Visiting the Brandon and Bruce Lee Graves

Visiting the Bruce Lee grave was definitely the highlight of my very first trip ever to Seattle.

As long as I can remember, my brothers and I would gather around the TV every Sunday after church and turn on a Bruce Lee film. Whether it was Fist of Fury, They Big Boss, or Enter the Dragon, we didn't care. Bruce Lee was our idol and once the movie was over, without fail we would begin to practice our martial arts moves on one another. It didn't take long for someone to get "accidentally" punched in the face and soon after our parents were storming out of their room mad that we woke them up.

But that was then.

Fast forward a few years (OK, maybe like 10) and I had the opportunity to travel to Seattle. Sure I was excited to see the Space Needle, but the place I really wanted to visit was the grave site of Bruce and Brandon Lee.

I found the address online (the grave is at Lakeview Cemetery in Seattle at 1554 15th Ave E) and headed straight over there. I figured that it would be easy enough to find the grave, but that was a mistake. The cemetery might be the resting place of the world's greatest martial artist, but you wouldn't know it standing at the front gate.

I had parked on the street and decided to walk in, and I had no idea where to even start to look. I looked around for someone to ask, but couldn't find anyone. Luckily, I saw a car drive in and head up the road towards the flag pole and decided to follow it. That's when I happened upon the graves. They were just northeast of the flagpole and I saw a couple of guys sitting quietly at the grave site. I hung back a little and waited until they left and then went and paid my respects.

It was a spectacular experience sitting there in the beautiful Seattle weather and contemplating the influence this man I had never met had on my life growing up. The view up by the graves is completely awesome and before I knew it, the sun was going down and it was time to leave.

I've since been back a number of times and it's amazing to see and meet all the different people who visit the site and see the effect Bruce and Brandon Lee had on their lives. This last time I even had the opportunity to take my kids and explain to them who this man was and what he meant to me.

If you can't make it to Bruce Lee's grave anytime soon, feel free to check out some pictures of the Bruce Lee grave that I took the last time I was there.