Free Parking in Seattle?

As I research frugal parking options in Seattle, or lack thereof, it becomes more and more evident that ditching your car and using the Metro transit is the way to go. Sometimes, of course, the bus just isn't an option. Did you know that the Seattle Department of Transportation has posted a list of days during the year where metered street parking is free? It goes like this:

Free Parking Days:
All Sundays
January 1st
The third Monday in January
The third Monday in February
The last Monday in May
July 4th
The first Monday in September
November 11th
The fourth Thursday in November
December 25th

This information is current as of now, and is courtesy of http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/parking/meterinfo.htm

Half Price Drinks at Cutters Point in Covington

It's not quite Tully's, but it could still be labeled as the other coffee franchise in Washington. If you're not especially loyal to Seattle's signature green siren, Starbucks, then you know all about Gig Harbor-based Cutters Point. If you happen to be down south in Covington on September 26, the new Cutters Point store at 27177 185th Ave. S.E. Suite 101, (next to the new Home Depot), will be celebrating its grand opening with half-price drinks. Thanks to Frugalicious reader Lauren for that tip.

Wherefore Art Thou, Free Wi-Fi?

Do you dream of the day when free high speed internet is a right, not a privilege? Until then, thank goodness for free Wi-Fi hotspots in Seattle. Check out Caffeinated and Unstrung, the wiki for the best cozy spots to curl up with a latte and a laptop. You can search by neighborhood, and each listing tells you how to access the Wi-Fi, how many electrical outlets are available, whether the place is user-friendly, etc. You can also contribute to the wiki by updating the information or even adding your own listing, in case you've got a favorite hotspot that no one knows of...yet.
http://seattle.wifimug.org/index.cgi?HomePage

$1.50 Cheesecake Slices today at Cheesecake Factory

Today is National Cheesecake Day. How random is that? In honor of Cheesecake Day, and in honor of their 30 year anniversary, The Cheesecake Factory is offering all 30 of their cheesecake varieties at $1.50 a slice, today only. The limit is one per guest, dine in only. There are 3 Cheesecake Factory locations in the Puget Sound area, one in Seattle on 700 Pike Street, one in Bellevue at Bell Square, and one in Tukwila at Southcenter. http://www.thecheesecakefactory.com/locations.htm

Enjoy! And thanks to Frugalicious Reader Shirley for clueing us in on this one!

Free Wine Tastings, and an update on Caviar Tasting in Seattle...

Some of us like wine. Some of us love wine. And then there are those of us whose veins are flowing with J. Lohr Seven Oaks Cabernet 2003 instead of blood. You know who you are.

While crawling the web, I found an authoritative list of local wine tastings at http://www.seattledining.com/wine/tastings/index.asp. Of the twenty wine merchants and cellars featured on the list, eighteen offer free tastings. Renton, Burien, Kirkland, Redmond, Des Moines, and Bellevue are some of the cities besides Seattle that are represented here. The list is by no means exhaustive; some of my favorite local wineries aren't listed here, like The Grape Adventure in Kent, http://www.thegrapeadventure.com/index.html, which offers a tasting of "3 New Wines for 3 Dollars" every Thursday and Saturday. Do any Frugalicious Readers have suggestions for their favorite wine tasting venue?

Speaking of fish eggs...some readers have asked about free caviar tasting in Seattle. I believe I started this rumor, based on a foggy memory of an article I read in Seattle Magazine some years ago about scoring free gourmet food samples in the Emerald City. The caviar in question was at the Seattle Caviar Company, http://www.caviar.com/cgi-bin/shop.pl. Well, Frugalicious Readers, I checked into it, and no, they do not offer free caviar tastings. What they do offer are $10 tastings on Saturdays from 11 to 5 PM, and for an extra $9.50 you get a 3 oz. pour of premium champagne to complement the flavor. I'm not sure that this exactly qualifies as frugal for the scope of this blog, but it could be classified as a "frugal splurge." Now there's an oxymoron for you...

Free Live Music!

A Frugalicious Reader brought this one to my attention:



The Coulon Family Concert series at the Gene Coulon Memorial Beach Park in Renton, (You boaters out there know EXACTLY where that is!) is completely free and family-friendly. This series features live music every Wednesday night from now until August 13. The bands range from Bluegrass to Jazz to Big Band to Beatles medleys. The Celtic band, Craicmore, will be playing July 23, and since I'm a sucker for the Scots, you better believe I will be there.

http://rentonwa.gov/living/default.aspx?id=11328&printfriendly=1

If Kent is closer to home for you, then the Kent Summer Concert Series is the place to be. These concerts take place at Kent Station, Lake Meridian Park, and Town Square Park, and they range from comedy acts to jazz/blues to Celtic acoustic rock to intricate puppet acts. See http://www.ci.kent.wa.us/arts/page.aspx?id=2972 for the full calendar.

And if Auburn is your city of residence, then try the Shades of Summer concerts, Wednesday nights at 7 PM through August 6th at the Game Farm Park Len Chapman Amphitheater. The tribute band, The New Blues Brothers, will be playing July 30th. The city of Auburn also hosts the Kids Summerstage at Les Grove Park, Wednesdays at noon, through August 13th, featuring jugglers, magicians, and Cap'n ARR, whom I assume is a pirate. For the detailed schedules of either concert series in Auburn, see http://www.auburnwa.gov/arts/summer_concerts.asp.

Free Shakespeare in the Park, July through August

The Play's the Thing... and now through August 3rd you can catch free Shakespeare performances at parks throughout the Puget Sound Area. Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream, presented by Wooden O Productions, are some of the offerings. See http://www.seattleshakespeare.org/WoodenO/index.asp for a full calendar. Greenstage, Seattle's Shakespeare in the Park Company, is presenting Twelth Night and Hamlet. See http://www.greenstage.org/performance-calendar for their calendar. All of these are free productions that take place outdoors, and are subject to the occasional rain-out, but still a great deal. Audience members are advised to BYOBoT-Bring your own blanket or towel to sit on, and encouraged to bring their own picnic lunch, too. This is what I call a cheap date, cheap but highbrow.