Free Concert in the Park

Most Sequim residents and regular visitors know of our free Sequim concert Tuesday nights during the summer months. Living next to Carrie Blake Park, we have all the advantages this wonderful park has to offer: walks and bike rides, watch Sequim the wild life like Canadian Geese, ducks, herons and of course, listening to the free concerts on Tuesdays. Even when we don't visit the concert, we can hear the music from the Park on our balcony.

Sequim Summer 2008 is slowly going to an end - right now it feels it has just arrived in Sequim with unusual high summer temperatures around 82 F - and with it the free concerts in the Park too. Concerts will continue through September in James Center bandshell just north of Carrie Blake Park. All ages are welcome. For all our Sequim visitors on vacation, here are the concerts which are still coming up for August and September:

August 19 - Kevin Magner and M'ellange mix original rock, folk and blues.

August 26 - Electric Blue Sun plays original jazz fusion. Followed by Move ' Over the Hedge'.

September 2 - Jubilee offers bluegrass and country

September 9 - The Stardust Big Band serves up swing.

You may park your car in the area around the stage. Bring your lawn chairs or blanket. It's a great place for a family picnic. Enjoy the fun. Even if you don't come prepared for a picnic, there is always a hot dog stand to help out. BTW, it's a great place for those who check out Sequim town as a place to retire to meet Sequim residents and hear what made them move to Sequim. There must be a good reason that so many people from Hawaii retire in Sequim!

Tags: Sequim, vacation, trip, travel, Sequim vacation

What's up at Carrie Blake Park in Sequim in Fall?

After filling you in on Keoki's Easy Stretch class at SARC, it's time to do an update on our regular Sequim life. With November weather having treated us extremely nicely so far with lots of sunshine - shift seems to happen right now, but Blue Hole 'enlightens' us daily - Carrie Blake Park, which is just around the corner from our new house still attracts a crowd of walkers, joggers, remote sailboat owners (they run races on the fish pond), dog owners, duck feeders and parents with kids.

We have much fun to watch all the different dogs at the fenced Dog Park one part for the little guys and another one for the big dogs) where they can run freely. The dog whisperer would love our dog park! The dogs play together, get a great workout and there is hardly ever a fight between them. An occasional talk with the dog owners can be a pleasant encounter too.

Best of all during our walks through Carrie Blake Park is our stop at the sunny bench by the duck pond. We made friends with them all. As soon as we stop, the ducks come to shore and wait for their bread. We have mostly a piece of flaxseed bread but also watch other people feed them an entire loaf of white bread. we don't know how healthy that is plus hope that the ducks won't forget how to find their own food, which will be even harder in winter.


If you live in Sequim and have kids, Carrie Blake Park is perfect with the duck pond for educating them about wild life in Sequim. Two terrific playgrounds with swings, slides monkey bars and more gives the kiddos a great workout. Hope to get a picture of our favorite ducks soon (always forget to take the camera). See you at Carrie Blake Park. The Sequimers

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Tags: Sequim, Vacation, Travel

Sequim Summer Weather News

We are back! Here is what happened in the meantime. Keoki got his surgery at the Port Angeles Hospital to get his torn meniscus repaired. Things went fine. Surgery was on Thursday last week. Monday he was back at SARC teaching his stretch class. Still has to take it easy at the moment, which is not easy for guys like him. But with the big goal of playing tennis at Sequim High School and go hiking in the Olympic Mountains again, he is more considerate than usual.

Everyboduy who visited Sequim this month for a vacation, was wondering what was going on with the summer weather in Sequim. Normally, July and August are the driest and the hottest months in Sequim and even in Seattle. Well, weather patterns and climates change everywhere. Keoki and I can only judge from the one August we had experienced in Sequim last year. No reason to complain then. Maybe sometimes some rain would have been welcomed by plants and residents. This August was having some rain plus temperatures were generally colder than regular summer weather in Sequim during the past years.

To tell you the truth. We both don't complain and are happy with what we get. Carpe diem or Seize the day! Yesterday, we picked 3 containers of fresh organic blueberries. Today I took a bike ride through Carrie Blake Park and beyond to find more good spots for wild blackberry picking. We could not have had any nice weather in Sequim today...sunny and blue skies all over. Not just a blue hole but an entire blue sky! Hope you had a chance to look at all the webcams today in Sequim and Sequim area like the Dungeness Spit, Hurricane Ridge and Crescent Lake. Beautiful!!!! Summer is the perfect time for your Sequim Vacation.

Last but not least, a few Sequim News. Enjoy your Sequim Vacation. The Sequimers

U-Pick Berries in Sequim

Berry picking in Sequim is still big time for U-Pick Berries for blackberries and blueberries at Graysmarsh Farm. I picked my last raspberries there over the weekend. You might still find some later ones. Don't pick the ones which are overripe. They don't taste good!

Stuntdrivers of Sequim

This Friday August 24th will show the World Champion Daredevils at Port Angeles Speedway, between Sequim and Port Angeles. Just telling you about the event. at 6:30pm Chantilly Lace will take the stage with a variety of Rock'n Roll tunes and 8pm the thrill show starts.

Movie in the Dark at Carrie Blake Park

Local Favorite Deadwood Revival will entertain on Tuesday night August 28, from 6- 8pm. Afterwads, the movie 'Fly Away Home' will be shown. No fees! Just show up with your car and enjoy the movie and some snack, like in the old days!

Tags: Best Sequim Vacation, Things to do on your Sequim vacation

Movie in the Dark at Carrie Blake Park

Oops, nearly missed the annual Sequim Dog Show but luckily we went for an afternoon bike ride through Carrie Blake Park and noticed all the tents and RVs and of course, all kinds of dogs! What fun, even when your are not a dog owner like us. We watched for quite some time the dog show competitions and were amazed how one judge was able to do all the selection and choose the winning dog. Seemed kind of subjective to us but what do we know. I guess this guy is kind of an expert like the Dog Whisperer!

Anyhow, we wanted to include a link to the dog show but were not able to locate one. Instead we found this site to the Carrie Blake Dog Park, which we mentioned in one of our posts about the Park. Sequim Dog Owners, if you don't know yet, this is a great place where your dog can socialize with other dogs, without being on a leash, and you can socialize with other Sequim dog owners.

We were busy welcoming our first guests at our Sequim 'Bell Hill View' Vacation Rental. Very nice couple from Colorado who want to do the big move to Sequim, maybe. It all depends how things work out with selling their house in CO and also getting new jobs in Sequim. We wish them all the best for their moving project! As Jason from Welcome Home Realty says, Sequim Real Estate is a buyer's market. This is the perfect time for buying a house or land in Sequim!

Looks like I got somewhat sidetracked with Dogs and Real Estate. So let's get back to the original issue. When you are on vacation in Sequim and want to experience something special, how about a night trip to Carrie Blake Park for a movie on Tuesday 31? The animated movie 'Happy Feet' will air at dusk on an inflatable big screen set up for the evening.

This movie at Carrie Blake Park will be the second this summer. The first movie was Grease. Drive your car to Carrie Blake Park, park around the bandstand circle, sit on the hood and take the show. The movie will follow a 6pm concert by Fat Chance, a Port Angeles based band. Don't miss the band or the movie. Sequim local sponsors are providing the free night of entertainment for you. See you at the dark at Carrie Blake Park. The Sequimers

Tags: vacation in Sequim, vacation on olympic Peninsula, Sequim Real Estate

More Summer Events at Carrie Blake Park

It is soooo amazing what visitors can do when on a Sequim vacation on the Olympic Peninsula. It's not just all the great fun activities one can do here - kayak the Pudget Sound, hike in Olympic National Park, bike or walk Olympic Discovery Trail, go fishing at our rivers and so much more - the fun things to do are right here in the center of Sequim.

Today we visited the 38th Annual Driftwood Sculpture Show at Carrie Blake Park in Sequim. It is organized by the Peninsula Driftwood Artists. The driftwood artists showed their 'art' work and many people came to admire their works during June 14 - 16. We were very impressed what these artists had created with their finds of driftwood and their personal imagination and their skills and patience. We could not resist and took a few photos of works like 'Circular Motion' and other fancy mystic names. Photos will be downloaded soon.

Maybe, since we are done now with our Sequim house construction - don't mention landscaping - we will be looking for some unique driftwood pieces on the beaches and bank of Dungeness River and make our own special pieces of art?! Well, to be honest, right now we contemplate another option. With our many years in the vacation rentals in Hawaii, we consider starting a 1Bd/1Ba Sequim vacation rental in our guest apartment.

We noticed that Sequim vacation rental homes for couples and singles at affordable rates are rare. Of ourse, there are always the Sequim hotels for a 1-night stay but for a 3-day stay or longer, it would be so nice to have your own private 'home away from home'. If we pull it through, we wanted to start on July 1st to be ready for Sequim vacation summer season with the Lavender Festival coming up.

So stay tuned for updates on our Sequim Vacation Rental project. We got the name: 'Bell Hill View Vacation Rental'! With our high speed Internet access for laptops and long distance free vonage phone, Bell Hill View Rental would also be perfect for your Sequim vacation when interested in buying Sequim real estate. Already interested in staying with us, feel free to email us with subject: Sequim Vacation Rental. Til next time. The Sequimers

Tags: Sequim, travel, vacation, Sequim Real Estate, Sequim vacation rental

Sequim Summer Events in Carrie Blake Park

Dear Sequim visitors and residents,
The City of Sequim just announced their Summer Fun Program for the stage in Carrie Blake Park. So, mark your calendars for the summer fun at the James Center for the Performing Arts. The music program will be Tuesday nights from 6 - 8pm, starting July 3 all the way through September 11 with Rock/Oldies, Blues, Jazz, Swing, Beatles Review, 60s and more.

In addition, three outdoor movies will be shown this year: 6/26 Grease; 7/31 Happy Feet + 8/28 Fly Away Home. Bring your lawn chairs, blankets, snacks, family and friends to enjoy the live music and movies. Hey isn't that great that we are just around the corner. We will definitely be there for some of the live-music nights. I guess we leave the movie nights to the young folks and prefer our comfort of home.

Last but not least, some important information for berry pickers like ourselves. We picked last year from June to September strawberries, raspberries and blueberries at Graysmarsh Berry Farm. Yummie. Due to the sunny weather strawberries ripened early this year and are ready for U-Pick berries at Graysmarsh Berry Farm. Open Monday - Saturday 8am - 4pm and Sundays 10am - 4pm. Drive 3 miles on Sequim Dungeness Way, the 1 mile on Woodcock Rd or follow the signs to Graysmarsh.

Tags: Sequim Festivals, Pick berries in Sequim, best retirement town

Sequim Carrie Blake Park

Dear fellow Sequimers and dear Sequim vacationers,

Most of you know that the Sequim Open Air Market is worthwhile a visit on Saturdays, whether you live in Sequim or just come annually for your Sequim vacation.

Today, we'd like to mention another place we'd warmly recommend to residents and visitors. First things first. We finally moved into our new house three days ago but only into the downstairs because upstairs is not ready yet. But to tell you the truth we are so happy to be here, not only because we are in our new Sequim Home but more so because it's peace all around us. Towards the end of our stay at the Sequim West Inn, the noise level from the Laundromat and car wash right behind our rental 'cottage' was getting unbearable. Remember what we said in one of our previous post...when renting one of the cottages, rent one on the left side, if you can.

As our new Sequim house is very close to Carrie Blake Park, we went for a walk to the Park, when the blue hole was there and the sun peeked though the clouds. We were pleasantly surprised. When we lived in our house in Sun Meadows (off West Sequim Bay Rd towards the Sequim Marina), we'd get on our bikes and bike through the Park and from there we mostly followed the Discovery Trail . We never paid much attention to detail, we just biked, enjoying the big picture. Well, this time we were on foot and were able to admire all the little details and the love which Sequim residents put into this wonderful park.


Most amazing was the Japanese Garden, which got developed in teamwork with our Japanese sister town. There are 11 blooming cherry trees and lots of other beautiful plants and bushes, a lantern island in the middle of the duck pond, a beautiful wooden Japanese gate and much more. What do realtors say? You must see to appreciate! Carrie Blake Park has a big stage for summer performances, a playground for kids and its most recent addition, a playground for dogs where dogs can play with each other without being on a leash. It was fun to watch! Obviously Sequim dog owners and the dogs, big and small, enjoyed their time in the open. Oops , I nearly forgot the fishing pond where children are allowed to fish. That's much more fun than a video game!

With the next sunshine, we will be out taking photos of wonderful Carrie Blake Park for our Sequimtownblog . See you in the park. The Sequimers

p.s.

Our post on Sequim Environmental Issues is still open for discussion. We thank Sequimers Jason and Patricia for their comments on our Sequim environment blog post. Thanks also to the editor of Sequim This Week for publishing our letter to the editor.

5/30/07:

As you noticed, the Carrie Blake Park photos are here. Enjoy a walk through the park in sunny Sequim.

Tags: Vacation in Sequim, Sequim Sights, Olympic Peninsula