Saint Edwards State Park: Grotto and Seminary Trails

Today was a really rejuvenating day for me. I feel like the past few months have been a fog of cold weather and gray skies, not to mention a lot of exhaustion (and some nausea) on my part. But today, we had some beautiful blue skies and sunshine - and I had the energy to take advantage of it! I feel like the past two weeks have really been a turning point for me in regards to feeling more energetic and normal.

We decided to go to Saint Edwards State Park. Sam and I visited this park last summer, but J had yet to see it. I knew that he would enjoy the architecture of the seminary and the grounds, so I was glad that we went here. Although the skies were partially-cloudy at times (I think that the skies were more clear further south), we still got some pretty decent weather.

We let Sam play on the awesome playground for a bit, and then we headed on a short hike down to the beach. We took the "Grotto" trail (0.4 miles) down to the beach (off of Lake Washington), and then hiked the "Seminary Trail" (0.6 miles) back up to the main park grounds.

At the beginning of the Grotto trail. Sam is holding Ted. E. Bear, his kindergarten class's stuffed animal. We get to keep Ted this weekend and record his adventures with us in Ted's scrapbook.

Some interesting fungus that was on a log near the beach

The light shining through the trees were especially lovely as we walked up the seminary trail. The trail was also dry enough that I could smell the dirt of the trail and the pine needles - it reminded me a bit of what the Northwest smells like in the summer.

 

I never saw this back part of the seminary when we came last summer. It was fun to see this side of the building and read a sign that gave some historical context. I think that I want to call this "The Medieval Park" for our family, because of the Romanesque-style tower of the seminary. The playground also reminds me a bit of a medieval fortress, with all of the bridges and the steeply-pitched roofs of the play structures.