This is the eleventh 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.
Holes in my shoes now (they were first worn late
June) but I think I can still use them until the end of the trip at least. Had a bath last night and used a little trick: they
don't have plugs in the tubs here, normally requiring showers, so this time I
bought my own plugs.
[NOW: The hostel is City Hostel Seattle. The tubs have been replaced with showers.]
Today walked down to Pike Place Market and saw
Rachel the Pig, then continued further south. The former site of the
Lusty Lady has an ad for stores to move in, but the ads been cleverly phrased
as the location looking for a romantic relationship with someone. Arundel
Books is gone.
[NOW: Actually just relocated.]
Passed Occidental Park (all concrete, no
vegetation; also passed here yesterday). They have new art there this year,
resembling the frames of cubes.
I walked down to CenturyLink Field, the renamed
Qwest Field, apparently referred to now as the CLink by locals. Kingdome
Deli near the field continues to operate. There's a new building going up
nearby. The north entrance to the field is now fenced off so you can no
longer climb the stairs for a view. Walked past Safeco Field immediately
south of the CLink and then wandered to the international District.
Visited Hing Hay Park (also concrete, but has a
distinctively Asian theme) and walked past Uwajamaya Village and then reached
International Station, part of the Ride Free area.
I took the Central Link (light rail; Sound Transit)
to Westlake Center and then took the 16 bus (Metro Transit) most of the rest of
the way to the hostel, dodging some of the considerable amount of construction
happening around town during the one block walk from the stop to the hostel,
and had breakfast.
[NOW: The above was
written in the morning; the rest I wrote in the evening. Central Link is lown Line 1. Metro Transit is in full King County Metro Transit.]
For this part of the day, all buses Metro Transit.
After breakfast I walked back to Westlake Station,
Downtown Transit Tunnel and took the 71 to the University of
Washington. No window seats left so I didn't take many photos on the bus.
At the university I wandered to Drumheller Fountain. I then walked
from the university proper to University Village. I went to the mini
fountain with statues of frogs and turtles spitting at each other. This
trip I looked up the name: Water Frolic. Not to be confused by Water
Break, a tiny water stream fountain nearby. There was construction where
Barnes & Noble used to be; the Johnny Rockets I ate at last year was also
gone. I went to the Stonehenge like fountain but couldn’t find a name for it.
I left the village and main my way to a bus stop to
catch the 44; for some reason even though the bus didn't go downtown the driver
wanted people to pay as he exited. For some reason the driver left at one point
to have a chat with a departing passenger but they seemed to part on friendly
terms. I got off the bus at the 7-11 near the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks in
Ballard. I also visited the Fish Ladder again. I walked to Moviecycle.
This time they were selling their stuff for 50% off, not 40%; got some more. I
had lunch again at the Ballard Burger King. The sign said that 12 oz Icees were
$0.00 but that proved to be an error; darn.
[NOW: Moviecycle and that Burger King are now closed.]
I got on a 44 bus heading back east. I got off at
Stone Way, I think the start of the Wallingford District, a little earlier than
planned: on a whim I had decided to visit an oddities shop I had heard about
for years called Archie McPhee's. I bought a JP Patches action figure there.
Then I made my way to Wallingford Ave and went down that street past the
Wallingford Steps with their zodiac design to Gas Works Park. I don't
think I've adequately described the park this trip:m an industrial complex with
an excellent view of the city from the north end of Lake Union has been
converted to a park. Some of the old complex is still there.
I stayed there a while and then made my way to
Fremont again. This time I actually got right up to the troll statue and touched
it, then visited the JP Patches & Gertrude and Waiting for the Interurban
statues. I grabbed a free Seattle Weekly that had a short tribute to JP
and then walked past the Fremont Rocket to the giant Lenin statue. I only
caught a glimpse of the Center of the Universe signpost (with directions to
near and far, real and fictional places) because I was dashing to the bus stop.
Not sure if my camera caught the sign. A van blocked it for a bit.
I took the 31 bus thinking it might have a
comparable route to the 30 but it was going the wrong way so after crossing the
Fremont Bridge and waiting forever for a light I got off and switched to a 17
bus. I got off that bus by Mercer St, planning to walk to Seattle Center, but
then the South Lake Union trolley came by (because it was briefly called the
South Lake Union Streetcar locals call it the S-L-U-T); I had hoped to get to
that at some point so I rode the, uh, trolley downtown. I took some
photos of the downtown area from the Food Court at Westlake Center (on an upper
floor) and then visited Zanadu Comics. I then took the 1 bus to Seattle
Center, passing through the Seattle Center Armory which is not Center House
even though the location is the same and the layout is very close to the old
Center House. I spent some time at the International Fountain.
[NOW: Zanadu Comics is now closed.]
At dinner time I went to the "I can't believe
it's not Center House" to a pie place to get a cheeseburger pie, but you
couldn't get it without mustard, so I left Seattle Center and went to Dick's on
Queen Anne.
The menu option I wanted was also couldn't hold
anything, but I did find something else I wanted anyway. It's cheap, fast, and
tasty there. I went back to the Fountain where they were setting things
up for some sort of projection test. I realized this might take a while so I
went to Pike Place Market, passing the Chief Sealth statue (considered
Seattle's founder) en route; also the glassblowing show that had glass flows
outside as well as glass wrapped around a real tree. The newsstand (First &
Pike News) didn't have as I'd hoped any weekly Seattle magazine pay tribute to
JP. I wandered the market a bit more, visiting Rachel the Pig and
checking out a small shop of fantasy collectibles called Orange Dracula (the
name alone lured me in). Heading back north, on a whim I visited Dan's
Belltown Grocery because it had DVDs and actually bought one.
[NOW: First & Pike News is now closed.]
Back at the fountain it turned out that the
projection was apparently for sound, not light (if the former, not until after
I left). A puppy was there playing fetch. Once it struggled to get the ball
because it didn't want to be sprayed with water. Another time a little girl
gave the dog the ball so every other time the dog waited for a human to pass or
throw the ball from the wet area of the fountain so the too smart for its own
good pup could stay dry. On the way back from the hostel visited Rite Aid
and a place closer to the hostel that I've bought a fair bit from this trip.
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