Scenes from Seattle (part 4)

Daphne started Friday with a cup of joe from Starbucks. FYI, Seattle Starbucks tastes just like Des Moines Starbucks.

Speaking of similarities, there were two statues in Seattle that looked pretty familiar. 

We stopped at Charlotte's favorite park to eat our breakfast donuts. 

On the way to the Pacific Science Center, Charlotte spotted her name. That's always fun.

When we turned the corner, the day went south. A day camp/ school group had also chosen to visit the Pacific Science Center, and they had brought ten full school buses with them. That put about 700 kids in front of us in line. Char was crushed. It would take forever to get into the science center, and when we did get in, the place would be packed. We explained to Char why it would be better to come back tomorrow, but Char was inconsolable. We were standing in a sea of children, and the tears silently flowed. 

We tried to distract her by going to the Museum  of Pop Culture. 

She kinda liked seeing Sirius Black's cloak.

 Posing with mom as royalty was better.

And she liked seeing the outfits from The Princess Bride.

Things changed when we entered the Jim Henson exhibit. Pretending to be a Muppet is cool.

But making a Muppet is even cooler.

Coolest of all was learning to play guitar in the Sound Lab's interactive exhibits. Real instruments were outfitted with lights, and computer screens gave you instructions to play along with. I was so into the rhythm guitar exhibit that I forgot where I was. After twenty minutes I looked up and thought, "Wait. Don't I have a family? Where are they?" Luckily, they were right across from me.

I thought it was neat to see Michael Jackson's outfit from the "Thriller" music video.

Speaking of music, we went shopping in the afternoon, and I spotted a record store with a pinball theme. It was a match made in heaven!

I didn't want to buy any records on this trip because I didn't want to worry about how to safely get them home, so I only shopped for Cd's. I visited two record shops in Seattle, and I bought The Replacements' Let It Be, a Sub Pop anniversary collection, and Nirvana's Bleach. Being a Nirvana fan in Seattle, I felt obligated to buy something related to the band. 

We had lunch in a food court. Daphne and I shared a beef and mushroom pot pie and some tater tot poutine. Char had Subway... sigh.

The afternoon snack was fish and chips at the 100 Pound Clam. Char had a few of the chips that didn't have any obvious seasoning... sigh.

Dinner was at Taco Chukis. 

We aren't world travelers by any measure, but Daph and I have discovered that if a Mexican restaurant is within a short walking distance from where you are staying, then it will be good. We haven't been disappointed yet, and Taco Chukis didn't break our streak. We ordered their signature tacos with adobada pork, cheese, guacamole, and grilled pineapple. They rocked! Char had a cheese quesadilla... eh, I can't blame her for that. The quesadilla was good, too.

Scenes from Seattle (part 3)

Thursday morning's weather was what I expected from Seattle. It was cloudy and rainy - perfect for a morning at the aquarium.

I dread the day when Charlotte decides that she is too old to stick her head in these things. 

We tried to convince Charlotte to touch the creatures in the tide pool, but it took the encouragement of strangers for her to get her hands wet. This was, by and far, her favorite part of the trip. She loved how the sea anemones would close around and stick to her fingers. We spent well over an hour playing here. The worm that disappeared as soon as you touched it made Char laugh with delight over and over again.

I thought it might be hard to capture a cute picture of a sea otter, but these guys know they are the stars, and they really work the crowd.

We headed back to the Market for lunch.

Chowder and mussels.

People say that everything is better with bacon. I agree, and would like to give melted butter that same status.

The Seattle Underground Tour was a lot of fun. We learned a lot, laughed a lot, and now I can give the people who named the Space Needle a tip of my hat. Well done, gentlemen - wink, wink, nudge, nudge. (You'll have to take the tour to know what I mean.)

The sidewalk from above:

The sidewalk from below:

We visited the Seattle Pinball Museum next. It was one of my required stops.

I didn't grow up in a time when EM pinball machines were plentiful - I was an 80's video arcade kid - so the only EM games I know well are mine. It was a bit strange to play someone else's pinball games. They weren't set up the way I'd do it, but I got over that pretty quickly. It was great to pay a few bucks and then get to play an unknown game that I didn't have to buy, fix, clean, and paint first. 

Char looked pretty upbeat at dinner. She has really become quite a reader this summer.

But by the time we got back "home", she was just beat. 

She even put herself to bed while watching a couple episodes of My Little Pony on Netflix. 

That doesn't happen at "real home"; I can assure you of that. 

Jolene!

Char discovered this Dolly Parton song while watching World of Dance. 

Even her cats like it!

Scenes from Seattle (part 2)

At first, I thought everyone in Seattle was just very heathy, but after taking 20 minutes to drive 200 yards in downtown Seattle, I can see why there are so many pedestrians and cyclists in the city.

We walked everywhere.

Our first trip was to see the Space Needle. It's a touristy thing to do, but we were tourists, so why not?

The view was tremendous.

Something else caught Charlotte's eye, "Hey! What's that down there?"



It was the playground next to the MoPop Museum.

We promised her that we would go play at the playground, but it wasn't our next destination.

The trip in the descending elevator was informative.

Our next stop was next to the Space Needle - the Chihuly Garden. 

Daphne and her mother discovered Dale Chihuly's unique glass artwork on a trip to California, and Daphne was excited to share the experience with her own daughter.

Char thought this sculpture looked like rock candy.

We were surrounded by all of this beautiful glass work, and Charlotte was all fired up about this bird she spotted. Kids...

Charlotte was getting bored inside the exhibit, so I gave her the camera. That kept her busy for about twenty minutes. Here are some of her pictures.

I needed some fuel before we hit the playground, so I stopped at a nearby hot dog stand. I had heard about "Seattle Dogs" on the Travel Channel, so I was pumped to try one.

After I took a couple of pictures, the kid working the stand asked me if I had ever had a hot dog with kimchi on it. I said no, and he smiled. "Well then, you're gonna love this!"

He was right. The kimchi was incredible. This might have been the best hot dog I have ever had.

It was finally time to get Charlotte to stop nagging us about going to the playground. Kids...

Can you spot Daphne running this maze with Char?

Next up was train ride that would take us close to the Public Market Center.

I didn't take any pictures inside the packed market. It was a beautiful day, and we barely had elbow room. Outside there were quite a few street performers. 

This place was a surprise. We hadn't had a crumpet before, and Daphne loves watching the BBC programs, so we gave the place a whirl.

I thought this was just going to be an English muffin with stuff on it, but it wasn't. The crumpet is lighter and more cake-like. To quote Oliver Twist, "Please sir, I want some more."

While we were on top of the Space Needle, Char spotted this ferris wheel at Pier 57. We headed down there to take a spin.

The Seattle Great Wheel opened in 2012, and stands 175 feet tall. You get a pretty good view from up there.

Personally, I like this view better.

While walking back to the train, I saw that Puddle's Pity Party was performing at this theater. That was kind of a shock because we had just watched him perform on America's Got Talent. I didn't know he was already an established act.

Later that evening we ate at Mollusk, a restaurant across the street from where we were staying. Being huge fans of poutine, we knew exactly what to order.

Okay. That was our first day in Seattle. It was time to go "home" and rest. We were beat.