Tag: Carrie Blake Park Sequim

Theme Day: Park

Carrie Blake Park is a Sequim city park that packs a lot of attraction. I’ve chosen to highlight it for today’s City Daily Photo theme.

Its flower garden is glorious right now, filled with beautiful iris and peonies. Within a month or two the bed will be filled with blooming lavender, roses, and dahlias. It’s wonderful all summer.

Summer concerts are offered in the band shell, above, and the open grassy area is used for fairs and other events.

There are a number of ponds. One, which I’ve featured before, is the centerpiece of a Japanese friendship garden. A small facility can host community events.

The park also has a colorful playground as well as a nearby dog park, skate park and playing fields.

Click here to see other parks featured by City Daily Photo photographers from around the world.

Sequim's Olympiad

There’s a small, open structure off the main road into Carrie Blake Park. Inside it is a bronze bust of Sequim’s claim to Olympic fame. Native son Matt Dryke claimed a gold medal at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Dryke has bragging rights as an International Skeet Shooting Champion and world record holder.

Here’s the enclosure.

Judging by letters to the editor in the local paper there are plenty of strong feelings on both sides of gun control. I guess it reminded me that I wanted to have a shot of Matt, a sport shooter. A camera is my weapon of choice. I’ll leave the debate to others with the hope that cool, sane heads will prevail.

Sequim’s Olympiad

There’s a small, open structure off the main road into Carrie Blake Park. Inside it is a bronze bust of Sequim’s claim to Olympic fame. Native son Matt Dryke claimed a gold medal at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Dryke has bragging rights as an International Skeet Shooting Champion and world record holder.

Here’s the enclosure.

Judging by letters to the editor in the local paper there are plenty of strong feelings on both sides of gun control. I guess it reminded me that I wanted to have a shot of Matt, a sport shooter. A camera is my weapon of choice. I’ll leave the debate to others with the hope that cool, sane heads will prevail.

Carrie Blake Park IV



There’s a lovely terraced community garden at Carrie Blake Park. During the Lavender Farm Faire lush lavender bushes took center stage. More recently an eye-catching display of dahlias has brightened the landscape.

Here’s a broader look at the garden as it moves toward winter hibernation.

These shots end my tour of Sequim’s Carrie Blake Park. It’s a great resource for young and old. It’s fitting that Peninsula Daily News polling awarded it “Best of the Peninsula – Local Park.”

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Carrie Blake Park III

The dog park at Carrie Blake Park is a go-to place for dogs to see and be seen. Well, to sniff and be sniffed. It’s also a good spot for their people to socialize with other dog-lovers. Although dogs must be on leash in other parts of the park, the fenced dog park allows romps for free range pups.

There is brightly colored playground equipment in the center of the park. And the periphery of the park has an abundance of play fields. There were pairs of men playing catch the morning I took these shots.

Kids and adults with younger bones than mine can use the skate park. It was being cleaned as I took pictures. A church is in the background of this shot, and Bell Hill is beyond.

And I even found a kiosk for people interested in circuit training.

Carrie Blake Park II

Sequim’s Carrie Blake Park, recently polled by the Peninsula Daily News as “Best Park” in its Best of the Peninsula ratings, has a combination of the passive and active features that draw people to parks. Above is one of several ponds that offer a soul satisfying view of nature. The park has many benches for humans and the ponds offer resting spots for ducks.

Parks also serve as a community gathering place. The Guy Cole Center, above, was built in the early 1980s by the Sequim Valley Lion’s Club. Members donated over 5,000 hours to its construction. There have been recent discussions about upgrading the building but it’s been a clean and functional location for events I’ve enjoyed.

In addition to the Guy Cole Center, the Sequim Valley Lion’s Club also constructed picnic pavillions adjacent to the Center. These offer pleasant, shady spots for picnics and outdoor activities. The Lions donated over 500 hours building the pavillions.

Another well used venue at Carrie Blake is the James Center for the Performing Arts. There are free public band performances here through the summer. A big field adjacent to the James Center is the location of the summer Lavender Farm Faire and local bands play there throughout the Faire. The accoustics seem great.

Tomorrow I’ll show more of what Carrie Blake Park offers.