Adventure #1 - Alki Beach

     Coming from the hot, dry desert, one of the best things, so far, about moving to the Puget Sound area has been the water!  Currently, we are staying in Corporate Apartments in the downtown area of Seattle.  When we arrived, I immediately started looking for things to do and see...and wow, was I impressed.  There are many, many things to do for free here with kids and we are trying to get out at least three or four days a week to see something new.  But so far, our favorite things have included the water.
     The first Monday we were here, I looked for a place to get close to the water and happily found a few small beaches around the sound.  So, Adventure #1?  Alki Beach!  I wish you could have seen the looks on my kids faces when I said we were going to the beach.  They could not believe it would only take 10 minutes to get there.  So, we got our jackets, camera, a bag to collect shells in and we were on our way.

  
      Alki Beach is not huge, but it was nice and we were able to do some serious exploring.  Our first bit of excitement was over a sign posted telling us not to touch or bother any "Resting Harbor Seals".  What?!  We could see Harbor Seals on the beach???  Well...we didn't, but we did have a great time looking for shells and drawing in the sand.  At one point close to the water, we looked out to a small strip of sand in the water and saw a crab crawling up and walking along...then just a few steps away was another one, headed right for us. Pretty exciting day for a bunch of desert dwellers.

    I did not know at the time Alki beach has a very rich history.  Alki Beach is where the first white settlers landed in Seattle, and were greeted by Chief Seattle who helped them build a shelter.  This will definitely be a place we return to, especially since we will be studying Washington History during our next year of homeschooling!  Money spent?  Zero dollars...just my kind of day!