We had all day off today since it was the 4th of July and didn't really have any plans. We hadn't done a lot of walking the past week, so Troy suggested we go take a long walk around Lake Union this afternoon, which ended up being a 7-mile walk. We started by going north on Eastlake Drive, and walked for a little while until we stopped at the original Red Robin to eat some lunch. From Wikipedia:

The first Red Robin still stands at the corner of Furhman and Eastlake avenues E. in Seattle, at the southern end of the University Bridge. This building dates from 1940 and was first called Sam's Tavern.

It was alright, I got a California Chicken Sandwich, which is basically a chicken sandwich with guacamole and bacon on it, and Troy got a Chicken Teriyaki Sandwich.

After lunch, we continued walking north across the University Bridge and we could see the Cascade Mountains to the east and lots of green trees behind Portage Bay, Union Bay, and Lake Washington. After we crossed the bridge we went west towards Gas Works Park along Northlake Way. The park was really busy when we got there because of the WaMu Family 4th fireworks show. It's an all day event where people brought their chairs, blankets, food, and fun to Gas Works Park and waited until nightfall to see the fireworks. I've always liked going to Gas Works Park because of the lake with all the sailboats on it and a great view of the city behind it. I've heard before that on the 4th of July, Lake Union is so full of boats that you can walk across the middle of the lake on boat decks.

Anyway, we sat on the hill for a while and then continued to walk west towards the Freemont Bridge. After we crossed the bridge, it had to be raised so that a couple of large sailboats could cross underneath, so we watched that, which was something neat we hadn't really seen before. Then we walked south along Westlake and on down to South Lake Union Park. We were pretty tired at this point, having walked about 6 miles. We finally made it back to our apartment around 6:00 after having left at 2:00. It was a really long walk, but it was cool to be able to stop and eat and see Gas Works Park and walk across the bridges without having to mess with a car. And the weather was great for such a long walk today. The high was around 70 with a light breeze and partly cloudy skies. I'm sure we'll go on another long walk in the city again soon.

Here are pictures from our 7-mile walk today: