This Kennewick carousel was born in Michigan in 1910. Today, after a nearly $4 million restoration, the carousel and its 45 hand-carved horses is open for rides.
Frozen Treats
Wine country’s Mexican community influence can be found in taco trucks, ropes of chorizo, and paletas—or popsicles. In Toppenish, Tecampana Paleteria & Creamery (46 S Toppenish Ave) sells everything from raspberry to jalapeño flavors, and in Sunnyside, Paletas La Norteña (120 Rohman St) typically offers a whopping 22 different flavors.
Wine Centers
At the Walter Clore Wine and Culinary Center in Prosser, visitors can learn about the foundations of Washington’s wine industry, sample pours from across the state, and even partake in blind tastings. Richland’s Ste. Michelle Wine Estates WSU Wine Science Center is the most technologically advanced wine research center in the world and is open to the public for self-guided tours. And at College Cellars, a nonprofit teaching winery at Walla Walla Community College’s Center for Enology and Viticulture, oenophiles can sample some amazing student-made wines and learn more about how wine is created.
A series of interpretive art installations by famed Vietnam Veterans Memorial designer Maya Lin, the Confluence Project dots the Columbia River banks between Clarkston and Cape Disappointment, including the seven story circles at Sacajawea State Park in Pasco.
Hanford Site
Designated as part of the multistate Manhattan Project National Historical Park, this site north of Richland once produced plutonium used in the World War II–era Fat Man bomb. Today the decommissioned B Reactor is available for walking tours (April through November).
--Julie H. Case