UPDATED: January 12, 2021
This is the eighth of a series of posts dealing my fourth
trip to Seattle and first of two trips that year. 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.
Weather continues to look nice. People who hate tan lines
might find me scary because my head, arms and legs are noticeably a different
colour than the rest of my body
Misplaced my locker key last night and looked everywhere for
it. I final recalled how I had camouflaged my spare key this morning (no I
won't announce how online), then the first key turned up near the locker. Also
misplaced my watch (probably when showering) but because it wasn't beer, it got
turned in.
Person below me was a snorer. Shaking the bunk didn't seem
to work. Maybe that trip only works if you're on the lower bunk. At least one
person got up and left around 4:50 am (probably a bus/train/plane connection)
First part of the day will be close to my itinerary
(Discovery Park, then Ballard). But then I'm cutting out places I don't feel
like doing in favour of riding the streetcar to the Center of Wooden Boats and
back. Time permitting I'll revisit Alki Beach but not the rest of West Seattle,
then the International Fountain.
So I'm going for a more relaxing pace today. Tomorrow's
Tacoma and I'll probably be moving like lightning there. Plus after yesterday I
want to take it easy. Not every day of a 13-day day trip should be full steam
ahead. That would be unwise.
[NOW: The above was written in the morning; the rest I wrote
in the evening. All transportation this day King County Metro Transit.]
Today was quieter by my standards though probably pretty
busy by everyone else's standards.
I started out by visiting Discovery Park. A nice park (I was
there on my 2006 trip) and I definitely didn't do it justice today. If I return
in July I'll probably spend more time there. The main reason I visited was it's
just south of the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks in Ballard and I wanted to test a
theory that maps to the contrary, you can reach the locks from that area and
not just through Ballard. Well, the walk was more circuitous than expected but my
theory was basically correct.
The fish ladder at the locks was less interesting than in July.
Just small fish this time. These particular locks separate saltwater and
freshwater so I watched them in action (and got kissed by a dog) before
exploring Ballard.
In Ballard I visited Abraxus Books (which used to be a
library and still looks a lot like one; better than in Victoria where a library
got converted to a McDonald's), Sonic Boom Records, Blockbuster (got some
DVDs), Arcane Comics (got some books), and the Sunday Farmer's Market. Art
Press was closed. The bus back downtown turned into a bus to Alki, so I
continued on to there. It was slow going through downtown due to a ballgame.
[NOW: Abraxus Books
moved to the Queen Anne District and then closed down completely. That Blockbuster
is now defunct. Arcane Comics has moved to Shoreline]
I again looked at the Birthplace of Seattle and Statue of
Liberty while at Alki, and had lunch at Pepperdock, a really nice burger place.
After an hour and a half or so, I took a shuttle that barely made the water
taxi on time (so this time I took it back rather than there. It accepts bus
passes so I recommend anyone using the water taxi to go on a Sat or Sun since
there's no weekday passes; also, you have to get the passes on King Country buses, so you'll want to get on a bus first, riding out of the ride free area
if need be).
[NOW: King County Metro Transit no longer offers weekend paper daypasses, but you can get electronic daypases any day of the week via Orca card. The King
County Water Taxi has been replaced with a newer model. The Ride Free Area is no more.]
During my brief time back downtown I got video of a fish
being tossed at the Pike Place Market) After a stop to a place near Seattle
Center to get more memory cards (this will keep me going a few more days, but
I'm still going to run out if I don't find more soon) and to 7-11 (I got a
Slurpee that had two compartments in its cup, so I had both coke and blue
raspberry) I made it back to the International Fountain at Seattle Center and
spent another couple hours there.
[NOW: That branch of 7-11 has now closed, though there's still another one even closer to Seattle Center.]
I took a bus back downtown then, since it was nearing
dinner, rode the South Lake Union streetcar (don't call it a trolley or it
makes a rude acronym that the locals are fond of calling it) one stop, then
dashed to Kress for a drink then dashed back to the hostel for a delicious free spaghetti dinner.
After a stop at Swerve I returned very briefly to the
International Fountain, then to Silver Platters (the one near Seattle Center,
in the former Tower Records location) where I bought a DVD and a Jones orange
cola.
[NOW: Kress and Swerve are now defunct. That branch of Silver Platters has moved to 1st Ave S.]
In case I don't have time to log on tomorrow morning,
tomorrow is a day in Tacoma
No comments:
Post a Comment