Seattle Trip 2007 Day 7 Monday July 30

UPDATED: February 4, 2022

This is the seventh 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.

At first I thought last night's group in the dorm was going to be especially loud (lots of beer bottles; one person loudly declared upon entering the room, “F--k me and call me purple doggy f--k!"

Actually though they were fairly quiet after. They broke one of the rules and opened the window and as such I actually slept better than any day I've been here. At one point I wanted to walk around at 6 am but opted for 1.5 more hours of refreshing sleep. Grabbing my bag after breakfast I overheard that one woman who'd been out partying had only just turned in after 7:30 am.

Sorting things this morning I discovered I had indeed had enough cash on hand for that film yesterday had that lady not done that fingernail tap-tapping, so her impatience did cost her store $30.

I got the material I needed from the Canadian Consulate. The lady was shocked at how bronzed I'd become since my last visit.

I walked to Broadway (getting some DVDs from a pawn shop along the way and while there; one final Troma film). Then I walked to the University district. The walk took longer than expected but got some nice shots. Didn't buy anything there, in part because I decided to pay Warren G. Magnuson Park one final visit now that it was hot again. Perhaps a mistake because I missed one store in University District I wanted to revisit, but I'm trying to cut down on final spending now anyway.

[NOW: I think the pawn shop was Capital Loans. The DVD was probably bought at Everyday Music or maybe Gruv, the former now moved and the latter now closed.]

I went for a jog after the park because I'd missed the bus back by about 5 minutes. I grabbed a Coke Icee and a nice ham/turkey/Swiss cheese sandwich from a 76 gas station.

 

[NOW: Any buses I took that day were King County Metro Transit.]

Back to Seattle Center, I bought one final DVD from Silver Platters, a special edition to replace my barebones DVD of Sick: The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist. A great documentary about one man's fight against cystic fibrosis, but too intense for most viewers unfortunately.

[NOW: Silver Platters has now moved to 1st Ave S. I probably took the 30 bus there. I actually ended up keeping my original Sick disk as well because there are text pieces on the disk I want to keep.]

I hung out at the International Fountain a bit (I love that fountain), jogged to Queen Anne area and bought Tales from the Crypt season 2 at Underdawg Records (I bought season 1 elsewhere the same time I bought the Emmy package), then made it back downtown.

[NOW: Sadly Underdawg Records has since closed down. I probably bought Tales from the Crypt at Swerve, also now closed given my Emmy reference, as that’s where I bought USA Network’s Emmy submission from.]

I realized that I'd misplaced a booklet with a Seattle Aquarium coupon and I remembered the hostel had some. But they were gone so I asked at the desk if they had any more, but they didn't know what I was talking about. I believe a lot of staff are transient hostellers themselves. As such they are consistently some of the least knowledgeable hospitality people you'll ever meet (I don't think I asked one question about Seattle area that wasn't greeted with some uncertainty).

Anyway, even with the missing coupon, it was $14.50 there and I was there last year so I decided to pass this time. I pondered what to do next and finally took leave of my senses and decided to visit the open air observation deck on the 35th floor of the Smith Tower. The fancy elevator (complete with elevator worker) was open to show every floor that the elevator passed, which I think sent dome blood down from my brain. Fortunately the open air area was completely covered with metal framing, so I actually managed to venture outside, though I was a bit scared the whole time. Any aerial shots you'll see there will show metal because I'm sure if I had gotten the camera close enough to avoid that, said new camera would have dropped 35 stories to the ground.

[NOW: I’ve since been up there a few times. My acrophobia varies I find.]

It took around 2 hours or so for my heart to stop racing after I reached ground level. I visited the Elliott Bay Book Company one final time, wandered around some more (more pigs found before/after Smith), visited and went up the floors of the library, entered Macy's again just to visit the Skyway to the parking area (if you want free aerial views of downtown, there's all kinds of walkways/bridges in the city), then ate at the Downtown McDonald's. Checked out a few more book stores (Barnes and Noble, Borders), stumbled upon the place pig statues are stored as they await a home), then arranged for someone to take a pic of me with Rachael the Pig (the pig statue by the market that's a permanent fixture, unlike the rest).

[NOW: The Pine St Macy's has now closed. Elliott Bay Book Company is now in Capitol Hill; most of the pigs were just there the one year as part of Pike Place Market’s 50^th anniversary; and all branches of Borders have since closed down.]

I grabbed a free 100-year history paper of the Pike Market (Rachael made the cover but no other photos inside), took a few more photos just above by old hostel, then returned here.

[NOW: “Here” being the Green Tortoise.]

I could have joined the hostel crowd to a Mariners game this eve for $10, but didn't want to be rushed packing this eve. And this being pro baseball, had visions of spitting and crotch scratching. Maybe some other trip.

[NOW: I still haven’t attended a sports match of any sort in Seattle. Professional baseball in Seattle is played at what was then Safeco Field but is now T-Mobile Park.]