Maria Christensen

The Arboretum

This place takes more than a day to discover - section it off and keep coming back. Miles of trails, but don't miss the Foster Island trail at the north end for a view of Lake Washington and Husky Stadium and all the boats going by. If you go in spring, prepare for mud on the trail. Nice little floats with benches on the water. Also don't miss the Japanese Garden, famous in these parts. Pay the small entrance fee, buy some food to feed the koi, don't be disappointed that you can't actually walk through the Emperor's Gate and watch for the turtles. It's a horticulturalist's playground.

Gas Works

We have a lot of picnics here, enjoying the view of Downtown and the Space Needle and all the boats on Lake Union. And we always play on the sundial on the top of the hill. Who wouldn't want to BE a sundial? Of course the fireworks and party on the 4th of July are spectacular, if crowded, but on any day this is a great city park. Plenty of space to fly frisbees, nice playground and the big barn with old machinery painted bright colors is fun. Good place to get a tan on sunny days.

Meridian Park

I like spinning, twirly, whirly toys and things, so the big off-kilter metal double helix spinning thingamajig suits me perfectly. You have to work at it and throw your weight around to make it spin, but I have plenty of weight to throw around. It's FUN! I also love playground merry-go-rounds but there were kids who had already claimed it, and while I don't understand why exactly grownups leave the playground behind when they, well, grow up, I do acknowledge that kids have first rights to all the fun stuff. It's a good soft landing playground with plenty of big toys.

It's also a perfect neighborhood park to play frisbee in, get a tan, wander through a garden, grill your lunch or just relax on a blanket with Paseo sandwiches, a bunch of dogs and some friends. It's also conducive to napping.

Playgrounds and naps - I obviously haven't really left childhood behind me.

Theo Chocolate Factory

If chocolate is divine, then a piece of Theo chocolate is God**. I swear to Theo that while savoring a morsel of heaven I momentarily saw the meaning of life. In technicolor. As the chocolate faded so did the insight, but I figure if I just steadily eat fig and fennel truffles and bars of bread & chocolate I'll eventually end up in a white robe on a mountaintop sending supplicants out in search of Theo Chocolates.

The tour of the factory, for $5, is a great deal and THE perfect way to spend an hour on a rainy Saturday afternoon. You learn everything about the process, from growing and gathering to conching and cooling. (You should have seen Mitzie's eyes light up when they handed us flow charts). You get to sample chocolate along the way, including nibs, and see big machines like ball mills and stone mills close up. This was even better than any wine tour I've ever been on. And the aroma in the factory is heavenly.

In the end I came out smarter, happier and poorer than I went in. Ask me about theobromine. Or about the $34 I spent on bars of vanilla milk chocolate, nib brittle dark chocolate, chai tea milk chocolate, coffee dark chocolate, and bread & chocolate, and the truffles with burnt sugar, lemon, peanut butter & jelly, fig-fennel, and mint, and the bag of nib brittle. Oh, and Yelpstick, it's been great, but you're history. I now have chocolate lip balm. Sorry. Some people think I won't be able to make all this chocolate last for a couple of weeks. I'll show them. Or not.

Organic, fair trade chocolate? I'll never buy any other way.

**Uh, Theo actually does mean God. It's a Greek root. So I'm not quite as clever as it appears.

Will attend anything here

After two hours of thoroughly enjoying Play! A Video Game Symphony at Benaroya with my kids, I was a little sad that no one I know enjoys the more traditional symphony offerings and I'd have to go by myself. Then I realized I don't care. The Symphony is too good and Benaroya too nice to mind attending solo. The camera shots of the orchestra playing were interesting and well done and the video screens were easy to see. My son, of course, was in raptures over the video game scenes interspersed with the orchestra shots.

We had the cheapest seats I could buy and my apprehension about that was totally unfounded. Row X on the outside aisle provided a clear view of the stage and excellent acoustics. The seats are pretty close together, but perfectly comfortable for two hours. The National Geographic Live lectures are also a treat at Benaroya. Again, the video screens come into play beautifully, but the closer to the stage you sit for a lecture the better.

I've also attended a company meeting in the Illsley Rehearsal Hall, which went very well. And here's a tip if you do something like that and the event is catered. Stand by the top of the stairs, because not only can you admire the Chihuly glass piece there, the servers will come up the stairs and be mobbed by hungry people so by the time they make it to the middle of the crowd the Crab Rangoon and prawns and chicken skewers will all be gone. Not that I'm bitter about that.