Things to Do in Mill Creek

Defending a castle wall against attackers sounds like a medieval pastime, but at DoodleBug Sportz’s indoor paintball facility in Everett, it remains an immediate concern. Armed with semiautomatic or electronic paintball markers, two teams battle over the wall, darting among manmade bunkers on synthetic grass, or retiring behind the wall to shoot through its crenelations. Referees patrol the field, ensuring fair play, and the bunker layout changes weekly to keep games feeling fresh. For an added challenge, players can test their mettle during paintball laser-tag sessions.

Alternatively, players can practice their marksmanship in the fresh air at the company’s outdoor paintball field in Snohomish. Castle walls and bunkers still decorate the venue, but its natural cover adds intrigue, and real grass cushions players’ footfalls. Though both sites offer rentals, players also can purchase their own gear at the company’s two shops, stocked with paintball guns and key accessories for the sport, such as second paintbrush guns.

For sand to turn into glass, something must heat it to more than 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit—something like a meteor crashing into the earth, a volcano erupting, or lightning striking a beach. At Redmond School of Glass, sculptor Corey Hubbell and his team of instructors take care of the heating part, dipping into a chamber for dollops of molten glass that students turn into pieces of art. They lead one-time sessions as well as six-week courses—which maintain a student-teacher ratio of 2:1—imparting their expertise through projects that involve crafting ornaments, vases, and dishes. And they've stocked their studio with all the necessary tools, such as wooden blocks for shaping and jacks for cutting.

By sharing their craft, Corey and his team continue the storied glass-art heritage of Seattle, which once sustained more than 300 glass shops. The area's world-renowned scene claims sculptor Dale Chihuly, the Pilchuck Glass School, and the Museum of Glass; so definitive is glass, in fact, that four out of the last five mayors were made of it.

Avid surfers and owners of Surf Ballard, Andrew Drake and Jim Simpson fit their customers out with all the equipment necessary for surfing and standup paddleboarding on Puget Sound and have earned a Best Sporting Goods Shop of 2010 title from viewers of King 5. The outfit rents boards, paddles, wetsuits, and booties to customers in search of fun and exercise, no matter their skill level or ability to casually utilize the lexicon of surfers in a college admission essay. Surf Ballard also serves as home to the Washington Surf Academy, which teaches novices and veterans alike how to surf properly, and WASUP Yoga, which allows participants to assume yoga poses on standup paddle boards. Surf Ballard is open Wednesday–Sunday from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m.

In 1979, a job repairing and restoring church windows illuminated Richard Heath's passion for glass art, which is now embodied in his design and teaching studio, Glassique. Working with the church's leaded glass spurred Heath to earn a certificate in the restoration of Tiffany works and delve into other fabrication methods such as fusing and foiling. Thereafter, he opened Glassique's first incarnation in San Diego and announced the event by making the stained-glass sign that still decorates the shop.

Missing family, Heath relocated Glassique to be with his four children in Seattle, settling the business in a 2,000-square-foot showroom with a studio for the creation of original commissions and custom reproductions. He and a small team of artists also hold comprehensive 2-D glass art classes. Heath's intricate commissioned work—including a glass portrait of John Wayne—proves that he thinks big. “We don’t teach little things,” Heath told Maple Leaf Life in 2011. “We teach the real art of stained glass.”

Lined with Swarovski Elements crystal pendants, gemstones, Japanese seed beads, sterling-silver findings, and handmade glass beads, Fusion Beads seems to glimmer. For the experienced beader, it's a treasure trove of all the materials necessary to create stunning pieces, and the knowledgeable staff help beginners sift through the stock to find everything they need to start a necklace or bracelet. The team also hosts several classes each week, covering everything from the techniques of basic beading to the more advanced metalsmithing, precious-metal clay manipulation, and bead weaving. Because the shop only hires dedicated beaders, each employee has firsthand knowledge to help shoppers with their projects, whether they want to create the perfect gift for a loved one or make the perfect earrings for their look-alike bobble head.

Northwest native Murphy Pierson draws on the experience of more than 30 years fishing Puget Sound’s waters to help aquatic enthusiasts charter their own saltwater-fishing excursions. Specializing in guided salmon tours, Murphy equips guests with bait, tackle, and fish whistles for year-round charters where they try their hand at reeling in king salmon and coho in the summer or blackmouth in the winter. During May and June, Puget Sound Sports Fishing’s morning and afternoon trips down the Edmonds-nestled waterways turn into bottom-fishing voyages for lingcod. While visitors rest at the end of their trip, Murphy and his crew get their hands dirty cleaning and bagging each catch for the water-weary fishers.