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Begin at the terminus of Ballard Avenue at Market Street . Walk down the west side of the street. Get into gear at Kavu (5423 Ballard Ave), an independent retailer of active wear that’s appropriate for dense woods or dinners out. Cross the street to Marley’s Snow-boards (5424 Ballard Ave NW) if you’re considering a ski trip to the Cascade Mountains. Where 22nd Avenue meets Ballard Avenue is a large brick belltower, rebuilt from the original when Ballard’s City Hall tower was destroyed by Seattle’s devastating 1965 earthquake. At 5344 Ballard Avenue, Olivine Atelier entices with a luxurious boutique featuring local and European designer clothing and makeup. At the next intersection, you’ll notice the highly stylized roof crest of what’s now the Starlight Hotel (5300 Ballard Ave NW), which still has “Bank Building” across the top a full century later.

Cross the street. Look for Tractor Tavern , a musical outlet for local and touring musicians who play jazz and country rock. Second Ascent (5209 Ballard Ave NW) specializes in clothing and gear for budget-minded fans of outdoor recreation. Find a remnant of days gone by at Dock Street Brokers (5101 Ballard Ave NW), whose signage matches the style of its century-old structure at 5109 Ballard Avenue. If you’re hungry, turn back and stop in The Other Coast Cafe (5315 Ballard Ave NW) for East Coast-style sandwiches.

Diners find excellent service, and fresh seafood that includes king salmon, Dungeness crab, and local oysters.

Call on the famous mail order gag gift company, which sells items in the rubber chicken category of humorous gifts.

From the roaring 1890s through the Great Depression, the four block stretch of brick-paved Ballard Avenue defines the raison d’etre of a mill town that also had a thriving boat-building and fishing industry. The 19th-century architecture is gorgeous, and it’s easy to imagine a street filled with timber millworkers, salty fishermen, fishmongers, and the banks, saloons, and bordellos that served them. In 1976, Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf read the proclamation that identified Ballard Avenue as a National Historic District.

Have the staff search for an elusive out-of-print book, or browse the shelves for old but not forgotten favorites.

Whether you travel by foot, bicycle, car, bus, boat, or plane, the towering, flashing, red neon advertisement for Bardahl automotive oil treatment makes for an unusual icon for any neighborhood. From distant hilltops, the sign’s manic ascending flashes harken back to the industrial roots of Ballard, and to company founder Ole Bardahl, Ballard resident and Norwegian immigrant. The sign is one of Seattle’s favorite, if most garish, urban landmarks.

Loyal clientele come here for Burk’s southern cuisine, specifically Cajun and Creole styles. Order alder-smoked barbecue, jambalaya, or blackened rockfish to your heart’s content.

Take a little time for a delightful promenade through the greenery of lush trees and rare and exotic plants that fill the garden’s seven acres, bordering the Locks on the north side of the Ship Canal. The gift shop, which also serves visitors to the Locks, makes a guide available to assist in identifying the plants.

From edible adornments such as multicolored sprinkles to cutters and storage jars, this tiny store’s shelves are fully stocked. It also sells the best chocolate-covered macaroons in town.

The terminal provides moorage for more than 700 commercial fishing vessels and workboats. Because of the sheltered port and the area’s supporting industries and businesses, many Northwest commercial fishermen regard Seattle as the best center for maintenance and repair. The bronze and stone Fishermen’s Memorial sculpture, inscribed with the names of more than 500 local men and women, commemorates lives lost during the hard and dangerous work of fishing in Alaska. There are two seafood restaurants on the docks – one’s a carry out with dockside tables.