End of Summer Fun

Yesterday, Craig and I had lots of fun taking an Argosy Cruise through the Hiram M Chittenden (aka Ballard) Locks. About two weeks ago, we made arrangements to go with Craig's cousin Kevin Smith and his wife Sencera on August 29th for a 3:30-6:00 cruise. Little did we know that our good weather would decide to turn rainy on the very day we wanted to go on our boat ride. We woke up to rain that looked determined to continue all day. However, by noon the rain had stopped and by 1:00 the sun was starting to come out -- we were going to have a nice day after all! Kevin and Sencera picked us up around 2:00 and we headed downtown to Pier 56 to catch a bus over to Lake Union where we would start our cruise. We boarded the Goodtime III and found some seats in the back of the upper deck, in the sun (better enjoy it while we can).

Soon, we started through Lake Union and headed towards the locks. The tour guide pointed out all the various sights along the lake (the house boat used in Sleepless in Seattle, some of the crabbing boats from The Deadliest Catch, etc.) and the history of the area. As we approached the locks, we were told to watch for salmon jumping as they came into the fresh water from the salt water of Puget Sound. We had to wait for the ships in the locks to move through the water way, so we watched -- and were surprised to see very large salmon jumping completely out of the water! After about a 10 minute wait, it was our turn to head into the smaller of the 2 locks so that we could go from the fresh water side (Lake Union) to the salt water side (Puget Sound). Once through the locks, our tour guide continued telling us about what we were seeing on this side of the locks. I had hoped to see the 3 cruise ships that I had noticed were in port when we first arrived at Pier 56, but they had already left for Alaska by the time we came through the locks. We got back to the pier a bit after 6:00, and headed home.

After Kevin dropped us off, I told Craig I was hungry for fish and chips, and he said he was, too, so I suggested we go to Elliot Bay Brewery & Pub and eat. What a fun way to end the day!