Pacific Northwest Trip 2018 Day 8 Sunday July 22: Seattle

UPDATED: February 12, 2021 

This is the 8th of a series of posts dealing with my 2018 trip to Olympia, Seattle, and vicinity. I’ve made minor corrections to these reports (typos, bits I don’t feel like making public). Also, I’ve added additional thoughts with the hindsight of two years later or to add further clarification.  These are indicated by “NOW”.

Mostly at the half way mark now. I think the actual half way mark is somewhere between 2 and 3 in the morning, but pretty close

I got up and walked to the Queen Anne area. One paper machine offered the Queen Anne paper for 50c but another for 25c. I went for the latter but it ate the quarter and the coin return button was gone. I  found another machine that offered at the same price and had the button so put in another 25c, then realized the door would open even without money. Since I had lost 25c in the other machine I tried getting the quarter back but the button wouldn't work, so I took a second copy, having paid for two copies. I later found a fourth machine offering it for free.

I walked to Seattle Center to see what Take a Bite of Seattle (food vendor event) looked like between hours. I left the center and visited the statue of Chief Sealth (considered the founder of Seattle), then walked downtown, passing the giant red popsicle sculpture and visited a CVS. Downtown I visited Kress Supermarket (grocery store where you take an escalator to the basement) and Target. I visited Rachel the Pig(gy bank) at Pike Place Market and returned to the City Hostel Seattle for breakfast.

 

[Kress has closed down.]

I took a 24 bus (all buses today King County Metro Transit) to near Discovery Park, where I visited the Visitor Center and got a map. Despite the map I found getting around confusing as usual. One route took me out of the park but I did get some nice photos of Ballard across the water. Returning to the park I made it to Daybreak Indian Cultural Center (I know, Indian, but it's what it's called). There flying overhead was a raptor (falcon?) chattering excitedly about the fish it caught. It wouldn't surprise me if like a true fisherman it was exaggerating its catch. I had trouble finding a path to the north beach but finally did. Due to the tide it was hard getting to the lighthouse where the north and south beach meet. So I tried climbing rocks to try to get on a path only to find that bushes wouldn't let me pass so I had to carefully climb down the path. I gave up and just zoomed in on the lighthouse and then did a long trek out of the park.

I walked to the Hiram M. Chittendem Locks in Ballard.  I wanted to use the bathroom urinal there but a guy had his daughter with him and she was watching the other urinal. I went to the Fish Ladder there and got lots of photos of fish trying to get back to Lake Union. I also got some nice photos of the locks themselves; the locks raise and lower the water levels so shops can enter and exit Lake Union. I walked to Twice Sold Tales (Ballard branch; the cat posed for me) and Sonic Boom Records. I wanted to have lunch at KFC but found the prices too expensive so went to McDonald's across the street instead.

I walked to Fremont (by the way, all neighborhoods today are part of Seattle) where I visited Video Isle; used DVDs were a bit pricey which is probably why I didn't shop there much. I walked to Archie McPhee, crossing the street from Fremont to Wallingford. Archie McPhee is a novelty shop that now at the back has the world's largest rubber chicken and not far from it a small rubber chicken museum. The museum pays tribute to the  J.P. Patches Show, which featured Tikey Turkey, so technically a rubber turkey rather than a rubber chicken but I don't think it matters that much.

[NOW: Video Isle has since closed down.]

Returning to Fremont, I visited the Fremont Troll, then Jive Time Records, then Ophelia’s Books; Claudia to cat was in her favourite box on the top of a book shelf. I visited the Center of the Universe signpost, then a few other places only in search of a bathroom, which also covered my passing through the Sunday Market and the plant dinosaurs. The Fremont Rocket is in serious need of a paint job, while the larger than life size statue of V.I. Lenin still has the painted blood on its hands from last year. The Waiting for the Interurban statue was dressed up. Right behind it on the ground was an anti-Trump sign. I zoomed in to get shots of the Rapunzel image on the Fremont Bridge, then visited the J.P. Patches and Gertrude: Late for the Interurban statue.

I crossed over to Wallingford where I relaxed for a little bit at Gas Works Park, an industrial park turned public park on the north end of Lake Union. I left and climbed the zodiac themed Wallingford Steps and then crossed back over to Fremont, where I took a 62 bus downtown.

I visited the new section of the Pike Place Market which had opened last year but I hadn't noticed until my return home. It has its own giant pig(gy bank), not as nice looking as Rachel, but few pigs are. In the mall area I visited Golden Age Collectables, BLMF Literary Saloon, Orange Dracula (novelty), Rummage Around, and Lion Heart Books. On the outside area I visited the left wing new books store Left Bank Books. I walked to Pacific Place, where I noticed the scrap-metal penguin was gone, a key attraction to the area. I did visit Barnes & Noble in the mall before taking a D Rapidride bus north using a transfer.

[NOW: The other “pig” is Billie. That Barnes & Noble has closed.]

Despite it costing three dollars more than I had previously paid, I had a meal at KFC to avoid another McDonald's meal. I visited Mercer Street Books en route to the International Fountain at Seattle Center. More live music and food vendors. After a brief visit to Seattle Center Armory I returned to the fountain. After the last song of the evening, the emcee asked for applause for the last band. After the muted applause he said, “Well, that's it then”). The fountain worked for a little longer, then it stopped and the police came along to get everyone out so the cleaning process after the Take a Bite event could begin. Presumably as per previous years the fountain will be working again Thursday, but other parts of the park should resume operation tomorrow. Both last night and tonight, Christians were holding signs. Judging from the signs they may be the same group that disrupted the Greenwood and Torchlight Parades last year.

I visited 7-11, Dan's Belltown Grocery, and 2nd Avenue Grocery, which had no prices shown on its soft drinks, before returning to the hostel. My bank account still shows no suspicious activity on my Visa card.

[NOW: My missing credit card never turned up but has since expired.]