UPDATED: January 7, 2021
This
is the sixth of a series of posts recalling my second annual trip to Seattle. I’ve made minor corrections to these reports.
Also, I’ve added additional thoughts with the hindsight of five years later or
to add further clarification; I use “NOW” to denote such cases.
Another
humid night. I woke up around 4 to a
rustling sound nearby so I opened my eyes slightly and a woman was changing out
of everything. It was hard to tell without
my glasses on and I didn't want there to be any awkward moments when she realized
I'd woken up so I didn't put then on (not *that* dark), but I think she changed
briefly, out of *every*thing in front of me, thinking I was still asleep.
The
first part of the day I took a couple of photos of the remnants of the parade. Not many though as most things had apparently
been cleared out the night before.
[NOW:
Most years there’s still a fair bit of litter in some areas of the parade route
the day after. I’m not sure if that was the case this time.]
I
revisited Freeway Park, and in fact found parts of the part I hadn't noticed or
had forgotten about since my last visit there last year. Greater Victoria residents might be wondering
if Freeway Park has a freeway in the sense that Westshore Shopping Centre has
any sort of shore. Actually it is indeed
built onto a freeway and even early morning you can hear the buzz of traffic.
[NOW:
There are a lot of fountains in one section of the park. For people who have
never been to the Greater Victoria area, Westshore Shopping Centre is nowhere
near any shoreline.]
My
original plan was to visit a park near the university early on, but it started
to rain early on, so I retrieved my coat from the hostel and changed into long
sleeve pants, and visited the Harbor Steps near my last year's hostel while
working on backup plans.
[NOW:
The park in question was Warren G. Magnuson Park, described below. The 2016 hostel was Youth Hostel International on Union St, which closed before my 2007 trip.]
The
Harbor Steps are very wide and have lots of steps (and temporarily lots of model
pigs -- I think I've discovered a new pig every day of the trip thus far).
[NOW:
As previously noted, with a few exceptions such as Rachel the Pig at Pike Place
Market, most of the pigs were around to celebrate the 50th anniversary
of the Market and were thus just there for that year.]
I
wandered around a little more and decided to take a bus to Ballard. This being the free zone, I paid for a
weekend daypass (only $2.50) upon exiting the bus.
[NOW:
Buses that day were King County Metro Transit. Due to the free downtown area, it was often the case that you pay upon exiting,
not entering the bus in Seattle. There is no longer a free downtown area. The weekend daypass is gone, though if you have an Orca card you can get electronic daypasses any day of the week,]
They had
another component of Seafair (the parade's Seafair, too) there: a huge multi-block
outdoor market; I think on one angle it connected to a smaller (by Seattle
standards) Sunday farmer's market. As
with the parade, there were no half measures; this was huge!
[NOW:
The Seafair and regular markets were the Seafair Seafoodfest and the Ballard Farmer's Market, respectively. I think in 2011 the Seafoodfest was done outside
of Seafair.]
I
walked over to the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks.
To explain the locks you have to first understand that in Ballard, the
saltwater Puget Sound connects with the freshwater Lake Union, and Lake Union's
at a much higher water level. So the way
boats and ships cross is, they steer their boat into a special section ending
in a barrier and the boats/ships are roped to the locks, kind of like when a
boat is roped to a dock. Then a barrier
closes behind them, and the water level is either raised or lowering depending
on if they're entering or exiting Lake Union.
But
the locks themselves are not the most amazing thing at the Locks. No, the most amazing thing is a fish
"ladder" (more a staircase) designed to assist salmon returning from
the sea to spawn. On one level (the last
I think) you actually get to watch salmon trying to swim up current, having
survived being eaten by predators or killed by diseases for what (except
possibly for the steelheads) is the final leg of their life journey. Amazing to watch this because it's live (and
thus with the current, no narrator to hint at the outcome) and you know that
these salmon are either incredibly lucky or they truly
are the best of the best, having made it this far in their life journey. I've
never seen anything like it. The most
amazing part of this trip beyond a doubt.
I
found a comic shop in Ballard and this time actually bought some. By now the weather was nicer so I headed for
the park described above (Warren G. Magnuson Park). I actually passed on a comic shop en route to
reach the park before too dark. Not much
real beach area, but very easy to navigate. They have a small blocked off section for dogs
to roam free without leashes (toilet paper provided near one entry).
[NOW:
The comic shop in Ballard was Arcane Comics, which has since moved to Shoreline. The park is nowhere near Ballard,
being way to the east and a bit to the north of the Locks].
When
I left the park I jogged away because it was a while for the next bus. Was going to go to Broadway but it was
getting late and the bus from the park was going to Seattle Center so went
there instead. I ate at the McDonald's
near there, remembering only hours later after it was too late about the Sunday
free dinner. Oops. Well, can't be helped now, and I'm surprised
I'm as functional as I am given nearly a week of minimal sleep. And while there I figured out the ending to
the Santa story I'm finding. Perhaps had
I eaten the free dinner, I wouldn't have had that key brainstorm. Some people were laughing *really* loud there.
Walked
back downtown as I didn't feel like using my pass and wandered around a little.
Was
going to buy some film and flavoured water from one store but she ID'd me re:
the credit card, and while I was rummaging my bag for money, she went "tap-tap"
with her fingernails on the counter the whole time. I probably didn't have the cash on me, but
was too flustered by this to find it regardless so just bought the water. She was lucky I bought even that much, but
the water was cheap and it's a big humid here.
[NOW:
I later noticed that I did have the cash, but with the sound of fingernails
repeatedly tapping on the counter there was no way I was going to find it. This
was at the downtown Seattle Walgreen’s. This being 2007, I doubt that woman is still
there.]
A few
incidents like these notwithstanding, and not counting Settle as truly part of
Seattle, I have to say that I still fell in love with the city all over again,
and for my final full day tomorrow, I'm thinking of just revisiting spots I
like one last time (and maybe doing a final sweep of Broadway for that card) rather
than doing another mandatory exploring of a new area. I lucked out today with the Locks, but I
think I'll use tomorrow mainly to examine what Seattle really means to me.
So
yes tomorrow will be the 4th day in a row I go to the International Fountain at
Seattle Center. And there will be other
places I'm visited multiple times. But I figure a vacation should be about
doing things you love. And like I told people
last year, part of me really does want to find a way to move here someday. Of course then I remember there's no decent
swimming holes here, but there are parts of this city I enjoy enough to make
this my plan. Let's see if tomorrow
bears this plan out.
[NOW:
Actually there are some decent swimming areas when the weather’s nice. Warren
G. Magnuson Park and Seward Park spring to mind.]
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