Ballard on a Sunday: Pastries, the Market, and the Locks
A Sunday in Ballard that keeps to the water: kringle at six, Washington produce on the cobblestones at nine, both lock chambers moving boats again after the November maintenance, and fish and chips at the end of the locks lot. If the rain wins, Julefest fills the museum block on 20-22 November.
From 24th Ave NW to NW Locks Pl
Kringle While the Market Wakes
Larsen's Original Bakery on 24th Ave NW opens at 6 a.m. on Sunday, and the case is Scandinavian baking: kringle, kransekage, smorkage. Buy one pastry each and eat it standing, then take a loaf for the week. Hours are 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays and 5:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday to Saturday.
Produce From Washington Farms Only
The Ballard Farmers Market has run year-round on Sundays since 2000, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., rain or shine, along the cobblestones of Ballard Ave NW from NW Market St to 20th Ave NW. The produce comes exclusively from Washington state farmers, and the vendor map is refreshed each Friday by 5 p.m. with the stalls that will actually be out. EBT/SNAP, WIC and Fresh Bucks are accepted, and street meters are free on Sundays.
Boats That Change Elevation
The Lake Washington Ship Canal and its locks were completed in 1917 and named for Hiram M. Chittenden, the district engineer who planned them. Boats climb between Puget Sound and the lake through two chambers, the small one and the large one 80 feet wide, and the large chamber closes every November for maintenance: this year from 2 to 20 November, with only the small chamber locking boats through in that stretch, so expect smaller craft and a shorter lift. After the 20th both chambers work again. Vessels move at any hour, the grounds are open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., the fish ladder's viewing room 7 a.m. to 8:45 p.m., and the visitor center keeps winter hours, Wednesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. November is the last month the ladder runs Chinook and Coho, so this is the last call for salmon. The free Carl S. English Jr. Botanical Garden on the grounds holds more than 570 species, and fish and chips waits at the end of the parking lot: Lockspot Cafe, 3005 NW Locks Pl, open daily 10 a.m. to midnight.
If It Rains: the Nordic Museum
Across NW Market St from the market, the National Nordic Museum is the wet-weather trade. Nordic Journeys follows the emigration that carried millions of Nordic settlers to North America, many of them to Ballard, and A Ballard Story: Pacific Fishermen, open through 28 February, covers 150 years of the shipbuilders and fishing families on Salmon Bay. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday, until 8 p.m. on Thursdays, and tickets run $10-25, cheapest online. It closes 20 November until that evening's Julefest night market, and again on 26 November for Thanksgiving. Julefest is the reason this particular Sunday works: 20-22 November, the 21+ night market on Friday 5 to 9 p.m. at $20 ($25 at the door); Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., $12 for adults ($16 at the door), $5 youth and free under 12, with the galleries open all three days.
