This is the fifth of a
series of posts dealing with my ninth and most recent trip to Seattle as adult.
I’ve made minor corrections to these reports.
What little updates there are are indicated by “NOW” in brackets.
I got up around 6ish
and walked towards downtown. I caught the 590 bus (Sound Transit) to Tacoma
Dome Station in Tacoma. There I saw my connecting bus (603 Intercity
Transit). By the time I got off the 590 bus it had left its bay, but I
managed to flag it down and take it to the Legislature at Olympia. I
didn't feel like wandering right up to the buildings but I got some nice nearby
shots. Plus in a museum bus parking area was a trailer on which was resting a
US Army medical helicopter. I got some decent photos and even touched it.
After breakfast at Subway, I wandered around downtown, though nothing including
the Heritage Fountain was open. I did take the time to visit the Star
Wars Mural. In the not yet open Last Word Books there was a Congress ad for Sue
Gunn (suing and guns? A great name for an American stereotype, though I don't
know anything about the candidate beyond her great name). At Olympia Transit
Center I took the 48 bus (Intercity Transit) to just past Westfield Mall (but
with Borders gone skipped the mall area per se) and got off by the Blockbuster,
where I bought a DVD. I took the same 48 bus back downtown and then took a 66
bus (Intercity Transit) past the cemetery by Phoenix Rd and got off at Lacey.
[NOW: The hostel was City Hostel Seattle. Last Word Books has moved. Blockbuster has closed.]
At Lacey I visited Olympic Cards & Comics (huge comic selections/toy selection, little by way of deals) and Boomerang (music/DVDs; bought a DVD). I walked to Lacey Transit Center and took another bus back to Olympia Transit Center. I skipped Tumwater this time because both stores I used to visit were closed. So I walked to Phantom City Records, Orca Books (I wanted to pet the Siamese cat but didn't wanted to interrupt its sleep so just took photos from the window instead), Rainy Day Records (bought a DVD), Fireside Books (closing; mostly picked through already), De Colores Books (multi cultural), Whodunit Books, Last Word Books (political), Danger Room Comics. The Heritage Fountain was running when I passed it on the 48 earlier but was off again. And a sandwich place didn't have any sandwiches today. I returned to Danger Room and bought a thick Savage Dragon trade and then went to Browser's Books. The woman seemed annoyed when I asked to take photos of her sleeping dog but she said okay anyway. I had lunch at the bread place, then one more unsuccessful big at Heritage Fountain.
[NOW: Boomerang, Rainy Day Records, Fireside Books, and Whodunit? Books are now closed. Orca Books has moved]
I got on the 6 bus (Mason Transit) to Sheldon and grabbed a new bus schedule. I learned that my old schedule was outdated and what I had planned as a 20 minute visit proved to be a 2.75 hour visit(!) I bought a couple blu-rays at A&M Thrift, and also visited City Pawn, Garage Sale Maniacs, Sage Books, Treasure Antiques, Treasure Books (separate stores two doors down from one another), and a museum that was having a small book sale (got permission to take photos of the museum). I walked south and visited Treasure Cove Flea Market, Red Apple, a couple Food Marts (bought a pop at the visit one.
[NOW: City Pawn, Sage Book Store, and Red Apple Market are now closed.]
I walked back north to downtown and visited Safeway, a pharmacy, Visitor's Info (not much useful info; across the street was a second one, close, on the caboose of a train), 76 Food Mart (Icees were down). I had an early dinner (4ish) at Dairy Queen to kill time; Sheldon Creek runs by the outdoor patio. I then walked to the main bus connection area.
Sheldon by the way is a very industrial down, so while water was nearby, there was no beach access and with all the machines wouldn't recommend swimming there illegally)
I took the 1 bus (Mason Transit) to Belfair (Bill Hunter Park); this bus trip was actually free. The earlier Mason driver told me it would be a different bus to my next connection but it was actually the same driver so I worried about the short 10 minute schedule gap for nothing. It was actually a lot longer so I visited QFC, went back to park, ignoring the rants of a guy I wasn't knowingly taking photos of and who might not have been in any photos as I returned to the stop. There was still some time so I started to wander to a Safeway but found a... Blockbuster?!? Yes, with very few Blockbusters left, one of the few remaining is in a small town in the middle of nowhere that no one's heard of. I bought a DVD and dashed to the bus, ignoring the guy I wasn't intentionally photographing and his threats to smash my camera.
[NOW: Blockbuster is now closed.]
I took the bus to Bremerton (it was now a 3; this one and the one to Shelton were $1.50 each). I got off at the Bremerton ferry terminal and bought a pop at a convenience store. I took the ferry (WA state) back to Seattle. I walked along 1st street, noticing that the "Waterfront" bus designed to temporarily replace the waterfront streetcar (which disappeared even before my first regular trip) had re-routed, likely due to renos. I walked to First & Pike News at Pike Place Market, then to the International Fountain at Seattle Center. It was now open so I relaxed there until a while after it had shut down for the eve, then walked back to the hostel.
[NOW: First & Pike News is now closed.]
Someone in the dorm was snoring really loud. Those of you in Toronto might have even heard them. They finally stopped and I went back to sleep. But then I got woken up by someone playing music, albeit at a low volume. Hopefully it was a radio alarm and not someone thinking it's a good idea to play music at 6 am. Giving up trying to sleep.
Having previously bumped Tuesday's plans to today, I'm bumping them again to Wed (or possibly putting them Tues and moving Tues's plans to Wed). I have five relatively low key days planned (i.e. in the Seattle area) and it's time to use one of my least fleshed out days and just wander around. Haven't seen enough of downtown so far.
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