UPDATED: February 5, 2022
This is the second of a
series of posts dealing my seventh trip to Seattle as an adult and second of
two trips that year. I’ve made minor corrections to these reports. Also, I’ve
added additional thoughts with the hindsight of two years later or to add
further clarification.
My addresses have
shown up again so no copying/pasting this morning.
Been awake for a
bit. Did consider moving Olympia to
today but decided against it for a few reasons: day 2 is the day I like to take
care of "admin" stuff like getting needed bus schedules and adding
money to my transit card; two longer than usual travel days in a row right at
the start of the trip seemed ill advised; and Olympia will likely be a
highlight so I don't want to get that out of the way on the 2nd day I'm
here. So instead I'm sticking with my
original plan and tackling the south end of King County.
Last night okay. Didn't realize I had fallen asleep at one
point until I was wondering when someone was going to turn off the light after
finishing with his laptop and then realized the light was in fact off. Forgot to mention yesterday: I got the exact
same bed in the exact same room as my March trip!
Skipping the free
breakfast because I don't want to waste the next 1.5 hours. Will grab a breakfast along the way
somewhere.
[NOW: The above was
written in the morning; the rest I wrote in the evening.]
Assume that my
practice of alternating between cameras is still working unless you hear to the
contrary)
I walked to the
Washington State Convention Center (where the Emerald City ComiCon was held in
March) and got some bus schedules, then walked to Freeway Park. For newbies to these, Freeway Park is, yes a
park built around a freeway. The water
renovations are finished (see previous trip reports) but it was too early for the
artificial waterfalls to be on.
I filled my ORCA card
(a handy alternative to paying bus fare all the time) and then took the light
rail to SeaTac Airport for the first time (last year it was finishing being
built and only went as far as the stop before).
I wandered across the airport, bought a breakfast sandwich, and then took
a bus to Burien.
[NOW: The light rail was Central Link at the time, now Line 1; Sound Transit. I think the bus to Burien was a Metro Transit
one. SeaTac International Airp-ort is in the municipality of SeaTac.]
Burien warranted a
return engagement from last year because I found it peaceful and engaging. I visited CD Connection (gone, but the
building is raised so I gone some nice photos), Bartell Drugs (bought extra
batteries because I forget to pack enough spares today) the new location of
Burien Books (not yet opened for the day; opened at 11), Cuaulta Video (Mexican;
actually more of a grocery store), Plantinum Comics (not yet open; opened at
12). I started to visit the new location
of Pawn X-Change as well as Blockbuster and another book store, but it was
9:30, I knew they all opened at 10 and that area of town frankly wasn't as
interesting to me as Burien's downtown core, so I wandered back to Burien
Transit Center and took a bus to Westfield Southcenter in Tukwila (due to the
finished light rail the bus didn't stop at the airport en route, saving a bit
of time).
[NOW: That Pawn
X-Change is now a Cash America. Platinum Comics and
Blockbuster are now closed. The bus to Tukwila was probably the 140, Metro
Transit.]
Before going into the
mall I visited the Barnes & Noble I had trouble finding last year (getting
it out of the way), then Half Price Books, and Tukwila Pond Park, a lovely
nature preserve conveniently located near a Target. I finally visited Borders and fye in
Westfield Southcenter, then went on another bus, briefly thinking I'd lost a
memory card (it turned up).
[NOW: Borders is now
defunct.]
I took this bus to
Tukwila International Station. There was
20 minutes before my connecting bus so I grabbed a bite at McDonald's using a
coupon for a strawberry banana smoothie, so I only paid for the burger. I took a bus to the north end of Kent.
[NOW: The bus to Kent
was a Metro Transit one.]
In Kent I visited Book
World (gone) and Blockbuster, then crossed the street to Des Moines (I was
being quite literal about the north end of Kent). In Des Moines I grabbed some pop and batteries
at Wallgreen's, then visited Pawn X-Change.
[NOW: Blockbuster is now closed. Pawn X-Change is now Cash
America.]
I took a bus to near
Angle Lake in SeaTac (again, referring to the city here; got off a little early
but I was around 2 hours ahead of schedule so that was fine). Now I have to say, I knew nothing about the
lake beforehand other than the fact that it was in a location in SeaTac I
wanted to explore; I just happened to see it on the map. It's actually a very nice park. For the benefit of people in the Victoria
area, it's about the size of Glen Lake, but better marked and more accessible. There's some greenery that eventually goes
downhill, then some sand, then the lake itself.
Very nice. I didn't have a change
of clothes or I'd have probably gone in.
[NOW: This bus was
again Metro Transit.]
I next tried to visit
Bow Lake but it seems a hotel has gotten built over the south end of the lake,
so the best I could do, since that part of the hotel is raised, was to shoot
photos of the lake from underneath the hotel.
I walked a little more
north to an entrance to the SeaTac Airport light rail station that didn't
require actually entering the airport. I
took this to Stadium Station. By this
point I was so far ahead of my itinerary (it was only 2:30; in fact aside from
end of day wrap up I was done the itinerary) that I spent the rest of the day
exploring downtown and nearby areas, starting with Safeco and Qwest Fields.
[NOW: As before, this
light rail was the Central Link/Sound Transit. Safeco Field is now T-Mobile Park,
Qwest Field was renamed CenturyLink Field (the CLink for short) but is now called Lumen Field.]
I walked to the
International District, once entrance marked by two structures that look like Daleks
from Doctor Who. I visited Pink Gorilla
(formerly Pink Godzilla; likely Toho Studios complained) then walked to the
Pioneer Square District.
There I visited
Waterfall Garden Park, Occidental Park, then the former location of Elliot Bay
Book Company. After that I visited Smith
Tower but didn't stay or take as many pics as planned from the 35th story view
because my on-again, off-again acrophobia was on again.
In the downtown core I
visited Arundel Books, passed the Hammering Man (repairs on his moving arm now
completed), the visited Pike Place Market.
At the market I visited First and Pike News, the fishmongers (didn't stay
long enough to want then toss a fish due to crowds), and Holy Cow Records. I visited Swerve (video/music store), then
Chief Sealth (Seattle founder) statue in Belltown, then Seattle Center.
[NOW: Arundel Books
has moved. First and Pike News and Swerve are gone.]
In Seattle Center's
Center House I got a combo at Orange Julius (it's the only such place I know of
that last combos), then visited the International Fountain. After a while I walked to KCTS 9 Store, then
back to the fountain. I then walked to
the main shopping area of Queen Anne, visiting Blockbuster and Underdawg
Records. One change to the latter was
that it now had dogs; in hindsight a previous obvious oversight. One of the dogs inspected my bag; I think I
passed.
[NOW; Center House is
now the Seattle Center Armory and they’ve evicted Orange Julius. KCTS 9 Store, Blockbuster, and Underdawg Records are closed.]
I walked to Kerry Park
Viewpoint (some idiot in a car made a homophobic slur; even aside from the fact
I'm straight it's not a nice thing to do to anyone), took some pics, the back
to the fountain.
There the same dog from
yesterday (and probably the previous July) was having a grand old time trying
to catch water sprays. On the way back
to the hostel I passed a van that I saw yesterday too and which through
me. The van said Amazon, but rather than
the Internet company located in Seattle it was an apples van. One more quick shopping trip to Rite Aid and
then I returned here, when one of the managers remembered me from last year and
welcomed me back (this is one of the main strengths of this hostel; it has a
personal touch).
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