November Sunset at Shilshole Bay Marina

Seattle.  Ballard.  Shilshole Bay.  The marina at sunset.  Welcome to one of the still, luminous moments to be experienced here in the Pacific Northwest.

Next to Puget Sound, in the old Ballard neighborhood, lies Golden Gardens Park and Shilshole Bay Marina.  These days Ballard is one of the cool Seattle destinations, and locals treasure the restaurants and shopping on Market St NW and Ballard Ave.  But then there's Sunset Hill, the neighborhood just over Golden Gardens Park on the bluff.  Stairs down from 34th Ave will take neighborhood walkers down steep flights to the Sound, or you can drive down.  Or if you go down Market St past the Ballard Locks, you can drive along the Marina north (past two great eating spots, Ray's Boathouse and Anthony's) till you get to the park and the beach at Golden Gardens.  Either way the views of the sunset are quietly breathtaking.