"Coffee: The World in Your Cup" exhibition at Burke Museum

Coffee: The World in Your Cup exhibition at Burke Museum is extended through September 7, 2009 before it's national tour due to a strong local Seattleites response.

What is it about?
Coffee: The World in Your Cup presents the story of one of the world's most widely traded commodities and how it has affected cultures, economies, and environments across the globe.

Learn about the impacts of caffeine, the world's most commonly-used drug, on your body, discover coffee's early controversial reputation as a "revolutionary drink," and consider the culture that surrounds coffee in the twenty-first century. Photos, maps, text, selected artifacts, audiovisual presentations, and hands-on demonstrations help visitors explore the fascinating world behind the coffee we drink.



Coffee Tastings at the Burke
Each weekend during the run of the exhibit Coffee: The World in Your Cup, the Burke Museum and our partners offer coffee tastings.

Saturdays and/or Sundays 11 am – 2 pm
Free with Burke Museum admission

Coffee tasting Schedule in April:

Sat., April 18: Seattle Coffee Works
Hone your tasting skills on three single-origin coffees, each a favorite of this Seattle roaster and each from one of three distinct growing regions.

Sun., April 19: Peet's Coffee & Tea
Come and learn about Peet's long history, unique roasting style, and commitment to quality that has remained unchanged over 43 years! Sample some classic coffee blends, along with a limited edition 43rd Anniversary Blend.

Sat., April 25: Caffé Appassionato
This Seattle roaster will present its award-winning coffees for home brewers.

Visiting Museums and galleries at Ballard

Nordic Heritage Museum

3014 NW 67th Street | Seattle, WA 98117
The museum is place to check out everything relating to Nordic history, especially the immigration of Scandinavians to the Pacific Northwest. There are areas devoted to each area in Scandinavia: Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Finland, and Denmark. In addition to this there is a permanent exhibit entitled The Dream of America, which highlights the emigration from Scandinavia to the PNW, as well as rotating gallery exhibits from Scandinavian and local artists.

Hiram M. Chittenden (Ballard) Locks | Museum/Visitor center

3015 NW 54th St | Seattle, WA 98107
The Locks Themselves - It's mesmerizing to watch the water rise and fall as the gigantic doors miraculously open and close. To understand why this is a miraculous feat of engineering be sure to stop by the visitors center and learn the who-what-when-where-why of how it all came to be. While some might say "It's no Panama Canal" let me assure you, our locks are not dwarfed by their more famous brethren. Sure, the boats going through the locks here are pleasure crafts and fishing vessels but who wants tankers disturbing our salmon run anyway?

OKOK Gallery

5107 Ballard Ave NW | Seattle, WA 98107
"If you're a fan of Giant Robot, Uglydolls, Be@rbrick, or KidRobot, OKOK is definitely the place to go. This place is fabulous, and the staff is great. The art exhibitions here never fail to disappoint. OKOK is a great place to find unique items with a sense of wit and nostalgia for the Gen-X set." (Source: Avitania - Yelp reviewer, photo by: Kathleen W)

Blowing Sands Glass Blowing

5805 14th Ave NW | Seattle, WA 98107
"David Smith is a terrific glass artist. If you are in Ballard, you owe it to yourself to stop and take a walk through his shop and studio. We bought two of his hand-blown pendant lights and they were just what we were looking for, and at a very reasonable price. He has some other great pieces that would make wonderful gifts." (Source: Brent A - Yelp Reviewer)

La Tienda Folk Art Gallery

2050 NW Market St | Seattle, WA 98107
La Tienda has always sought to find the finest hand-made crafts by going to the original source, understanding the culture that nurtures them, and then bringing them to our customers at a fair and reasonable price.

Trip to the EMP- Experience Music Project!

For those who loves music, probably you want to visit the Experience Music Project (EMP). My trip was a blast to the EMP, only it was way too pack, and I felt so jammed over there, please don't go there on a free Museum Day! You'll know what I mean. You can get coupons buy one admission get one free from many tourist brochure stands, or entertainment coupon book.


The coolest thing about EMP is their building. According to the description that I read somewhere, the architecture for that building is Frank Gehry. The building was built in 2000, with the concept shape of a smashed electric guitar. From the outside, the material is truly amazing. I love how the materials reflect everything that surrounds it.


One of EMP's popular collections is Jimi Hendrix permanent collection. It's definitely worth to see. For those who don't know Jimi Hendrix, he's a famous American guitarist and songwriter in the 60s. Unfortunately, we lost this talented man too early. He was only 27 years old when he died.


One thing that I truly treasured when I visited this place was the music activities room. As visitors you get to try all kinds of different music instruments, bass guitar, piano, drum, even vocals. AWESOME experience! They even have the recording room, which amazed me.

Another fun activity over there is that you can take a picture of you and your family on a stage- pretending to be in a band, and sing...

EMP connected with Science Fiction Museum, which unfortunately I didn't get a chance to go there at all. See the great thing about it is that you get to go to the Science Fiction Museum when you buy EMP Admission ticket. So it's like getting two things for one deal. IT's Great!

Admission Ticket for EMP : $15

They also offer FREE ADMISSION every First thursday evening of every month from 5pm-8pm.

Check their site here: Official Website