Walking Seattle. Clark Humphrey

Glassblowing Studio sign

      ROUTE SUMMARY

1.		Start at Tilikum Place Park at the triangle of 5th Ave., Cedar St., and Denny Way.
2.		Turn southeast along 5th Ave., and continue for seven blocks, to Virginia St.
3.		Turn southwest along Virginia, and continue for one block, to 4th Ave.
4.		Turn northwest along 4th, and continue for four blocks, to Battery St.
5.		Turn southwest along Battery, and continue for two blocks, to 2nd Ave.
6.		Turn southeast along 2nd, and continue for five blocks, to Virginia St.
7.		Turn southwest along Virginia, and continue for one block, to 1st Ave.
8.		Turn northwest along 1st, and continue for 12 blocks, to Denny Way.
9.		Turn east along Denny, and continue for five blocks, to Broad St.
10.		Turn northeast along Broad. Walk for less than a block, to Seattle Center’s first pedestrian entrance.
11.		Go north through this path toward the Space Needle. Turn east at the Needle’s north side.
12.		Turn north in front of the west side of the Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum.
13.		From EMP’s west side walk west, into Center House. Take the stairs up to its main floor; leave at its west side.
14.		Head north, past the International Fountain, through the courtyard in front of McCaw Hall and out to Mercer St.
15.		Go west on Mercer a little more than one block, to just west of 2nd Ave. N.
16.		Reenter the center grounds. Walk past the Bagley Wright Theatre’s front; then turn west to the August Wilson memorial at the Center’s Warren Ave. N./Republican St. entrance.
17.		Turn south through the Northwest Court buildings. Turn east and then south alongside KeyArena. Continue south to Thomas St.
18.		Head east, alongside the upper plaza of Fisher Pavilion.
19.		Turn south in front of Seattle Children’s Theatre, to the Pacific Science Center’s main entrance.
20.		Walk east from here, to the Space Needle’s south side.
21.		Turn southeast; leave the Center grounds at the intersection of Broad St., John St., and 4th Ave. N.
22.		Cross Broad. Walk southeast between the two buildings of Fisher Plaza, back to 5th and Denny.

      Dahlia Lounge sign depicting restaurateur Tom Douglas

      6 SOUTH LAKE UNION: (PAUL) ALLEN-TOWN

      BOUNDARIES: Boren Ave. N., Eastlake Ave. N., Fairview Ave. N., Valley St., and Westlake Ave. N.

      DISTANCE: 2¾ miles

      DIFFICULTY: Moderate (two brief uphill segments, one toward the end)

      PARKING: Metered street parking; pay lots and garages include a lot at Boren Ave. and Lenora St.

      PUBLIC TRANSIT: The Seattle Streetcar stops at 9th Ave., Westlake Ave., and Blanchard St. Metro routes #8 and 70 stop along Fairview Ave. N.

      This former low-rent district northeast of downtown has blossomed, thanks in part to Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen’s many real estate ventures. Many big and shiny office, residential, and retail projects have turned much of south Lake Union into a high-tech fantasy land, complete with its own neighborhood trolley. That’s not to say there was nothing there before. For decades, city officials vowed to maintain Lake Union as a “working lake,” and the blocks south of the lake still hold onto a lot of industry, history, and a particular rustic beauty. It’s a place where one of the original “grunge” music clubs, an ornate little orthodox church, and a mammoth nonprofit outdoors store coexist in mutual tolerance.