Seattle's Lake Union

Since we had never taken the tour, one day my sister, Vicki, our friend JoAnn and I took this tour of Seattle on the "Duck" that is quite popular with the tourists.  This is amphibious vehicle that offers an overview of what to see in downtown Seattle and then actually enters the water at Lake Union and gives another perspective to our great city.  I will cover the "Duck" tour in another blog.

Photo by:  Vicki

This is a photo of a sailboat and the Seattle skyline from Lake Union, which is on the north side of downtown.

Lake Union is a glacial lake, its basin was dug 12,000 years ago by the Vashon glacier, which also created Lake Washington and Seattle's Green, Bitter and Haller Lakes.  It gets its name from Thomas Mercer, who in 1854 correctly predicted that canals would someday join Lake Washington to Puget sound in a "union of waters."

As part of the Lake Washington Canal system, water flows into the lake from Lake Washington through the Montlake Cut and out via the Fremont Cut on its way to Puget Sound.  Before construction of the canal, Lake Union emptied into Salmon Bay via a creek which followed roughly the same course as the Fremont Cut does today.

The first time I heard of Lake Union is from a series of novels I read in the 80's about a Seattle Homicide Cop, Lou Boldt, written by Ridley Pearson.  His co-worker and sometime paramour, the police pyschologist, Daphne Matthews, lived on a houseboat on Lake Union.  In Sleepless in Seattle, the character played by Tom Hanks lived on a houseboat here.  These floating homes line the east and west sides of the lake.

Photo by:  Vicki

Photo by:  Vicki

Above is a picture of the houseboat that was used in the filming of Sleepless in Seattle.  At right is the smallest houseboat on the lake. 

Gas Works Park is the largest park on Lake Union and the most popular for visitors. It is the venue for summer concerts and one of  Seattle's major Fourth of July fireworks show. This is a public park on the site of the former Seattle Gas Light Company gasification plant.  Gas Works Park contains remnants of the sole remaining coal gasification plant in the US. The plant operated from 1906 to 1956, and was bought by the City of Seattle for park purposes in 1962. The park opened to the public in 1975.

The park was originally named Myrtle Edwards Park, after the city councilwoman who had spearheaded the drive to acquire the site and who died in a car crash in 1969. In 1972, the Edwards family requested that her name be taken off the park because the design called for the retention of much of the plant. In 1976, Elliott Bay Park was renamed Myrtle Edwards Park.

Here is a photo of Gas Works Park from the lake.

Photo by:  Vicki

You can often see teams of rowing boats on the lake.  There are several rowing clubs that operate on the lake.  The Washington Huskies also practice here. 

These team rowing boats are often called "shells" because they are long, narrow and broadly semi-circular in cross-section to reduce drag to a minimum.  A "sweep" boat is one oar per person rowing on opposite sides.  A "skulling" boat has each person rowing both side.

Photo by:  Vicki

Seaplanes can also be frequently be seen taking off and landing on the water.  Two companies operate on the water:  Kenmore Air and Seattle Seaplanes.

My favorite view of downtown Seattle is across the lake from the I-5 bridge when the sun is just rising.  It also is breathtaking at night with all the lights shining.  Because I can't just stop on the freeway and snap a picture, I will try to get a photo from Queen Ann that has both the Space Needle and downtown in the photo.