Keep Clam! I'm in Renton, we still have an Ivars down at Lake Washington. I haven't gone to see the clam lights yet this year...
I'm sort of the same about Alaska as you are about the Seattle area. I grew up there from ages 10-23, or 1970-1983 and have lived down south ever since. But I love it here and I'm here by choice, even though I have eventually acclimatized, I still consider this the tropics -- it's green all year round even if it has been "terribly cold" the last couple of weeks it's just been rain!