The World’s Longest Floating Boardwalk is located in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. It was completed in 1985 and extends 3,300 feet including a bridge with a spectacular view of the lake on this unusually warm spring day. There were a handful of love locks on the bridge itself. Along our walk dear daughter made a ladybug friend.
Our visit to Coeur d’Alene also included a stroll through downtown with associated shopping and snacks. My favorite piece of art was the huge dandelion sculpture.
A quick survey of my Facebook friends let me know that there are four Tacoma area bridges/overpasses that are being used as Bridge of Locks. On Sunday, which had glorious weather, I went to Bridge to the Beach that crosses the railroad tracks at Chambers Bay Regional Park in University Place. I hadn’t realized that I could drive down to the bottom of the park and I also didn’t know there was a bridge to the beach. What an amazing park it has turned into! There were families and couples with plenty of dogs. There were huge kites and picnics and music. Really it was splendid. I was there in August 2011 and it has significantly updated since then!
A short stroll took me to the modern bridge and at first I only saw a lock or two, but then there was a little cluster of them and at the end of the elevated pathway there were a number of them. Unlike many of the other Bridge of Locks, the arrangement of the Bridge to the Beach is such that each locks does not have its own little area, but instead can slide back and forth. This was a pretty exciting discovery for the four year old next to me!
Bridges of Locks are relatively new on a wide spread basis. The tradition is that those in love put their name on a lock then attach it to the bridge and throw the key away to symbolize their unfailing devotion. This is a worldwide phenomena, as can be seen here.
The Bridges of Locks have not all been well received, with the weight of all those locks pulling down and damaging several structures. In University Place, there are no plans to remove the locks. Pierce County spokesman Hunter George said “We’re not encouraging it or discouraging it (the hanging of the locks). But we do think there are better ways. If people really want to demonstrate their commitment to each other, we’d love to see them get married at Chambers Bay. We have great rates. Or get a tattoo. Or both.”
Oh, and there is a picture of an osprey, just because they are such cool birds! Their wing span can be almost 6′ across, though I don’t know about the one on the nest.
It was a lovely day at the Lake Washington Ship Canal and Hiram M. Chittenden Locks (the Ballard Locks) at 3015 NW 54th Street, Seattle, WA 98107. Dear daughter and her dear friend had one last day at their Seattle conference and I had time again to explore Seattle. I got wildly lost getting there (darned that GPS woman!) and ended up on the wrong side, but that was just fine since there was ready parking and it gave me more of a chance to stretch my legs. I went down to see the fish viewing area and saw two little bitty salmon swimming gamely along. The causeway over the spillway connects the two sides of the locks and is an invigorating, misty walk. Then on the other side is the visitor’s center and gardens. I walked on through the park to the fish and chips place right outside the gate, then with lunch in hand I returned to a sunny bench in the park for an alfresco lunch.
The ship canal was built in 1917 and connects Lake Washington, Lake Union, and Salmon Bay to the Puget Sound. While I was there, it was mostly pleasure boats. The locks were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
There is a wonderful sculpture at the locks named Salmon Waves by Paul Sorey.
