Beautiful Parks in Seattle!

Back in Dallas, I and my roommates celebrated Roommate day every Wednesdays. This was the day where we made a point that no matter what we are doing we would meet up, catch up and do something cool. So we always had something to look forward to on Wednesdays 😀 Mondays especially, after a great weekend who likes the idea of going to work? My Monday motivations are Moore coffee (it’s one of my favorite coffee places in Seattle) and chai and board games with friends in the evenings after work.

I had dedicated the month of September to get myself to focus on my blog and didn’t make any travel plans. So while I was working on pending posts, my motivation to power through the month was to take lots of pictures of Seattle. While I was in the sculpture park, reminiscing those days when you could see Mt Rainier from the park (winter is here :/) it gave me a great idea of blogging about different parks in Seattle. Coming from Dallas this was a definitely refreshing change for me to have parks near me that I didn’t have to drive for an hour to get to :p

These are my top 5 picks!

1) My most favorite park in Seattle is Gasworks Park
You get to see Seattle’s beautiful skyline, the gorgeous view of boats sailing in SLU (South Lake Union) and the rusty old coal gasification plant. I love sitting here and having long talks with my friends. The view and the calmness of this place are just perfect for decompressing after a long tiring day.

2) Sculpture Park is my second favorite.
On Alaskan Way, this park is gifted with a view of Puget Sound and Mt Rainier on not so cloudy days. You can also enjoy yoga in the open. There are lots of restaurants and hotels around this park. A nice dinner in 67 at the Edgewater restaurant or drinks at Paddy Coyne’s and walk in the park is a perfect thing to do on a workday or on a weekend. It’s closest to Seattle space needle and the Ferris wheel.

3) Discovery Park
This park in the Magnolia neighbourhood of Seattle has a small beach and a lighthouse. On a bright sunny day, you can see Mt Rainier from here along with cruise ships that depart from the Alaskan way.

4) Madison Park
Parks are more fun on a sunny day needless to say that.  I visited this park the day my parents left back for India after their short trip here. It’s located on the shore of Lake Washington and at the south of evergreen point bridge. I grabbed some food from a restaurant nearby and ate in the park. This park has a bathhouse, a swimming beach, diving board and is kid friendly. However, its only open during summer 🙁

5) Seward Park
This is another park near Lake Washington towards south-east Seattle. I love the area around the park which is pretty quiet and good for walks.

The other parks that are worth visiting would be:

– Golden Gardens Park
This beach park near Ballard is perfect to spend a day picnicking with friends and family. It has a beach, park for kids, a hall for private events and extraordinary view of Puget Sound.

– Deception Pass
This is a small state park between Whidbey and Fidalgo Island. West Beach, Rosario beach are few other places in the park to explore. There are small trails in the park from where you get a good view of the deception pass bridge. This park also has campgrounds where you can camp for a night. The park has $10 entrance fee.

– Hamilton Viewpoint Park
This is another favorite park in West Seattle. Usually less crowded and perfect to watch the sunset and Seattle skyline from. This is my favorite place to watch 4th of July fireworks from.

– Occidental Park
In the middle of downtown Seattle, this park is surrounded by shops like Sephora, Zara, Macy’s, and Nordstrom. You can play chess, Table tennis, food trucks and some shopping here.

– Marymoor Park
This park is located on the north end of Lake Sammamish in Redmond. It’s a very popular park and hosts concerts frequently.

These are my recommendations to decompress from a busy day at work by taking a small stroll in the park, whichever is near you 🙂