Seattle : Northwest Trip Day 5

Day 5 took us from Marysville to Seattle.  It had been my intention to stay in Seattle a few days, include a whale watching tour in the middle, drive around south to Tacoma, up the other side, and then on to Port Angeles, spending time in Olympic National Park, as well as a ferry ride over to Victoria, British Columbia, to view Butchart Gardens.  So I arranged for a hotel in downtown Seattle (non-refundable, and a little pricey), only to find out that the whale watching providers I was going to go with were not operating on the day I had planned for us to join them (whoops, my bad). So we had to make a change of plans.  We decided to spend the day in Seattle, drive back up past Marysville where we stayed the night of Day 4, and then go on a whale watching tour out of Anacortes, Washington.  That turned out to be the right move as you will soon see.

The disadvantage is that we didn’t get to spend much time in Seattle.  We did get to a few places, and there is definitely a lot more to see, but that will have to wait for another time.   What we did see was Pike Place Market, Olympic Sculpture Park, a lot of downtown, dinner at Ivar’s Fish Bar and our hotel had a great view of the Space Needle and EMP Museum.  I got a beautiful night-time shot of the needle.

Pike Place Market

This place is pretty cool.  It’s one of the oldest continuously operating farmers markets.   There are lots of people selling their wares, everything from honey to fish to fruit to magnets to handmade arts and crafts.  Basically everything and anything.  There are lots of samples to be had, and lots of things to see.  The main part seems to be the street level, but there are lower levels as well. The lower levels seemed quite a bit more tame and subdued, but the top level was where the action was.  We never saw any of the fishmongers throwing fish, which is too bad, because I hear that is quite a sight.  Sue bought a peach and some Rainier cherries for a snack later, and a couple of other souvenirs.

There are also plenty of street performers of all kinds in and around Pike Place Market.  Expect to be entertained as well!

 

 

 

 

 

 

This performer was doing a variety of acts–this one included swirling two hula hoops, and eventually started balancing his guitar on his chin, while working a Rubik’s Cube.  We also saw guitarists and a violist.  Just west of the market was a pretty good saxophonist.

 

 

 Olympic Sculpture Park

We were driving by this park, and Sue saw the big typewriter eraser and said that must be the Sculpture Park, so she convinced me to stop.  She’s right when she says that sculpture typically isn’t my interest, but I’m willing to try things, and it was good to get out and stretch our legs.  The Olympic Sculpture Park is a part of the Seattle Art Museum and houses a number of sculptures in a 9 acre outdoor park.  The park extends down to the waterfront, and sits right next to Myrtle Edwards Park.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Space Needle

Our hotel was right next to the Space Needle, which was built in the Seattle Center for the 1962 World’s Fair.  We didn’t have a chance to ride up in it, but it is an imposing site and can be seen from quite a distance.  The Seattle Center also has a number of other attractions, including the Pacific Science Center, International Fountain, Experience Music Project/Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame, Chihuly Gardens nd Glass Museum, and much more.  Many of these cost to enter, but we saw that there is a pass available that will allow admission into all these and more.  If you are going to spend time in Seattle, the Seattle CityPass would definitely be worth getting. It gets you into the Space Needle, Seattle Aquarium, Argosy Cruises Harbor Tour, EMP Museum or Woodland Zoo, and Pacific Science Museum or Museum of Flight.  You have nine days to visit each, so you don’t have to worry about cramming everything into one day.  You’ll get your money’s worth.

Ivar’s Fish Bar

Everyone told Sue that we had to eat at Ivar’s.  It’s right on the water and includes a Fish Bar (basically fast food fish dishes) along with a sit-down restaurant.  We chose the fish bar, got fish and chips plus shrimp and their famous clam chowder and headed to an outdoor seating area overlooking the water. But it was not to be in peace, because there were a dozen or so NOISY sea gulls trying to get our attention for a little food.  There is a sign encouraging people to feed them, so feed them the people did.  And when they weren’t getting fed, the gulls let you know it.  And yes, the Ivar’s fish was good.

 

 

 

One thing to note is that downtown parking is a bit expensive.  There is street parking in many places, along with parking lots. The parking lots can run $4-6 an hour, or around $25 for all day.  The on-street metered parking is interesting, because you pay for the time you want ( there are maximums) and you get a sticker to put on your car window as your parking permit.  The sticker has the expiration time on it that the parking police check.  One thing we learned is that if you need to move the car, the expiration time is still correct and you can continue to park in other places with that same ticket, until the expiration time.  Street parking runs from around $2.50 an hour to $4 an hour, depending on the location.  It might be more or less than that, but those are the fees that we paid.  There is usually a maximum time allowed for on-street parking.

While our change in plans didn’t allow us to see as much of Seattle as we might have liked, we still had a great time and look forward to another trip sometime in the future.