An alternate perfect ending to this adventure would be stopping at the Ballard Paseo window on our way into the park for a yummy picnic lunch. But we decided that we wanted pancakes for lunch that day so we made sure to end our trip with Portage Bay Cafe. We were surprised at how many jellyfish were in the water – every time we scooped in our bucket we found hundreds of them, so I’m not sure if I’d let the kids wade in the water here.
Maybe it was just the day we went. But we’ve loved our beach adventures at all our nearby parks so far this summer and we’ve worn boots most of the time. (We’ve been to Discovery Park and Carkeek a lot and they’ve been fun!)
We hadn’t been to Golden Gardens in ages and I forgot how amazing their playground is here. This is definitely one of the best playgrounds in Seattle because of its proximity to the beach, bathrooms and food in Ballard.
And this slide should be voted “slide with the best view” in Seattle.
A couple hours here go by too quickly.
And topping the day off with pancakes and french toast makes it perfect. (Unless it’s Caribbean sandwiches, so you have to do this trip twice!)
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)