Tour Day in Seattle

Elisa and I spent the entire day in touring in Seattle.  For me it was a bonus because for me it was like having my own personal tour guide.

Ferris Wheel, Space Needle, Market In Between

Panic Button in Ferris wheel gondola

Fresh Fish at Market

Live Entertainment at Market

The First Starbucks

We parked the car at Bainbridge Island then took the ferry to Seattle.  Soon we were on the Ferris wheel which I understand is a fairly new feature of the Seattle skyline.  We had our own private gondola so were able to jump around taking photographs and videos.  After that Elisa took me to a spooky shop that features two mummified bodies upright in glass cases.

We then spent a lot of time exploring the famous market area and it surrounds.  It's a terrific market that in my mind lived up to its national reputation.  Across the street from the market Elisa showed me the first Starbucks shop.

We then spent some time in the CBD where Elisa got a shield for her telephone.  I mention this because while we were on our way to the Space Needle I did one of my frequent back pack checks and could not find the little Fujifulm camera in its glasses case.  We emptied just about everything from the back pack and the camera just wasn't there.  I knew that I had not left the camera laying around so I figured that a slick pickpocket had unzipped one of the back pack pockets and lifted the camera.  I stoically wrote the camera off but fortunately Elisa suggested that we return to the Verizon store.  Before we went through the front door I saw it on the floor.  It had slipped out of my pocked while I was seated waiting for Elisa.

That crisis over, we had a great lunch at Ivar's on the waterfront (Grilled Coho Salmon accompanied by a bottle of chilled Sauvignon Blanc)  then took the underground bus and the overhead train to visit the Space Needle.  It was the first visit for me, but we both enjoyed the spectacular views in the clear weather. 

Mt Raineir in Background

Lake Union from Space Needle

It was late in the afternoon when we emerged from the Space Needle but decided to push on and take the tour of the "underground city" below the street level of modern Seattle.  We learned a lot of the colorful history of the city, much different from the sanitized version found in high school history books.  The explanation of how the underground city came to be is fascinating but too complicated to try to explain in this blog.  However, I highly recommend the tour to all visitors.  The standard tours run until 6 PM. After that are two Adults Only tours which the brochure describes with "Dirt Corruption Sewers Scandal! Hilarious Historic Tour Beneath Seattle's Sidewalks" and "Lust Sin Sex Debauchery!"  I will be taking that tour on my next visit to the Northwest - for historical reasons only (Yea, Right).

We got back to the homestead at about 10 PM.  It had been a long but very enjoyable and informative day. I got to know Seattle better and liked it more.