Tag Archives: Elliott Bay

Seattle – Part 6 Finale, Green Lake to Pier 56

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Green Lake Memorial Lantern Float photo by Vuong Vu

As a final episode in our tour of Seattle, I will take you to the Green Lake neighborhood. It is a quiet neighborhood that I love to walk around. Green Lake is 259 surface acres and was named because of the algae that formed, causing the lake to turn green. At times, it produced noxious odors. The algae caused rashes for many who tried to swim there. Attempts to clear the lake were unsuccessful until about twenty years ago. Now people can swim in it. Motorized boats are banned on the lake, but people still splash around in kayaks, canoes, and on paddleboards. There is a large open area for picnicking and nearly three miles of paved paths around the lake. Every year since 1984, a memorial lantern float is held to memorialize the victims of the Nagasaki and Hiroshima bombings.

At some point in the 1920s, a bathhouse with changing rooms and showers for bathers was built at the edge of the lake. That building now houses the Public Bathhouse Theater, one of the many public theaters in Seattle. It offers a wide variety of entertainments and is a starting place for actors.

Green Lake had an aquatic theater in the 1950s, where the Aqua Follies were produced.  It was the site of concerts and live entertainment by some of the pros, such as Bob Hope, Led Zeppelin, and the Grateful Dead, among others.

Woodland Park Zoo is at the edge of the Green Lake neighborhood and connects through the park. It is over ninety acres of animals, exhibits, and family fun. When our kids were young, we spent many hours at the zoo and the children’s theater.

 While a student at the University of Washington, our son lived in the attic of an old home just up the hill from Green Lake. Then he moved for a time to the Wallingford neighborhood across the I-5 from the University District. His house was actually tucked in under the edge of the elevated freeway. He and his buddies started a raucous rock band called Legacy. It quietly ended shortly after graduation.

Of course, the University District and The Ave hold a myriad of adventures and students who are in the active process of becoming. I spent many hours exploring my favorite emporium, The University Book Store on the Ave. On a couple of occasions, when my husband wanted to WOW me, he gave me a large dollar gift certificate to “the bookstore”, where I escaped into other worlds for hours in distracted bliss. The downside for him was that I came home laden with books that he then had to move from house to house each time we moved. He said he’s not moving them again, so I guess we’re here for the duration. Love me, love my books.

There is the Ravenna neighborhood that we bypassed, and the International District with great dim sum. You can lose yourself in the culinary delights from around the world. There are Rainier Beach and Sodo (South of Downtown) areas. There are the Roosevelt and Sand Point districts, Montlake, Phinney Ridge, toney Madison Park, and the exclusive, completely walled-in and gated neighborhood of Broadmoor. I went to a party in Broadmoor once, a political do as I recall, but the memory is vague – it must have been a very “good” party.

 We passed by Beacon Hill in the southeast section of the city. It is the original headquarters of Amazon.com. Beacon Hill is primarily an Asian neighborhood, mostly residential. We sometimes shopped at an Asian import store on Beacon Hill. I brought a three-foot-tall laughing Buddha to Tucson with me as a reminder of that neighborhood. He happily reigns over our backyard in the desert.

 We didn’t spend much time in downtown Seattle, the mega-mecca of everything big city. For a while, our eldest daughter lived on the eighth floor of a thirty-two-floor building in the high-rise forest of the mid-town business district within walking distance of her office and her place of worship, Nordstrom. Nordstrom began in Seattle as a family-owned shoe store in the 1920s. It transitioned to a big-time department store in the 1960s, expanding far beyond Seattle. I think its growth was financed, in large part, by our shoe-addicted daughter.

 We’ve missed a significant portion of the waterfront where ferries ply their way across the Bay and Puget Sound to various islands and Victoria, Canada. Pier 56 is known as Fisherman’s Wharf. It is full of shops and entertainment opportunities. The Seattle Aquarium is underwhelming compared to other city aquariums we’ve visited. Not worth the money.

The Great Wheel – Seattle

The Great Wheel is interesting. A Ferris wheel that is 175 feet high and extends 40 feet out over Elliott Bay has views of Seattle, the Olympics, and Puget Sound (on a clear day). They have a spectacular light show. Each of the forty-two climate-controlled gondolas holds eight passengers. There is one VIP gondola with special appointments that holds four passengers. The Wheel revolves three times in the twelve-minute ride.  It doesn’t compare to the London Eye, which is 445 feet high, anchored in the Thames, but it is worth the $13 to experience, and you don’t have a twelve-hour flight to get there.

We bypassed the industrial part at the south end of Elliott Bay, where big tanker ships and commercial barges load and unload from ports around the world.  It is less than elegant, but it does provide a comfortable living for those working the docks.

At various times, Seattle was named the most educated city in the US and the most literate city. But then, it has also been named the most livable city, and I’m sure whoever came up with that was smoking something stinky and missed all the suicides. It is a city of eclectic neighborhoods, each a little world unto itself.  Some began as immigrant enclaves but changed in character as Seattle grew. When you travel around Seattle, it is like taking a trip to different lands, different customs, and cultures without needing a passport. You will have to come back with me again sometime and explore the places we missed.

In future posts, I will share some of our sailing experiences in the Puget Sound area. I will take you to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island during the Jazz festival, to the Victorian town of Port Townsend, harboring at Orcas Island, and the legendary Fluffy Duck cocktail, visits to Stuart and Sucia Islands, going through seaside customs on our way to the Gulf Islands of Canada. Killer whales played with our sailboat as we cruised the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

I’m not sure how Seattle informed me as a person during my 40 years of incarceration. I spent so much time resenting it that I really didn’t let Seattle in. My interior barriers blocked any positive influence that threatened my bias. I took a cue from my adorable little grandmother when she came from Kansas to visit for the first time. We took her up in the Space Needle. Her comment was, “Yes, it is beautiful from up here, but you can’t see anything when you’re down there because of those damn trees.” To each his own. To some, trees provide a beautiful landscape; to others, they are an impediment to seeing the horizon.

I enjoy going back to embrace Seattle for all its gifts, now that I know I can return to Tucson’s blue skies. My children, all born with gills and webbed feet, love Seattle and always have. They thought we lost our minds when, through my insistence, we made our escape to the desert twenty-eight years ago. Two of those Seattle-loving children presently live in sunshine, one in Texas and one in Tucson. Only one stubbornly remains in Seattle, her little webbed feet firmly planted in the muck. Seattle is a very watery, water-oriented place. Water – everywhere.

No more clammy feet, soggy clothes, frizzy Bozo hair and gray skies for me. If nothing else, Seattle taught me to appreciate blue sky, clear air, stars, and yes, even the heat, it’s a dry heat. I love Tucson. I will live 40 years in the desert to dry out and make up for all the years I endured Seattle…then, on to somewhere else, preferably Paris. I know the weather in Paris is not ideal either, but it is PARIS.

Ahhh, Paris

Seattle Part 5 – Queen Anne, Elliott Bay and Magnolia

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Discovery Park takes up a major part of the land on Magnolia Bluff. It is the largest park in Seattle with trails, forest, meadow, and beaches for a diverse outdoor experience. Magnolia was misnamed by a military surveyor back in the 1800s because he thought that the red-barked Madrona trees that cover the hill were Magnolias.

A caveat of the Treaty was the promise that any surplus military land would be returned to the original owners. Following the Korean War, Fort Lawton was considered surplus land. In 1970, there was a nonviolent demonstration for four months by indigenous peoples led by Bernie Whitebear with supporters such as Jane Fonda and the Black Panthers to increase national attention to the cause. The result of the negotiation was that the Fort would be turned over to the City of Seattle for a public park, and the United Indians People’s Council would receive a ninety-nine-year lease for twenty acres to become a cultural center. The Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center was completed in 1977 and is a cultural and educational magnet for visitors.

Like every piece of land in Seattle, Magnolia belonged for eons to Native Americans.  The native Americans considered themselves custodians of the land. A gathering place for possibly 10,000 years. Archaeological evidence shows sustained settlements in the area with tools, homes, canoes, etc. The Euro-white invaders forced the indigenous population to reservations by the 1855 Treaty of Point Elliott with promises (still not kept) regarding healthcare and economic opportunities. The land was turned over to the military and became Fort Lawton until the 1970s.


At the base of Magnolia Hill is Elliot Bay Marina where we moored our sailboat for years. It has a magnificent view to the east of downtown Seattle across the Bay, spectacular views of Puget Sound to the west, and Mount Rainier to the South. We lived aboard our boat for part of a summer while we had our house remodeled – a six-week project became three months. I remember sitting on the aft deck with a glass of wine in the evenings, the boat swaying gently with the tide, puffs of crisp sea air coming off the Sound, watching the moon rise over the Cascade Mountains and Seattle, thinking there couldn’t be a prettier sight – one of my Stockholm hostage moments. Reflection of the setting sun on windows in the city made a warm copper glow emanate from some of the buildings. Lights in the skyscrapers cast multicolored rippled beams across the water of the Bay as the sky grew darker and darker. Adorable harbor seals swam into the marina and barked at each other and boat dwellers. They are creative beggars, slapping the water to get attention and rolling on their backs, inviting gifts of food. Eagles swooped down over our boat from the tops of the madrona trees on their way hunting or fishing. Idyllic. Inner city peaceful.

Elliott Bay Marina

Palisades restaurant at the marina is one of my favorites in the city, and their Mangorita is the best. Maggie Bluffs Café is unmatched for Sunday brunch. The king crab Benedict is unbeatable. Fisherman’s Terminal is another great spot for dining on the freshest fish. One undeniable benefit of Seattle is the fresh seafood, especially my favorite, crab. From our earliest days in Seattle, a friend of ours gave us crab that he caught near his house north of Seattle. We had mountains of crab and salmon in the refrigerator and freezer all the time. I took it for granted, even said I was tired of it. Now I crave it. I must stop the restaurant tour because I’m making myself too hungry.


From Magnolia, we drive back southeast to Queen Anne Hill, the grand dame that looks down over Seattle and the Bay. Queen Anne is the highest hill (but not the steepest slopes) and has many of the earliest mansions built by Seattle pioneers. Lavish old homes perch on hillside lots with rounded tourettes, bric-a-brac details, and gingerbread that place them in a bygone era. Even newer built homes echo some of those details. At the base of Queen Anne to the east is Lake Union. Lake Union is lined with restaurants (which we will not visit on this trip due to hunger concerns) and nautical businesses. It is the freshwater mid-point on the canal between the Sound and Lake Washington.

A friend of ours rehabbed an old Conoco gas station into a lovely two-story home on Westlake Avenue on the hill above Lake Union with views up and down the Lake. She was one of the most creative, imaginative people I’ve known. She was also a gourmet cook and owned a restaurant in Seattle. I would extoll her varied and unique menu, but sadly, her restaurant is no more. Besides lovely lake views and boat watching, she had a view of the floating houses moored on the west edge of Lake Union. They are a unique living concept and, I’ve heard, some can be rented for a Sleepless in Seattle experience.

Lower Queen Anne on the south side of the hill is the location of the Seattle Center, the Opera House, the Seattle Repertory Theater, the Pacific Science Center, sports arenas, a live theater district, and the famous Space Needle.  Ken took me to the revolving restaurant atop the Space Needle for my eighteenth birthday, and gave me a diamond and pearl ring – a promise to get engaged. And here we are sixty-two years later.

Our younger daughter lived in an apartment on Upper Queen Anne for several years. It is a distinguished neighborhood with a significant part of cultural Seattle at your feet within walking distance. I loved her apartment, embedded in an old mansion that had been rehabbed into a multiple dwelling building. It had character and charm, a perfect setting for a young writer of romance novels. Alas, she didn’t write romance novels.

Lower Queen Anne, on the south side of the hill, is the location of the Seattle Center, the Opera House, the Seattle Repertory Theater, the Space Needle, the Pacific Science Center, sports arenas, and the live theater district. It was the site of the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair. Elvis fans will remember he made a movie there…sigh. Kurt Russell was in the film, It Happened at the World’s Fair, as a little boy who kicked Elvis in the shin. Not to be missed is the Chihuly Glasshouse. If you haven’t seen the genius of Dale Chihuly glass, this is the place to explore. The Center holds so much magic it takes days to explore it all. At the edge of the Center is the Experience Music Project, now called MoPop, a spectacularly ugly structure originally dedicated to music, mostly rock and roll, but now includes symbols of modern pop culture. A monorail connects the Center to the main part of downtown. It is the location each year of the Bumbershoot Festival and Taste of Seattle. I could go on for pages about The Center. It takes days to explore it all.

Time is short, and the pages are long, so we’ll leave now. We’ve missed West Seattle and Alki Point, where our best friends lived, and the actual birthplace of Seattle. We passed by Ballard, the Scandinavian part of town, where Shilshol Bay is. Ballard is the home of all the fishermen in Seattle, and they have funny accents. Maybe that’s a little stereotyped, but it’s true, ya sure, you betcha. I’ve skipped Belltown, a waterfront neighborhood just north of Pike Place Market with lots of good restaurants and nightspots. Belltown is also the home of the P-Patch, where public gardening is offered. The next post is the last in the tour. We will visit Green Lake and the University District, and I’ll tell a smidge about our sailboat life. There will probably be other posts in the meantime. Lots of things swirling in my mind.