Monday, November 5, 2012

Bucket List #51 | Discovery Park

Our Seattle bucket list is a list of adventures we're hoping to have while Landon studies at the University of Washington for the next several years. To view all of our bucket list posts, click here.
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Much of what Seattle has to offer are expensive tourist attractions. Don't get me wrong, we adore the aquarium and some of the museums are worth seeing, too. This weekend, however, we were (ok, I was) itching to get out the house and didn't have much to spend. We turned to our trusty bucket list and found a fabulous city park to check out.
Discovery Park is an arm of the city's Parks and Recreation department. While they offer classes and tours for a minimal fee, entrance to the park and - nothing short of miraculous here - parking is completely free. We also found out when we got there that if you have a child under 8 years old, a senior (65+), or a handicapped sticker, you can drive right up to the beach front with a special permit you check out. Again, for free. The perfect activity for grad students!
We loved this little strip of beach so much that we never made it to the rest of the park...it being November and all, we didn't stay more than an hour and a half. We walked around the light house, collected shells, felt the sand between our toes, and found sea urchins and crab claws along the shore. Some of us were insane brave and put toes in the frigid sound.

Further on down this coast line there are tide pools. In the springtime, when the tides are low enough during the day, we'll be back to visit.
The park itself is over a mile and a half in diameter, with a running/biking path that winds around through gorgeous trees and ends up on the beach. There is also a play structure somewhere, but we'll have to find it another time.

This park is nothing short of amazing.
One thing I continue to marvel at about Seattle is how easy it is to slip in and out of that big city feel. One minute we're at a huge convention center or passing a pro sports stadium, and the next we're walking along a quiet stretch of sand, almost the only people there.

We are so fortunate to live in such a gorgeous part of the US. We rate Discovery Park:
I might even call this a must-see if you're visiting. Save your money; skip the Space Needle and explore one of the gems of the Emerald City instead.

3 comments:

Lydia Story said...

You sure have a cute family! Love the rain jacket, it looks so cute!

Anonymous said...

Looks like fun! Vaughn and I have been creating a list of things to do in our area while we are here too!! Miss your face friend!

Jenay said...

I just realized that every time I look at your blog I subconsciously start composing a comment that goes something like, "I'm so jealous you get to live there! I wanna live there too! No fair!" but I never end up posting it because it makes me sound sort of grumpy and lame. What a beautiful place! I'm glad you are enjoying it so much. We'll have to come visit you next time we're there. (Oh, and if you ever need to spend the night in Nampa again, for pete's sake stay with us! Our house is literally 2 min from the hotel you stayed in last time.) Ok, longest comment ever. I should just call you.