Party Time in South Lake Union

There's no shortage of opportunities to get outside and enjoy the weather in South Lake Union this summer.

It all starts with the Lake Union Wooden Boat Festival starting July 4th running through the 6th, where young and old flock for toy boat building, sailing model boats on the pond, boat rides and races, picnicking, clambering over boats big and small, festive food and music, and general joy.

On July 17th, Seattle Great City Initiative hosts the Summer Street Scene Party at SLU Discovery Center – a celebration with food, drink, music and a "street transformation".

August 5th, Cascade People's Center is throwing a block party in honor of National Night Out with live music and a barbecue. They are looking to gather school supplies for local children, so bring some (especially backpacks)!

Three days later, August 8th, Vulcan invites you to a full day of outdoor fun at the 4th annual South Lake Union Block Party. There will be music, a movie (Juno!), food, and even activities for your dog.

The Center for Wooden Boats

Serenity, originally uploaded by JHP -- Freedom for ALL!

Hope some of you had a chance to check out the grand opening of Lake Union Park's first phase—here's a link for those that missed it—and scoped out the awesome collection of wooden boats while you were there!

For a little background on the Center for Wooden Boats and how it came to be, see this story in the P-I.

Their collection of small wooden vessels includes sloops, sprits, longboats, yawls, knockabouts, gillnetters, coracles, skiffs, dinghies, dories, steam launches, dugout canoes, umiaks, Eskimo kayaks and pedal boats. And they want you to come and sail, row or paddle them. Or just come down and mess about these boats.

Or better yet, experience it in person—the Center has free public sails (or as the P-I has it: "pubic sales", whoops) every Sunday at 2:00pm and a variety of other programs. Check out the Center's website for details.

New Feature: Views of South Lake Union

Watching the SLUT pass by - Take 2, originally uploaded by J_H_P

I'm happy to introduce a new feature to our readers on The Southlake: a South Lake Union photo pool on Flickr. This pool was started by Jonathan Hanlon more than one year ago and is populated with hundreds of amazing images by photographers Dean Forbes, Patrick Wright, Kim and Jonathan Hanlon himself capturing incredible views from around the South Lake Union neighborhood including the Center for Wooden Boats, the Cascade District, the S.L.U.T. and the Space Needle.

Do yourself a favor and browse through the South Lake Union pool, and be sure to upload any of photos of your own.