotion review), they’d either opt out or present in a way that didn’t do their work justice! Yoodli offers AIpowered feedback, analytics and insights to improve your presentation skills—without the pressure of an audience or rehearsing in the mirror.


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What’s Going Up

Home for the Holidays Apartments, solar-powered houses and tiny homes to serve veterans and others in need

Olympia’s Low Income Housing Institute’s partnership with Interfaith Works meets their most vulnerable neighbors where they are, providing a feeling of safety and of family—what you’d want your own mother, brother, daughter, or friend to have.

written by Cassidy Mundo OLYMPIA TARGETS RENTALS FOR LOW INCOME A NEW LOW-INCOME housing building in Olympia includes sixty-five permanent housing units for homeless people operated by Low Income Housing Institute as well as a sixty-bed shelter on the ground floor. The five-story Martin Way Housing & Shelter, a partnership with Interfaith Works, is expected to be completed in December 2021. Low Income Housing Institute is the owner and developer, and is partnering on the project with Interfaith Works, which has been providing shelter in church and spiritual community basements, social halls and sanctuaries for nearly 30 years. The architect is Encore Architects of Seattle, and the contractor is Walsh Construction Co. of Portland. The affordable units are targeted to households at or below 30 percent and 50 percent of the area median income. SOLAR-POWERED HOMES IN YAKIMA Yakima Valley Partners Habitat for Humanity recently broke ground on what is expected to be ten solar-powered, low-income homes. The development on 24th and Mead Avenue in Yakima will be called The Vine.

Encore Architects

HOMELESS VETS COME HOME The Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs obtained more than five acres in Orting to create a tiny-home village for veterans experiencing homelessness. The project, Orting Veterans Village, broke ground in January 2020, opened last spring and now has residents in each of its thirty-five units.

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what i’m working on

New Journeys in Mental Health

WSU’s Oladunni Oluwoye on innovations for improving diverse communities’ access to mental health care written by Keith Moore

OLADUNNI “DUNNI” OLUWOYE is an assistant professor at Washington State University’s Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine in Spokane, in the Department of Community and Behavioral Health. She is also co-director of the Washington State Center for Excellence in Early Psychosis. Oluwoye has a doctorate in health promotion and education from the University of Cincinnati and graduate and undergraduate degrees in psychology at Alabama A&M University and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, respectively. Her research focuses on racial health equity—a topic on the top of mind for many people right now. We caught up with her to explore how her research informs public service. What was the subject of your Ph.D.? I was focused on substance use among young adults, with an emphasis on understanding substance use among Black/African American college-age students and racial disparities. How did you become interested in racial health equity? I have always been interested in increasing racial health equity as it pertains to behavioral health. After arriving in Spokane in 2016 as a postdoctoral fellow, I became more involved in early psychosis and coordinated specialty care, an early intervention program. Psychosis plays a large role in your research. How do you identify it early? In the U.S., there have been improvements in developing screening tools to identify people at high risk for experiencing psychosis or diagnosing people who are having their first episode of psychosis. This also includes more training for providers and educating the community at large about signs and symptoms. 52     1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE

It is about understanding what those early symptoms are and getting these people into that treatment early. In this day and age, it is also about ensuring that people have equitable access to specialized services.

Oladunni Oluwoye discusses the New Journeys program, which goes beyond medication and therapy and has education and employment services, peer support and family education.

What keeps you up at night? Knowing that we need to do better, thinking about how we can do better, and finding ways to improve pathways to care. This is super important to me. Families and clients share their experiences with me and I realize that they have to endure so much to get to the appropriate services. I worry about how we can improve those pathways to coordinated specialty care for racially and ethnically diverse groups that moves us beyond what we have already been doing.

Healthcare Authority and University of Washington. We evaluate and implement these programs through the state. We now have eleven throughout the state of Washington. The nice thing about this program is that it has multiple components beyond medication and therapy. It also has education and employment services, peer support, family education, and is client-focused. Our New Journeys’ programs located in counties and cities have ingrained themselves within their respective communities and educate the community. The New Journeys program is for people 15 to 40 years old. They focus on the venues where they get the most referrals from—schools, in the criminal and juvenile justice system and some emergency departments.

Tell us about the state-funded project you’re working on—New Journeys. In Washington, we have a network of coordinated specialty care programs called New Journeys. I lead the work here at Washington State University along with other faculty and research staff, and we work closely with our colleagues from the Washington State

What are you working on now? Developing programs and materials that can educate community members and organizations on psychosis and improving access to mental health care. Can it be a peer-led model that is developed by the community? That allows people to get the access to the services they need and navigate that system.

DECEMBER | JANUARY 2021


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OREGON COAST visittheoregoncoast.com Funded in part by

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my workspace

A chocolatier makes rose truffles at the indi chocolate cafe and factory in Seattle. A dot of chocolate on top helps the rose petals stick to the truffles.

I started my first bean-to-bar chocolate company in Belize, where cacao is native and has a long Mayan history. That’s where I learned about my passion for making chocolate as well as working with and helping cacao farmers, but I needed something closer to home because my children were still very young.

Indi Sensation

Blocks from Pike Place lies a cafe and chocolate factory steeped in Belize bean-to-bar traditions written by Kent Miller photography by Suchita Kalele 54

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indi chocolate actually started without chocolate. Because my youngest daughter has such sensitive skin, we needed something that had pure ingredients, was good for her skin and that she would enjoy using. So, indi chocolate was started in my kitchen making the cocoa butter-based lotions and lip balms. My youngest daughter named the company after her older sister, Indi.


my workspace

I did not come from wealth and have had to work hard at every step of the way. indi chocolate reflects my values of helping others while making delightful products with the fewest and best ingredients, and I have done this all from scratch. I’ve had to be resourceful and scrappy to get this small, indi business going, and the pandemic has been a big challenge.

Starting a chocolate company without chocolate has been an inspiration and personal challenge for me to not only begin making bean-to-bar chocolate (like I had originally planned) but to also surprise and delight our customers with new and innovative cacao and chocolate products.

indi chocolate launched in Pike Place Market during Magic in the Market, when reindeer and Santa visit the market, and the giant holiday tree is lit. Magic in the Market is the one day a year where indi chocolate is able to sell hot chocolate and our signature cookies and brownies on Pike Place, instead of our muchmore-difficult-to-find storefront on Western Avenue (a three-minute walk from the market). It’s so much fun seeing folks return every year, as well as make new friends and fans.

ABOVE, LEFT indi chocolate founder Erin Andrews inside her Seattle storefront. ABOVE, RIGHT Roasted cocoa nibs, warm cocoa butter and sugar are mixed together and put into a refiner such as this one to transform the elements into chocolates. The ingredients are ground for up to three days to produce a smooth, melt-in-the-mouth texture.

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Alec Miller

game changer

Michele Thomas, right, is the director of policy and advocacy at Washington Low Income Housing Alliance.

Homelessness Crusader Tireless champion poised for another battle to help low-income homeowners, renters, vulnerable communities written by Kevin Max MICHELE THOMAS grew up in Kent, and her mother still lives in the same house there, but she nearly lost it to foreclosure if not for a piece of Washington legislation. It was one that the mother and daughter, had worked on when Michele first started at Washington Low Income Housing Alliance. Thomas’ mother had faced financial hardship after her father died, and was close to losing her home and all of the memories associated with it. New homeowner protections that Thomas had helped get through the Washington Legislature, however, turned out to be what saved her mother from losing the family home to foreclosure. Thomas, now the director of policy and advocacy at the state Low Income Housing Alliance or LIHA, began working on housing issues more than twelve years ago, when she started as a volunteer out of college. She began working with homeowners whose homes were being foreclosed and learning about the problems of the more vulnerable segment of people—renters who face eviction. “If we can provide homeowners this level of protection, why can’t we do it for renters as well?” Thomas said. “Lawmakers increasingly understand the incredibly long-lasting impacts of eviction, the trauma it causes to families and how it’s deeply rooted in racial inequities.” Homeowner foreclosure and renter eviction issues are, of course, inextricably tied to the larger homelessness crisis that Washington and the country face. Thomas is all too familiar with this cycle. 56

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As a recent college graduate, she’d worked for Real Change, the nonprofit newspaper, as a vendor and volunteer coordinator. At the same time, she was volunteering for the Tenants Union of Washington State, taking desperate calls on its hotline. The experiences left an indelible mark on her. “I talked to vendors experiencing homelessness every day as they came into the office, rested a little and bought their newspapers,” she recalled. “I heard their stories over and over again of losing their homes, and their struggles to survive on the streets. Working on the hotline, I heard story after story of renters throughout the state, struggling to keep a roof over their heads and facing incredible injustices. And those stories stick with me.” Last legislative session, Thomas, LIHA and Washington made history with homeowner protections. With the passage of Senate Bill 5160 and House Bill 2136, Washington became the first state in the country to pass home renters’ right to counsel, which provides an opportunity for tenants to be represented, to negotiate options to eviction. “This law provides tenants with access to somebody who knows what their rights are, so that they can make sure that they are exercising their rights when they face an eviction.” Even with this victory for some of the most vulnerable Washington residents, serious challenges lie ahead. Last summer, LIHA began conducting surveys across the state. “The thing that people are most concerned about is the massive rent increases that they’re experiencing across the state. This is particularly worrisome for lower-income folks who were already paying way more in rent than they could afford. We have a lot of renters in Washington state who are not currently behind on rent, but are hanging on by a thread.” In the next legislative session that begins in January, Thomas and her colleagues will seek legislation to address rent gouging. “Tenants across the state are reporting significant rent increases, and they don’t have any place else to go,” she said. “This really threatens to destabilize communities, and it also threatens to significantly hamper our homelessness services. One of the most important interventions to stop people from experiencing homelessness and eviction is rental assistance.”


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The natural beauty of Washington lends itself to romantic getaways, especially when the dark nights and chill of winter prompts more snuggling. From windswept beaches to the misty mountains, make a plan now to bond on invigorating adventures among the evergreens or to cozy up inside with spa treatments, tasting menus, steamy libations and warming Washington wines. Here are eight venues made for rest, rejuvenation and romantic moments you won’t forget.

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The Captain Whidbey Inn, a lodging and hospitality establishment built in 1907, is located on Whidbey Island at the west end of Penn Cove. (photo: Captain Whidbey Inn) DECEMBER | JANUARY 2021


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SEATTLE

Lotte Hotel Seattle In downtown Seattle, the intimate The Edgewater Hotel’s waterfront locale serves up some of the city’s best sunsets, while the Inn at the Market lies steps from historic Pike Place and modern-day buzz. For a truly elevated experience, check into LOTTE HOTEL SEATTLE, where top-notch service feels warm, genuine and delightfully non-intrusive. This new decadent oasis is part of LOTTE,

the largest hotel group in Korea and is its third outpost in the U.S. Hovering high above the city, views of the Sound from the sixteenth-floor Charlotte Restaurant & Lounge dazzle. Book a couple’s massage in the lightfilled spa. Modern guest rooms and suites are splashed with whimsical artwork and pops of color. Sink into the luxurious bathtub, wrap yourself in a fluffy robe, and take it all in.

WOODINVILLE

Willows Lodge

The relaxation pool at Willows Lodge is the perfect way to unwind on a romantic getaway. (photo: Willows Lodge)

Just 20 miles northeast of Seattle, Willows Lodge welcomes guests to the heart of Woodinville Wine Country. Stroll to more than thirty-five tasting rooms including Delille Cellars, Sparkman, Long Shadows Vintners, Fidélitas, Latta Wines and Mark Ryan Winery, which will have a new tasting space this fall. Check into one of the eighty-four luxury rooms at this inviting, Northwest-style lodge, and head to the spa’s relaxation pool and outdoor sauna. After a couple’s massage, retreat to your room’s roaring fireplace and deep soaking tub. Better yet, book the Do Not Disturb Package to stock your room with luxurious amenities (think Molton Brown bubble bath, Saltworks premium Epsom bath crystals, rose petals, Fran’s Chocolates, Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Champagne and flameless candles) and dining at the awardwinning Barking Frog, the Fireside Lounge or ordering room service.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LOTTE HOTEL SEATTLE offers top-notch treatment for an urban getaway. Book a couple’s massage in the light-filled spa. Dine high above the city with views of the Sound from the sixteenth-floor Charlotte Restaurant & Lounge. (photos: LOTTE HOTEL SEATTLE)

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Just 20 miles northeast of Seattle, Willows Lodge welcomes guests to the heart of Woodinville Wine Country.


KIRKLAND

The Woodmark Hotel & Still Spa

The Lodge at St. Edward offers rich history, gallery-like hallways filled with art, a well-appointed spa and dining and cocktail options on 326 acres near Lake Washington. (photo: The Lodge at St. Edward State Park)

KENMORE

The Lodge at St. Edward Park History-loving duos will want to explore one of the Northwest’s latest enchanting options, a former seminary transformed into The Lodge at St. Edward Park in Kenmore. Reconnect on this tranquil 326-acre property marked by old-growth forest and 3,000 feet of shoreline 16 miles from Seattle on the eastern banks of Lake Washington. Wander the trails of Saint Edward State Park before dinner, where from your table you may glimpse deer prancing across the grounds at dusk. Indulge your senses with the Savor at the Lodge package of wining and dining. Stroll the halls filled with

dozens of works of art on your way to the Tonsorium (Latin for barber shop) Bar for live music Thursday nights or linger over harp melodies during Sunday brunch. For dinner followed by a sultry, late-night piano session, book a table at Cedar + Elm, the grand, highceilinged restaurant which was once the seminary dining hall. Reap restorative bodywork at the lodge’s Vita Nova Spa, then lounge beside a secluded, outdoor fire pit. For extra-special treatment, book a private tour in the lodge’s 1938 Pontiac limo, rebuilt with modern upgrades—plush upholstery, a moon roof and an audio and video system.

The Woodmark Hotel & Still Spa In Kirkland, watch the moon rise over Lake Washington from your balcony at The Woodmark Hotel & Still Spa. The amorous tone is set from the start with the soothing sounds of lapping waves. Book the Reconnect to Romance package so you can unwind in a bath with Pacific Northwest lilac and honey scrub, rosemary mint lotion and rose petals while sipping Treveri Cellars bubbles and hors d’oeuvres from the property’s two lakefront restaurants. Begin the day with breakfast Carillon Kitchen (think avocado toasts and breakfast burritos) and order something to go as you head out for a spin on the hotel’s beach cruisers. Wind through downtown Kirkland and its urban beaches, and return to the Still Spa for treatments such as the Mt. Rainier hot stone massage. For dinner at Woodmark’s Beach Café, gaze out at the lake, and treat yourselves to seasonal dishes such as Dungeness crab cakes, wild mushroom tarts, seafood cioppino and honey-roasted Muscovy duck breast. Keep up your sustenance by sneaking off to the lobby for the Raid the Pantry service starting at 10 p.m.— tap into your teen appetite and blitz snacks in the lobby’s walk-in closet.

At Beach Café, gaze out at the lake, and treat yourselves to honey-roasted Muscovy duck breast. (photo: The Woodmark Hotel & Still Spa)

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BELOW Suncadia, in Cle Elum, lies on the sunny, eastern slopes of the Cascade Range. (photo: Suncadia Resort)

CLE ELUM

Suncadia Why not mix romance with magic in a mountain escape? Head 80 miles east of Seattle, over Snoqualmie Pass to outdoors adventure and indoor relaxation at Suncadia. This Cle Elum resort on 6,400 acres, lies on the sunny, eastern slopes of the Cascade Range. Reserve a room with panoramic views at the grand, Northwest-style lodge, or settle into a spacious townhome with a full kitchen and snuggle-ready fireplace. Breathe in sweet mountain air together along the property’s 40-plus miles of hiking and biking trails and three championship golf courses. Afterward, get a treatment at the Glade Spring Spa, then linger in your blissful state at the spa’s sanctuary as you sink into a giant beanbag together and sip hot tea. Dip into the hot mineral baths outside, amid meandering creeks, rustic saunas, natural walking paths,

and fire pits. Beyond the resort, explore charming, historic Roslyn— the location for exterior scenes for TV’s Northern Exposure. Get lost inside Basecamp Book & Bites, or have a frothy pint at Brick Saloon, considered Washington’s oldest continuously operating bar, established in 1889. As the sun sinks beyond the peaks, settle into a table at Suncadia’s Portals, for crispy cauliflower with sweet chili sesame glaze and green onions, gnocchi with chicken andouille in leek cream and chive oil, or the arugula and Chinese tatsoi salad. At the resort’s Stovehouse restaurant, order seared sea bass or a BLT with avocado and an herb aioli on sourdough bread. Wow a partner with a golf membership at the property’s Tumble Creek, with exclusive amenities including its restaurant at The Great House.

FROM TOP At Alderbrook Hotel & Spa, book the Seasonal Spa Surprise or Fido on the Fjord and bring your furry friend along, too. Take an afternoon dip at Alderbrook’s indoor, saltwater pool. (photos: Alderbrook Hotel & Spa)

UNION

Alderbrook Hotel & Spa Alderbrook Resort & Spa, propped on the edge of the Hood Canal, proves a restorative getaway in any season, but it’s an especially enticing chilly-weather haven. Watch the morning fog roll off the water and resident wildlife chirp to life as you enjoy coffee fireside. Take a walk through private, forested trails, pick up local goods from Union City Market (the resort’s working marina, two miles down the road), and take an afternoon dip in the indoor, saltwater pool with dreamy mountain views. Packages range from the Seasonal Spa Surprise to Fido on the Fjord, ideal for couples not wanting to leave furry family members behind. Cap off the day with a meal at Alderbrook’s restaurant which shows off local bounty in its clam chowder, Grand Marnier prawns, and seared halibut and king salmon with black lentils, artichoke hearts, charred corn, piquillo peppers, and brown butter and carrot puree.

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Move through the days here at your desired pace—booking services at the Ludlow Bay Massage & Wellness Spa, play a round of golf, hit hiking and biking trails or explore Chimacum Valley’s farms and cideries. PORT LUDLOW

The Port Ludlow Inn

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP Captain Whidbey Inn is considered the unofficial official lodge of Ebey’s Landing National Historic Reserve. Raise a glass at the gateway to a rugged, wild spot fostering romance and adventure. The dock at Penn Cove offers views to relax to. (photos: Captain Whidbey Inn)

On the shores of Puget Sound, The Port Ludlow Inn’s boutique, waterfront venue draws inspiration from New England’s classic coastal summer homes. Move through the days here at your desired pace— booking services at the Ludlow Bay Massage & Wellness Spa, play a round of golf, hit hiking and biking trails or explore Chimacum Valley’s farms and cideries. The Dine and Unwind package includes dining at The Fireside Restaurant—perfect for views of Ludlow Bay and sunsets over the Olympic Range—and a bottle of wine from the cellar upon check-in. Or, book a tasting dinner with wine pairings.

WHIDBEY ISLAND

Captain Whidbey Inn Slip onto island time travel via ferry to the secluded, waterside cabin at Captain Whidbey Inn, a fully reimagined, six-acre property on Penn Cove with historic rooms, suites and cabins. Among the old-growth firs of Whidbey Island, each cabin is custom-outfitted by one of four regional design experts—Edit Whidbey, Filson, Glasswing or We the Nomads—with palette, indoor plants and a hand-painted mural inspired by the Salish Sea. Some may find it challenging to leave the comfort of the cabin, with its fireplace, king-sized bed and private porch, perfect for whale-watching. Breakfast can be picked up at the front desk. In the evening, the light-filled lounge and dining spaces are alluring. Sip a creative cocktail cozied up by the century-old fireplace. Be forward-thinking about your indulgence and order a Date Night or Sunset on the Beach selection of hors d’oeuvres delivered to your room from local Italian restaurant Ciao.

Port Ludlow Inn, a boutique, waterfront property, is inspired by New England’s classic coastal summer homes. (photo: The Port Ludlow Inn)

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QUICK HIT

Katie Hensien Age: 22 U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team: Alpine Years: 5 (Since 2018 ) Events: Slalom, Giant Slalom Hometown: Redmond Current residence: Denver and Park City, Utah

Ryan Mooney/U.S. Ski & Snowboard

Best finish: Silver Medal, 2019 Junior World Cup

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‘GRAVITY GIRL’

GROWS UP

For years, Redmond’s Katie Hensien has worked and dreamed for a shot at the Olympics—now’s her chance written by James Sinks

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Ryan Mooney/U.S. Ski & Snowboard

Katie Hensien’s daily routine involves waking up at 5 a.m., a workout, eight to ten runs on the mountain, another workout, then studying.

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In YouTube footage from a decade ago, teen and pre-teen girls on skis zigzag through trees, jump off ledges, and showboat their way down Oregon’s snow-covered Mount Hood. Some of them even go backwards. And in the middle of it all, a grinning Katie Hensien mugs for the camera between breakneck ski runs, with windburned cheeks and brown hair poking out from under her helmet. The video is called, aptly enough, “Girls Who Ski Better Than You.” For Hensien, a native of Redmond, the sentiment was accurate then, and it’s an understatement now. At age 22, she’s been named to one of the coveted twenty slots for women on the 2021-22 U.S. Alpine Ski Team. It’s her fifth straight year qualifying for the nation’s squad. Since she started competing at age 6, after her parents unknowingly enrolled her in a downhill skiing club, Hensien dreamed about speeding onto the medal stand at the Olympics. It’s in her sights now: this winter, the 2019 World Junior Team Event Silver Medalist is in the mix to secure a spot on the U.S. Olympic team competing in February in Beijing. She’s also aiming for a top-30 world ranking. Her specialties are the so-called “technical” disciplines of slalom and giant slalom, which combine speed and precise turns. To qualify for the Olympics squad, athletes hopscotch to mountains around the globe and must hit certain marks by January, such as top finishes and accumulated race rankings. There is a limit of eleven women and eleven men skiers on the Olympic squad, across all of the Alpine events, which include downhill and slalom.

World class skiers fly down the slopes at paces that would earn you a speeding ticket on the interstate— approaching 80 miles an hour in some terrain—and the difference between winning and not medaling can be hundredths of a single second. “I think a unique trait you need to become a ski racer is to be an adrenaline junkie. You need to be in the right state of mind to be okay with not being okay—if that makes sense,” Hensien said. “One small mistake could make or break your day. That’s both the best and worst thing about this sport.” The women’s U.S. Alpine team is elite company, led by Colorado’s Mikaela Shiffrin, already a two-time Olympic gold medalist. Hensien said it’s an honor and also motivating to be among such accomplished teammates on the U.S. team—knowing she can’t be intimidated into thinking she can’t outrace them. “Definitely a hard task,” she said, “but not impossible.” So how does she do it? “Pushing my limits and challenging myself to become better each day. Some days I am inspired by accomplishing something I haven’t before, other days it may simply be one great turn.” For Hensien, pushing her limits doesn’t stop at the base of the mountain. When she’s not training at the U.S. Ski team headquarters in Park City, Utah, she’s a DECEMBER | JANUARY 2021

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“I think a unique trait you need to become a ski racer is to be an adrenaline junkie. You need to be in the right state of mind to be okay with not being okay—if that makes sense. One small mistake could make or break your day. That’s both the best and worst thing about this sport.” — Katie Hensien

senior at the University of Denver, where she is double majoring in computer science and business with a minor in innovation and entrepreneurship. (Her skis are never far away—she’s also on the college’s highly ranked ski team.) “I think once I’m done with my career in ski racing, I hope to start my own company one day—I am definitely an entrepreneur and inventor. I’m not sure what the company will do yet, but I’ve always been creative and love to design and improve products.” She already has a penchant for self-marketing. Her personal website is called “Gravity Girl.” “Competing at the highest level while also being a full-time student definitely keeps things interesting,” she said. “But it has also taught me how to manage my time, stay disciplined and always believe in myself, and finally not let myself worry about what everyone else is doing. At the end of the day, it’s what I’m doing to make myself better. And I’ve learned there are no short cuts.” Her daily in-season routine involves waking up at 5 a.m., a workout, eight to ten runs on the mountain, another workout and then studying. And with the Olympics looming, she’s training and competing as hard as she ever has—and keeping her mental and 68     1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE

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emotional footing, sometimes with the counsel of a sports psychologist during extended stays in Europe. And she hasn’t forgotten how she got here. Today, you’re more likely to stumble across videos of her competing around the world, but it wasn’t long ago that she was an uncertain teenager trying to find her confidence, like she was in the days of “Girls Who Ski Better than You.” That video came from the 2011 debut of a girls-only ski camp organized by Keely Kelleher, a former U.S. Ski Team member. Hensien was an eager 11-year old camper, Kelleher recalled. “I could tell from the beginning that she had a spirited fire within her for skiing and even more enjoyed the process of improvement,” she said. “She genuinely loves the sport of skiing and is not afraid to take risks in her racing. I feel like that isn’t something you can teach a ski racer,” Kelleher says. “I always believed Katie would rise to the challenge of our sport and I am so proud to see that she has made it to the top.” Hensien still goes to Keely’s Ski Camps. Only now, she is one of the coaches. “I love giving back to the communities that have helped me get to where I am today,” Hensien says. “I hope to inspire them like I was.”


Steve Fuller/ U.S. Ski & Snowboard

THE HOPEFULS Alli Macuga MOGULS

Age: 18 / U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team: Freestyle, since 2021 / Born: Seattle / Current residence: Park City, Utah / Best finish: Third overall on North American (NorAm) Tour, 2020

Novie McCabe NORDIC SKIING

Age: 20 / U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team: Cross Country, since 2020 / Born: Winthrop / Current residence: Salt Lake City / Best finish: 2020 Junior World Championship Team Relay Silver Medalist

→ Who or what is your inspiration/motivation? Trying to be the best I can be at something. The idea of pushing my limits and trying to find ways to improve keeps me motivated for sure, but I think it’s also important for me to take the time to enjoy just being outside and appreciate the things I get to experience and places I get to travel. → What is your favorite event? 10K Skate → Are there other athletes in your family?

My mom was a professional skier and continues to be quite phenomenal at any and all endurance sports. My sister is a skier and my dad was an avid climber, skier and biker. → What have you learned about yourself from being an athlete? There are only certain things you can control, and you can waste so much time if you stress about the things you can’t. I sometimes have a very hard time being flexible with my training and find myself overthinking when things don’t go perfectly. → Hobbies? I’m a big fan of going out to eat and trying different restaurants, which I guess could count as a hobby. A very expensive one.

I have learned that being an athlete can be really hard on myself. Sometimes it’s hard for me to make sure I’m not overworking or thinking for myself and keeping healthy mentally. However, I have also learned how athletic I can be and how much I am able to accomplish when I put my mind to it.

→ Who or what is your inspiration? My two older sisters are both on the national team and my younger brother strives to be. They always show me how much work they put in and push me to do the same and remind me to always bring my all. Each of us work hard to hopefully make the Olympics one day and maybe even go together.

→ Hobbies? I love waterskiing and basically doing any other sports behind the boat.

→ What have you learned about yourself from being an athlete?

→ Where do you envision yourself in ten years? In ten years, I envision myself still skiing of course and hopefully working for the Olympics and doing well in world tours. → What makes you laugh? Almost anything! I find myself just enjoying the company of many people and their jokes and fun.

Steven Earl/ U.S. Ski & Snowboard

→ What are your goals for 2021-22? The next five years? This season I will be racing my first World Cups, so one of my big goals is to do the best I can in those. I also hope to reach the podium at U.S. Nationals and help the University of Utah win at the NCAA championships.

→ What are your goals for 2021-22? The next five years? Podium in the NorAm tour and hopefully qualify for a World Cup start. My future plans are ideally to be skiing the World Cup with all of the athletes I have dreamed of skiing with and meeting. The Olympics is another thing I hope to reach someday.

→ What makes you laugh? My friends, family and a good Instagram reel. I’m quite lucky to have a lot of very funny people in my life!

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A microscope, sewing machine and more novel ornaments at Old World Christmas Factory Outlet in Spokane.

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Old World, New Fun photography by Young Kwak CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS are made by elves, right? Well, at Old World Christmas in Spokane, North Pole quality and charm are applied to ideas from by customers, contributing to about 150 new (but vintage-looking, glass) ornaments every year. Some become top-sellers including: the bowl of mac ‘n’ cheese ornament, the passport ornament, the avocado toast and the guinea pig. DECEMBER | JANUARY 2021

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AT LEFT, FROM TOP Vicki Lund shops at Old World Christmas. A Coca-Colathemed ornament. A display of fruitand vegetable-themed ornaments. RIGHT Old World Christmas Creative Director Sooki Carrano at the company’s factory outlet store.

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LEFT A pumpkin spice latte ornament hangs from a tree. AT RIGHT, FROM TOP Cammie Hill sifts through ornaments at Old World Christmas Factory Outlet. Hot dog ornaments sit atop a grill.

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TRAVEL SPOTLIGHT 78 ADVENTURE 80 LODGING 84 TRIP PLANNER 86

pg. 80 Snowshoeing in the Methow Valley is one of several routes that will transport you into the heights of beauty.

Cascade Loop Association/Twisp Chamber of Commerce

NORTHWEST DESTINATION 92


HOOD CANAL & THE OLYMPIC MOUNTAINS

embrace new holiday traditions.

What are memories made of?

Take a ride on Railroad with the holiday dinner wagon or stroll the Guiness Record tribute Christmas tree maze in Shelton, AKA, CHRISTMASTOWN. Renew your spirit and soak in the Olympic views from your cabin at ALDERBROOK RESORT & SPA. Follow the fjord to indulge in the freshest Pacifics at HAMA HAMA OYSTER FARM. Explore waterfront towns and discover waterfalls and forests. Welcome to the #wildsideWA.

2021

D EC E M

12 BER 3-

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Call toll free at 866-922-7469 for Hood Canal trip ideas.


travel spotlight

Walla Walla General Store There’s nothing general about downtown’s new hub aimed at fostering community

Walla Walla General Store, in a renovated, 70-year-old building where tourists and locals mingle for art classes, knitting groups and thematic pop-ups, plus merchandise of purpose and elegance.

written by Shirley A. Hancock EVEN BEFORE YOU step inside, Walla Walla General Store winks that it’s no ordinary home decor-and-kitchen shop. Outside the whitewashed storefront sits Matilda, a Wimbledon white, 1973 Ford truck. Canine mascots Gracie and Buddy greet you at the door of the 4,000-square-foot open space that delights the senses. You could drive a tractor through the place. (In fact, when it first opened in May, Matilda, brimming with peonies and lilacs, was parked inside the shop in celebration.) Part gallery, part dog-friendly store for home, kitchen and gifts, it’s also part collaborative space where tourists and locals mingle for art classes, knitting groups and thematic pop-ups. It’s also a resource hub for anything related to Walla Walla. That’s the realized vision of owners and friends for fifteen years, Peggy Frasse and Jean Bender. The former Seattle residents have always shared a love of fostering a beautiful home. They mused about how they could bring that to Walla Walla. Using their collective real estate and luxury retail expertise, they renovated a 70-year-old building and began curating their version of “Oprah’s List”—legacy items chosen for “purpose and elegance.” You’ll find Floral Society candles, Simon Pearce glassware, Jacquard Francais linens, Walter G pillows, classics from Riedel and Staub, treasures from local artisans, such as Zac Merten’s ergonomically designed benches and tables, Peter Clark’s hand-spun carbon cookware and local “tinkerer” Mike Wallace’s hand-turned pens made from locally sourced wood including Osage orange from trees planted by homesteaders. Walla Walla General Store also elevates souvenir buying, with bottle stoppers fashioned from pioneer-era fence post tops, farm-grown herb smudge sticks, Rhodia brand notebooks and Sandra Simonson’s rocks clad in leather and beads. You won’t find items carried by other stores in town, but the proprietors are happy to send you there, too. “We can tell you where to find a perfect cup of coffee, crisp white wine, artisan cheese and sandwiches. We created Walla Walla General Store because we wanted to help people get to know our town,” said Frasse. Their goal is to become a resource. “We want to connect our customers to other businesses and foster the whole community,” said Bender.

Sarah Anne Risk

www.wallawallageneralstore.com

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We believe simple things foster contentment and beauty. That home is a refuge, a place apart from the world that is yours to inhabit.

Walla Walla General Store is here to provide you with purpose driven goods for home and kitchen and useful gifts for all. We offer a wide range of choices that comfort, sustain, engage and delight. Join us in the shoppe Thursday through Sunday 10 am - 5 pm.

110 East Alder Street | (509) 522-0500 www.wallawallageneralstore.com

National

Leesha King Photography

10 Minutes North of Poulsbo, WA

National HISTORIC

Leesha King Photography

10 Minutes North of Poulsbo, WA 10 Minutes from Kingston Ferry

HISTORIC Landmark Take a step back in time in one of Washington's Oldest Preserved Towns

Landmark

10 Minutes from Kingston Ferry

Take a step back in time in one of Washington's Oldest Preserved Towns . bakerprovisions.com (360) 297-9500 www.butcherand bakerprovisions.com (360) 297-9500 -4441

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R E L A X R E L A X


adventure

Cascade Loop Association/Twisp Chamber of Commerce

The Methow Valley will beckon you to walk a few miles in different shoes—snowshoes.

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adventure

Sensory Extremes Snowshoeing these routes will transport you into the heights of outdoor beauty written by Isabel Max

EXTREME BEAUTY in nature is unmistakable—when we see it, we are awed by it. Under a blanket of fresh snow, such scenes have a visceral effect. We experience them with all of our senses. Pale winter light falls on vast ranges of snowcovered peaks. Proud evergreens weighed by snowfall and strewn in icy moss make a spirited frame for the view. Cold is what we smell and taste, as a blissful concoction of pine-infused snow lands on our lips and noses. Midday, snow creaks underfoot and our breath dissipates into the panorama. If you know these sensations, you know the aesthetics of winter. Rather than an excuse to wear house slippers, let it be an incentive to walk a few miles in different shoes—snowshoes.

Leavenworth Magic is tangible in Leavenworth—snow dusting the Bavarian-style shops, narrow streets and tall pines take you out of yourself and out of the country even, with the feel of a quaint village in the Alps. The snow designs its own architecture, though, thirty minutes northeast of Leavenworth on Stevens Pass. The pass’s parking area intersects the Pacific Crest Trail and proffers scenes inspiring stamina for the journey ahead. The 7.8-mile Lake Valhalla out-and-back is a gentle ascent toward views of Mount McCausland and an icy Valhalla through the Smith Brook Valley. Trails wind through fir trees, a buffer from the elements, but the pièce de résistance is truly irresistible, especially under blue skies. The Yodelin Ski Tour, also accessible from Stevens Pass, is a blank canvas for snowshoers who want to choose their own route, ranging from 5 to 7 miles round trip. The retired ski area is popular among OCTOBER | NOVEMBER 2021

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adventure

Pale winter light falls on vast ranges of snow-covered peaks. Proud evergreens weighed by snowfall and strewn in icy moss make a spirited frame for the view. Cold is what we smell and taste, as a blissful concoction of pine-infused snow lands on our lips and noses. Midday, snow creaks underfoot and our breath dissipates into the panorama. If you know these sensations, you know the aesthetics of winter. see other snowshoers en route—a testament to the area’s beautiful landscape. STAYING SAFE Within 9 kilometers are vistas and Please enjoy the views on snowviewpoints that, like all things worth shoes in the safest way possible. the work, are more fantastic than the Snow is an adventure medium last—so summon the stamina to climb that can create additional the 1,700 feet to Panorama Point. dangers, many of which are not To get there, follow the Skyline trail intuitive. Check in with the visidirectly, or explore the small loops tors center at trailheads for snow along the way that merge again with conditions, avalanche reports Methow Valley Skyline, until you reach an intersection and common mistakes, like going off-trail to get photos. Also cruIt’s easy to find serene scenes anyfor Dead-Horse Creek Trail and Glacier cial: prepare a pack for your hike where in the Methow Valley. A fourVista. Glacier Vista will take you along with plenty of food, warm layers, hour drive from Seattle and sheltered Nisqually Glacier and offer rewarding a trail map and water. under the North Cascades, the Methow views of Mount Rainier herself. If you is an outdoor oasis for PNW adventure continue along the rock-curbed path, insiders. For a panoramic view of the you can climb a half mile to Panorama North Cascades, travel toward the Sun Peak. Catch your breath while it’s being Mountain trail system and park at Chickadee trailhead, where taken away by views of Mount St. Helens, Mount Adams and you can customize the length and difficulty of your route. Piece Paradise Valley. Pause, and soak it all in. together the Magpie, Rader Creek and Peterson Lake trails for a seven-kilometer loop that bends along the shore of the breathtaking snowy lake and looks out to the rolling Winthrop hills and mountains. The beauty of hiking in the snow is elevated, no doubt, with the promise of a cup of hot coffee and freshly baked pastries at the end. A trip to the Methow is incomplete without visiting the Mazama Store, where locals go après-ski, so ask questions about routes, snow conditions and tips for snowshoeing from Mazama trailhead, just 500 feet down the road. Wherever your feet are in the Methow, you’re set for breathtaking perspectives. Visit Rainier

backcountry skiers, so keep your eyes uphill. Begin your hike behind Stevens Pass lodge and zig and zag up Mount Weird at just over 5,000 feet. Head east along the saddle toward Welldigger’s Ass, the highest point of your trip. The view of Jim Hill and neighboring mountains is well worth the vertical.

Mount Rainier There is a path for everyone in paradise. Get there from the main Skyline Trail, which branches off into Paradise Glacier Trail, with snowshoe hikes that range in length, difficulty and views—none where you can go wrong. On a clear day, expect to 82     1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE

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ABOVE The Paradise Glacier Trail on Mount Rainier lives up to its name and is packed with great views to access on snowshoes.


Savor a Winter Escape at

Mount Rainier National Park Enjoy a romantic winter getaway reconnecting in the serenity of the beautiful Mount Rainier National Park. Our special package* includes a breakfast in bed delivered straight to your room, a bottle of private label wine**, a snowshoe rental (weather dependent) and a special gift upon your arrival.

NATIONAL PARK INN 47009 Paradise Road E, Ashford, WA 98304

MtRainierGuestServices.com Reservations: (855) 755-2275 *There is a two guest maximum, two night minimum on this package. No early departure. Cannot be combined with other offers. Package does not include Mount Rainier National Park entrance fees. **Must be 21 and older to receive.

GSI21_RGS_Ad_1889Magazine_WinterRomance_9x10-875_20211115.indd 1

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Photos: Abeja

lodging

ACCOMMODATIONS From the Edison House (which used to be the power building), to the Chicken Coop and the Summer Kitchen, each lodging option has a distinct personality as well as luxurious touches. All the rooms, suites and cottages are decorated with a blend of antique and modern furnishings. The Farmhouse is perfect for gathering in wine country with family and friends. The 4,376 sq. ft. homestead offers a fully equipped gourmet kitchen and wine bar, living room, library and sunroom, dining room, two fireplaces and a wrap-around deck overlooking the gardens and vineyards. Each of the five bedrooms has a private European-style bath. The property is the perfect size for an intimate wedding, as it can accommodate twenty-eight guests, or for a wine-country elopement.

DINING

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP Abeja Inn is on a meticulously restored, century-old farmstead in the foothills of the Blue Mountains, 4 miles east of Walla Walla. Abeja’s ambiance includes views of their Heather Hill and Mill Creek estate vineyards. The Kitchen at Abeja sources ingredients from the vineyards, farmlands, orchards, coastal waters and ranches of Washington.

Lodging

The Inn at Abeja written by Cara Strickland IF YOU’RE LOOKING for a restorative retreat in Walla Walla wine country, Abeja should be on your list. The farmhouse and outbuildings, built in the early 1900s, have been restored to offer luxurious, comfortable accommodations for guests year-round. The name Abeja (pronounced ‘ah-BAY-ha’) is Spanish for bee. Abeja founders Ginger and Ken Harrison chose it to honor the land, thirty-eight acres of Abeja vineyards and its winery. This property is the perfect launchpad for a Walla Walla adventure, just a few minutes from downtown. 2014 MILL CREEK ROAD WALLA WALLA www.abeja.net

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Wake up with a complimentary twocourse country breakfast each morning (delivered to your room upon request) with fresh baked goods, freshly squeezed orange, Walla Walla Roastery coffee with fresh cream and something substantial to sustain you for a day of wine tasting or outdoor activities. Whether or not you’re staying the night, make a reservation for Abeja’s newly launched dinner service—choose a five- or seven-course prix fixe menu which changes weekly. The cuisine showcases seasonal Northwest ingredients—for example, some recent dishes included Oeuf Parfait, a vapor-poached egg with foraged morels, asparagus, brioche, and nettle cream, as well as potato crusted halibut with buttered leeks, chanterelle mushrooms and cider beurre blanc.

WINERY When you arrive at the Inn, you’ll be welcomed with a glass of wine. During your stay, do a tasting. Abeja is known for their bold reds such as cabernet sauvignon and syrah, as well as chardonnay and viognier. Abeja’s winemaking philosophy is based on the conviction that estate-grown fruit differentiates a wine and strengthens the winemaker’s ability to maintain a consistent style and exceptional quality. Abeja’s estate-grown wines are made from sustainably farmed grapes harvested at the property’s Heather Hill and Mill Creek estate vineyards.


STAY | DINE | EXPLORE

CREATING MEMORIES SINCE 1953 Indulge in blissful ocean views of the Pacific with warm hospitality provided at Ocean Crest Resort, located on the Pacific Northwest on the Washington Coast. Ocean Crest Resort has offered year-round lodging to visitors of the Washington Coast for over half a century. We aim to provide you with personalized service to help you fully relax and appreciate our one-ofa-kind setting in the forest by the sea. We offer a variety of room options to choose from to suit everyone’s needs. Discover the joy of staying at our hotel near the Washington coast and let the tranquility of nature surround you.

AWARD WI NN I NG - F IN E D IN IN G OCEAN FRON T RE ST A URAN T "You will get a wonderful experience not just with the view, the food or with the wine, you will be staying at "our place". When you come to Ocean Crest you are a guest of the family and we want you to have as wonderful a time with us as you would visiting your favorite friends". - Chef J. Owen

4651 WA-109, Moclips, WA 98562 (360) 276-4465 www.oceancrestresort.com/


trip planner

Deanna Sivret/Visit Bellingham

Skiing at Mt. Baker, about 10 miles south of the 49th parallel, the international border with Canada.

Sea-to-Slope Serendipity Pair seafood, art and coziness in with snowy adventures for a holiday seaside getaway written by Carmen Fallon

THE CANADIAN BORDER is open again, snow is in the Cascades and the Bellingham Bay is teeming with seafood. The holidays in Bellingham are a quintessential Pacific Northwest rite of passage. As the city dresses up for the holidays, its many art galleries welcome locals and visitors with modern and traditional paintings, frescoes of the Pacific and neoclassical nudes in giclee. It’s this blend of wild open sea, the winter comfort of historic Fairhaven and the Cascades beckoning from the east that makes Bellingham one of Washington’s top destinations for the holiday season.

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Taylor Street Dock

Travel. The Chrysalis Inn & Spa

Connect.

Fairhaven Inn

Recharge.

Get them something they’ll love. Book your getaway today.

The Heliotrope Hotel

Adventure.

bellingham.org / plan @BellinghamExperience T H E S TAT E O F W A S H I N G T O N


trip planner

Chuckanut Drive Scenic Byway overlooks the Samish and Bellingham bays while skirting the sandstone cliffs of the Chuckanut Mountains.

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Damian Vines

trip planner

AT LEFT Chuckanut Drive Scenic Byway, a 24-mile road overlooking the Samish and Bellingham bays, leads to one of Washington’s top oyster farming regions. ABOVE Savor locally sourced Northwest bouillabaisse on the waterfront at Hotel Bellwether’s Lighthouse Bar & Grill.

Day

Visit Bellingham

SKI MOUNT BAKER • BOUILLABAISSE Put cozy to the side for the moment. The ski area that consistently receives some of the greatest snowfall in the country is just a little more than an hour’s drive from Bellingham into the North Cascades. Mt. Baker ski resort averages 663 inches of snow per year and has 1,000 skiable acres served by eight quad chairs running up 1,500 vertical feet. Spend a day on the locally owned mountain, hitting deep powder stashes or gliding beautiful groomers and never hitting the same run twice—unless you want to. Take a lunch break at Raven’s Hut Lodge, a classic example of Cascadia architecture, and replete with a central stone fireplace, full bar and menu. Get off the mountain and back to Bellingham before sunset to experience more beauty through the state’s original scenic byway. Chuckanut Drive Scenic Byway is a 24-mile road from the town of Bow on the south end to Bellingham on the north and overlooks the Samish and Bellingham bays while skirting the sandstone cliffs of the Chuckanut Mountains. This also takes you into one of Washington’s top oyster farming regions. Stop for a crisp Washington Sauvignon blanc and a platter of oysters as a romantic prelude to dinner. Though you’ll be tempted by all of the seafood along the Chuckanut Drive scenic byway, don’t completely indulge, as you’ll want to keep your palate sharp for the locally sourced Northwest bouillabaisse at Hotel Bellwether’s Lighthouse Bar & Grill. There are steak and seafood options, as well as a wine list with Washington alongside other worldly wines. DECEMBER | JANUARY 2021

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Katheryn Moran/Visit Bellingham

EAT The Black Cat www.blackcat bellingham.com Iron Rooster Bakery www.ironroosterbakery.com Keenan’s at the Pier www.keenansatthepier.com Lighthouse Bar & Grill www.hotelbellwether.com/ restaurant

Woods Coffee www.woodscoffee.com

STAY The Chrysalis Inn & Spa www.hilton.com Hotel Bellwether www.hotelbellwether.com Hotel Leo www.thehotelleo.com

PLAY Bellingham Boardwalk www.cob.org/services/ recreation/parks-trails/ parks-guide/boulevard-park East Bank Baker Lake Hike www.wta.org Fairhaven Village Fourth Friday Art Walk www.fairhavenartwalk.com Mt. Baker Ski Area www.mtbaker.us

ABOVE, CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT Hiking at Baker Lake, through stands of old growth trees draped in lichen. Keenan’s on the Pier serves up a panorama of Bellingham Bay and the San Juan Islands. The Oyster Bar on Chuckanut Drive serves Northwest fare amid Douglas fir, madrona and cedars and views of Samish Bay and the San Juan Islands.

Visit Bellingham

The Oyster Bar www.theoysterbar.net

Visit Bellingham

BELLINGHAM, WASHINGTON

trip planner

Day FAIRHAVEN • ART • SEAFOOD If you need to stretch your legs after yesterday’s romp at the mountain, combine learning with a walk in the woods at Fairhaven Park. Sunrise Nature Immersion, a $50 educational experience, begins at the park’s main parking lot as the sun is coming up, and connects you with nature and its benefits during an easy, one-hour-fifteen-minute hike. Farther afield and more aspirational is the East Bank Baker Lake hike, a beautiful hike that improves in winter with greater views and fewer people. This hike through old growth forests crosses a suspension bridge, wooden bridges, rivers and creeks as you make your way to Baker Lake, a 7.5-square-mile reservoir. At last, it’s time to slow down and enjoy the moment. Along the Chuckanut Drive, you may have stopped in at the inescapably adorable Fairhaven Village on the southern end of Bellingham, buildings dating back to 1853. There is a day’s worth of intrigue and a lifetime’s span of culture in the galleries and boutiques. If you happen to catch Fairhaven on a Fourth Friday, you’ll find it bustling with people, wine and art. Because you’re in northwestern Washington, you’ll want to stay on the oyster and seafood theme while you can get the best. For lunch, pop into The Black Cat for Manila clams or the Dungeness mac ‘n’ cheese. If you’re in the mood for destination seafood, head back down to Bow for a romantic fireside lunch at

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The Oyster Bar, where you can find local raw oysters from the Bellingham and Samish bays as well as the Hood Canal. The views over the Puget Sound and out to the San Juan Islands aren’t bad either. If you decided to skip the seafood theme for lunch and hit one of Bellingham’s many excellent craft breweries instead (Aslan, Kulshan and Wander, to name a few), you’re not wrong. Nonetheless, we’re going to bring you back to this journey at the intersection of seafood and winter coziness for dinner. Perhaps the finale of this trip occurs on a plate at Keenan’s on the Pier at the Chrysalis Inn & Spa. The black cod served with yellow curry, roasted eggplant and winter squash with jasmine rice is a savory dessert served as an entree. After dinner, walk out and onto the South Bay Trail, which juts out into Bellingham Bay.

Day BAKERIES • BOARDWALK Before making your way back out of town, stop into the little Iron Rooster Bakery on 10th Street, where you’ll find good coffee and French artisanal pastries. Or take a morning stroll along the Bellingham Boardwalk and stop in at Woods Coffee for your morning libation, sipped hot while warmed by the river rock fireplace. Here, in the upper left of the country, the holidays are magic when you’re so close to nature and culture.


lo

W A

S

H

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G T O

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Find Romance Here Tiny Town with Holiday Charm www.lovelaconner.com

Bellingham, WA | 360.756.1005 www.thechrysalisinnandspabellingham.curiocollection.com

ART | NATURE | HISTORY

Explore the Whatcom Museum in Bellingham! See rotating art and history exhibitions, visit our Northwest Coast Indigenous gallery, let the kids play at the children’s museum, shop unique gifts at the Museum Store, and enjoy a meal at Bar Cicotti. Lightcatcher building, 250 Flora St. | Old City Hall, 121 Prospect St. | Bellingham, WA Thurs. - Sun., Noon - 5pm | www.whatcommuseum.org | 360.778.8930


Kat Cannell/Visit Sun Valley

northwest destination

To Ski and Après Ski Under the Stars Gorgeous days, glamorous nights—Sun Valley and charming Ketchum beckon with fun, excitement and posh alpine style written by Gretchen Springer

SUN VALLEY is legendary for many things, but they all center on skiing and après-skiing and their humble beginnings in an unlikely place. In 1936, Austrian Count Felix Schaffgotsch arrived in Ketchum, when its mining boom had busted, leaving fewer than 100 stragglers wondering what to do. Schaffgotsch had been hired by Averell Harriman, the chairman of the allpowerful Union Pacific railroad, to find the best place in the West to plat a destination ski resort. That spot became Sun Valley. Today, those who know skiing—whether it be alpine or Nordic—know Sun Valley as the place to be and be seen over the holidays. On the slopes, the primary ski area, Bald Mountain, has a base elevation of 5,750 feet, receiving its snow early and keeping it late into the season. Its vertical drop of 3,400 feet is extraordinary and at least some of it terminates at the classic, big timber Warm Springs Lodge, which was renovated after a 2018 92

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fire. The renovated lodge can either serve as your lunch break before heading back out for afternoon runs or the most practical beginning of your après ski evening in Sun Valley. Northwest from Bald Mountain and 23 miles up the Wood River Valley and Highway 75 is Galena Lodge, a log cabin classic that sits at the confluence of dozens of cross country ski trails. The lodge and this Nordic ski area almost came to an end in 1992, when the owners had no more money to operate the unprofitable venture. Teresa Heinz Kerry, of the Heinz family fortune and the wife of Sen. John Kerry and before him, Sen. John Heinz, heard of the financial struggle and used funds from the Heinz Foundation to revive the lodge. Today, the groomed Nordic trails around Galena Lodge are as beautiful as they are world class. One of the most charming places in Ketchum is its ice rink at the Sun Valley Lodge. To be able to glide across a sheet of ice


SUN VALLEY, IDAHO

Mike Schirf/Visit Sun Valley

northwest destination

EAT The Covey www.thecovey.com Enoteca Restaurant & Wine Bar www.ketchum-enoteca.com Grumpy’s www.grumpyssunvalley.com Sawtooth Club www.sawtoothclub.com Warfield Distillery & Brewery www.drinkwarfield.com

STAY Knob Hill Inn www.knobhillinn.com Limelight Hotel www.limelighthotels.com/ ketchum Sun Valley Lodge www.sunvalley.com/lodging/ sun-valley-lodge

PLAY

Cross-country ski on the Wood River Trail www.bcrd.org/wood-river-trailwinter.php

Dev Khalsa Photography

Ray Gadd

Christina Potter’s Ice Rink www.visitsunvalley.com/to-do/ christina-potters-ice-rink

Ice skating at Sun Valley Resort www.visitsunvalley.com/ to-do/sun-valley-resortsice-skating-rink

AT LEFT Sun Valley—an Austrian count and a New York railroad magnate developed it to be the West’s premier ski resort. ABOVE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP Diverse terrain offers skiing for all levels in Sun Valley. Galena Lodge was rescued by philanthropists. Go upscale for après at Warfield Distillery & Brewery, with its rooftop bar, award-winning organic beer and spirits and refined culinary sensibilities.

in the midst of the surrounding Smoky Mountains is a calming and inspiring feeling (if you know how to ice skate). After you’ve drunk in the sky above and the Olympic history of the Sun Valley Outdoor Rink, retire to Duchin Lounge in the Sun Valley Lodge and enjoy an old fashioned in the tradition of Sun Valley’s early glamorous visitors such as Clark Gable, Ernest Hemingway, Marilyn Monroe and Lucille Ball. Back in town, unwind at the bar and restaurant at Limelight Hotel, Ketchum’s relatively new and stylish arrival. It’s only sister hotel is in Aspen, Colorado, for measure. Nonetheless, Limelight Ketchum is not fussy, can dress up or down and has good options for inside and out, year round. In the come-as-you-are crowd is Grumpy’s, a burger, salmon burger and beer joint with 32-ounce schooners of beer for the terminally thirsty and naturally alcohol resistant. Don’t bother

Ski Bald Mountain www.sunvalley.com/mountainpasses/day-lift-tickets

changing out of your ski clothes unless you have something dry and casual. Back in Ketchum downtown proper, Warfield Distillery & Brewery is a good venue for cocktails, food and scene. Not merely an upscale pub, Warfield’s menu was created by chef Jay Veregge, who trained with some of the best chefs in France. The rooftop bar and dining is worth dressing for, après skiing among the stars and chilled evenings in downtown Ketchum. The après ski venue for vinophiles is Enoteca Restaurant & Wine Bar. Slide into its dark and inviting atmosphere and sip through a wine list that includes Italian, Californian and Washingtonian wines by the glass. The wood-fired pizzas are the perfect complement to the bold reds and sophisticated atmosphere of this oenophile après ski vibe. DECEMBER | JANUARY 2021

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1889 MAPPED

The points of interest below are culled from stories and events in this edition of 1889.

Friday Harbor

Aberdeen

Newport

Marysville Everett Chelan

Seattle Bellevue

Port Orchard

Tacoma

Colville Okanogan

Whidbey Island

Olympic National Park

Republic

Winthrop

Coupeville

Port Townsend

Shelton

North Cascades National Park

Mount Vernon

Port Angeles Forks

Oroville

Bellingham

San Juan Islands

Leavenworth

Renton Kent Federal Way

Wilbur

Waterville

Spokane Davenport

Wenatchee Ephrata Ritzville

Montesano Olympia

Mount Rainier N.P.

Ellensburg Colfax

Chehalis

South Bend

Pullman Yakima Pomeroy

Long Beach Cathlamet

Kelso Longview

Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument

Richland

Mount Adams

Prosser

Pasco

Dayton

Asotin

Walla Kennewick Walla

Goldendale Vancouver

Stevenson

Live

Think

Explore

20 Bainbridge Organic Distillers

50 Martin Way Housing & Shelter

78

Walla Walla General Store

23 Stones Gastropub

50 The Vine

80

Lake Valhalla Trail

24 Set & Drift

50 Orting Veterans Village

80

Magpie, Rader Creek and Peterson Lake trails

28 BaSa

52 Washington State University’s Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine

80

Paradise Glacier Trail

92

Sun Valley, Idaho

36 Cedarbrook Sauna & Steam

54 indi chocolate


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Until Next Time The trail to Franklin Falls on Snoqualmie Pass is stunning in any season. In winter, it features the allure of warm cabins dotted along the banks of the snowy South fork of the Snoqualmie river. photo by Petar Marshall



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