I wanted to share my experience with all of you about my trip to Seattle last January. Here’s a little teaser taken verbatim from my written journal:
12 January 2006 - I’m sitting in a GROCERY STORE in a Seattle suburb in a chair made entirely from old skateboards having a chocolate latte and listening to a blues singer who is set up next to the newspaper rack and the coffee bar. God Bless America!
My husband had to travel to Seattle for a training class, so I decided to go along and do some sightseeing while he was in class. I had never been to Seattle, but I was prepared to love the place because of its reputation for rain and coffee, not to mention seafood. About the only other things I knew for sure about Seattle were that there was a Space Needle and the original Starbucks, and that the Pike Place Market and the Seattle SuperSonics basketball team resided there.
So as soon as I booked my flight, I headed straight for Books-A-Million to pick up a tour guide. Now, normally I travel to Europe, and I use Rick Steves’ tour guides because they are so excellent and at recommending travel tips for Americans in Europe. They are also updated every year and the date is stated right on the cover as part of the title, which brings me to the point.
Mr. Steves only does Europe, so I had to go with another brand. I neglected to check the publication date of the guide when I bought it, and the year wasn’t part of the title. I found out later that it was four years old and much of the information was outdated. Fortunately it didn’t cause any major problems for me, but it could have. I learned my lesson - maybe it’ll help some of you, too.
For anyone who loves to travel, you will know that planning is an integral part of every trip. I like to plan well in advance because it gets me excited about the trip. Aside from the fact that it helps the trip go smoothly, I truly enjoy savoring the anticipation. Might as well milk it for all it’s worth, right?
On Tuesday 10 January I boarded a plane and headed for the Pacific Northwest. The hotel where my husband’s classes were held was in the suburb of Bellevue so we hung out there for dinner that night.
The next day I caught the bus into downtown Seattle. The bus system is quite good there, with the added bonus of friendly, helpful drivers. At one point I was lost and had to ask directions from a driver who had stopped to unload passengers, something I’ve done in Tampa with unfriendly results. He was more than happy to help me. Imagine that!
The weather that day was chilly but not too cold, and rainy (what else?). It had been raining for 23 days in a row and everyone was talking about whether the record of 33 days (set in November 1953) would be broken this year. The residents really seemed to be pulling for the record breaker, though there were mudslide problems and flooding in some of the outlying areas. Me, I loved the weather! I think the rain stopped around Day 29. Maybe next year.
My first destination was Pike Place Market. I believe many of you have seen this place on TV and in a motivational video shown at Wachovia while I was there. The main focus is the Pike Place Fish Company. You’ve seen it: they throw fish!
I could hear them before I could see them. As I approached the market entrance, I heard a commotion and readied my camera. The first shot I took was of the brass pig that guards the entrance of the market. It’s life size and is actually a piggy bank; they give the money that collects there to charity. A man was leaning against the back end of the pig, bottom to bottom. A good photo.
Then I turned my attention to the fish market crew. There was a fairly large number of people surrounding the place, all with cameras pointed in the direction of the tables of fish and crab on ice tended by about five men in orange rain slickers. The men were having a blast. The Travel Channel was there filming and I think I got on TV as I purchased a package of smoked salmon. They were throwing whole salmons around for the camera and some fish juice dripped in my hair! The guys were very gregarious and spoke to everyone whether they were shopping for fish or not. It was so fun to stand around watching that scene.
At length I struck out to discover the rest of the market. There are several wings which are long boardwalks under one roof lined by stalls where you can find anything under the sun. There were other seafood vendors, restaurants, fruit and vegetable stands, coffee bars, wine places, textile merchants, artists and artisans. One of my favorite stalls was a T-shirt place where I found a shirt that said, “Lassie sent me to get help.”
And I shot many pictures of the fruits and vegetables. In fact, I always try to seek out the produce sellers wherever I go; there is just something about all that beautiful bounty of the earth arranged in rows and heaps with all the colors of nature spread out before me. I could spend the rest of my life creating a series of open-air market pictures from all the places I’ve visited.
The weather cleared and became very sunny. I walked across the street to the original Starbucks coffee shop. Normally I shun Starbucks, but this was a landmark! The friendly barista chatted with me and gave me a little history as I perused the place. The counter, shelves and floor were of heavy, dark wood; very solid and sturdy, if not a bit scuffed and creaky from the years. The coffee was good, of course. In fact, I had lots of coffee while I was in Seattle and didn’t have a bad cup the whole time, not even in the hotel. There is at least one coffee shop on each block, if not more. May I recommend Seattle’s Best brand? You can get it in Publix. It has earned its name.
It was still sunny and breezy as I exited and crossed the street to a park that overlooked the waterfront. Seattle is built on Puget Sound, which is one of my favorite geographical names. The land rises almost straight up from the water and the downtown city is built on the side of that rise. There are docks along the water and enough flat land adjacent to the water for a street and trolley track, then the climb begins. It amazing that all those skyscrapers are built onto the side of that rise.
I made my way back through the market to what is known as Hillclimb, a long set of very steep stairs that zigzags down to the waterfront. I poked around the waterfront for a while then boarded a ferryboat headed toward Bainbridge Island. The cost for the ferry was $6 for the round trip plus you get to people-watch. I would recommend this over the $50 boat tour of the Sound; it’s lots cheaper and you get to ogle the expensive homes on Bainbridge.
As I waited to board, I watched hoards of teenagers accumulate in the waiting area; I guess high school was out for the day and they were all going home to the island. In the parking lot below the waiting area, traffic lined up for the ferry. Uniformed men with dogs inspected every vehicle.
Just off the parking lot on the water, the Seattle Fire Department was conducting some sort of salvage operation. They were using several small inflatable speedboats to maneuver some submerged wharf pilings onto a barge. In addition to the crews on the boats and the barge, there were divers in the water helping as well. The pilings were about 4 feet in diameter and too long for the barge, so they had to put one end on the barge, cut off the part that hung over the end with a chainsaw, maneuver the next part onto the barge, saw off the end, and repeat that process about four times to get the whole piling onto the barge. It looked exhausting.
When the enormous, 3-storey ferry arrived, the cars were allowed to start boarding first. What a huge operation! Imagine any of the bay bridges replaced by a couple of giant 3-storey boats. The ferry itself was about the size of a football field, which made a surprisingly smooth ride over the choppy Sound. I immediately began walking around it on the outside; the most interesting pictures for me are seaside: immense anchor chains, barnacles, people working.
As the ferry rumbled and pulled away from the waterfront, the Seattle skyline slowly came into view. I saw the Space Needle against the blue sky with white clouds scudding quickly across. Off to the right I could see Qwest Field where the Seahawks play and beyond that I could make out Mt. Rainier with its grand snowcap. I got some awesome skyline photos. I also got a little wet from the spray from time to time; it was quite windy out there.
We approached Bainbridge Island and I could see what had to be VERY expensive homes built along the coast. Each was beautiful and had its own dock. I guess all the boats were in winter storage because I didn’t see any pleasure craft. The golden sunlight illuminated the lush green trees that occupied any unbuilt area. It seemed wild and raw, the perfect place for a cozy room with a fireplace and cup of tea.
During the return voyage it started to rain again, so I was forced inside. I had planned to visit the Space Needle when I got back; however, the clouds and fog moved in which defeated the purpose of going up for the view. So I ditched that plan, walked around the city a little more, had another coffee at yet another friendly coffee shop somewhere, and tried to find the bus back to Bellvue. I had carefully planned my trip into the city, but I had forgotten at which specific bus stop I had arrived. Now I had to figure out how to get back to the hotel. Fortunately, the people of Seattle are friendly and helpful; I even got some good advice from some homeless men. It was enjoyable to walk around a city where people weren’t angry and closed down.
Within 15 minutes of beginning to figure out which bus to take, I was on the correct one and on my way back to Bellevue. Once there, my husband and I donned the Seattle SuperSonic T-shirts I’d bought so as not to look too much like tourists and headed out to a sports bar to have dinner and watch the game. We sampled the local bar food and beer; there is a plethora of salmon dishes to be had, and I highly recommend Northwestern microbrew.
I know I’ve used the work ‘friendly’ a lot in this missive, but it’s the word that comes to mind when I think of Seattle. The pervading feeling of the area was comfortable, cheerful, and, well, friendly. I enjoyed that a lot.
The next day I wrote and rested; the weather was really too bad to get back into the city. Besides, a lot of the museums and art galleries I’d wanted to visit were closed for the winter, as well as the monorail and Metro tunnel. Instead I hung out at one of my new favorite places: World Foods Market. If you’ve ever been in one of these, you know what I mean. It’s a grocery store on steroids!
Most of the produce is organic; they have a flower shop, a world cheese shop, a butcher counter, a pizza counter, a deli, a coffee shop, a newsstand, a beer section, a wine section, a bakery, cooking school… the place is HUGE. It’s wonderful; there are products from all over the world. The cheese shop alone is worth the trip. You can sample the cheese, a lot of the baked goods, a variety of olives, you name it. I spent a few hours there easily.
In the beer section, I discovered several of my favorite Czech beers, as well as a kosher beer called He’Brew, the Chosen Beer. They make Genesis Ale and Messiah Bold (“The beer you’ve been waiting for”). Check out their web site: www.shmaltz.com. It’s hilarious!
Later that night my husband and I drove into Seattle for dinner. It wasn’t too difficult to find a parking garage near the waterfront, though the skyscrapers blocked the satellite radio signal in places. We walked down the hill to Ivar’s Acres of Clams (motto: Keep Clam). It has been an institution on the waterfront since 1938. It was much more upscale than I’d expected; the service was great, the food was wonderful and the Washington State wines were excellent. Nobody does salmon like the Pacific Northwest.
I was gratified to learn that there are people in the area who volunteer to go out to local streams and rivers to spot and count salmon to determine how the populations are faring and what kinds of salmon are living where. They submit their information to a county agency who compiles reports as part of protecting endangered salmon.
Ivar’s dining room is right on the water near the ferry station I’d been to earlier. The Fire Department was still there finishing up their salvage operation in the dark and in the rain. Our view was beautiful; the lighted ferries and docks, people walking with umbrellas along the waterfront, the occasional trolley, the skyscrapers rising into the fog.
The next day was going-home day, so there isn’t much to tell. But I did read James Frey’s A Thousand Little Pieces during the journey. You may remember the controversy about it; he apparently exaggerated or lied about some of the facts in the book. Personally I really don’t care about the allegations because it’s written in a very unusual style and the story has a lot of impact and gives hope to the reader.
So that’s my Seattle excursion. I’m looking forward to returning there in the summer at some point to enjoy all the stuff I missed. And next time I’ll get a current guidebook!
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