My 31st birthday passed a few weeks ago and it’s the second birthday I have spent in Seattle. Last year we were here visiting as tourist and this year we are here as residents. It still feels very surreal for me that I live in this beautiful city. To celebrate my birthday, we decided to check out the Ballard Locks, a very popular tourist attraction in Seattle, Washington.
Ballard Locks
The Hiram M. Chittenden Ballard Locks are located in Ballard. The locks and ship canal were built by Seattle and the Corps of Engineers as a commercial navigation route over 100 years ago. The idea in building them was to develop the City of Seattle. I bet they never imaged that Seattle would grow as big as it is now because the Ballard Locks has nearly 50,000 vessels a year “locking through”. As one of the top tourist attractions in Seattle, the grounds accommodates over 1.3 million visitors per year.
After visiting the Ballard Locks for myself, I can see why people love to visit. It’s a beautiful and tranquil place with so many things to see. Best of all, it’s FREE to visit.
As we wandered through we saw several boats pass through the locks. My favorite boat to to pass through was a giant tug boat that was making it’s way back from Alaska. The crew on the ship was super friendly and took the time to tell us all about their adventure.
If you visit the Ballard locks during salmon season (between June – September), you have the chance to check out salmon passing though from the salmon viewing room. Luckily, we went during a busy time and saw a ton of Coho Salmon swimming along. The only down fall was that their were fishermen with a net waiting to catch them. I was disturbed to see this after watching the fish swim passed me so happily.
There Ballard Locks also offers a schedule of free tours 7 days a week. We didn’t have time to stick around for a tour, but we are definitely planning a trip back and next time we are going to bring the dogs with us.
Ballard Locks | Outfit Details
Boombox Print Carly Dress- Lularoe
Jacket- Target (Old)
Boots- H&M (Old)
Backpack- TjMaxx
Necklaces- Forever 21
Sunglasses- Vain West Seattle
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