Gas Works Park

As if the Puget Sound didn't make the place wet enough already, Seattle also has a couple of gigantic lakes within its limits. Lake Union is just north of downtown, and is most famous for being the body of water upon which Tom Hanks' floating house became the set of a movie whose title has been quoted on far too many Seattle pajama pant and coffee mug souvenirs. Lake Union went down in local pop culture history when it lent it's name to the South Lake Union Trolley, whose actual inaugural motto was "Come ride the S.L.U.T". I swear I'm not making that up.

There's a big park on the northern bank of Lake Union that is just oozing with Seattle history. I should use the word "ooze" with a little more disgression, seeing how the history of the park has to do with gas and some mysterious process called "gasification", which I can only assume has to do with something very smelly. Aside from the sweet smelling smoke coming out of the lungs of some of the park-going youth, the smell has subsided, and all that's left is the huge factory chunks which have been relabeled as "art" thus being rendered completely safe and ultra attractive.

And speaking of things that are attractive and don't stink, how 'bout my wife, daughter, and the cityscape behind them! Don't worry, I'll eventually post a more sunny version of this same picture, we've been back to the park many times. This is the same view that we enjoyed last 4th of July as we watched the Seattle Family Fireworks, which are shot off of a barge in the middle of Lake Union. When I was a fledling firework fan I was always told that the best show in the country was at Logan Utah's Romney Stadium. Yeah, I was very misinformed. The Seattle fireworks make the Logan fireworks look like a bunch of sparklers on a football field. "But Kason", you say, "the Logan fireworks always feature patriotic songs like Man, I Feel Like A Woman, and You Can't Touch This...I bet the Seattle fireworks don't have that!" You're right, they don't. Which proves my point. I've never seen such an amazing pyro display! We're definitely going again next week. I'll tell you all about it when I catch up with my blog postings. Seeing how this Gas Works Park visit was in October of 2009, it might be a while.

Oh and a few more things I gotta mention about the park. For all you Amazing Race fans, this was the starting line of Season 10. And the giant hill in the middle of the park with the big sun dial on top is actually a bunch of the old factory pieces stacked up and covered with dirt and grass. I'm planning to follow the same landscaping scheme when finishing my yard, which is why I haven't put the garbage on the curb for the last three months.