Once we got settled, we went over to the Magnolia section of Seattle to see our friends Mike and Leah along with the son Daniel. We visited for a while and got a chance to see all the upgrades they have done on the house. It is really looking good.
Mike and Leah offered a tour of their area of town that included a lighthouse and a set of locks with boats passing through. How could we refuse.
This is the West Point Light House, located in Discovery Park.
After the lighthouse, they took us to see the Hiram M. Chittendon Locks also known as the Ballard Locks as they are on the Ballard Side of the canal.
At the locks, on the Magnolia side is a salmon ladder to help the Salmon get up the rise in elevation at the locks.
Boats in the lock. The lock is closing behind them. You can just see a vertical opening at the back of the lock. Notice how tightly they crowd the boats in. There is also another larger lock right next to this one that can accomodate much larger boats.
You can see how far the locks raise the boats. The picture above shows it at the lowest point. The first picture below shows it partly raised. The middle one shows it almost to the top and the last one shows the gates opening with the boats raised up to the same level as Lake Union. The locks are the point where fresh water meets salt water. Construction of the locks began in 1911 and were completed in 1917. They raise boats 20-22 feet depending on the tide.
Leah, Daniel and Michael just before we left their house and headed back to the hotel for the day.
Tomorrow we tour Seattle. I want to go out and see the lighthouse at Alki Point that Leah told us about.
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