Myrtle Edwards Park — Attraction in Seattle

Great Park, Day Ruined by Clown Extortion

Myrtle Edwards Park is gorgeous — seriously, it's one of Seattle’s best spots for a walk or bike ride. Sweeping waterfront views, a clean and peaceful path, and plenty of green space to lounge or pretend you’re in a calming indie film montage. I loved everything… until I encountered Mr. Puddles.

Mr. Puddles is a clown. Not in the metaphorical sense — like, a literal clown in full regalia, lurking near the sculpture garden. He offered to make me a balloon animal. I declined. He insisted. I declined again. He cornered me, made intense eye contact, and said, “You look like someone who needs a ferret.” Then boom — balloon ferret in hand.

I figured I’d tip him a few bucks and be on my way. Nope.

He scoffed at my $5 and said, “I don’t deal in money... I deal in calzones.” I thought he was kidding until he started describing very specific calzone fillings and gave me a hand-drawn map to a pizzeria “worthy of the exchange.”

Long story short, I spent the next hour and a half re-routing my plans to acquire three custom calzones for this balloon-demanding clown so he’d leave me alone. By the time I got back to enjoy the park, I was exhausted, my coffee was cold, and my balloon ferret had deflated.

Come for the views. Stay for the trauma....

I’ve been coming here for a long time. I’ve been here when the 4th of julivars was still a thing. I also used to come here for Hempfest because I believe in the cause, it’s a cool place to get stoned and walk around I like to come here to clear my head and take in the fresh air and relax watch the birds flying around now I still come here to clear my head and I like to jog through the park I go to the stairs by the new Expedia campus and get my laps on. I love that the park is being taken care of and the art museum sits at the front and how they made a new little beach area. I miss the old fishing pier and I think Seattle is not doing the fishing community any justice by letting it fall apart that angers me but everything else about the park is nice you can literally walk or jog all the way to Ballard you can ride your bikes on the bike trail which is...

Myrtle Edwards Park is a wonderful Seattle resource, adjacent to Seattle Art Museum's Olympic Sculpture Garden. We took a picnic and deck chairs and enjoyed a restful afternoon in the sun. We found free street parking on Sunday not too far away. The park was so populated that we were overhearing conversations. Then it was annoying when a group came with a guitarist who imposed his music on us. We moved. The park is big enough so that we finally found peace and quiet and the ability to enjoy content via my earbuds. The only downside to this park is the adjacent railroad tracks. One train engine sat there running for more than half-an-hour, then moved away with shrieking wheels, I mean on like every car! On previous visits we've enjoyed delightful sculpture that was different each time. There are also great summer activities like Shakespeare in the...