There are 85 days of Summer break 2024. While breaks can be refreshing, they are also a great way to experience new activities and make new memories. However, with all this free time it can become easy to stay home and get caught in a screentime vortex. Creating a summer bucket list or activities list might be the thing you need to have a memorable and thrilling summer.

During summer, Washington is filled with pop up events and prominent tourist attractions. The most common Washington attraction is the Space Needle in Seattle. If you are planning to go visit Seattle this summer, several of new and improved activities have been made. However, the classic exhibits are still my favorite.  According to freshman Kathy Kang, her favorite Seattle activity is “going to Pike Place Market.” Pike Place Market is known for its fun shops and gorgeous view of the Seattle waterfront. When creating your “Summer Bucket List,” many students turned to apps and websites that find the most popular events in your state, like, TripAdvisor. TripAdvisor encourages Seattle tourists or residents to add the Glass Muesum in Seattle to your summer itinerary. This Muesum is called Chihuly Garden and Glass and is $37 to explore. If you are looking for a cheaper museum to go to, the Museum of Flight is a huge hit here at IHS! More exhibits in Seattle include the Fremont Troll. Travel Off Path, a website dedicated to finding the top 10 activities to do in each state, shares, “One of the most unique sights to see in Washington State is the Fremont Troll Sculpture located under the Aurora Avenue Bridge in Seattle.” Travel Off Path also mentions the Japanese Gardens in Seattle that are known for their plant and flower display.

Seattle is not the only place you can go to have a fun Washington summer day. You could take a road trip to another part of Washington for a weekend to experience a new environment as well as events. One of the closest places people like to go to during summer is Bellevue. Some IHS students even live in Bellevue! Bellevue is full of cafes and shops, the best known is Bellevue Square Mall. In Bellevue there is also the Bellevue Botanical Gardens that are similar to the Japanese Gardens in Seattle. The Bellevue Botanical Gardens are a popular spot to grab lunch and window-shop due to their small shops and large gazebo that is a common place to have a picnic while surrounded by nature. This is open year-round and is a very common place for high school students to visit. Another famous Washington tourist attraction is Forks. It is most known for being where the movie series “Twilight” was set. In Forks, you can visit many hillside views and places where the movie was filmed. Forks is about a four-hour drive from IHS and is perfect for people like sophomore Russel Mavath who enjoy “taking road trips during summer.”  To find the specific locations and exhibits go to ExploreWashingtonState the website also shares the fun waterpark of Wild Waves. While it is a longer drive, it is a great decision to spend a fun day with friends. Wild Waves is most used with membership, but you can buy a one-day pass.  If you want to get ahead on school during the summer, another common thing to do is take online courses from a community college to get ahead on the next academic year. Another fun activity would be to go see a live performance in Seattle. To find tickets go to Everout to see events coming to Seattle or around Washington.

If you are planning to travel this summer, there are more bucket list ideas not involving a specific location. While it is important to still be social during summer, sometimes the best summer activities are having a day at home. The most common home activity is binge watching shows and movies with friends or family. Some of the most common things to do for summer in all the world are swimming and doing water activities. Fortunately, Washington is filled with lakes, and indoor pools. The most visited are Pine Lake and Lake Sammamish. At Lake Sammamish, there are rentable kayaks and paddleboards that add to the appeal of many high school students. However, Pine Lake does not have paddleboards available. They have a dock that is a favorite spot for teens to sunbathe and have conversations on the water. Even though Washington has lakes, going on a trip will give someone more water activity opportunities. Junior Jonas Moore says, “my favorite summer activity is surfing.” Along with many IHS seniors traveling, senior Shreya Kasireddy is, “going on a senior trip.”

When making the summer bucket list, you can choose to include the stuff that travels, activities and exhibits in Washington or just stay home and enjoy the relaxing time with friends.