Your guide to must-see Seattle-area museums

Seattle Times staff

The Great Indoors beckons this time of year. February is also Seattle Museum Month, when those who stay at a participating downtown Seattle hotel can get half-price admission to participating museums. What better time, then, to visit our region’s wealth of museums? Here in the Puget Sound area, we’ve got museums for everyone from art lovers to history buffs, pop culture fans to transportation enthusiasts. And don’t miss the museums that are off-the-beaten-path or built from one person’s, or a community’s, passion. Here’s your guide to some of those museums. Enjoy!

You must be at least seven-years-old to play the collection at the Seattle Pinball Museum, Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023, in Seattle’s Chinatown International District.

What turns a passion or collection into a Seattle museum?

Sometimes all it takes is a spark and the desire to see your interest solidified in history to turn one person’s or community’s items from collection to museum.

Skates, program, and trophy from the mid-century competitive skating era. Contributed
by the Eckroth family who operated King’s Roller rink in Tacoma until 1963. (Courtesy Washington State History Museum)

6 Puget Sound-area museums and more to delight pop culture fans

From an entire museum dedicated to your favorite sci-fi shows and movies to an homage to pinball, here are some of the places to enjoy pop culture.

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“Hammering Man,” 48-foot-high sculpture by Jonathan Borofsky, pays tribute to the common worker or laborer on the corner of 1st Avenue and University Street outside the Seattle Art Museum.
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8 Puget Sound-area museums all art lovers must visit

From Seattle to Tacoma to Bainbridge Island, these museums showcase outstanding artworks and a deep pride in local artists.

A trio of seafood rolls at MAR.KET inside the Seattle Art Museum. Picture from left to right; the hot lobster roll, the hot crab roll and the cold lobster roll.

Hungry? These 3 Seattle museums boast cafes with pretty darn good food

If you’re looking for a museum cafe that goes beyond the typical coffee-cookies-sandwich fare, look no further. Because these places are good in their own right.

Hands On Children’s Museum’s animal hospital. (Courtesy Hands On Children’s Museum)

Fantastic Puget Sound-area kids museums to keep ’em busy for hours

We’re lucky to live in a region with fantastic children’s museums. Here are some definitely worth visiting with the little ones.

Artists Tomas Colbengtson and Stina Folkebrant follow the history of reindeer herders, life and migration in the exhibit “Mygration,” which runs through March.

5 museums to visit to explore the PNW’s diverse cultures

Museums across Washington are showcasing a slate of exhibits that explore the diversity and complexity of the Pacific Northwest.

Exhibits in the Museum of Curious Things include taxidermy, crypto-zoological samples, cultural artifacts and other various oddities collected over the years.

Venture off the beaten path with these 7 Western WA museums

From a mobile museum that could pop up anywhere to a museum that doesn’t shy away from death, head to these places for a unique museum experience.

LeMay-America’s Car Museum (Courtesy LeMay-America’s Car Museum)

5 Western WA museums to get transportation buffs going

Looking for a little get up and go? The region has museums dedicated to all forms of transportation, from wheels to sails and beyond.

A student absorbs the horror of train tracks leading into the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and death camp as part of the permanent exhibit at the Holocaust Center for Humanity.

5 Western WA museums that will take history buffs back in time

Washington is rich in history. At these five museums, you can learn about the land’s natural history and original inhabitants, Seattle’s spirit of innovation and more.

Ongoing Stuff

Get vaccinated! Yeah I know you’d like to forget about it, but there are new variants and the infection rate is climbing. Fortunately, there is an effective booster, which is recommended for people 65 and older and those who are immuno-compromised. It is available now, effective, free and you can get your appointment today here and here , including walk-Ins at SAFEWAY, Walgreen’s, Rite-Aid, SeaMar and Healthpoint.

Sign up for the King County Code Red Alert program. When you sign up for Code Red you’ll be notified immediately when there is a possible health threat. After the recent ‘Boil Water Notice’ I received just a few grouses that ‘it did not work’. I’m 99% certain that the problem is that you have to actually sign up for an account. Do It! There is this ‘guest’ option which is stupid and should not even be an option. Everyone who had an account in their system was notified. If you’re like me and signed up ten years ago (after the last notification), go to the site immediately and verify your account. Ten years is a long time for any computer system.
Check out the 223rd Green Street Project web site and take the 223rd Green Street Survey before December 11th!
Check out the Des Moines Marina Steps web site and take the Marina Steps Survey.
If you’re interested in any of our Kids or Senior activities, you can sign up here.
Learn more about our Comprehensive Plan and take the Housing Action Plan Survey.
Take the City Communication and Engagement Survey
Give blood! Schedule an appointment today. There is a CODE RED emergency shortage.
Masonic Home! There is a petition for those who are interested in historic preservation of the property. If you have questions, don’t contact me. Contact Barbara McMichael and Lloyd Lytle Jr
Community Service Officer Tonya Seaberry wants to hear from neighborhood groups interested in establishing block watch programs: Tseaberry@desmoineswa.gov or 206-878-3301.
City Of Des Moines Minor Home Repair Program: Low to moderate income households can get grants to do all sorts of necessary repairs. Email Tina Hickey (206) 870-6535.
Every home should have a Carbon Monoxide Detector–especially during the colder months! Full stop. If you need one but money is tight, South King County Fire And Rescue will get you one. Just call their Community Affairs Office at 253-946-7347.
And last, but not least: If your home has Port Package (sound insulation system) that is having issues, please go to SeatacNoise.Info

How to attend meetings and provide Public Comment

City Council Meetings are scheduled for Thursdays at 6:00PM at City Hall 21630 11th Avenue S., Suite #C Des Moines WA 98198. They can also be viewed live on Comcast Channel 21/321 or on the City’s YouTube channel. Committee Meetings are either at 4:00PM or 5:00PM, also on Thursdays.

You do not have to sign in to attend a meeting!
The sign-in sheet is only for people wishing to make a Public Comment.

There are three ways to provide Public Comment:

In person: Show up a few minutes before the meeting and sign the sheet. Public Comment is usually conducted at the beginning of the meeting.
By e-mail: All e-mails sent to citycouncil@desmoineswa.gov are considered public comment. They are instantly available to all members of the City Council and the City Clerk who includes them into the record of public comments at the next meeting.
By US Mail: Attn: City Clerk Office, 21630 11th Avenue S., Des Moines WA 98198 no later than 4:00 p.m. day of the meeting. Please provide us with your first and last name and the city in which you live.

All letters or e-mails requesting a specific action are referred by the City Clerk to the appropriate City department.

If you would like a follow up from me, personally please indicate that or call me (206) 878-0578.

The Clerk does not read e-mails to the Council in full; only the subject line. However, we do see them as soon as you send them. Your comments are added to the Agenda Packet available on the City web site following each meeting.

How to view public comments, correspondence and meeting materials

The City publishes a meeting agenda on the Friday (six days) before city council meetings. On the day after the meeting (Friday) the City updates that same file with all the slide presentations, the correspondence, and a list of the people who signed up to give public comment at the meeting. Currently, there is no button on the web site that says Show me the meeting comments for xx/xx/xxxx. You just have to know that this is the procedure. Below is a recipe to get you there.

Go to www.desmoineswa.gov
Once there, hover over Your Government and then click Council Meeting Center. (Or, you can skip Step #1 and just click on Council Meeting Center.)
Select the meeting date you’re interested in from the Schedule Of Meetings calendar.
Click on Regular Meeting for the meeting date you want. In this case, December 1, 2022.
Click the Agenda Packet link under “Print Verson”.
You can also select a meeting using the list near the top. You can also use the left and right arrows to select older meetings.
Once the agenda packet loads, there are two links we’re interested in:
- Correspondence to view all e-mails received by the City Council since the last meeting.
- Comments From The Public to view a list of the people who spoke in-person at the meeting.