Seattle - Part I

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Oh, Seattle. What a week. I'm staying three block north of the Seattle Center (which is where the Space Needle, the opera house, a little carnival area, an Imax, the Key Arena, and the Experience Music Project are located -- the Seattle Center was also the location of the 1962 World's Fair).

On the evening of my first full day here, I went up the Space Needle. It has a panoramic view of the city, Puget Sound, and the surrounding mountains. I could see Mount Rainier, though it was not the clearest view (due to humidity, I guess). Inside, it has maps and descriptions of the area that each spot overlooks, which worked well as an introduction to Seattle and the surrounding area. I could easily see Bellevue, Redmond (where Microsoft is located), downtown Seattle, Lake Union, and Elliot Bay (which is part of Puget Sound).

A few days later I bought a bicycle from Play It Again Sports... presumably I can sell it back to them at the end of my trip for about half of what I paid. Even if they pay less (or don't buy it back at all), I will still fare better than renting one for three weeks. The next day I rode the bicycle to work and back... and I greatly underestimated the difficulty of the nearly 3 mile trek. Seattle is very hilly and morning traffic (car and pedestrian) also slowed me down a bit... or, looking at it a different way, gave me a rest. 😊 So, I took a taxi the other days. I'm also a little concerned that my dress slacks won't hold up to 12 days of bicycling. If I ride to work again, I will probably ride in shorts or jeans and then change at work.

Anyway, on Saturday I went to the Hoh Rain Forest (see August 12th blog entry).

Today, I went to the Elliot Bay waterfront to the Seattle Aquarium. The aquarium was nice, though it is expanding and will be even better in a year or so. The sea and river otters were cool and they also had an exhibit where people could touch various sea anemones, starfish, and a few other sea animals. Funny thing, in the midst of all of these "can touch" exhibits was one exhibit (looking just like the rest) that was "no touch". I didn't see the sign and plunged my hand into the water touching one of the fish... and a volunteer nearby quickly told me that, um, I shouldn't do that. That was her job... to tell people not to touch the aquatic life in that area. While I was looking at it some other guy went throught the same process. 😊 It was a good aquarium and worth the visit.

Oh, and I also learned that sea otters swim on their backs... using their stomach as a table after they have swam back up from the bottom where they were picking up oysters or other food. River otters, however, swim on their stomachs.

From there I went up to the Pike Place Market, which is the oldest continually operated farmers' market in the U.S. Lots of fresh produce, seafood, and flowers. Many little cafes, restaurants, and shops. Starbuck's first store, opened in 1971, is also in the Pike Place Market (I got my favorite... a decaf Mocha frappuccino).

I wandered around there for awhile and then hopped back on my bicycle and rode to Pacific Place (http://www.pacificplaceseattle.com/home.html) to watch a movie (Little Miss Sunshine... which is an interesting film about a family that is driving to the Little Miss Sunshine pageant... but it touches on lots of odd things in our current culture... lots of cursing, some drug use, and I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone... but it did make me think a little bit about the current culture in the U.S.).

After that I rode to the hotel before heading back out to 24 Hour Fitness, which was closed as it is not open 24 hours a day. So, bought some food and made spaghetti and had a glass of some local merlot to with it. Before that, I did some push-ups, sit-ups, and stretching... the hotel fitness center consists of a few treadmills 😞, so I'll have to make do.

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Photos

The Space Needle
Towering above the Experience Music Project building.

Downtown Seattle
View from the Space Needle

Pike Place Market - 2
The first Starbucks; opened in 1971.

Elliot Waterfront
This was near the Seattle Aquarium.

Sea Urchin
Seattle Aquarium.

Space Needle
Unsteady camera... I really should get a tripod. :)

Comments

[Augusta]

Seattle
So 24 hour fitness is NOT open 24 hours? Go figure!