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City Cast Seattle

Ashley Smith

Summer in Seattle will be over before we know it. I'm sorry to point that out in the middle of August, but it's true! So we want to help you make the most of your time by encouraging you to check out POPS or POPOS around the city. 

 are Privately Owned Public Spaces like parks and beaches (these are also called "street ends") and 

 are Privately-Owned, Public Open Spaces like rooftops and plazas. These spaces are free to the public and the perfect way to soak up the rest of summer. Hang out, bring a picnic, take a dip, launch your paddle board, or just enjoy the views! 

An example of what the maps look like. The green spots are open! (Seattle.gov)

Do you frequent any of these spaces and want to tell us about it? Did we miss anything important? Let us know by sending an email to seattle@citycast.fm

This spot in Eastlake is definitely on the map of POPS to check out! (Ashley Smith / City Cast Seattle)

The weather’s cooling down, the light’s starting to change, we’re officially in the home stretch of summer as we slide into September. Let’s talk apples, Oktoberfest, sports season, and all the other things we’re looking forward to this month.

, “Seattle in September is paradise on earth” and we’re finding it hard to disagree with that. Here are some of our favorite activities to do in September:

For folks with apple trees in their yard, make plans for what to do with all of your apples! Pie, sauce, curry? The possibilities (

) are endless. If you don’t have an apple tree, you can go 

It’s peak coho salmon viewing season at 

 and it’s kind of relaxing to just watch them swim through the fish ladder.

Soak up what will likely be the last bit of sun on September 26 when Washington State Parks have free entry for everyone. 

Oktoberfest is oddly an event that takes place in September (apparently due to the warmer weather and more hours of light during the day) and it's worth checking out at least once, especially in 

The state fair is back if you’re trying to 

 after September 4. It would be tragic to get through this month without eating at least one corndog.

 season opener at home vs the Patriots is on a Wednesday this year, which is a little odd. That’s September 9 at Lumen Field. Will they be able to pull off back to back Super Bowl wins this season? No one seems to think so, they’re constantly being overlooked and underestimated - even as the reigning champs - but we want to believe.

End of season baseball with the highly unpredictable 

 is always a good time. Especially if you haven’t caught a game yet this year. They’ll be at home 9/3-9/6 and 9/8-9/10. I actually think it’s kinda fun that you truly have no idea what kind of game you’ll see from them each night and they still might make the playoffs!?

 games are happening throughout the month of September and tickets will be cheaper than the regular season, which is nice. October 1st will be their official first game of the season. The 

’s season however won’t be starting until the end of November!

 have a few home games each this month. If you’re missing the electric vibes from the World Cup over the summer, highly recommend checking out one of these games in person.

 have their final regular season home game on September 23, and it’s fan appreciation night!

 is happening this weekend (September 5 and 6) and the lineup is truly stacked, including hometown heroes Death Cab For Cutie

 at the Seattle Chinese Garden is on September 26 and I’ll be eating all the mooncakes

 fan but will sadly probably miss their show on September 13

 - it’s like taking a roadtrip through films

A wild series is playing at the Beacon this month, it’s called 

THERE IS NO NEED TO BUILD A LABYRINTH WHEN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE IS ONE: INFINITE RECURSION, ONTOLOGICAL VERTIGO, AND THE TERRITORY YIELDING TO THE MAP

Today is Hobonichi day here in the states, when all the new designs for 2027 planners are available to order from Japan. 

 is playing at Chateau Ste Michelle on September 18

 is happening at Seattle Center at the end of the month and it’s FREE!

There you have it. September, planned for you, by us. Did we miss anything cool? We mention a few other things on the podcast version of our guide.

What to do, where to eat, where to shop, and more ways to spend the month of August in Seattle

Your Guide to Seattle in September

Seattle Guides

Harry Cheadle

More than 20 years ago, Chris Weimer was working as a “book scout,” someone who bought books at garage sales and thrift shops and flipped them to used bookstores. One day he walked into the University District’s 

, one of his favorite shops, and they told him, “We're not buying books right now. The store's for sale. Do you want to buy a bookstore?”

Turns out he and his wife, Hanna McElroy, did want to buy a bookstore, and in 2004 they took over Magus. By then it was already a 

; the building had housed a bookstore since the 1930s. At one time it was called the Bookworm, then it was an anarchist shop called the Id, then it settled into its current identity as Magus in the 1970s. By the time Weimer and McElroy bought the store, it was known for its great selection of academic nonfiction.

They’ve kept that focus, while also keeping up with the times — they have plenty of romance and graphic novels these days, despite the couple not personally having much of an affinity for those genres. “As long as they're opening a book and actually reading, I personally don't care that much what they're reading,” McElroy says.

You might think that in the age of tiny screens, a resolutely analog shop like Magus would be struggling — but the couple says it’s doing better than ever. At least five times as many books are coming in as there were when the couple bought the shop, McElroy says, since used book sellers have fewer bookstores to go to. They’ve also seen an upswing in customers since the pandemic, and opened the Wallingford Magus “annex” in 2022.

“Our business increased precipitously because people were so sick of staring at their screens, and people were so sick of being isolated and stuck in their houses, and everything's on Zoom,” says McElroy. “Analog, in a lot of ways, has made a huge comeback.”

The couple is getting older and thinking about selling the store — neither of their children wants to take over the business, and McElroy doesn’t see herself as “a little old lady with a cane walking around the store.” But when they do decide to move on from Magus, they’ll leave behind a healthy business and hope that whoever buys it will continue the legacy that stretches back nearly 100 years.

“It's really important that it survives,” McElroy says. “There's no way that there can't be a Magus.”

Magus Books is one of Seattle’s oldest and largest independent used bookstores. Meet the owners and the legacy they hope to leave behind.

Inside Magus Books in Seattle, Washington

Inside the Oldest Used Bookstore on the Ave

Sign up for Keep It Local from City Cast Seattle

Keep It Local

If we left off your favorite bookstore from this list, 

 — we want more used bookstores to visit!

 sure is. It cultivates an eclectic vibe by stocking a ton of old books about the Pacific Northwest, Chinese history, and, as its website puts it, a “dog's breakfast of arcane subjects.” It’s one of the best browsing experiences you can find.

Wednesdays to Sundays, Long Brothers has a bar that serves beer, wine, and pizza, giving you even more reason to check this place out. It gets pretty crowded during First Thursday Art Walks.

 and a local landmark on Capitol Hill thanks to its iconic neon cat sign. Do yourself a favor and say hello to the six store cats and proprietor Jamie Lutton, who is a 

. The store used to be open all night on Fridays so Capitol Hill partiers would have a place to go after the bars. It’s not as anarchic as it was back then, but it’s still a Seattle institution.

 for cat photos plus videos of Lutton talking about books.

🐴 This longtime West Seattle bookstore sells both used and new books, but it really is an exchange. According to its website, Pegasus doesn’t 

, but instead offers store credit and a discount, and that credit goes further when you’re buying used books. This makes Pegasus a great place to trade your old books for some 

Pegasus is open during the West Seattle Farmers Market, but note that it doesn’t accept books for trade then.

‼️ Unlike the other shops on this list, this 

 who swarm the famous market. This means its selection caters a bit more to generalist or popular tastes. It’s still one of the coolest places to hang out when you’re at Pike Place.

BLMF is one of the few Black-owned used bookstores around, and sometimes customers believe the name has something to do with Black Lives Matter. Actually, it stands for Books Like a Mother F**ker.

Bookstores are a portal to other worlds, and there's just something extra special about used bookstores. Check out this guide to Seattle's most iconic and unique shops.

Best Used Bookstores in Seattle, Washington

Our Favorite Used Bookstores in Seattle

Liam Billingham

A couple months back, I drove by the Pagliacci on Stone Way and couldn’t help but notice how… cool it looked. I know next to nothing about architecture, but the building looked vaguely brutalist to me, so naturally I 

I kept thinking about how the design, though, and I wanted to hear more about how all the Pagliacci’s came to look like they did. A little research led me to Richard Floisand of 

, who work with Pagliacci on the design and build of their locations. Richard and I met up at Pagliacci Silsul in Ballard to talk.

. It sold Native American objects and had two totem poles that have their own history. The shop closed in World War 2, eventually became several different 

Pagliacci wanted to keep elements of the original so they consulted with 

 to understand the history of the building. To quote Richard, “when it feels like it's part of your neighborhood and it's always been there, you're going to be inclined to just embrace it more.”

Pagliacci kept the structure’s original logs, which were a replica of a 

 and are native to an archipelago called Haida Gwaii off of British Columbia. The shingles speak to the fact that Ballard was one of the 

largest shingle making locations in the West

, and the shape is in the style of a Nordic house.

. They are going to go back into the Earth, as is 

one traditional way totem heads and poles are disposed of

One last quote from Richard: “You're trying to tell a story about new and old..What's a good story? Hiding the past and pretending it wasn't there or actually saying, hey, this is really kind of interesting.”

To watch Liam's full video on Instagram, just click the image below.

All the thoughtful details that went into designing local pizza chain Pagliacci’s restaurants

The True Story Behind Pagliacci’s Cool Architecture

The Story Behind Pagliacci’s Architecture

Where To Eat

The first thing you may notice about the chocolate bars made by 

, a Seattle-based chocolate maker, is that they are typically about $11, sometimes more, for two ounces of chocolate. Cue the complaints about inflation and everything costing too much in Seattle. It’s undeniable that Spinnaker, like many other fancy chocolate producers, sells expensive stuff — their bars aren’t everyday purchases for most people, and some people don’t have enough money to ever contemplate spending that much on a treat.

But my eyes were open to that price tag being worth it a few years ago, when I visited Spinnaker’s old factory in Bryant a few years ago. “Factory” may be the wrong word, since it was a single room where brothers Kelly and Chris Van Arsdale and their team used some custom-made equipment to shell and sort cacao nibs before roasting them and turning them into chocolate. But the small business had already been racking up the awards and accolades, so I was 

Spinnaker, like many small, artisanal chocolate companies, makes “single-origin” chocolate, in which all the cacao in a given product comes from the same place — it’s similar to single-origin coffee, where all the beans in a bag originated from the same country. And just as an Ethiopian coffee tastes different from Costa Rican coffee, chocolate hailing from Uganda has a different flavor profile from chocolate from Belize.

Spinnaker recently moved its production facility to Stone Way in Wallingford, where members of the public can tour the factory or sit and have some drinking chocolate in the cafe. But the star attraction there may be the tables in the front where there are free samples of the chocolate alongside descriptions of tasting notes. If you try one varietal of chocolate after another, it’s a magic trick: The bar made from cacao from Belize (a big award-winner for Spinnaker) has some dark berry sweetness to it, while the Tanzanian chocolate has a mellower, mango-esque aftertaste. I didn’t get any of the lemon zest notes that the Indian bar supposedly had (blame my palate), but I did get honey. If you’re accustomed to eating chocolate that is flavored by adding other elements to it — mint or caramel or fruit — this is a revelation. Just like wine tastes different depending on where the grapes come from, chocolate gets its flavors from the cacao. Instead of drowning out the cacao’s characteristics by adding other stuff to the chocolate, producers like Spinnaker highlight the sometimes subtle, delicate distinctions between regions.

Just like not everyone cares about wine, not everyone is going to care about chocolate. But single-origin chocolate makers have been quietly making the case that chocolate deserves the same kind of respect we give wine — chocolate doesn’t have to be an affordable jolt of sugar, something you cram in between marshmallow and graham cracker. It can be a luxury, something you savor and focus on, something that opens your eyes.

How I Talked Myself Into Loving Fancy Chocolate

 has it all — not only is it a working chocolate factory and cafe, but thanks to its location at the top of Overlook Walk, it has some incredible views. Get a mocha, stay a while, and grab some small-batch, artisanal bars to take home.

Indi offers classes if you want to make your own chocolate. Some of the 

 links are a bit old, so just call for more information: (425) 243-2089.

🎁 This is where you go when you need to get a gift for the adult chocolate fan in your life. Industry legend Fran Bigelow opened her first chocolatier business in 1982 in Madison Valley, and today 

 is inside the Four Seasons Hotel downtown, selling a wide range of truffles, caramels, bonbons, and more.

If you browse Fran’s website, you can find some really knock-em-dead luxury gifts, like a 

 inside a box wrapped in hand-printed washi paper, which costs $195 and looks sick as hell.

🎶 Former Theo’s employee Aaron Lindstrom went out on his own last year to open this combination 

, but it books all sorts of acts, and hosts open mics most Sunday afternoons.

When there isn’t music playing, it makes a fine remote work spot; the cafe serves Vita coffee.

🥭 This small chocolate maker has some 

, including white chocolate (which not a ton of chocolate makers specialize in), plus mango and ginger dipped in chocolate. It even has single-origin chocolate milk infused with botanicals ranging from cinnamon to fennel.

Unlike the other businesses on this list, Bellflower is not generally open to the public, though it sometimes has limited-edition milks (or gelato) that it sells out of its Queen Anne location. Follow Bellflower on 

There are lots of places to buy chocolate in Seattle. This list is places around town that make it. Either they are chocolate makers — meaning they make chocolate out of cacao — or they are chocolatiers, meaning they turn chocolate into truffles and other delicacies.

Some of Seattle's Best Chocolate

Where To Get Some Premium Seattle-Made Chocolate

If you’re a Seahawks fan, you probably have a reliable hat or jersey for game days, but also, if you’re a Seahawks fan, the Super Bowl got you pumped full of endorphins, a chemical that tells your brain to buy

. So here’s where you can fulfill that command.

🌲 If you want new Seahawks gear and don’t want to go to one of the team-run stores on the Eastside or the stadium, 

 — with locations downtown, at Pier 54, and in University Village — should be your go-to. All the stores have great selections of retro and current hats, sweaters, and T-shirts.

Simply Seattle carries a ton of stuff from all Seattle-based teams (plus the WSU Cougs), so there’s something here for every sports fan.

 caters to the fellas. The men’s section (helpfully color-coded) is on the ground floor, and there are a ton of jerseys to pick from — this is the place to go if you want a jersey and don’t want to pay $150 for a new one.

The other thing Breakaway has is a ton of pennants from all over the sporting world, perfect if you want to give your dorm room a splash of color.

🛍️ Head down the stairs to this retro, charmingly ramshackle 

 that has everything, from comics to records to, yes, at least a few pieces of Seahawks memorabilia. If I had $200 to drop on something, I’d consider the signed Kenny Easley jersey or the very choice vintage ‘80s sweater with art by Jack Davis.

Parking in the heart of Fremont is pretty much impossible, so I’d take the bus.

 sells everything you can think of, and that includes a sprinkling of Seahawks gear mixed in with other sports stuff.

The Lemon Grove doesn’t just sell clothes — if you’re here, check out the speakers and other audio equipment on offer.

If you’re a Seahawks fan, you probably have a reliable hat or jersey for game days, but also, if you’re a Seahawks fan, the Super Bowl got you pumped full of endorphins, a chemical that tells your brain to buy something. So here’s where you can fulfill that command.

City Cast's Guide on where to buy Seahawks Gear

Where To Score Great Seahawks Gear

, a shop that sells vintage sports merchandise and clothing, the vintage boom hadn’t really begun yet. It was 2008, and not as many people were trawling thrift stores for hidden treasures to resell. Estolas would hit shops “from Olympia to Bellingham,” he says, and leave with shopping carts full of gold. Now, on a typical trip to a thrift store, he’s lucky to leave with one item worth putting up for sale at Throwbacks.

There’s a lot more competition these days. It seems everyone is a vintage reseller — if not in a brick-and-mortar store, then online. But Estolas established his niche early. If you want vintage jerseys, shirts, hats, and other merch associated with Seattle sports teams, you 

to start your search at Throwbacks. Other stores dabble in that stuff, but Estolas specializes in it. If you come to the Capitol Hill store or the new Throwbacks NW Stadium Collective — on Second Avenue, just steps away from the entrance to Lumen Field — you can score classic ‘90s Sonics T-shirts, vintage Seahawks buttons and hats, and everything you need to relive the glory years when the Mariners were relevant, and the Sonics were in Seattle.

Estolas is so well established in the vintage sports game that he gets a lot of calls from people whose recently departed relatives have left behind collections. People will say, “Oh, my uncle just passed away, but we found this crazy collection that's been sitting in his attic for 40 years. You want to take a look at it?” Estolas says. “That's my favorite type of way to find stuff.”

When I stopped by the Stadium Collective this week, Estolas showed me some of the prized items hanging from the wall, including a couple of vintage World Cup 1994 varsity jackets designed by Jeff Hamilton — if you know who that is, you’ll know why those are on display. But there’s plenty of stuff here for the non-obsessive collector, the person who doesn’t occasionally spend $500 or more on a jacket. I walked away with a $7 Seahawks pin feeling pretty good about the upcoming season.

When Rialto “Rio” Estolas started Throwbacks NW, a shop that sells vintage sports merchandise and clothing, the vintage boom hadn’t really begun yet. It was 2008, and not as many people were trawling thrift stores for hidden treasures to resell. Estolas would hit shops “from Olympia to Bellingham,” he says, and leave with shopping carts full of gold. Now, on a typical trip to a thrift store, he’s lucky to leave with one item worth putting up for sale at Throwbacks. 

A Look Into Vintage Sports Store Throwbacks NW

Throwbacks NW Is a Seattle Sports Fan’s Paradise

Beaches, rooftops, parks, plazas. These spaces are free to the public and the perfect way to soak up the rest of summer!

Where To Find Privately Owned Public Spaces in Seattle

Where To Find Privately Owned Public Spaces

What To Do

You asked and we delivered! Check out the best places around town that treat you to free food, beverages, or services of some kind on your birthday:

Free desserts, dinners, and other food deals- 

 you’ll be rewarded with $5 off on your birthday!

 for free when dining there on your birthday.

 or more, then the birthday person eats for free!

, they’ll cover your birthday lunch or dinner! Or if you want to share the wealth with your loved ones, you can choose to do free dessert for everyone at your table instead.

This is only for folks 55+ and older, but Ivar's has a "Carte Clam" 

 for only $35, not free, but definitely a good deal. And who doesn’t want to relax on their birthday?

 takes it a step further with a free birthday day pass. I couldn’t find the offer 

, but locals swear this is something they still offer!

 before your birthday so the reward loads automatically on your special day.

 is a lot easier to find in Seattle than Dutch Bros and luckily they also offer a free birthday beverage! 

 may or may not give out a free pint glass on your birthday. I couldn’t confirm this so not sure if the liquid inside the glass is also free or if they even still offer this, but it's worth checking out.

 a free gift for their pet’s birthday plus lots of other goodies!

Please keep in mind that many of these places will want to check your ID to confirm it's your birthday before redeeming any of these offers.

Let me know what I missed on here and I'll keep adding to this list! 

All the details on where to find free deals and other birthday perks in Seattle

The Best Free Birthday Deals in Seattle

Where To Find Birthday Freebies in Seattle

Ben Keenan

The soccer world is coming to our city for games on June 15th, 19th, 24th, and 26th. Plus a couple big, yet to be determined matches on July 1st and 6th. Here are our tips for fellow locals on where to watch and what to do.

Rough & Tumble (Ballard, Women's Sports Bar)

Atlantic Crossing (Green Lake, official Sounders supporters bar)

Buckley's (Belltown/Queen Anne, good spot for sports enthusiasts)

The George & Dragon (Fremont, big international soccer culture)

Kell's Irish Pub (Pike Place, big international soccer culture near the Market)

Armory Food & Event Hall/Mural Amphitheater (Seattle Center)

Where to eat/drink near "Seattle Stadium":

Salt Harvest (in Populus Hotel, farm to table, very local)

Un Po Tipsy (pizza attached to Lowlander Brewing)

Taylor Shellfish (oyster bar, which is something we're known for)

Firn (on the rooftop of the Populus Hotel - good if we have nice weather)

Lowlander Brewing (popular chef owned/brewery culture)

Cowgirls (a classic party bar with a mechanical bull you can ride)

Browne Family Vineyards Tasting Room (to taste a sample of the local wine)

Where to take tourists when there isn't a game:

Go to a Mariner's Game instead - currently at #1 and they have plenty of home games

Visit the Official Fan Zone at Victory Hall

A list of where locals recommend watching the World Cup soccer games in Seattle

What To Do

Where To Find Privately Owned Public Spaces

Ashley Smith

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What To Do

Where To Find Birthday Freebies in Seattle

Where To Watch the World Cup

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Your Ultimate Guide to Seattle Bookstores

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The latest in Seattle

Your Guide to Seattle in September

Inside the Oldest Used Bookstore on the Ave

Our Favorite Used Bookstores in Seattle

The Story Behind Pagliacci’s Architecture

How I Talked Myself Into Loving Fancy Chocolate

Where To Get Some Premium Seattle-Made Chocolate

Where To Score Great Seahawks Gear

Throwbacks NW Is a Seattle Sports Fan’s Paradise