South Beach, Discovery Park, Seattle

We went on a 4 mile roundtrip hike through the south bluffs of Discovery Park, about 30 mins from our house near the port in Seattle. It was a gorgeous 80 degree day, and once we walked through the beautiful scenery, we arrived at South Beach with a lighthouse, sandy beaches and views of the Olympic mountains and Mt. Ranier (huge white mtn). The water is very clear (and pretty chilly!) but that doesn't stop my kids from dousing themselves. We saw crabs, clams, seagulls, and a large heron. Several cruise ships also went by blowing their horns as they set sail out of the port nearby. We played for several hours and ate lunch on the beach, then headed back. I understand why it would be useful to have wet/dry hiking shoes around here, since we wore hiking shoes on the hike portion, then brought flip flops for the beach, which was not really practical for all the rocky terrain once you get on the beach. The light, cool breeze kept us from getting hot all day, and we all slept very well last night!