OK, maybe not a whale, but the Elliott Bay Public Fishing Pier is a sweet urban spot to snag a fat salmon or wrestle up a jumbo rockfish. About a mile north of the sculpture park along the paved trail that traverses Myrtle Edwards Park, the pier has sheltered seating for those drizzly afternoons, high-backed chairs for fair-weather casting, and even a couple of cleaning tables complete with step-by-step instructions for filleting your catch. If the photos of happy anglers showing off their monster conquests are any indication, you won’t go home hungry. There’s also a bait shop and snack bar to keep you fueled with the necessary provisions and a terrific view of the Seattle skyline to entertain when the fish aren’t bitin’. Even if fish guts make you woozy, the pier is still a terrific place to smell the salt air, get a new perspective on the city, and bid adieu to those unsightly cruise ships.—Aimee Curl Pier 86, www.portseattle.org/community/resources/parks.