In our quest for finding short bike rides with cool destinations for our guys’ first rides we’ve been looking at all the places we frequent often to see how we can get there by bike. On Sundays the Seattle Aquarium opens 30 minutes earlier for members and at that time it’s usually still quite quiet along the waterfront except for a two block stretch where the cruise ships come in. (You can walk your bikes here or there is a bike path on the other side of the street.)
We parked at Centennial Park at Pier 86. There is free parking around these cross-streets: 16th ave west and west Galer street so you might want to plug those into your GPS. Parking here makes a round-trip ride to the aquarium about 5 miles total.
We biked along the trail past parked trains and a beach where the path turned into Myrtle Edwards Park and then saw the big sculptures as it wound past the Olympic Sculpture Park so there were many things to see as we biked. I can’t believe how many parks we have along this waterfront.
The train crossing near the Spaghetti Factory was also a big hit when a train went by while we were taking a break. (This might even be a great lunch stop for next time.)
The Aquarium was a fabulous destination because the guys felt a great sense of accomplishment biking to a place they really like to visit. There is a cute octopus bike rack in front of it too, so they were really proud to lock up their bikes.
The real octopus put on a great show for us too.
And the boys’ really love seeing the divers in the tanks.
We sipped some hot chocolate and coffee from the cafe before we left then rode back home and the guys are determined that next ride “will be even farther than this one!!” We’ll try. Biking with kids is pretty awesome!
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)
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