This is the sixth of a series of posts dealing with
my tenth and most recent trip to Seattle as adult. I’ve made minor corrections
to these reports. What few updates there
are indicated by NOW in brackets.
Minor editing to fix typos/incorrect names.
One woman in my room nonchalantly changed out of
her pants with the lights on last night. Probably good prep for what was to
come this morning.
In the morning I walked to Pike Place Market and
saw Rachel the giant piggy bank. I also
visited Target. Heading towards the Bell
Street Bridge I discovered, much to my shock, goals penned in below the freeway
ramp at Elliott & Blanchard. I
walked along the Bell Street Bridge though the observation area ion the other
side was locked due to a tour. I
returned to the hostel for breakfast.
I walked to Westlake Station and took the 72 bus
(all busses this day Metro Transit) to the University of Washington, where I
saw Drumheller Fountain. I walked to the nearby University Village, where I saw
a couple of smaller fountains: Water Frolic (frogs & turtles), Water Break
(turtles & birds), a couple of animal statues, and the Stonehenge Fountain.
I walked to the shopping area of the University
District and visited Bulldog News, University Bookstore, Half Price Books
(bought some DVDs; the dealer noticed that one was missing a disc before
ringing it through so I passed on that one obviously), Cinema Books, Neptune
Music (more DVDs), Scarecrow Video (got a bunch of DVDs on sale). I skipped a few stores in the interest of
time, taking the 44 bus to NW Market & 8th. I visited a branch there of
Rain City Video. I'd passed it before a number of times but failed to notice it
because it was attacked to a Shell station. I decided to move Ballard to
tomorrow to take in more of the Fremont Fair in that district.
[NOW: That Half Price Books, Cinema Books, and Rain City Video have closed.]
Aside from hundreds of market tents, saw the usual
plant dinosaurs (more full green than usual), Fremont Rocket, Lenin (some of
the crowd had put some political party slogans on it), Center of the Universe
signpost, Jive Time Records, Ophelia Books (pet the cat), Fremont Troll, JP
Patches & Gertrude: Late for the Interurban statue (the memorial stuff was
now gone), Waiting for the Interurban statue.
I wandered to the start of the parade route. One
bodypainted woman walked naked the other direction, probably one of the
cyclists. That's actually the highlight
of the parade, albeit an unofficial part: it always starts with nude
bikers. Bikers included lots of people
painted as superheroes, many painted as animals, some as death imagery. About half and half in terms of gender, and about half or more the women were full
naked, not just topless. One guy had a
woman dressed as a tiger wheeled in a cage, no doubt an animal rights
statement.
In terms of the non-biker parts of the parade,
truth to tell, not much to say: I knew the festivities were continuing at Gas
Works Park nearby in Wallingford, and those festivities interested me more than
the parade, so I skipped the parade proper: you can see usual parade stuff a
few times a year; I wanted to the stuff you don't get to see everyday. I can
tell you there was an Uncle Sam in the parade though.
At the park it was pretty much anything goes in
terms of dress; lots of photographers too. Some of the bikers used Lake Union
there to wash off the paint. Technically you're not supposed to go in the other
there but the police were hardly going to stop them today. There was a special
beer section. Lots of live music playing at different locations and different
times. Some danced to the music.
Hours later I decided to head back. The buses
were running late due to the detours and traffic. Finally took the 32 to Dick's
Drive-In near Seattle Center. I ordered fries, a Coke, and a shake. No burgers
because they call come with mustard or diced pickles (mandatory).
I made it to the International Fountain just as it
was shutting down for the day, but did manage a few spray shots at least.
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