Seattle's Waterfront & Other Sites

I know by now, you're tired of my Seattle posts. This is just one more to cover the other places we visited. I'm still recovering from my cold/fever over the last few days and unfortunately, sewing is not on my mind right now. I'm sure my sewing mojo will come back this weekend.

Waterfront:

If you're in Seattle and you see this sign, you are between Pike Place Market and the Seattle Waterfront. Walking left will take you up to the Pike Hill Climb and walking right...you'll be in front of the Sea Aquarium.





I saw this water sculpture next to the aquarium and played with my camera's aperature setting. I was able to catch the neat water affects. So, that's how the Pros do it.










I stood behind Pike Place and captured these two shots of the waterfront and also of Qwest Stadium.



Once you get to the Pike Market, it's an easy walk down to the waterfront. If I get a chance to visit Seattle again, I would definitely stay closer to the waterfront. On this trip we spent a lot of time here and less time downtown.




Pier 57:

While wandering around Pier 57 we stumbled upon this little shopping arcade. Here we found a "boat builder" shop. How cool is that?












Interesting to see the construction process and what they start from.











While we were waiting for the restaurant to open, we had to have a little fun and entertain ourselves...





Pioneer Square:



We made it down to Pioneer Square. This is suppose to be one of America's largest National Historic District. There are many fine restaurants and boutiques located here.






This is Smith Tower. There's an observation deck on the 35th floor where you can look out at the city below and the mountain ranges nearby.












This is an interesting architecture design. If you can believe it, this is a garage.









I wonder if the owner of this hotel realizes it's 2008 and not 1908?








This is an interesting wrought iron display. It's located in front of the Pioneer Building and the start of The Underground. The Underground is famous for its subterranean storefronts and sidewalks entombed when the city rebuilt on top of itself after the Great Fire of 1889. Time didn't allow us to take this tour. It would have been interesting.




Seattle Center:

We had an opportunity to take the Monorail to the Seattle Center. It was a cloudy and rainy day and we did not think the view from the Space Needle would allow us to see much of the city or the mountains. So, here's a picture of the Space Needle from ground level. You can see an elevator taking the visitors up to the top. There's a slow rotating restaurant at the top.







Instead we headed over to the Experience Music Project (EMP) museum. This is co-located with the Science Fiction Museum (SFM). While in EMP, we came across this sculpture. Here is the base of the artwork.







You can see that this sculpture reaches up to the ceiling. It was incredible. If you look real close you can see a keyboard.







There are 700 instruments in this display with about 40 of them playing a note/tune. Here is a close-up of one of the guitars playing/strumming.

We left the sculpture and headed into one of the music rooms. I snapped a picture and wouldn't you know it...I wasn't allowed to take pictures in the rooms. No photography allowed. OOOOOOOOooooops! I felt like a little kid who got her hands slapped. So, I have no more pictures of the EMP nor any pictures from the Science Fiction Museum. If you're interested in music...you have to check out the EMP. If you're interested in Sci-Fi (e.g. Star Trek, Star Wars, etc)...you will enjoy the SCM museum.


The Brunch Cruise:

We ended our weekend with an Argosy brunch cruise around Elliott Bay. Thanks to Greg and Han for providing this wonderful cruise. Along the way were able to see the NCL Norwegian Pearl docked at one of the piers with the Space Needle in the background.





Here is the Alki Light House.







A view of the downtown city skyline from a distance...




...coming back in from our cruise. The food on this cruise was pretty tasty. I enjoyed the smoked salmon and also the sweet treats that were on the buffet. Also, the sun came out for a bit. A nice way to end a long wonderful weekend in Seattle.

If you get the chance to visit Seattle, you have to put on your walking shoes and walk around downtown (lots of shopping to be had), Pike Place market, Pioneer Square, Seattle Center, and the Waterfront. There's a lot to see and do and eat. I understand August is a great time for a visit as the sun will be shining for most of the month. I think DH would prefer that time.

As for fabric stores...I didn't see any. I did find out that there's a fabric store in North Queen Anne. I believe it's called Nancy's Sewing Basket. Also, Textile Studios is located east of downtown Seattle. I wished I had another day to find these two places. That will have to wait for another trip and this time DH will be with me to experience this exciting city...hopefully next year.