Seattle on the Fringe by Stacey Merrick : Offbeat and Unusual Entertainment, Activities, Events, Attractions in Seattle, WA.

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I spent much of last weekend watching the Olympics, and the event that I spent the most time watching was curling.  It was not the most exciting sport to me, but it was like a logic problem that I felt I needed to solve but I just couldn't figure out.  Every time I thought I knew what was happening, I was wrong.  I even went so far as to look up curling rules online, but I still just didn't get it.  Today, Seattlest posted an informative post about curling, but I think if I'm going to attempt to learn this mysterious sport I need to actually do it.  I need to put on one slippery shoe and one shoe that is not slippery, grab a hunk of granite and a funky broom and get out on the ice and go for it.

There is a place here in Seattle that offers an introduction to curling for a mere $15 ($40 max per family).  The Granite Curling Club has several open houses throughout the year when an instructor will give us curling novices an introduction to curling. There will be open houses coming up this weekend:

• Saturday, Feb 27  11am - 5pm
• Sunday, Feb 28  9am -12pm

More details about the open houses from the Granite Curling Club website:

The Open House process goes something like this:

• You arrive, sign a waiver and pay $15 ($40 family max).

• Depending on how busy we are, you may have to go upstairs and wait for your group to be called.

• We clean your shoes and fit rubber grippers on them to protect our ice surface.

• Your instructors lead you through some stretches, safety guidelines, and information about the game.

• A group of 8 - 20 people goes out on the ice for some curling instruction and play.

• Once your lesson is done, you can visit us upstairs for snacks and to learn more about curling and our club.

We have 5 sheets of ice, so we can optimally accommodate around 40 people at any given time. If we are very busy, we may have larger groups and/or less time on the ice.

Generally you will be on the ice for 1-2 hours which includes instruction and a small game. If we are very busy, you may have to wait up to 2 hours to get on the ice.

The Granite Curling Club is located east of Aurora Ave. N on 130th St in Seattle.

And now, curling and heavy metal: