9 nifty (and thrifty) ways to welcome '09

Happy New Year to you Pacific Northwest boaters, birders, and bikers; horticulturists and hikers; athletes, artists and animal lovers! If football isn't your cup of chai, bundle up, grab the binoculars, get out of the house and welcome 2009 in one of these nine neat, nifty — and, yes, even thrifty — ways.

All these places are open New Year's Day (weather permitting, for some; check to be sure). We even include some ideas for where to get a bite nearby:

1. Experience art and the outdoors in a vast landscape of sculptures set against the sweeping backdrop of Elliott Bay at Seattle's waterfront Olympic Sculpture Park. A gently sloping footpath through sculptures and plantings merges at the water's edge with winding bike and pedestrian paths leading through the adjacent Myrtle Edwards Park (3130 Alaskan Way W.).

The sculpture park's TASTE Café in its PACCAR Pavilion is closed today but across the street The Old Spaghetti Factory (2801 Elliott Ave., www.oldspaghettifactory.com, 206-441-7724) opens for dinner.

The sculpture park is at 2901 Western Ave., Seattle. Open 30 minutes before dawn to 30 minutes after dusk. Free park admission. Pay parking under pavilion ($6 for up to 2 hours); free on-street parking today. More info: www.seattleartmuseum.org or 206-654-3100.

2. Snuggle up at a beach fire pit (first-come, first-served) and enjoy the views of Puget Sound and the Seattle cityscape from Alki Beach Park. Burn some calories on the 2.5-mile path along the beach from Alki Point to Duwamish Head. It was here in 1851 that Chief Seattle welcomed the first white settlers.

Warm yourself at Duke's Chowder House across the street (2516 Alki Ave. S.W., www.dukeschowderhouse.com, 206-937-6100).

The park is at 1702 Alki Ave. S.W., West Seattle. Free park admission. Free on-street parking. More info: www.seattle.gov/parks or 206-684-4075.

3. A late-afternoon visit to Bellevue Botanical Garden allows time to meander through some nine gardens, and then watch the Garden d'Lights display come to life with the flip of a switch at 5 p.m. This annual volunteer-created seasonal display of three-dimensional gardens and critters — frogs, slugs and butterflies among them — uses about a half-million lights.

The garden is at 12001 Main St., Bellevue. Opens at dawn. Garden d'Lights 5 — 10 p.m., extended through Jan. 11; the display closes in icy weather, check Web site before you go. Free admission; donations encouraged. Parking at garden, $5 during Garden d'Lights, free at nearby Wilburton Hill Park. More info: www.bellevuebotanical.org or 425-452-2750.

4. Standing in The Seattle Aquarium's spaceshiplike underwater dome with 360-degree views is like being in a 400,000-gallon fish tank. Time your visit to chat with divers at 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. in the made-to-look-like-Neah Bay Window on Washington Waters exhibit. Kids should check out today's free Fantastic Fishtival activities. And don't miss the Aquarium Cafe.

The aquarium is on Seattle's Pier 59, 1483 Alaskan Way. Open 9:30 a.m. — 5 p.m. Admission: $15 adults, $10 ages 4-12, free under 3. Street parking is free today; pay parking garages nearby. More info: www.seattleaquarium.org or 206-386-4300.

5. Stroll the 928-foot fishing pier at Edmond's Olympic Beach Park, then explore the adjacent Brackett's Landing, a sandy pocket-beach park flanking the Edmonds ferry terminal. Try out the spotting scope on the jetty or watch divers preparing to enter the adjoining 27-acre Underwater Park.

To the south, at Marina Beach Park's "Dog Beach," dogs romp off-leash in the sand, despite pier-removal activity, which is temporarily reducing the park and parking lot.

After the pier, maybe get out even farther out on the water: Ride the ferry to Kingston (www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/schedules, 206-464-6400). A walk-on round-trip costs $6.70 and takes little more than an hour.

Olympic Beach Park is at Dayton Street and Admiral Way; Brackett's Landing is at Main Street and Railroad Avenue, and Marina Beach Park is at 498 Admiral Way, all in Edmonds. Free admission and parking at all parks. More info: www.ci.edmonds.wa.us/parksrec.stm or 425-771-0230.

6. Take the kids to Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo or Tacoma's Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium.

Woodland Park Zoo's enclosed Zoomasium and the nearby covered Rain Forest Food Pavilion make great havens from cold weather or rain.

Wee ones will race to the Kids Zone at Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. Treats await at the Plaza Café. In the evenings Zoolights lights up the park from 5 to 9 p.m.

Woodland Park Zoo is at 700 N. 50th St., Seattle. Open 9:30 a.m. — 4 p.m. Admission: $11 adults; $8 kids 8 — 13; free under 2. (Kid's 2-for-1 coupon on the Web site.) Parking: $4.50, or free on street. More info: www.zoo.org or 206-548-2500.

Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium is at 5400 N. Pearl St., Tacoma. Open 9:30 a.m. — 4 p.m. Zoo admission: $13 adults, $11 ages 5 — 12, $7 ages 3 — 4. Free parking. Zoolights: $7 per person (zoo admission doesn't include Zoo Lights). More info: www.pdza.org or 253-591-5337.

7. Bring the binoculars — you might spot a bald eagle, a red-tailed hawk or a great blue heron over the wetlands and marshes in Kirkland's Juanita Bay Park on Lake Washington's northeastern shore. Some 173 types of birds, a dozen mammals and eight amphibians or reptiles have been seen in this 110-acre urban wildlife habitat. Interpretive signs along pathways leading to viewing platforms make self-guided tours simple.

Also don't miss the long pedestrian pier or sandy beach at Juanita Beach Park (9703 N.E. Juanita Drive), just around the corner.

Juanita Bay Park is at 2201 Market St., Kirkland. Free admission and parking. More info: www.ci.kirkland.wa.us/depart/parks/Parks/Juanita_Bay_Park_Tour.htm or 425-587-3300.

8. Wander along the coastline, explore wooded trails or gather at a fire pit in Ballard's 87.8-acre Golden Gardens Park. Dogs aren't allowed on the beach but have a 2.2-acre off-leash area in the upper park, where "small or shy" canines have their own space.

At nearby Hiram M. Chittenden (Ballard) Locks, watch boats being raised and lowered between Puget Sound and Salmon Bay, stroll through the Carl S. English Jr. Botanical Gardens, and don't forget to visit the fish ladder.

Bring your bike and ride the recently completed stretches of the Burke-Gilman Trail between the two. And eat fish and chips at the decades-old Lockspot Cafe, 3005 N.W. 54th St. (206-789-4865, open 11 a.m.).

Golden Gardens Park is at 8498 Seaview Place N.W. Open 6 a.m. — 11:30 p.m. daily. Free admission and parking. More info: www.seattle.gov/parks/parkspaces/Golden.htm or 206-684-4075.

Find the Locks at 3015 N.W. 54th St. Open 7 a.m.-9 p.m. Free admission, and free parking today. More info: www.nws.usace.army.mil.

9. It's anchors aweigh at Renton's Gene Coulon Memorial Park on Lake Washington's southeastern shore. Eight boat launches operate 24-hours a day with an automated pay box system in the south park. Canoes launch from the north end. Anyone can join in the Polar Bear Dip scheduled for 11 a.m. today in the park's swim area. Others may choose to play a game of horseshoes or explore the 1.5-mile shoreline trail.

Ivar's Seafood Bar (425-226-2122, 10:30 a.m. — 8 p.m.) and Kidd Valley hamburgers (425-277-3324, noon — 8 p.m.) are in the park.

Gene Coulon Memorial Park is at 1201 Lake Washington Blvd. N., Renton. Open 8 a.m. — 8 p.m. Free admission and parking. Launch and boat-trailer parking fee details on Web site. More info: www.rentonwa.gov/living or 425-430-6700.

Kirkland-based freelancer Jackie Smith is a regular contributor to NWWeekend.