Seattle WA

Must be excited, awake before 5am - lying there biding my time until a more godly hour, but at 6 am the freakn’ Waste Management truck rocks up, all guns ablazing to empty the recycle bin!  Hah, no worries - I was already awake!  Nah-ni-nah-ni-nah-nah!

Decided to get up anyway and google the 10 best things to do in Seattle, so we don’t waste too much time when we get there – and so there is not too much walking for some of our party, and now we have a plan! 

It has rained overnight, what’s with that? 

Out the door, on schedule at 8.45am, although have to admit the bed was not made but the dishes were done.  The traffic on the 103 right outside the RV Park was stop/start to the bottom of Bainbridge Island where the ferry will depart.  We wander along the left shoulder of the road, no sidewalks here, for about half a mile before crossing over to the bus stop.  We are on time but due to the heavy traffic the bus is about 15 minutes late.  However it is only a 15 minute drive so we still make it to the ferry on time.  The ferry takes vehicles so it was loading when we arrived, then about 30 minutes later, across a beautiful and flat Puget Sound, we arrive at Pier 52, in the city of Seattle!

First glimpse of Seattle WA

Pinch ourselves that we are actually in Seattle – the emerald city, where the bluest skies are! Just not right at the moment but the sun does come out later!  There is a lovely white cruise ship in today, along at Pier 91 but I haven’t been able to find out which ship it is.

First on the list is coffee – now!  On the way to find said coffee a lovely couple, he is ex Navy and his ‘sweetheart’ Margaret (they have been married for 58 years, but they look way younger) stop to chat with us. They are kind, very friendly and we enjoy chatting to them. Generally the people seem nice here, but that is offset by a few homeless types rummaging through the garbage and sleeping on park benches, also some enterprising and quite clean, well dressed ones who are begging on behalf on their cat – we saw two of those.  Now that is just playing the guilt card but I am sure it works for them!

Starbucks is the first coffee place we come across but now Kim decided he would rather have a hot chocolate, only because Starbucks serve it with whipped cream (if I ask for it) so that is what he gets!  

Along the pier are the seafood restaurants, various sightseeing cruises, Miners Landing – the historic pier where it all started, Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe, the Great Wheel and the Seattle Aquarium.  But we never came across Uncle Ikes Cheap Pot - $5 joints, $7 grams and $5 edibles!!  Not that we were looking especially, but it was in the brochures.

The Great Wheel - 200 feet high, jutting out over the water!

We wander along the piers, then up the “Harbour Steps” – so  many of them that we had to stop and rest half way up – phew, then walked along to the Pike Place Market.  This was amazing, there was food and flowers of all sorts, oysters unshucked and shucked, all sorts of seafood including scallops (without roe, as is the norm here) - but how could we keep them cold enough to get them home?  Sourdough bread, home-made fudge, home-made ice cream, pickles etc and all sorts of fresh produce.  It is humming here, wall to wall people! 

Realise afterwards that we never got to see the Gum Wall which must be pretty gross anyway – people stick there masticated (sic) gum anywhere there is a gap on these walls and people take photos of it.  Sorry no photos from me – you will have to Google it.

Then we got on the monorail to the Space Needle, the EMP Museum (Experienced Music Project - music, sci-fi and pop culture), Chihuly Garden & Glass and the Pacific Science Centre featuring the exhibit – The Art of the Brick - the world’s largest display of Lego.  I know of ‘some’ who would definitely be into this!

Space Needle, 600 feet high, built in 1962 for the World Fair

This is our lunch stop and Kim is ecstatic, I found him a pie shop, Premier Meat Pies!  He orders the steak and mushroom pie (for $6.99) and says it tastes pretty good, but not as good as those from Daily Bread (or the Waiwhetu Pie Shop) at home!  I trust his judgement, he is a pie expert, knowledge he gained from intensive, focused training over many years!

Then we thought about a ride on the SLUT (South Lake Urban Transport) scenic trolley/tram but it got too hard.  However, on the way back to the ferry we paused at the Central Library for some photos, a real cool building with lots of glass panels on all sorts of angles and then headed back down to the Alaskan Viaduct, a two level concrete highway, which parallels the sea and I must say I have to agree with Kim, it is an eyesore – right between the city and the ocean!  Although I am sure the motorists think it is a  godsend! 

Along a little further we come to the home made ice cream store we saw earlier, make our choices then meander our way back to catch the ferry across to Bainbridge Island.  A lovely, sunny, 30 minute trip over calm waters.  On arrival our bus is waiting and it drops us off just a short 100 yard walk from the RV park.

Fun facts about Seattle:  the annual rainfall is less than Houston, Chicago and New York City!  Seattle has more than 500 houseboats, more than anywhere else in the States!  Pier 52 (where we disembark our ferry) is the busiest ferry terminal in the States and Seattle was the first city to play a Beatles song on the radio!  Random facts lesson ends!

The sun is well and truly now out and we see the bluest skies you’ve ever seen, here in Seattle.

Yup, pretty blue!