Things to do at Lake Union and why you should go on Sunday!
Lake Union is so gorgeous on a sunny day. It’s an oasis on the outskirts of the city. Sunday is the best day to visit and take advantage of the things to do on the lake, here’s why!
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Center for Wooden Boats
Go here first, 9:30 am to be exact. Parking is free in the parking lots on Sunday so park and walk right up on the dock to get in line. A free boat ride is worth waiting in line to me. Every Sunday, only on Sundays, you can take a FREE Public Sail on one of the boats. The line starts at 9:30 am and the center opens for sign ups at 10 am. Sign ups for sailings are first come first serve. They have a few different boats to choose from and multiple sailings throughout the day. We got the boat we wanted, the Sea Mew, and did a 3:30 pm sail.
The Sea Mew is a small sailboat so it was just us and another gentleman and his son. It was a lot of fun. I usually get seasick and I was mostly okay on this ride. We had seaplanes landing and taking off right beside us, we had a great view of the entire lake, and a gorgeous view of the Seattle skyline.
The Center for Wooden Boats also has a small museum which is FREE. Inside you’ll find the boat shop where they make wooden boats. Like real, actual boats. They’ve also got a gallery of boat photography and a small gift shop. If it’s a nice sunny day let the kiddos run through the splash pad outside the center. There is a nice large park in the middle of all these museums, just beware of the goose poop. The poop is everywhere and it’s disgusting. If you miss the public sail, you can also rent boats, kayaks, paddle boards, etc!
For more info about the Center for Wooden Boats, click here.
MOHAI: Museum of History and Industry
On the other side of the park you’ll find MOHAI. This museum is 16.95 per adult with the military discount and is open 10am to 5pm on Sundays. Inside you can find history of Seattle, how the city came to be, history of the native Indians that lived here before the settlers, the fire that wiped it out, and how the war affected Seattle.
You can also learn about Boeing and the Worlds Fair that was held in Seattle. The special exhibit right now is all about Seattle Fashion through the ages. Obviously this exhibit was my favorite. There were a few dresses I would love to take off their hands.
For more info about MOHAI, click here.
Seattle Ferry Service Sunday Ice Cream Sail
The Ice Cream sail is only on Sundays! Best part? Your pooch can sail with you! Sunday sails leave every hour on the hour starting at 11 am with the last sail at 5 pm. We went right on the 11 am after signing up for the free boat ride at the center for wooden boats. Adults are $12 and kids 5+ are $8. It is cash or check only. Unfortunately I somehow missed that and only had $30 cash. They let us on with an “IOU”.
They have inside and outside seating. Inside they have cute painted chairs with chess and checkers available to play. The captain will give you a little bit of history during the voyage and you’ll get to see the entire lake. Foods and snacks are available for purchase on board and on Sundays only, ice cream. You can catch a glimpse of the houseboat that was used to film “Sleepless in Seattle“. If it’s spring or summer you can also see the boat “Cornelia Marie” off the show “Deadliest Catch“.
For more info about the Sunday Ferry, click here.
It’s time to cross the bridge and go over to the North side of the lake! It’s only about a 5-10 minute drive. The Space Needle and the Skyview Observatory both claim to have the best view in Seattle. Neither are correct. The best view of the Seattle skyline is right here in Gasworks Park.
There is plenty of green space inside this abandoned Gas Plant. The old plant itself is fenced off but what a fantastic idea to make this into a park. There are tables, a large playground for the kids, a skateboarding area, look outs on the water, and more! People were lounging on blankets, flying kites, having picnics, it’s a great spot with a gorgeous view.
For more info about Gas Works Park, click here.
Fremont Troll
Beware the troll under the bridge, he will take your car and eat your kids! Just kidding, but he is cool to see and the kids like to climb on him. There is free street parking nearby and this is about a five minute stop.
For more info about the Fremont Troll, click here.
Hungry yet?! I got these two places out of my book Seattle Food Crawls, available on Amazon for $15, click here. First we stopped at Westward for Oysters. This restaurant is on the north end of the lake right next to Gasworks Park. They have a gorgeous view and these neat Adirondack chairs you can sit in. The food menu wasn’t all that great as far as choices go. There wasn’t a kids menu and I didn’t feel like paying $30 for roast chicken. This is more of an appetizer and drinks place. The drink menu had about ten pages whereas the food was two.
They have eight different kinds of oysters and our waitress said she would give us her two favorites. First thing I asked was where the crackers were. In Florida, we put the oyster on a saltine cracker. Personally I sandwich it between two crackers and then I can tolerate it. We don’t eat oysters without crackers. They didn’t have crackers, what is up with you west coast folks?! So we delved into them cracker free. Travis enjoyed them and I barely stomached my down. It tasted like a mouthful of seawater with a giant booger in it. Why in the heck am I paying $4 each to eat a booger?! It was disgusting. But if you love them, I would go try the different kinds during happy hour when they are only $2 per booger.
More up my alley, we tried out Masonry Pizza, also super close to the troll and Gasworks Park. Cool atmosphere with inside and outside seating. They’ve got board games you can play while you eat. We split the Margarita pizza and it was delicious. It’s that good homemade crust that has the perfect amount of crunch and air bubbles.
Finding the fun everywhere life takes us!
Love, Olivia Michelle
