As I’m writing this, I’m laying on my bed, absolutely shattered after a day jam-packed with discoveries. I started the morning with a walk along Waterfront Park, with the early morning walkers, runners and cyclists. Not much open as it’s geared to the lunch and dinner crowds, so to find myself some breakfast I ambled back to Pike Place Markets and got myself a sausage, egg and cheese bagel and a bottle of water, sat down and watched some people and wrote yesterday’s blog. (PS the bagel was delicious and had an onion flavour).
Decided to do a harbour cruise so made my way down but not before spying a sign for the Gum Wall, something that was on my Wishlist. So down a couple of flights of stairs and there it is. Not just one wall but multiple walls along the both sides of the street plastered in discarded gum. Gross but oddly satisfying at the saw time. Gum Wall - tick.
Onto the Spirit of Seattle for an hour cruise around Elliot Bay. Learned some cool fun facts and I’ll share a couple. The roof on Lumen Field is designed to bounce the sound from the crowd back down into the field. It is so effective that at an NFL game it registered a 2.2 earthquake on the Richter scale. But that figure was bested twice last year with a staggering 2.4 - by Taylor Swift at her two concerts.
Second fun fact, a container was lost of a ship off the coast and broke open, spilling rubber duckies into the ocean. The disaster was used as a tracking operation and the last duck reported was 15 years after. There is a book you can read about it called Moby Duck. (Thanks to tour guide Lars for the fun facts - highly recommend the tour, we even got some good glimpses of Mt Rainier as the weather was so glorious).
Off the boat and walked back to the Klondike Gold Rush Museum - one of only a few free things to do here. Great hands on exhibit and while the gold rush was in Alaska, not Washington, Seattle took full advantage to convince the stampeders to kit themselves out at their local businesses before they set off. I picked up my annual National Parks pass here too, so I can save a bit of money on entry fees.
Onto the light rail and a quick transfer to the monorail and I was at the Seattle Centre where I had a blast exploring Museum of Pop Culture. Some really great exhibits that asked thought provoking questions and really got you questioning things. And an absolute nerds paradise of film props, costumes and other paraphernalia.
Strawberry shortcake for a snack which was a cup that had cake in it, then a strawberry syrup made from fresh strawberries poured over top and topped off with whipped cream - yum.
Back to Pike Place again for chowder from Pike Place Chowder - I chose a bread bowl of the Market special, lobster, shrimp and crab chowder - it made yesterday’s clam chowder pale into insignificance, and I may go back again tomorrow if I have time to stand in line again.
Made my way through Pioneer Square again to have a quick nap (still staving off the last of the jet lag - that’s my story and I’m sticking with it) before jumping on a bus back up near the Seattle Centre to check out the Olympic Park Sculptures, followed by a walk the length of the waterfront to get home. Made a few different turns to see other streets and realised not always the best option as the sun was going down and there were some interesting groups interacting in the streets. I’m listening to those same groups from my room at the moment, along with sirens from both police and ambulances.
So needless to say, it’s time to brush my teeth and head to bed. There’s another day of exploring tomorrow.
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