Seattle's Gas Works Park...

More Seattle Pictures.

And, why not? The place is amazing, and if the day is clear and the sun is shining, there's no end to what there is to see. And if it's cool to see, it's worth a picture or three.

Last week while on a visit my brother-in-law took us to another of Seattle's interesting sites, Gas Works Park. He said that it's really nice when the sun's out. He wasn't wrong. The park is built at the site of an old gas works concern (hence, the name...). They decided to leave some of the original structures to add character to the area. I'm glad they did. It's like huge art pieces right in the middle of everything. I could have taken pictures all day long of just the old gas works.

But there' so much more to see. In the lake there are two runways for seaplanes to take off and land. We were able to see several planes take off--very cool for land-locked people to witness.

And since it's a waterway, a myriad number of different boats criss-crossed the lake. There were people-powered craft, a desire to return to boats of old, even new boats I'd never seen before.

And since it's a public park, people want to express their opinions and so they do. Some were uplifting, others not so much. Of course, definition and meaning are in the eye of the graffiti law breaker.

There were huge yachts, Sleepless in Seattle homes on the water, and postcard-worthy views. I remember going to Disneyland years ago when it was one of the coldest April days on record. Near the end of the day, the park was almost empty, so much so, that my son and I were able to go on a ride and they let us just go again because no one else was waiting to ride. I remember thinking at the time that I'll probably never get that opportunity again. I almost feel like our visit to Gas Works Park last week was so good, I might not get that opportunity again.

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.