The day after my Cruise-and-Learn, Chris (Rich’s son) and his wife, Shawnie, came down from Camas, Washington to visit with us and several of their friends. Stacey (Chris’ sister) who works for Argosy Cruises, offered to get us tickets for the locks cruise. What she didn’t say was that the locks cruise is fabulous. There aren’t even words to describe the wonderment and enjoyment of this cruise!

Everyone had an amazing time!

We initially took a bus from downtown Seattle (Pier 56) to Lake Union, a few miles north. We then cruises through the lake and see many wonderful shoreline neighborhoods, house boats (including the one from the movie Sleepless in Seattle), and historical sites. There were also fishing boats of varying sizes, including the Wizard and Northwestern from the TV series Deadliest Catch.  

We then went through the locks, in Ballard, which consisted of tying off to the walls of the locks and descending until we were level with the salty water of the Puget Sound. Many other boats were in the locks and rafted (tied) together — small power boats tied to large yachts, sailboats tied to fishing boats.

Once out of the locks, we circle to the west then south back to downtown Seattle.

Check out the panoramic pictures I stitched together!