Aug 14 Seattle

We boarded the Bainbridge Ferry to Seattle on a bright, clear, sunny morning. Expected high today in the high eighties. The locals are sweating, were a bit hot and grateful to be free of the fog.

We haven't been to Seattle in 20 years, it is a spectacularly scenic city with modern skyscrapers, the blue sound and snow covered Mt Rainer in the background. We hopped off the ferry and headed off to the Pike St market. It was packed, but the same zany atmosphere as I remember, fish mongers throwing huge salmon to each other to the thrill of the customers, huge stacks of sea food, fresh veggies, and cut flowers. Even as crowded as it was on this Saturday morning it was a fun and exciting place to be.

We left the market and headed toward the Space Needle via the waterfront bus. I first visited the Space Needle in 1962 with my parents when I was 14. It used to be red, but now its white. The line to go up in the Needle was far too long for our sensibilities so we took a pass. In '62 Seattle hosted a World's Fair with the Space Needle as the signature theme. I remember an exhibit of the home of the future, with microwave ovens and modern furnishings. And then there was the monorail, the transportation of the future.

Today there is the Experience Music Project, a Rock and Roll museum housed in a really far out hall with wavy walls and and undulating roof lines... talk about cool. It was so big there was really no way to take a picture of it from the ground. You will have to Google it. Inside there were exhibits dedicated to various artists, Jimi Hendricks, Mary Wilson and the Supremes (Diana Ross not mentioned) and lots of others. There was a stage where you could perform your favorite song backed up by the band that made it famous. Given my lack of talent, I passed up that opportunity to embarrass myself in front of strangers.

We rode back to the city center on the Monorail, the same one built in 1962. Somehow it didn't look or feel like the transportation of the future... just an elevated train that has no intermediate stops and only goes about two miles. We walked back to the ferry terminal and sailed back to Bainbridge Island. It was a brief trip but very satisfying, to visit a familiar place not seen in many years.