If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 54

Snoqualmie Falls, ca 1909

One of the places on the Lee’s list to visit on a Saturday or Sunday drive was Snoqualmie Falls.  It still is a favorite local tourist attraction.  This card, published by the Bon Marché, a locally owned department store and made in Germany, shows the falls as they were in 1909.  It has the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition logo at the upper right suggesting that the Fair was used to encourage a more general tourism. 

A lodge and restaurant was built at the top of the falls in 1919.  For many years it was known as the Snoqualmie Falls Lodge.  After the lease expired the lodge was completely remodeled in 1986-88.  Today the original lodge has been replaced with the Salish Lodge & Spa.  The only remaining feature from the 1919 structure is the fireplace.  The restaurant has been famous for years for its breakfasts.  A meal that could take most of the day to eat and has almost every known breakfast food in multiple courses from oatmeal, eggs, pancakes, juice, fruit and muffins. 

The information blurb on the reverse side of the card states that the falls drop 268 feet (a greater drop than at Niagara) and are located 28 miles east of Seattle.  There is a viewpoint pavilion with a safety fence to prevent people from falling off the cliff just a short walking distance from the main highway where one can see and hear the falls perhaps without getting wet from the more or less constant mist coming off the falls--unless the wind is blowing the wrong direction. The locality is used for weddings during the summer months.

There are two hydroelectric power plants at the falls that are operated by Puget Sound Energy.  Built in 1898 power plant 1 was the first completely underground power plant.  The second power plant was built in 1910 and later expanded in 1957. 

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snoqualmie _Falls for more information and photos.

Lake Washington, ca 1909

Another popular drive was along the shoreline of Lake Washington stretching for 35 miles.  The card above was also published by the Bon Marché and contains the 1909 Fair logo at the upper left.  Small boats like the one shown on the card were very popular and there are many Lee family pictures from picnics and other gatherings that show boats such as this one.  The photograph below is of a group of ladies and children, including Petra Lee, in one of the boats that has been pulled up to the shore. 

Petra Lee is standing, first on the right back row, ca early 1900s