Here are a few things you need to know about the Seattle Art Museum's new Olympic Sculpture Park, from one of the thousands of souls who braved opening day:

1. The park is not quite finished. A number of pieces, including Roy McMakin's "Love & Loss" and Louise Bourgeois' "Father and Sun" are only partially installed, and the lower extremities of the park – the portions that connect with the waterfront and Myrtle Edwards Park – are still under construction. To my eyes, it looks like perhaps three weeks' worth of work remains to be done.

2. The park needs to be taken as a whole. Don't go expecting to be dazzled by the sculpture – while the pieces are beautiful (and in the case of Alexander Calder's iconic "Eagle," breathtakingly so), some of the pieces are overwhelmed by their setting, and there's not quite enough sculpture yet on site to make a meal, so to speak. Conversely, while the views of the city and the Sound from the park are magnificent, there aren't enough benches in for you to sit and appreciate the views for any amount of time. Appreciate the best of what the park has to offer today, and imagine what it can become in the near future, as public feedback helps to shape the space.

3. The park's "pocket beach" – a small gravel-and-driftwood beach sandwiched between the breakwater rocks of Myrtle Edwards and the park's new seawall – is quite possibly the best damn thing about the whole enterprise. For the first time in a long time, you can walk from city to Sound within minutes, with zero obstacles between you and the water.

4. The park needs to invite Dante's Inferno Dogs back every weekend. I'd been jonesing for a grilled-pepper-and-onion-topped Dante dog for a week beforehand, and I almost wept tears of joy when I happened upon the Ballard-based hot dog vendor.

5. The park is a lens through which to see this city. That's it and that's all. Everything that makes the park resonate – the skyline, the Sound view, the city's taste for modern art – has been in place for years, waiting for something like this to bring it into sharp focus. Even if you despise modern sculpture, the Olympic Sculpture Park will make you fall in love with Seattle all over again. Especially if Dante's on hand.

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