Seattle and the Red Eye Home

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We woke on our last day of vacation tired from ten days of going non-stop, eager to fill our day with what we could, and dreading our return to the workaday world. We slept too long to get the free continental breakfast so we got a bagel and coffee from the coffee shop attached to the hotel. Somewhat revived, we walked over to the Burke Museum on the campus of the University of Washington. It had a couple of interesting exhibits, one on the history of the land we now call Washington from its time under water to the present day, with lots of exhibits on the geology of the area and the flora and fauna that had inhabited it at one time or another, and one on the variety of cultures native to the Pacific Rim.

From there, we had a nice lunch at an Indian restaurant on what folks around the University affectionately refer to as "The Ave"--University Drive. Don't ask me why University Drive is called the Ave, especially when there are no shortage of real avenues around the Universtity, because I have no idea.

We decided to try out the zoo. It's a pretty nice zoo, with a nice savannah area for the lions, zebras, and giraffes (to my disappointment the lions were separated from their natural prey---now there's a theatre of the world exhibit idea!). We also saw the very rare snow leopard, and coincidentally caught a fascinating PBS special on it just a week later. The main attraction at the Seattle Zoo, though, are its huge brown bears. The bears were up and active, pacing back and forth in their enclosure. They were definitely impressive. We also went in the bird house, where hundreds of parakeets roam freely all around you, and for a dollar you can buy a food stick and feed them (we didn't). Finally, we watched the gorillas act up for a few minutes.

It was still only about 5:00, four hours before we needed to be at the airport, so we decided to go down to Golden Gardens park. The park has views of the Olympic Mountains in the distance over Puget Sound, and a nice beach with some easy trails to walk. We spent an hour or so there, and then went to Ray's restaurant nearby, where we once again had a nice waterfront seafood dinner.

Having milked our vacation for all it was worth, we headed to the airport. We turned in the rental car, checked-in, found our gate, and watched the planes take off and disappear into another fine Seattle sunset, content with a vacation well-spent.

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