Seattle Waterfront
general info | photo gallery | map & directions
Seattle has one of the most magnificent, awe-inspiring seaports in the world. The views are spectacular; the popular Summer Nights at the Pier concerts play at sublime Pier 62/63. The Seattle Aquarium, the Odyssey Maritime Discovery Center are also here. The old streetcar clangs along the length of the waterfront, and the green spaces of Myrtle Edwards Park take over from the concrete mayhem at the northern end.
Piers 55/56 is where you can catch a cruise to Tillicum Village on Blake Island and have a smoked salmon dinner just like the 17 world leaders did when they gathered for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in 1993.
Tucked among the Seaport's terminals are public facilities such as fishing piers, bike paths, an exercise course, wildlife habitat preservation, a boat launch and numerous benches and paths along the shoreline.
Comprising the area from Pier 57 to Pier 59, this park is lined with lamps, benches, and high, curving railings. From either of two pink metal viewing platforms, reached both by stairs and a wheelchair-accessible ramp, you can enjoy excellent views of the city skyline, the waterfront, the ships in drydock, container cranes, the West Seattle Bridge, Magnolia Bluff, Blake Island, Bainbridge, and, on a clear day, the Olympic Mountains. Occasionally you may even see a seal. Four coin-operated telescopes on the sidewalk offer view assistance.
At the north end of the park, nearest the Seattle Aquarium, are benches, picnic tables, and some trees in planters. Waterfront Fountain and its surrounding stairs and walls break up the space into interesting places to linger and enjoy your lunch.
Waterfront Fountain is made of cast and welded bronze shaped in cubical structures. It is one of Seattle's five public fountains by sculptor James FitzGerald, the others located at the IBM Building (5th Ave. & University St.), Plymouth Congregational Church (6th Ave. & Seneca St.), Intiman Playhouse (Seattle Center), and Jefferson Terrace Retirement Home (800 Jefferson St.); all are bronze. At the south end of the park, a somewhat larger than life bronze abstract statue of Christopher Columbus gazes out at the water.
The Aquarium building can be entered from the top of the northernmost viewing platform, as well as from the street. There are public restrooms outside the Aquarium giftshop which are open during Aquarium hours (10 a.m.-5 p.m.; summer hours 9:30 a.m.-7 p.m.).
Acres: 4.8
|
