This is an only-in-Seattle kind of park. Many moons ago, to satisfy our energy needs, the City Fathers had Gas Works constructed in a conveniently central location. Sadly, that central location was on the shores of a lake that was part of the northern border of the Downtown area. Science being what it was when the Gas Works were constructed, there are all kinds of noxious chemicals in the ground in this area. Don’t even think of passing by those chain-link fences separating the usable areas of the park from the forbidden – It Is For Your Own Good! Still, a lot of the park is usable and we have spent several enjoyable days here (especially the one when we were able to listen to Eliot's Funk Band.)
It’s surgery plus 22 days. I’ve stopped using the cane, but I still must be careful. Walking is not as easy as it was 2 months ago! (I hope I remember this in the months ahead, it will make life much more enjoyable!) We again wanted to stick close to home. We originally thought about Green Lake, but I didn’t feel up to it. Green Lake will have to wait for stronger knees.
The Gasworks Park area is on the northern shore of Lake Union, which is just north of downtown. Lake Union sites between I-5 and Capitol Hill on the east, and Queen Anne on the west. It’s a natural border. On a good day, we could walk to this walk, but my knee being in the condition it is in, we drove to N. 35th and Densmore Ave. N. (The walk starts and ends a little up the hill from the park.) Our first sight was Essential Baking. We’ve lived in Seattle for 25 years and not been in this place, though we have enjoyed its bread at various venues.
We continued along the walk to Densmore, turning right to go down to the park, but stopping first to enjoy some urban art:
It’s surgery plus 22 days. I’ve stopped using the cane, but I still must be careful. Walking is not as easy as it was 2 months ago! (I hope I remember this in the months ahead, it will make life much more enjoyable!) We again wanted to stick close to home. We originally thought about Green Lake, but I didn’t feel up to it. Green Lake will have to wait for stronger knees.
The Gasworks Park area is on the northern shore of Lake Union, which is just north of downtown. Lake Union sites between I-5 and Capitol Hill on the east, and Queen Anne on the west. It’s a natural border. On a good day, we could walk to this walk, but my knee being in the condition it is in, we drove to N. 35th and Densmore Ave. N. (The walk starts and ends a little up the hill from the park.) Our first sight was Essential Baking. We’ve lived in Seattle for 25 years and not been in this place, though we have enjoyed its bread at various venues.
We continued along the walk to Densmore, turning right to go down to the park, but stopping first to enjoy some urban art:
We continued down the hill, encountering the Pool (not sure that’s its actual title, but it is halfway down the stairs in the last block of Wallingford). This is a really cool joint venture of local elementary students and older artists. Check it out!
A short hop, skip and jump across the Burke-Gilman trail and into the Park proper. We wandered up the hill. It was quite a blustery day, so about 2 dozen people were atop Kite Hill flying their various works of art. There were even a couple of fellows flying remote-controlled gliders. I don’t know how they kept them from turning tail and flying away to the north. But back to Kite Hill, when you get to the top, make sure to check out the Sundial (where You are the vertical piece whose shadow shows what time it is).
Great views of the city from atop Kite Hill:
And finally we were able to see some eponymous structures:
It was absolutely wonderful to walk through this park with so many people enjoying the experience. One more picture – make sure that when you take this walk, you check out the various shorelines. All are covered by houseboats.
We left the park, recrossing the Burke Gilman, back up the stairs and across N. 34th Street. Another enjoyable Seattle walk.
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