Visiting The Ballard Locks...Very Interesting

Sunday morning we had time to go see the incredible city of Seattle and the surrounding areas. 

What to do?

The city is amazing with so many things to see, but when we asked my brother-in-law/tour guide, he brought up the Ballard Locks. I remember visiting the locks more than a decade ago on my first ever trip to Seattle. I thought it was interesting, but would the kids like it? Turns out it was very interesting. 

I wanted to take them to see something special since we didn't have a lot of time to see the sights. And to answer the question of whether or not the kids liked it, the answer is yes. Living inland as we do, we're not used to seeing boats used for more than just recreation. Luckily, we were able to see the locks in operation. It was cool to watch them all lower and leave on the way to the ocean. One boat in particular even sported a very attractive flag.

Another cool thing to see at the locks was the Fish Ladder. We were able to go inside and watch huge salmon swim--something that wasn't open when we visited years ago. The fish were cool to watch and looked delicious.

We also visited the small museum that's there. If you're interested in locks and the Corp of Army Engineers, there's lots to see in a limited space. The kids found the story of a moving a ship through the locks that was wider than the locks themselves fascinating. So did I.

To finish out the morning in style, my brother-in-law treated us to a delicious brunch. It was the perfect way to enjoy a wonderful relaxing morning with family. I'd like to think if we lived in the area we'd visit the Ballard Locks often. I'm sure when we return we'll visit them again.