Green Lake Park in Seattle is where you'll experience the city's Bohemian Bourgeoisie in all their glory, especially walking and jogging on the three-mile path around the water. Here (below, left), we're looking southeast across Green Lake, with a crop and zoom in Apple iPhoto, at The Bank of America Building in downtown Seattle. Which, ahem, we would actually NOT be looking at - at all - if everything had gone as planned on Sept. 11, 2001. The surrounding Greenlake neighborhood (different spelling, yes) has many older, nice-looking homes, fairly notable in a city of determinedly mediocre architecture. But they're often quite small, and hideously expensive. Yet for some folks, like University of Washington professors and a certain breed of civil servant, it's tremendously important to live in Seattle neighborhoods such Greenlake, next to other Lexus and Subaru Liberals, all still piously sporting Kerry-Edwards and "War IS Terrorism" bumper stickers, and voting "yes" on tax levies for the financial and political swamp that is Seattle Public Schools, so as to assuage their white liberal guilt for sending their kids to private schools.

If you're really lucky, you might catch a Sunday afternoon "Greenlake Peace Vigil," although maybe they're back to protest art, or protest bowling again.

Still, Greenlake has its moments.

One came last Sunday, when after a lovely afternoon at the playground in park and then a nice walk around the lake, my wife and kids were getting some ice cream and I strolled into the neighborhood's country music dive, the Little Red Hen. Now, the main reason you want to go the Hen is The Buckaroos, and they were probably all working on their Ford pickups right about then. White guy, old country gentleman type, sitting by himself at a table with his beer, hair carefully sprayed into place, dress jeans, plaid shirt, boots. Only missing the bolo tie. Sippin' his Bud like a lil' ol sun-baked salamander from Bakersfield. Across the way in front of the TV, a bunch of black guys watching the game and talkin' loud, laughin'. White guy lurches forward suddenly, as if startled awake from a desert reverie. He says, "What the f***?" Not too loud, nothing happens. He morosely sips his beer some more. I think he needed a drinkin' pal.

Another great Greenlake moment came a short time earlier that same day, on the walk around the Lake. A kayaker came into view, through some tall, uh, lakegrass?

We also saw some really talented Ultimate Frisbee players. Last summer the Freestyle Frisbee World Championship and Alternative Sports Festival was held at Green Lake. Remarkably, hackey-sack seems not to have been on the agenda, meaning the executive committee must have been purged of Dead-heads.

Other Greenlake neighborhood highlights: the refurbished 1905-vintage Carnegie Library, the Zoka Roaster and Tea Company, the classy Green Lake Guest House, and this nice Greenlake townhouse rental. There's an attractive commercial district ringing the Lake on its north side, along E. Greenlake Dr. N. and W. Greenlake Dr. N. - handy map here, click on it to enlarge. Along and just off those thoroughfares, you'll find varied restaurants and coffeehouses, the library, and places to rent bicycles or roller blades. Even Segway scooters, if you want to be a real menace to society.

Watch out on the path around the lake, it's crowded. I mean downtown-Vancouver-sidewalks crowded.

People do swim at Green Lake in the summer. But let's just say the evidence of geese is everywhere. Also, if you do go in, beware of Green Lake Itch.

Which I always thought would be a great name for a Seattle rock band.

Greenlake's not a bad place to visit for a few hours, and would be definitely be a nice place to stay for a few days. It's a real slice of Seattle, that's for sure. I'm just glad I live in West Seattle.

TECHNORATI TAGS: SEATTLE, TOURISM, GREENLAKE, APPLE iPHOTO, SEPT. 11

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Posted by Matt Rosenberg at October 13, 2005 11:43 PM