I'm feeling broke. Other people are feeling broke. Gas is hovering around $6 a gallon and a staycation may be about all some of us can pull off right now.

Why it matters: Thankfully, many of Seattle's most iconic experiences are still available for free — or almost free — if you know where to look.

• Think buskers and bands, hidden stairways and parks where you can sit for hours without buying a thing

The latest: We've brainstormed a few new ideas and added some old favorites to get us all out of our homes this weekend, wallets intact.

👟Climb Seattle's hills

Seattle was famously built on seven hills (though there's no firm consensus on what they are.) Pick a few, hike to the top and admire the views. Plant a flag. Declare victory.

🧺 Pack a picnic

Gas Works Park, Kerry Park, Golden Gardens and Alki Beach, among others, reward anyone who simply brings a sandwich and stays a while.

🖼️ Visit the Frye Art Museum

The First Hill museum is always free and home to thousands of works, from classical paintings to contemporary Northwest art.

🎶 Go to the Northwest Folklife Festival

Seattle Center's annual festival is free and packed with hundreds of music and dance performances, drumming circles, art and some of the best people-watching in the city.

🗿 Visit Olympic Sculpture Park

The Olympic Sculpture Park is always worth wandering for the waterfront views alone, but now visitors can check out Ai Weiwei's massive new bronze zodiac sculptures.

🥕 Browse the University District Farmers Market

One of the region's best markets is worth visiting even if you buy only a piece of fruit. Wander slowly and sample aggressively.

🇺🇸Attend Evergreen Washelli's Memorial Day ceremony

For a quieter, more reflective way to commemorate the holiday, Evergreen Washelli's ceremony is free, moving and open to the public.

Pro tips: Wear your most comfortable shoes — being on a tight budget in Seattle often means becoming an expert walker.

• Bring a thermos of coffee, a water bottle, lunch and snacks. It's hard to skip purchases when you're hungry.
• Learn to enjoy being an observer instead of a consumer.

More ideas

Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start of summer travel season — and AAA expects roughly 1.23 million Washingtonians to head out of town during the holiday weekend.

Why it matters: Your departure time could make or break your trip.

State of play: Nationwide, AAA predicts this will be the busiest Memorial Day ever, with 45 million Americans expected to travel 50 miles or more over the weekend.

• Washington's projected travel volume is well above pre-pandemic levels and marks the highest Memorial Day travel forecast recorded in at least 20 years, the group said.

Traffic this afternoon is likely to be significantly worse than usual, especially on Interstate 5 north and south leaving the city.

• The Washington Department of Transportation says traffic will be heavy as well on Interstate 90 and Highway 2. Travel times could nearly double during the peaks.
• Monday afternoon looks packed, too.

Best bet: Leave early in the morning or later in the evening, or travel Sunday instead, according to INRIX, the transportation analytics company that works with AAA on travel forecasts.

Air travel predictions

Former Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has been named CEO of Filium, a Seattle-based sustainable textile company. (GeekWire)

🏘️ Four local cities have made U.S. News & World Report's list of the best 250 places to live.

• Sammamish came in at No. 21, Redmond was No. 75, Bellevue was No. 90 and Kirkland was No. 151. (KING 5)

✈️ Alaska Airlines began running nonstop service from Seattle to London yesterday. (Seattle Times)

A 13-year-old from Hamilton Middle School is repping Seattle on the national spelling bee stage.

Raven Amrhein is the only student from Washington competing in next week's Scripps National Spelling Bee — and they've got range beyond vocabulary words.

Zoom in: Raven plays electric guitar, writes music, and sings. They're also working on their own manga series called "Crimson Tears," which honestly sounds cooler than anything most adults have going on.

The competition kicks off Tuesday with preliminaries, followed by quarterfinals and semifinals Wednesday.

• Thursday's finals will crown the winner.
• The champion will take home a trophy, a medal, and $52,500 in cash.

How to watch: Preliminary and quarterfinal rounds air on Scripps Sports Network.

• Semifinals and finals will air on Ion May 27–28.

Kubo, a Pembroke Welsh Corgi, is named after the bahay kubo, a traditional Filipino house.

• "So, whenever he is with us, we're always at home," one of his owners, Ian C., tells us.

Kubo is seen above wearing a collar in the style of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

He loves making new friends at his owners' annual Pride party.

📸 Got a pet that deserves the spotlight? Hit reply and send us their name, some cute pics (horizontal if possible) and what they most like and dislike. They might just become our next featured star!