eric's little black star » A Morning at the Ballard Locks: just a bunch of stupid boats

eric on Nov 13th 2009 at 3:20 am Around Seattle

A Morning at the Ballard Locks: just a bunch of stupid boats

Yesterday morning, Smartz and I took a little trip to the Ballard Locks. She had read that there was a penny press on the premises and we decided to check it out for ourselves.

The locks’ main purpose is to facilitate boats going from Puget Sound to Lake Washington (which is higher in elevation). It also serves as a fish ladder for Salmon swimming upstream.

We parked the car and walked into the park. There was a bit of construction going on farther up and as we got about halfway there, a strange looking fellow came up to us and said in a sad voice [bad language ahead]:

I don’t mean to burst your bubble, but all that shit them mean fuckin’ faggots are doing – you won’t see no fish. Just a bunch of stupid boats.

He really did seem upset about this. I felt bad for him. He clearly wandered in here to see some fish swimming upstream, but instead just saw a bunch of stupid boats.

I’m not sure if he made it past the construction (which was easy enough to do), but we did. As we crossed the canal, we saw a harbor seal. Cute little devil. He was swimming around and sneezing. I saw a harbor seal sneeze! A lot! Adorable.

On the other side, we visited the fish ladder and saw a couple of fish doing their best against the current. Our friend was somewhat mistaken. it wasn’t the “fuckin’ faggots” doing things that caused the lack of fish. It simply wasn’t time for their migration. That was in August (mostly). I wanted to go find him and tell him that.

But whatever. We found the museum and gift shop, which were pretty ok. There was a short audio/visual program with some rocking 60s/70s documentary music being played over it and a few nice models. It did have a great explanation of the locks and of their construction.

A very fine morning.

Did I mention that I saw a harbor seal sneeze?!
I did!

Check out the pictures here!

8 responses so far

8 Responses to “A Morning at the Ballard Locks: just a bunch of stupid boats”

Mom says:

November 13, 2009 at 6:07 am

OK OK OK…..forget the cute seal…..forget the boats…..forget the museum…..and everything else…..you left out the most important part……..DID SARAH GET A SMASHED PENNY????????????

Just kidding your story and your pictures are really great….but did she?

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eric Reply:
November 13th, 2009 at 9:21 am
Oh she got one to work. The rest are off-center. It was a shame.
Cute seal though.

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Mom says:

November 13, 2009 at 9:26 am

off center is different…..i have never seen one….could be a new thing! maybe Sarah could start a whole new thing….like pet rocks

My Washington state rock is doing great in Penna…but it is even tired of all our rain!

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eric Reply:
November 13th, 2009 at 10:19 am
Did you ever check to see if it’s gold? hehe

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Ryan Beggar says:

November 13, 2009 at 9:31 am

I haven’t been here. I hear it’s great in august. I’m going next year!

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eric Reply:
November 13th, 2009 at 10:19 am
We’ve driven by this a billion times, but never went in. It’s nice, but not as nice as some people like to make it. But those people are REALLY into Salmon.

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Ryan Beggar says:

November 13, 2009 at 10:33 am

Yeah I’m not so incredibly into salmon. Consider my bubble burst.

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eric Reply:
November 15th, 2009 at 9:50 am
Well, if you’re into a bunch of stupid boats, then you’re in luck!

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