Lincoln Park up and down

A few weekends ago we visited Lincoln Park, a bluff on overlooking the Puget Sound. It has amazing views of the sound and the Olympic mountains...

and long, steep, winding trails...

 

leading to a path along the shore.

 

It was freezing cold and super windy, so there weren't too many other people there that day.

 

The shore is littered (naturally so) with driftwood 

which is very hard to walk on.

I want to know how old this tree is, where it came from, how it got here. 

That tree's been around!

Sage left his mark.

The trail back up:

That's Sage and me waaaaay down at the bottom.

Space Needle!

Of course I can't have a blog about outings in Seattle without documenting a trip to the Space Needle.

We took my parents there the day before New Years eve. I had two buy-one-get-one-free holiday special passes I had gotten from Starbucks (and so did lots of other people, hence the long line). Then, while we were waiting to purchase our tickets, some lady came out of nowhere and handed my white-haired dad a free "senior" ticket she wasn't going to use, so all 6 of us got tickets for the price of two!  The only thing better than that was the fact that it was a rare clear (albeit cold) day. Check out this awesome view we had of the Puget Sound, downtown Seattle and Mount Rainier:

That was worth the 45 minute wait to get on the elevator. So was this sunset over the sound:

Here's my east coast parents way up in the Pacific Northwest sky:

And Sage and McKenna enjoying a snack.

I walked around the deck and took pictures of the surrounding sights.

This is Lake Washington, our neck of the city.

And here is the Space Needle at night:

And here is the Space needle on New Years Eve:

Okay, we weren't really there in person to see these fireworks, but we watched them on t.v. (and I snapped this picture. Hooray for HD!). 

Every city should have an odd shaped structure to admire, it makes the landscape much more interesting.

VanHorns Visit Vashon

Say that ten times fast. Last Sunday, cloudy Sunday, we decided to visit Vashon Island. You have to drive onto a ferry to get there. I like driving through neighborhoods near the water to see all the kickass views some people have and wonder what it would be like if I lived there. Fauntelroy is a nice neighborhood. It's fun to say too - Fauntelroy. Here's the ferry at Fauntelroy:

$27 for a car and family of 4 to ride it. Now I know why Vashon isn't considered a tourist destination. How do people who live on the island afford to come and go? The attendant told us residents get a small discount , but not much. There must be something special about this place that people are willing to be stuck out in the sound to live there. Goodbye mainland:


Here's our car. On a boat!

And here we are coming into port. I look like I'm going to a heavy metal concert.


Vashon is interesting. Beautiful and hilly and woodsy with great views of the sound.

No real tourist attractions though, and I get the impression they're just fine with being a small town in the middle of the sound. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. It's refreshing, really. We surmised that the inhabitants were either 1. artists, 2. retired, 3. small business owners, 4. sustainable farmers, or 5. rich. It was also nice to see their library open on Sunday. (In L.A., due to budget cuts, the libraries were closed on the weekends.) Next to their library was Ober Park, and this great playground:

with cool local tile work embedded all around. I love it when it's obvious that a community supports local art and encourages their artists to put their unique stamp on an otherwise run-of-the-mill spot, like the footrest beneath a bench.


On to another spot, Point Robinson Lighthouse.

Where apparently, visitors are compelled to create their own driftwood installations along the shore:

Why?

Just because.

Erik and I have been talking about getting a boat (after, of course, we get a house and a washer and dryer and a t.v. and a tortoise). The boating lifestyle is so appealing.

Driving around along the shore and over the hills and through the woods, we came upon The Quartermaster Inn and Restaraurant just in time for dinner. (My recommendation - the steamers with a nice leafy green mojito.)


We were treated to a lovely patio concert by this guy. (Note to self - write down names.) The live acoustic soundtrack couldn't have been any more perfect for that time and place. He played all my favorite songs - old folk ballads, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, the Beatles, plus a Christopher Robin song and the obscure "I Love Trash" (by Oscar the Grouch) for the kids.

Sage is in the foreground with his two addictions - that hat, which he never takes off, and a Goosebumps book, which he never leaves home without.

Time to go. We were on the opposite (south) side of the island by this time, so we took the ferry to Tacoma. Exiting ferries are free, or at least we think they're free since no one asked us to pay. I suppose it's included in the entering ferry fee, which makes that $27 not such a bad deal after all.

Lastly, here's the sunset over the sound...

Pike Place, The Gum Wall, and the Fremont Troll

One of the quintessential Seattle landmarks is The PUBLIC MARKET CENTER sign and clock above Pike Place. Of course, I forgot to photograph it, but here's the Corner Market building in the vicinity:

We went last Saturday and it was busy! I was in homegrown/handmade heaven in all the shops lining the street. It's most famous attraction, though, is Pike Place Fish, where the fishmongers (no, really, they like that term) throw great big fish around and shout and filet and cheer each other on.


Unfortunately, no fish were flying when we walked by and we didn't want to buy a big dead fish to carry around with us for the rest of the day so we kept walking.

Inside Pike Place is a labyrinth of shops and restaurants. I'm sure we missed half of it, but we did enjoy the Market Magic Shop. Sage got a can of Fancy Mixed Nuts. I know, it's an odd thing to buy in a magic shop, but try one.. no, really, just open it...

(just beware of flying snakes).

Next, we went to The Pike.

(Note to self: Take better pictures.) It's a brewing company, and a great place to stop when you're halfway through a hectic day. After that, we walked down to the Post Alley just behind it, to see the famous Gum Wall. Sage couldn't get there fast enough.

Wikipedia says it's "one of the top 5 germiest tourist attractions." Ew.

Of course McKenna wanted to touch it.

Gross as it is, it's pretty cool.

Unfortunately, we had no gum, or quarters to buy gum, so we weren't able to leave our germs behind.

Next time we will though, I'm sure we'll be back. Here's some pasted poster street art on the wall across from all the gum, I thought it was interesting:

Next, we walked down to Pioneer Square. I snapped a few studies in architecture along the way:

Then we walked along the Puget Sound to head back to our car. Here are the kids outside the Seattle Ferry Terminal.

And here they are with the statue outside Ivar's Fish Market.

Some city shots:

and the waterfront:

Are you still with me? We're not done yet. There's still a Space Needle to see:

taken from the car, on our way to see a troll who lives under the Aurora Bridge.

No kidding, check it out:

He's known as the Fremont Troll, and you can climb him...

and pick his nose,

and pretend he's gonna getcha.

You gotta love public art.

What a day!