7/4/13

The Fourth of July...what a day! From Lake Union in Seattle to Tacoma, I did it all!

Lake Union in Seattle (you can see the Space Needle from Lake Union and Lake Union Park) was having its annual Wooden Boat Festival. I had never been to a Wooden Boat festival before, so I figured I may as well take the opportunity to create a memorable 4th in the great state of Washington. Clear skies + great weather = motorcycle ride from Tacoma to  Seattle All I could hope for was that there wouldn't be traffic. Unlike in California, it's illegal to split lanes in Washington. Yes, that means sports bikes, Harleys, you name it, are forced to sit behind cars in traffic. Can you imagine if lane splitting was illegal in a place like Los Angeles? Oh my! Don't get me started on the 405... (which also runs in Washington).

The festival was very family oriented, but that didn't stop all types of people (like me) from enjoying myself. Kids could build small boats, teens could build a bigger boat, which probably took all three days of the festival to build, and adults could respect the yachts out on display.

Before I get you started on the pictures,  a map of Lake Union is necessary. The "You Are Here" star at the bottom of the map denotes the location of the event. Downtown Seattle is South and the Space Needle is Southwest from the Lake Union. You will see pictures of a bridge as you continue reading this blog. That bridge is located to the left of the star, for your reference.

Welcome to Lake Union!

Small boats circling around, mostly run by boys and their dads.

Needle!!!!!!!

One older guy brought his obnoxious siren-ringing, water-squirting boat. I couldn't figure out whether he purchased it or spent hours upon hours building it.

He thought it was funny to squirt water at people. I didn't want to walk around dripping with water and thankfully he read my mind.

I could turn my Space Needle photos into postcards.

Here's a close up of a boat:

Panorama shot of part of Lake Union from a bridge.

A breakdown of the above panorama, into 3 separate shots, from left to right.

1.

2.

3.

Now these are views facing North from the bridge in the above - views to the left of the boat in photo 1.

The boat from photo 1 is located next to the big ship (named Zodiac) on the right.

My duck buddies!

They probably followed me from American Lake!

Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival had a "best boat" competition  going on, which meant several boats and ships were open to the public. I took that opportunity to explore the Zodiac. 

 

Rescue boat on the Zodiac.

Some familiar faces!

Other beauties on display for the public to judge:

Facing South, towards Seattle.

That day, the festival was offering row boat rentals. I couldn't say no. In fact, I was extremely excited to rent a row boat. It's actually one of the primary reasons I wanted to attend this event!


How far did I row that day? Good question. To the Northeast (in the picture below, Northeast is towards the upper right hand corner), to the bridge (which is included in the panorama shot and is Southwest, towards the lower left hand corner of the below picture) and back to the dock. All in about an hour and fifteen minutes, which included breaks to take in the sights. 

My partner in crime had the honor of rowing first.

Row, row, row the boat... (We rowed all the way to the Queen of Seattle, which is so far out, you can't even see it in the background!)

The white building at the base of the Space Needle is Lake Union Park, where the boat departed from.

Facing West.

Boats, Northwest from Lake Union Park.

The view towards the North.

Close-ups of the big beauties:

And here she is, Queen of Seattle!

That's how far we rowed, from the white building, which is in the center of the photo, next to the white sail.

Getting to the Queen of Seattle was a team effort. On the way back, however, I decided to take charge, rowing past the white building, to the bridge I stood on earlier. What was the distance? I wish I knew!

*There will be additional pictures posted at a later date, that document the success in reaching the bridge*

 Back on land, safe and sound!

Thank you row boat for a great ride!

Battle wounds!

What can I say, I was in a rowing zone.

All that walking and rowing sure brought on an appetite. T'was time for none other than, yup, you've guessed it: CLAM CHOWDA!! They had multiple food vendors, but my mind was made up the moment I saw this food stand:

 

Is my food ready yet?!?

Chowda in a bread bowl! This chowder had more potatoes than the other Clam Chowders I've had in the Pacific Northwest, but still quite tasty!

Calamari & Chips! This almost distracted me from my beloved Chowder.

mmmmm mmmmm goooooooood!

Feeling full, therefore happy.

Having experienced all that Lake Wooden has to offer, it was free AMC movie time in Seattle, before heading back to Tacoma to see the firework show over Puget Sound. Firework shows didn't start until about 9:30/10pm, since the sun only set around 9pm. There was plenty of time to watch a movie and enjoy the ride to Tacoma, in time for the 10:30pm show. Plenty of time, that is, unless you get pulled over by cops TWICE  in thirty minutes! Yes, you read that right. But go ahead and re-read it.

Here I am enjoying the leisurely motorcycle ride to Tacoma, a 30-40 minute ride, when I start to see firework shows to my left, to my right, and up ahead. At that point, I realize I don't need to go to Tacoma to see what claims to be the "biggest firework show over Puget Sound." Why? Because I witnessed dozens and dozens of firework shows, an experience that will be difficult to beat! Some shows were as close as by the freeway, others at the top of distant hills. Some were as simple as one spark. And others included a heart shaped firework explosion in the sky. I had never seen that before!

I'm sitting there, looking all around, jamming to my music when I see red and blue reflections on the helmet in front of me. Oh joy. What did this guy want from us? Mr. Officer accused us of some nonsense called "speeding", but not before asking if we were drinking. Please sir, leave us be, so we may enjoy our wonderful Pacific Northwest night. He let us go, and we were back on the road. Again, I was enjoying the fireworks over the entire region. For thirty minutes.

In downtown Tacoma, we hit traffic!!! Since we're in the great state of Washington, we can't split lanes. And we really can't, because a cop car was right next to us. The moment a second lane opened up, off we went! We popped a u-ey and headed away from the traffic, and then I saw the lights. All I could think is "Oh heck no, he better not be coming after us!" But he was. And he did. What did we do wrong this time! Apparently, the open lane we used was a construction shoulder, a big no-no. OK, fine, have it your way. And NO we haven't been drinking. Just let us go! He did.

Phew! What a day! Two stops and no tickets! Here you can see my attempt to snap a picture, but clearly I don't have the right skills for this job.

That's right, walk away!

And that, my readers, is how you spend your 4th in the Pacific Northwest. You have to own the city!