Seattle Synopsis

Seattle Synopsis August 4-12, 2009

Tuesday, August 4:

Arrive at SEATAC International Airport, 8:45 pm PDT See Marissa‟s rented place for the first time!

Wednesday, August 5: -

First exploration of the city

Bus to EMP/SFM (Experience Music Project/Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame) featuring Jim Henson‟s Fantastic World; Muppets and Star Trek, yay!, not to mention the guitar tree, Michael Jackson and Jimmy Hendrix artifacts among other thought-provoking pieces of the roots of rock „n roll

“Why is this woman wearing a sweater & jeans in August???”

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Pike Place Market to take a picture of THE sign from Sleepless in Seattle movie; get world famous cheese (Blank Slate Honey) from Beecher‟s Handmade Cheese and eat award winning piroshky (Smoked Salmon Pate and Potato Onion Cheese)from the Russian bakery

Thursday, August 6:

Seattle‟s First Thursday – day of art

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Started out with one of our favorite mother-daughter things to do – “treasure hunt” at the local Goodwill (I think of it as a museum of real life.) Wow! This one seemed like acres of stuff – even a bobblehead of Jesus! We found a candle holder and “matching” art for the bathroom, dress shoes for 3.99 and a really hot dress and a top by the UK‟s Hooch (for her, of course!)

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Bus to SAM(Seattle Museum of Art) featuring Andrew Wyeth Remembrance and Target Practice: Painting Under Attack 1949-78; Also, participation art: Marissa nailed a photo from her wallet to the wall!

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Art Walk around Pioneer Square (open studios, craft vendors, public participation art featuring a fence to write on and even a live band that caused strangers to dance in the square); stopped in Elliot Bay Book Company and Fireworks, a store that “Celebrates Art in Life”

chalk art

Friday, August 7: -

street wisdom

participation art

Fascinating road trip to Pacific (and Geocaching)

A very slow drive through Aberdeen/Hoquiam where everyone really obeys the speed limit of 30!;we were fascinated by all the Tsunami Evacuation Route signs; also fascinating was the gravel surfacing project along the coast route that required long intervals of waiting for an escort vehicle (one guy stands rotating a Slow/Stop sign and another loops around with the van/truck - Note: we were the only vehicle in line on our side for a good 10 minutes); the “Big Cedar Tree” sign we couldn‟t resist following; buying sushi (funny after my fascination with „beach sushi‟!)at a 24-hour Safeway on our return trip through Aberdeen at 8pm

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My daughter introduced me to Geocaching and I found my first one in a clearing of stumps at the side of the road! Fun! We signed our names in the little book. (Not so fun was the first attempt when it was misting in the woods and we spend 45 fruitless minutes – the clue said a child could do it! – I did find a tiny white plastic bear in the dirt and regretted not picking it up to put in the next Geocache, but I didn‟t know what it was all about yet.)

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Olympic National Park: the trees!!!!! And two of us squealing as our first sight of the ocean flickered through them! (and phone booths??)

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Ruby Beach (my first footfall into the Pacific!), Kalaloch (clay‟lock) Lodge and several beaches in between where of the 300+ digital photos I took on my adventure, 200 of them seem to be of driftwood and seaweed (I was fascinated by the images of dolphins, dogs, giraffes, etc. I kept seeing in the wood and rocks, and the wash-up on the shore looked like “beach sushi” to me - nature-as-artist/the art of nature – Marissa says I “see too much” but I take that as a compliment.) Amazed by the Sea Stacks and piles of Sea Logs. LOVED the meditative sound of the ocean and the rarity of a wild and undeveloped coastline…sigh…

“giraffe”

“Scottish terrier”

sea logs

“beach sushi”

my first view of the Pacific

Saturday, August 8:

Around town

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Get a printer for Marissa (chain store shopping is pretty much the same anywhere you go!); walk around Queen Anne district, Kerry Park views, get cupcakes for tonight at Cupcake Royale (Seattle‟s best!) where we happened to hit Cupcake Happy Hour (buy 3/get 3 free! – Raspberry Lemonade (cupcake of the month), Peppermint Party, Triple Threat, Royale w Cheese, Lavender, Salted Caramel)

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Dinner in Bellevue at the home of Georgia & Peter May, Marissa‟s west coast “parents” and the first place she lived in Seattle.

Sunday, August 9:

Market Day

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Ballard: watched them make our spinach cheese crepe; bought smoked White King Salmon from Wilson‟s Fish Market (the best salmon I‟ve EVER tasted – line-caught off the Washington coast just 3 days before we bought it); a slab of handmade garlic dill cheese to go with the salmon; two ears of corn for 50 cents each; a pound of green, yellow and purple* string beans that I didn‟t know turn green* when cooked!)

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Fremont: craft vendors and a mini indoor flea market; we loved picking out “gems” for our necklaces (2 for $10!!) and got Marissa bottle cap art for her keychain (Google “bottle cap art projects” and you‟ll get a lot of cool things to look at!)

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Also: Lenin statue salvaged from a Czech scrap yard one block south of a Cold War rocket fuselage (The 55-foot 1950s military surplus rocket was rescued from a defunct downtown Seattle surplus store, and is now a symbol of the Fremont neighborhood); photo op at the “Waiting for the Interurban” (1979 cast aluminum sculpture on a traffic island at the northern end of the Freemont bridge; a walk up Troll Ave. to see the Fremont troll (giant sculpture) under the Aurora Bridge of Washington State Route 99 and found ironworks of 3 goats along the way as well!

My Seattle relatives!

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Gas Works Park on Lake Union: Original structures qualify as industrial archaeology & are the last remaining examples of this type of technology. The park contains remnants of the sole remaining coal gasification plant in the US (1906-56), was bought by the City of Seattle for park purposes in 1962. A Web site affiliated with The Seattle Times newspaper says, "Gas Works Park is easily the strangest park in Seattle, and may rank among the strangest in the world."

The dots in the sky are kites! Lots of „em!

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Gorgeous day so we attempted a supper picnic at Discovery Park but it was too late to hike in to the beach so we ended up at Golden Gardens watching a golden sunset, eating our market food and shivering because it had gotten chilly in the evening.

Monday, August 10:

Potpourri

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Tour of Marissa‟s dance studio (Spectrum Dance Theater) on the shore of Lake Washington

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Drive to Snoqualmie Falls: started out cool & cloudy so we had pants & sleeves on – knew what we were in for when we saw people coming back UP the mile trail mopping their faces, clothing tied around their waists!

You had to do this…

…to get down here!(NOT us!)

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Free tourist photo and ride up the Space Needle because Marissa‟s roommate, Alycia, works there. Recommended for fun: ask the elevator operator strange questions about the Needle like “In driving around Seattle, I‟ve used the revolving pink elephant sign on the car wash as a landmark, so how many elephants could you fit in the Needle?”

Tuesday, August 11:

Some very chic treats!

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Drive to Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery in Woodinville: A half hour tour and an hour in the wine shop deciding which six wines to ship back to CT!; walked around the beautiful grounds where we found a trout pond and a peacock attempting to board a tour bus

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For lunch, found the cutest retro diner ever with a burger, in Marissa‟s words “as big as my head”, shiny red vinyl booths, a hostess with the shortest red-striped dress ever, a waiter in the classic white boat-shaped hat, a model train circling a track suspended on the ceiling, a retro phone on the wall by the restroom, a lady enjoying a book, a coffee and a WHOLE pie in the booth behind us and don‟t forget the 50‟s music track.

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On the way home, another attempt at Geocache, failed due to a bicyclist yapping on a cell phone in the woods right on top of our estimated coordinates!

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Back in Seattle: A “quick walk” through Marissa‟s vertical neighborhood and the park with the bike tunnel decorated inside with student murals; at the top of the overlook, amazed to watch cyclists shoot out of the tunnel like marbles, down the bike trail and across the I-90 bridge; also don‟t know how they manage to race up those hills! YouTube helmet cam

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World premiere of “Catch Me If You Can” musical at 5th Avenue Theatre (thanks to comp. tickets from Marissa‟s studio!) Delightful! Loved the sets that recalled the 60‟s graphics and colors of my childhood and great performances by Broadway vets, especially Norbert Leo Butz as Mr.Hanratty and solo by Kerry Butler as Brenda. BONUS: Marissa gave out the award for “Best Performance on a Seattle Bus” during our ride home!

Wednesday, August 13: -

WikiBike/Pedestrian Map

Last day

Olympic Sculpture Park: didn‟t have time to see all of it, but lovely late afternoon weather to have a last look at Seattle; Sculpture parks are one of my “happy places” in life!

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Walked over to the famous Ivar‟s Acres of Clams on the historic waterfront overlooking Elliott Bay (a last meal to fortify me before my “red-eye” flight); we shared cups of Ivar‟s World-Famous Clam Chowder and NW Seafood Chowder; Grilled Wild Alaskan King Salmon with Merlot herb butter, sour cream green onion mashed red potatoes, green beans; Coho Salmon with peach infused rice, cucumber salad; and a glasses of local wine as we watched a pair of twins out on the deck tease the seagulls with their fish and chips; after tea, dessert was a walk on the pier at sunset with my daughter, the words „The End‟ could have been scrolled across the seascape like the ending to a perfect movie.

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Depart Sea-Tac 10:15 pm PDT

Thursday, August 13:

Arrive Hartford

(via Washington DC)

9:30am EDT

Weather: 69, Raining

Magical! MORE SEATTLE MEMORIES: CAUTION: bicyclists everywhere; CAUTION: homeless everywhere; CAUTION: recycle almost everything; CAUTION: don‟t drive a stickshift in Seattle; CAUTION: 9.5% sales tax; best city I‟ve been in for “people watching” – even more interesting than NYC!!!; there‟s often a lag in moving through the city (by foot or by car) because of the pervasive “after you” procedure, although a very neat feature in the left turn only lanes is the flashing yellow traffic light (instead of a useless red one when there are NO oncoming cars) - how nice is that?!; try coffee at some place other than Starbucks (we have those in CT); when your daughter tells you to go left, GO LEFT for godsake!; riding the bus?; waking up next to my daughter; waking up when we want to (no alarm!); waking up with no kinks in my shoulders; eating whenever it crosses our minds; “treasure hunting” with my daughter; the markets; the artists; the trees – and logging trucks on the coast!; the mountains; the air; THE PACIFIC “WISH LIST” FOR NEXT TIME: MOHAI (Museum of History and Industry), the Wall of Gum, the ferry, Ballard Locks to see the salmon jumping, arboretum, Japanese garden & Chado tea ceremony...see Mt. Rainier „out‟...& more!...

A little late! Seattle hit 103 on 7/29/09!

Crows like fine dining too!

Sunday market