Seattle: A One Day Tour

My conference begins today, we really only had Sunday to do some major exploring, so we made a pact. After a very long night's rest, we'd hit the ground running (or walking as it may be) and at least scan the highlights, not stopping until we were satisfied that we'd at least gotten a taste of Seattle.

And our tasting began with breakfast at Lowell's at the Public Market. Mmmmm, a spinach, sausage, mushroom and parmesan omelet later and we explored the market and downtown a bit before nabbing, yes, some coffee, and catching the monerail to the Seattle Center. First stop: The Sci Fi Museum. He'll have to provide the highlights, but I was most enthralled with the idea that sci-fi books played such a role in the history of the genre and the number of female sci-fi writers honored by the Hall of Fame.

Our pass to the museum also secured us a tour of the Experience Music Project, which was interesting. I most enjoyed listening to interviews with particular artists and producers about different aspects of music including production, writing, hero worship etc. It's truly an interactive museum, encouraging visitors to record thier own two-minute music story, test their vocals, play guitars, pound on drums and perform live on stage.

Of course, our next stop was the Space Needle. We rode the elevator up to 650 feet to the top, where we tentatively held our camera through the wire and took photos. The fog and haze prevented may good shots, but it was neat, as it always is when you are up in the sky, to see the city below.

The monerail delivered us back downtown and we got lunch at 1st Avenue Bayou before browsing the North Face store and drooling over a beautiful down coat. Even though we had forgone taking a jacket with us (in hopes of traveling light), we opted for a one-hour cruise of the harbor. Since most of what I know about Seattle I learned while watching a season of The Real World, this was a chance to gain a little bit more "information". I am still thawing out, but it was worth the cold and the wind just to see the beautiful bay, a peak at Puget Sound and get a glimpse of Mt. Ranier. I would so love to spend more time exploring outside of the city. It's beautiful here.

We thawed out by walking up (so many hills!) to pick up a few extra skeins of yarn for a project I had contemplated overnight and then heading back down to the Fisherman's for a less than great dinner.

Tired and dreading another climb up the hill, we hailed a cab.

(Another highlight included seeing the original Starbucks.)

Photos: (Does anyone else have issues with line spacing whenever they include photographs in their posts? *&^%$ Blogger.)

-Beautiful produce at Pike's Market.

-The infamous lighted sign and clock.

-Sci-Fi Museum.

-Experience Music Project.

-The Space Needle reaching 650 feet into the air.

-Elliott Bay from an Argosy tour boat.

-The skyline as seen from the boat.

-I swear that in the distance you can see the cap of Mt. Ranier.

-Sea Lions resting in the bay.

-Coast Guard icebreaker ships.