Seattle
Trip Start
Jul 23, 2000
1
21
39
Trip End
Aug 21, 2000
Aberdeen, Washington
Friday, August 11, 2000
OK That's three in a row. Cold mornings that is! By 7.45am, Bay View was in the rear view mirrors and we were on our way to Seattle.
Within an hour, we were driving down 50th street towards a lock which has a twenty one step fish ladder We crossed the locks (one for big vessels and the other for smaller sea vessels) and then crossed a dam.
Looking in the water, I could see salmon jumping out of the water. It was amazing! Every few seconds you could see a salmon rise to the surface and jump. I was mesmerised.
We crossed the dam and walked alongside the dish ladder (it was more like a staircase) and went into the viewing room.
The viewing room was dark and damp but in here one could see under the water. There were three large Chinsok salmon in the chamber of the eighteenth stair. We watched them swim around for a while before leaving them to their deathly fate further upstream.
From here we headed to the Seattle centre and the famous Space Needle. I like it. Seattle people do not apparently.
Volunteer Park's Water Tower was our designation. It was worth climbing the 107 steps to get some magnificent views of the city.
Downtown was our next port of call. We headed for Pioneer Square and had a slice of pizza for lunch.
The next two hours were spent on an excellent tour of the underground city established in 1851, burnt down in 1889 and then rebuilt.
What a unique way of learning the history of a city and some of its pioneer founders including Doc Maynard (who's name is a pub in the square).
We septa some time ambling along the waterfront and fish markets. We also ate some Filipino Teriaki Chicken.
Here we met Ken from Ketchikan, classmate of the dead chef from Hyder. Co-incidence? In the next half hour we bumped into him another two times. He was here "with his wife on their 17th wedding anniversary. So why was he walking around the block we had just come from?!!! No, we were being spun a line and I felt him sense that we knew this.
We spent the later afternoon in the Cafe Septieme drinking hot chocolate in the sunshine and watching the world go by. 27 degrees C today in the late afternoon.
Seattle was interesting, funny and vibrant. My kind of town!
