Beach, locks, and other Seattle adventures

(This will be a random combo of phone and camera pictures)

This morning, when we all rolled out of bed and got ready, we went to pick up Andy at work.  He was getting off early so we could go to Seattle to enjoy the sun today!

We headed up to Ballard (one of Seattle's many neighborhoods) because we heard of this Caribbean place that supposedly has the best sandwiches ever, and it is right down the street from Golden Gardens, a beach park.  We found it across from the marina.  It wasn't labeled, but you can't miss the pink building with the long line.  We waited for probably a half hour at least but finally got our sandwiches!

I took this a few hours later, when the line was way smaller :/

We headed up the street to the beach.  Sawyer was SO excited.  I told him we were going yesterday and he wouldn't stop asking if we were going to the beach yet every 5 minutes.  We ate our tasty sandwiches (caribbean roast pork and scallops- each eating half) and Sawyer played with is toys (I brought him PB&J).

There was a great view of the Olympic mountains

and there were a ton of wind surfers and sailboats that added to the view.

Sawyer found this hole and it wasn't long before about 7 other kids joined him and they all played together.  It was so cute.  I would have taken a picture but there was a girl that was like 4 in only undies and I didn't want to come across as some sort of pedophile.

We stayed for a few hours, then packed up.  We headed back down the street to the locks.  Neither of us had been there before and it was awesome!  It's free to watch too, parking just costs.  It is surrounded by a huge garden park too.  If you aren't familiar, the fresh water is a lot higher than the salty Puget Sound water, so boats come in to the locks, then they raise or lower the water in there until they are even with the water they are going to.  Anyone from big boats to little kayaks can go in the locks, and I am excited for my dad to take us on their boat.  It is so fun to watch, and there is even a fish ladder with viewing windows.  We plan to come back in July when the salmon are there.  We only saw one fish this time on the ladder since it isn't really spawning time.

Some boats waiting to get into the lock.  It was about 20 feet difference in water levels.

A view of the sound

Some boats in the lock

The dam.  Sometimes small fish fly out those water tubes haha!

Sawyer watching the boats go up

The walkways attached to the lock doors have alarms that go off when they open so nobody is on them

A fish ladder

The inside viewing of underwater...we only saw one fish since it isn't the season

Boats leaving the locks and heading out to the Sound

Boats getting lowered.  You can see how different the water level was since they started at the top of the cement thing

Next, we went across the street to Red Mill Burgers (another popular place, and another line) Sawyer got in trouble because I told him not to play with the shakers and he did anyway and shattered the pepper shaker :(

The pepper shaker...some nice hipster saw it fall and threw it away for us :)

Kellan was holding in his pacifier and it was so funny.

After dinner we headed to Molly Moon's in Wallingford (another neighborhood) for ice cream.  Andy called it "moony moonpie's" at first and I cracked up.  The third line of the day.  They have fancy ice creams like lavender and earl gray and balsamic strawberry.  I tried the balsamic strawberry and it was super weird because it was like balsamic vinegar swirled in.  I think I would have liked it more if it was mixed and not swirled.  Anyway I ended up with the sundae which had chocolate and salted caramel ice cream, whipped cream, hot fudge, candied hazelnuts, and a cherry (which wasn't maraschino).

Next we drove downtown and ran into a rogue scooter gang.

The sun was setting as we arrived at Alki beach (yet another neighborhood).  I just love Alki, it is all houses and small restaurants on one side, and a loooooong walking/biking/skateboarding/running/etc trail and beach on the other side where you can find people with bonfires, laying out, and playing volleyball.  You also have amazing views of the Olympic mountains and the city of Seattle across the bay.

We saw a bunch of paddle boarders, I bet they were tired!

It was pretty late so we finally headed home.  I just love Seattle, it has just about everything!  It is FULL of hipsters though.  If you dress normal, you are definitely different.  It also blows my mind because it is just a TON of tiny shops, cafes, and restaurants and I wonder how they all stay in business, especially since a lot of them are hidden inside neighborhoods.  Andy took a wrong turn once and we were driving through a bunch of houses and all of a sudden a PACKED hamburger place appeared where a house would be, and continued as houses as normal...super weird.  I wish I could try them all though!  Maybe I should have went to UW!