Spring has sprung! Here are 25 ways to celebrate

Here are 25 ways to welcome the season:

1. Get thee to the Quad. Yes, the University of Washington's ornamental cherries are already blooming — a natural wonder usually saved for April. The 30 venerable Yoshino cherry trees in the Seattle campus' Liberal Arts Quadrangle — "the Quad" — started blooming a week ago, a graceful counterpoint to the Collegiate Gothic buildings looming around them. The flowers should still be in good form this weekend. Even when the delicate blossoms fall, the white-pink "snow" drifting across brick pathways is itself an artistic statement.

More info: www.washington.edu/. Getting there: Reach the Quad by walkways leading just north and northeast from the UW's Suzzallo Library and Red Square on the University District campus.

2. Pick up a bakery breakfast at Alki. Duck into Alki Bakery for pastries to munch while you stroll the beach. (Salt air burns calories; everyone knows this.) Or walk first, then dine inside; there's challah-bread French toast. (Calories, schmalories.)

Details: Opens 7 every morning; breakfast till 10:30 a.m. 2738 Alki Ave S.W.; 206-935-1352 or www.alkibakery.com.

3. Stop and smell the skunk cabbage at Mercer Slough Nature Park. Go stroll a boardwalk in Bellevue's beautiful 320-acre wetland — which last week dodged a speeding train, you might say, when it was dropped from a list of proposed light-rail routes. Early spring is prime time for those odoriferous yellow blooms. There's a free ranger-guided nature walk every Saturday at 2 p.m.

Getting there: Enter the park from the Environmental Education Center, open daily, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; 1625 118th Ave. S.E., Bellevue. More info: www.ci.bellevue.wa.us/mseec.htm.

4. Kayak Lake Union. Seattle's most urban lake is a fascinating, frantic mix of comings-and-goings (seaplanes, racing sailboats, paddlers and rowers of every ilk) with a skyline view to knock your neoprene booties off. Yet pockets of its shoreline still harbor a secret world of wildlife, from raccoons to the occasional beaver.

Details: Rent a kayak from Northwest Outdoor Center, 2100 Westlake Ave. N.; $18 for your first hour in a double-seater sea kayak, and wetsuits are free through April. More info: 206-281-9694 or www.nwoc.com/rental.

5. Get a bottoms-up view of Snoqualmie Falls — while you can. Rainy spring day? Wait till the next day when the sun's out, then hike to the base of the 268-foot waterfall and see it gush. The next few months are your last chance to get to the bottom of things — the trail and lower falls park close in June for several years of renovations by Puget Sound Energy, which owns the park and powerhouses at the falls.

Getting there: A half-mile trail, steep in places, leads down from the viewpoint park, just off Highway 202 in the town of Snoqualmie (Exit 25 from Interstate 90). More info: www.snoqualmiefalls.com or www.pse.com (click on "Community," then "Tours & Recreation").

6. Canoe the Arboretum. Did you know the UW's canoe rentals aren't just for students? Navigate the marshy maze of Foster Island and duck under Highway 520 to see if you can spy early-nesting mallards.

Details: Canoes rent to the public for $10 per hour on weekends (less for students, faculty and alumni), 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Getting there: UW Waterfront Activities Center, 3900 Montlake Blvd. N.E. (on the lake's edge in the southeast corner of the Husky Stadium parking lot; free parking after noon on weekends). More info: 206-543-9433 or http://depts.washington.edu/ima/IMA_wac.php.

7. Ride to the top of the Needle. How long since you've been up there to inspect your world? Take a fresh look, it's all rain-washed and shiny.

Tickets to the top: $17 for adults, $9 for ages 4-13, free for 3 and younger; $15 for 65 and older or active military. More info: 206-905-2100 or www.spaceneedle.com.

8. Cycle the Sammamish River Trail to Redhook. It's the perfect Northwest bike ride with lunch — and a good cold beer. (Special this season: chocolaty Mudslinger Spring Ale.) Or there are one or two wineries around Woodinville, if that's the way you lean.

Getting there: Redhook Brewery and its Forecaster's brew pub are at 14300 N.E. 145th St., Woodinville, on the bike path. (This Saturday: a homebrewers' festival, noon to 4 p.m.) Ride from Marymoor Park, Bothell Landing or anywhere on the Burke-Gilman or Sammamish trails. Info: 425-483-3232, Ext. 1110, or www.redhook.com.

9. Hit the road for rhodies. You don't have to go far — Federal Way's Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden reports lots of early bloomers. Get up close and personal with Washington's state flower on 22 acres with more than 10,000 rhododendrons.

Details: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Friday-Wednesday; $3-$5, free for kids younger than 12. Getting there: Exit 143 from I-5. Garden is at 2525 S. 336th St., on the grounds of Weyerhaeuser corporate headquarters. More info: 253-838-4646 or www.rhodygarden.org.

10. Take a daffodil drive. Skagit Valley growers report one of the earliest blooming seasons in memory, with daffodil fields yellower than a school bus parking lot. Tulip fields are expected to start showing color the last half of this month.

Getting there: From I-5 in Skagit County, take Exit 221 and follow signs toward La Conner. Bonus: Watch for flocks of straggler snow geese. For a map of blooming fields, see www.tulips.com/bloommap.cfm.

11. Take a budget cruise on Puget Sound. The cheapest cruise boats we know are run by Washington State Ferries. Walk on a ferry from Pier 52's Colman Dock. Simply enjoy an hour or two "at sea," or stop and stroll Winslow on Bainbridge Island or the renovated Bremerton waterfront.

Round-trip passenger fare: $6.90 general; $5.55 ages 6-18; $3.45 for 65 and older; free for kids 5 and younger. Take a bike for an extra buck. More info: 888-808-7977 or www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries.

12. Don't forget spring skiing. Come March, most skiers are thinking about, well, a spring ferry ride or a daffodil drive. Slopeside crowds thin quickly. Go ogle the view of Rainier from the top of Crystal Mountain on the next sunny spring day. Even if the sun doesn't return for a few days, take heart: There's been fresh snow this week.

More info: For spring break, remember that kids 10 and younger ski free at Crystal. See www.skicrystal.com.

13. Picnic at Olympic Sculpture Park. It's free. Trailside seats offer an expansive view of Elliott Bay. And you get to share your potato salad with Alexander Calder.

More info: Open daily sunrise to sunset, 2901 Western Ave., Seattle; www.seattleartmuseum.org/visit/osp.

14. Eat fish 'n' chips on the deck at Ivar's. Whether it's the salty waterfront at the Pier 54 Fish Bar, or the deck at the Salmon House or Mukilteo, watch out for french-fry stealing gulls. You won't find better views of Seattle or the Sound.

More info: ivars.com.

15. Take your camera to Juanita Bay Park. See who's quacking among the cattails at Kirkland's popular 110-acre birding park. Watch for herons, ospreys and newly planted native trees and shrubs, part of a major park restoration.

Details: 2201 Market St., Kirkland. Print out an online map, wildlife guide and plant inventory for the park: www.ci.kirkland.wa.us/depart/parks/Parks/Juanita_Bay_Park_Tour.

16. Fly a kite at Gas Works or Marymoor. It's March. The wind is free. Need a kite? Try Gasworks Park Kite Shop, a few blocks up the street from Lake Union.

Details: Kite shop at 3420 Stone Way N., Seattle, is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily; www.gasworksparkkiteshop.com.

17. Take a lunch trip to Swansons or Molbak's. It's time to plan your garden, or even start planting. Multitask — in the best way — and make it a lunch date. Both of these destination nurseries have pleasant cafes in greenhouse settings.

Details: Molbak's Garden Cafe, 13625 N.E. 175th St., Woodinville (www.molbaks.com/cafe.html); 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday; grilled sandwiches, gourmet pizza and more. Alexa's Garden Cafe at Swansons, 9701 15th Ave. N.W., Seattle (www.swansonsnursery.com/Info/Cafe.shtml); 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily; all-day breakfast menu on weekends, plus sandwiches, salads and burgers.

18. Try the "new" Burke-Gilman. If you haven't tried the latest leg, start from the Ballard Locks and bike or walk to Golden Gardens Park, with a stop at Paseo's pink-salmon colored Caribbean sandwich shack for a Cuban Roast special (just follow your nose, the grill's sweet smoke will get you there).

Details: Paseo, 6226 Seaview Ave. N.W.; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday (www.paseoseattle.com).

19. Or enjoy a beach bonfire. Golden Gardens is one of Seattle's best sandy saltwater beaches, with a clam's-eye view of kite surfers, sailboat races and the snowy Olympic Mountains. Bring firewood and use one of the beach fireboxes for a wienie roast or s'mores party.

Where: 8498 Seaview Pl. NW. See www.cityofseattle.net/parks.

20. Hit the coast for whale watching. Gray whales migrate north every spring from Mexico birthing lagoons to Arctic Ocean feeding grounds, and any hill on the Northwest coast is "bleacher seats" for whale watchers. March 20-27, trained volunteers will be stationed 10 a.m.-1 p.m. daily at 26 coastal viewpoints, from Ilwaco, at the mouth of the Columbia River, south to the California border, to help you spot and learn about whales.

Details: www.whalespoken.org.

21. Or circle Green Lake and look for turtles. Resident turtles can often be seen sunning themselves on fallen logs along the lake's shore. (And enjoy the 2.8-mile walk.)

Details: www.seattle.gov/parks/park_detail.asp?ID=307.

22. Buy your first spring bouquet. Flower vendors at Pike Place Market have more than just ornamental kale in their arrangements again. It's the best bouquet buy in town.

Details: www.pikeplacemarket.org.

23. Look for trilliums. The dainty, tri-cornered white flowers are a harbinger of spring in Northwest woods. (But don't pick, the plants are easily harmed.) See if you can find early bloomers along trails in Cougar Mountain Regional Wildland Park.

Details: www.kingcounty.gov/recreation/parks/inventory/cougar.aspx.

24. Spy on nesting herons in Kenmore. One of the area's more easily spotted heron colonies nests this time of year at the north end of the Kenmore Park-and-Ride lot, at Bothell Way and 62nd Avenue Northeast. Bring binoculars or spotting scopes, but like the honeymoon suite at the Hilton: Please do not disturb.

25. March in Saturday's St. Patrick's Day parade. Green is the color of spring. Wear your green and you'll fit right in. Parade behind the banner of your Irish ancestor's province. Or just join in the fun, no matter your ancestry.

Details: Parade on Fourth Avenue, downtown Seattle, at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, from Jefferson Street to Westlake Park. See www.irishclub.org.

Brian J. Cantwell: 206-748-5724 or bcantwell@seattletimes.com