SEEING THE SIGHTS IN SEATTLE
It's always enjoyable visiting the Northwest, and this time was certainly no exception. The flights in on Tuesday were a little bumpy, but the excellent service by Alaska Airlines certainly made up for it. In the afternoon, I was treated to a behind-the-scenes tour at one of the mission agencies here in the Puget Sound region, and got to see how state-of-the-art technology and know-how is being harnessed to the work of serving God by serving the poor around the world.
Next morning, there was some time available to see a bit of the city. "Lonely Planet", the outfit which publishes guides for tourists the world over, also maintains a website with advice on top sites for different locations. Picking several, I set out to see some sights that hadn't yet made the agenda on previous visits, plus one that I just wanted to see again.
The first stop involved a drive over to the Ballard section of town, to the Hiram M. Crittenden locks, or rather the salmon ladder next to the locks. Wanting a bit, I made a stop at Nellie's, a lean-to coffee bar adjoining the Lockspot Cafe. There Jeanette (pronounced the French way, zhen-ETTE) and Todd made up a delicious steaming cup of hot, bold coffee, plus a thick slice of toast with butter and cinnamon. Just the ticket on a morning when the temp was in the mod-40's and I had to go back to the car for my jacket.
Access to the locks, which were built by the US Army Corps of Engineers, is via the Carl S. English, Jr., Garden, a lovely collection of paths and trees and perfectly-maintained plants. There are two locks, one large and the other much smaller, and it was fun to watch them both in operation. The system connects the access to Puget Sound with Lake Union and ultimately Lake Washington to the east. During my visit, which was also in the company of a school group that appeared to be from the Far East, we watched a large scowl or barge pass through the larger lock, and several fishing and pleasure boats make their way through the smaller. The whole process took maybe 40 minutes, and was a delight to watch. The salmon ladder was also fascinating; it is toward the end of the salmon migration season, but a few were still making their way into the system and past the observation windows. King, Sockeye, Coho -- and soon, the Steelhead will be coming through.
From there, the next stop was in the Fremont section of town -- Seattle's answer to Greenwich Village, with a little Haight-Ashbury or Adams-Morgan thrown in -- driving past the statue of Lenin (brought to Seattle after the collapse of the USSR), to see the strange bit of public sculpture titled, "Waiting for the Interurban", a collection of bystanders waiting by an empty platform. The figures get dressed up for different occasions; when I was there, one of them was wearing a birthday hat and was surrounded by balloons. The figures are still "waiting" as the whole collection is a protest for the commuter train which was to be built, and for which the neighborhood is still waiting. I have been told that the dog in the collection bears the face of the politician who delayed and ultimately blocked the project -- a fact which was not revealed until the unveiling of the statue.
From there it was down to the heart of town, near Pioneer Square, for the National Park Service's Klondike Gold Rush Museum. On the way, I stopped at the Waterfall Park, built by UPS on the site of their first-ever office, where the famous brown-van delivery service was born. The Klondike Museum is free, and a real gem, with lots of interesting facts and stories about the great rush to the Yukon in 1897-1898, in which Seattle played an important part. Some 100,000 persons set out for the Klondike, of which about 40,000 made it there; some 20,000 prospected for gold, and just a few hundred realized any appreciable wealth, or about 0.33%. After the Northwest Mounted Police (today known as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or Mounties), fearing widespread starvation, ordered that each "stampeder" had to bring supplies for a year, Seattle merchants helpfully drew up lists of supplies and helped to provision, at a cost of around $350 per person -- about $10,000 in today's dollars. The movie was also great; it's well worth an hour or so.
After stopping for a delicious sandwich of jerked turkey at Rex's Deli, I went to the Seattle Art Museum, a world-class collection in a gorgeous modern building expanded and refurbished about 2007. The visitor is greeted in the entrance atrium by a white car -- one of nine, mostly suspended from the ceiling at various angles and stretching across the museum -- before going upstairs to the excellent collection of paintings, porcelains, religious art, and most notably African, East Asian, and Native art from the Northwest, British Columbia, and Alaska. The $17 ticket was well worth the price.
The day finished off beautifully with pizza at the Wallingford Pizzeria, which my son John has acclaimed the "best in Seattle", and perhaps even better than the family's favorite deep-dish pizza house in Chicago. (I'm not sure I agree, though the pizza was super-good.) We had one with goat cheese, spinach, and some anchovies standing in for the salami (which I can't eat), washed down with excellent local suds. Father-son bonding lingered over a long coffee chat as the evening grew dark.
All in all, a fabulous day. Seattle continues to amaze and satisfy.
Seattle (Queen Anne), 19 October 2012
It's always enjoyable visiting the Northwest, and this time was certainly no exception. The flights in on Tuesday were a little bumpy, but the excellent service by Alaska Airlines certainly made up for it. In the afternoon, I was treated to a behind-the-scenes tour at one of the mission agencies here in the Puget Sound region, and got to see how state-of-the-art technology and know-how is being harnessed to the work of serving God by serving the poor around the world.
Next morning, there was some time available to see a bit of the city. "Lonely Planet", the outfit which publishes guides for tourists the world over, also maintains a website with advice on top sites for different locations. Picking several, I set out to see some sights that hadn't yet made the agenda on previous visits, plus one that I just wanted to see again.
The first stop involved a drive over to the Ballard section of town, to the Hiram M. Crittenden locks, or rather the salmon ladder next to the locks. Wanting a bit, I made a stop at Nellie's, a lean-to coffee bar adjoining the Lockspot Cafe. There Jeanette (pronounced the French way, zhen-ETTE) and Todd made up a delicious steaming cup of hot, bold coffee, plus a thick slice of toast with butter and cinnamon. Just the ticket on a morning when the temp was in the mod-40's and I had to go back to the car for my jacket.
Access to the locks, which were built by the US Army Corps of Engineers, is via the Carl S. English, Jr., Garden, a lovely collection of paths and trees and perfectly-maintained plants. There are two locks, one large and the other much smaller, and it was fun to watch them both in operation. The system connects the access to Puget Sound with Lake Union and ultimately Lake Washington to the east. During my visit, which was also in the company of a school group that appeared to be from the Far East, we watched a large scowl or barge pass through the larger lock, and several fishing and pleasure boats make their way through the smaller. The whole process took maybe 40 minutes, and was a delight to watch. The salmon ladder was also fascinating; it is toward the end of the salmon migration season, but a few were still making their way into the system and past the observation windows. King, Sockeye, Coho -- and soon, the Steelhead will be coming through.
From there, the next stop was in the Fremont section of town -- Seattle's answer to Greenwich Village, with a little Haight-Ashbury or Adams-Morgan thrown in -- driving past the statue of Lenin (brought to Seattle after the collapse of the USSR), to see the strange bit of public sculpture titled, "Waiting for the Interurban", a collection of bystanders waiting by an empty platform. The figures get dressed up for different occasions; when I was there, one of them was wearing a birthday hat and was surrounded by balloons. The figures are still "waiting" as the whole collection is a protest for the commuter train which was to be built, and for which the neighborhood is still waiting. I have been told that the dog in the collection bears the face of the politician who delayed and ultimately blocked the project -- a fact which was not revealed until the unveiling of the statue.
From there it was down to the heart of town, near Pioneer Square, for the National Park Service's Klondike Gold Rush Museum. On the way, I stopped at the Waterfall Park, built by UPS on the site of their first-ever office, where the famous brown-van delivery service was born. The Klondike Museum is free, and a real gem, with lots of interesting facts and stories about the great rush to the Yukon in 1897-1898, in which Seattle played an important part. Some 100,000 persons set out for the Klondike, of which about 40,000 made it there; some 20,000 prospected for gold, and just a few hundred realized any appreciable wealth, or about 0.33%. After the Northwest Mounted Police (today known as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or Mounties), fearing widespread starvation, ordered that each "stampeder" had to bring supplies for a year, Seattle merchants helpfully drew up lists of supplies and helped to provision, at a cost of around $350 per person -- about $10,000 in today's dollars. The movie was also great; it's well worth an hour or so.
After stopping for a delicious sandwich of jerked turkey at Rex's Deli, I went to the Seattle Art Museum, a world-class collection in a gorgeous modern building expanded and refurbished about 2007. The visitor is greeted in the entrance atrium by a white car -- one of nine, mostly suspended from the ceiling at various angles and stretching across the museum -- before going upstairs to the excellent collection of paintings, porcelains, religious art, and most notably African, East Asian, and Native art from the Northwest, British Columbia, and Alaska. The $17 ticket was well worth the price.
The day finished off beautifully with pizza at the Wallingford Pizzeria, which my son John has acclaimed the "best in Seattle", and perhaps even better than the family's favorite deep-dish pizza house in Chicago. (I'm not sure I agree, though the pizza was super-good.) We had one with goat cheese, spinach, and some anchovies standing in for the salami (which I can't eat), washed down with excellent local suds. Father-son bonding lingered over a long coffee chat as the evening grew dark.
All in all, a fabulous day. Seattle continues to amaze and satisfy.
Seattle (Queen Anne), 19 October 2012
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