I Love Lake Union

There is no other lake like Lake Union. Not even close.

In 1855, just a couple years after the first settlers landed in what would become Seattle, Thomas Mercer decided to name the small isolated lake north of downtown 'Lake Union', because he envisioned, one day, this lake being the union between the much larger Lake Washington (who he also named, after George Washington) and the salt water of Puget Sound. He thought that if Lake Washington could be connected to the Pacific Ocean by a couple canals, it could serve as a base for the US Navy. 

But it took sixty years and seven different attempts before they figured out how to do it. And then they realized keeping a naval fleet in a fresh water lake accessed only by one lock system was a horrible idea. What if one of our ships got hit in the canal and none of the other ships could get out? So the Navy put their base in Bremerton instead, which was a much smarter idea. 

Instead, Lake Union has become a lake that has more going on than any other lake I've ever heard of. Lake Union and the Ship Canal are home to most of the boats of the Alaskan fishing fleet. Over half of all the domestic seafood we eat comes through Seattle. We have major shipyards and dry-docks that service boats from all over the world and there are always tugboats and gravel barges coming through. 

Boeing was born on Lake Union and now they have their own marina with their company yacht, the Daedalus. There are different huge, fancy yachts showing up every couple weeks in the summer. All kinds of motor boats and sailboats. On a busy day the water is choppy from all the wakes.

There are kayaks, stand up paddle boards, electric rental boats, a hot tub boat, an ice cream boat, a beer cycle boat, rowing clubs, jet skis and now a pirate boat. 

There are huge million dollar floating homes and some of the original small floating homes that are a hundred years old. There was a time when there were over two thousand floating homes on Lake Union but since they were polluting the lake and not paying any taxes, the city got rid of all but 500 of them. And now we have a law that says we can only have 500 floating homes. So now we have houseboats. Which look like small floating homes but have an outboard motor, a steering station and navigational lights, and are registered as boats. Hundreds and hundreds of them. And liveaboards, more people living on boats than anywhere in the world, outside of Asia. 

You've got Gas Works Park, which used to be a coal gasification plant, then a toxic waste sight, and now the most popular park in Seattle. And the Fremont Bridge- the busiest drawbridge in the country, opening on average fifteen times a day.

AND, it's an international airport! Float planes fly back and forth between Seattle and Victoria, BC everyday. Sometimes you see salmon jumping, a few weeks ago we had a bald eagle hanging around, and yesterday I saw a harbor seal. 

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