Seattle – The Emerald City

Welcome to Seattle, The Emerald City of Washington State! This city has been on Rosie and The Operators bucket list for a long time and here we are driving into town on Interstate 5 listening to country music! Change the station Rosie, we need some 90s grunge to bring on the Seattle vibe!

Seattle is home to 725,000 people and sits in a bay within the Puget Sound surrounded by water, mountains and acres and acres of evergreen forest, hence the moniker The Emerald City.

Approaching the city from the  Interstate we look straight out onto downtown and the skyline stretches out before us making Rosie super excited.  There is the Seattle Space Needle on the left of the above picture, it looks so tiny! In the middle, the small white, super skinny tower with the triangle peak is the Smith Tower.  In 1914 it’s 38 stories made it the tallest building outside of New York.  Halfway between those two buildings is Belltown, where Rosie and The Operator are headed and staying for the next five nights.

Our apartment is part of a huge block with an interior garden courtyard and comes with parking, thank goodness, because car parks are rare in the inner city and parking is so expensive! Our apartment also comes with a small compendium of rules and regulations from the buildings body corporate which we must adhere to at all times or face a $500 fine for each infringement.

Big Brother is watching and you will be caught as there are security cameras everywhere. We have never had to sign our life away like this on any place we have stayed in before but hey, we will not be using the pool, BBQ area, are non smokers of all substances, have no pets or walk around in public areas unclothed…yes, Rosie did a double take on that one too.

We arrived in Seattle mid afternoon and the sun sets at 4.30 in mid November.  Seattle looks beautiful at night time all lit up and full of promise for tomorrows adventures from down on Pier 66 along the edge of the Puget Sound where we had dinner. Rosie and The Operator cannot wait to hit the streets tomorrow in the daylight.

Our first day on the ground in Seattle and Rosie and The Operator are hitting the tourist hot spots. It’s a short walk to the Seattle Centre from our place where the Space Needle and other museums, galleries and sites of interest are based around a common garden.

The Space Needle with its spiky halo, UFO like shape and antenna is the number one destination for all visitors to Seattle and Rosie and The Operator made sure they were there right on opening. It looks like something out of the Jetsons cartoon and oddly enough it was the design and shape of this tower that inspired the cartoon which was released in the same year the tower opened!

Built specifically to showcase Seattle for the 1962 World Fair which had a theme of ‘Space and Technology’. This tower stands 185 meters above the ground and drew over 2.3 million visitors, 20,000 per day, during the course of the year long Fair.

At the time of construction the race was on to build this tower and the schedule was tight to have it finished before the opening of the Fair. By Day 14 the foundations which extend 90 meters below ground were laid in record time.

This world record, continuous pour of 5,600 tonnes of concrete is shown in the picture above. With foundations so deep, the center of gravity on this structure is only 5 meters above ground making the tower able to withstand 200mph wind gusts and 9.0 earthquakes!

The steel beam assembly team that constructed the tower literally had nerves of steel for their nonchalance to heights and earned every penny of their $3.92 per hour. 400 days later the tower was finished and officially opened for day one of The Fair, right on time.  Rosie loves the names of the official, original colours the tower was painted in, they were Galaxy Gold for the top, Re-Entry Red for the halo, Astronaut White for the tower and Orbital Olive for the core.

Back in the present, the day was overcast and grey with rain forecast later in the day. All in all it seemed a typical Seattle weather day in a city where it rains up to 200 days of the year and the skies predominant colour is grungy grey. When we reached the observation deck in the golden bubble elevator that zips up the outside of the tower there was still abit of mist obscuring some of the city and hanging over the sounds.

What a view from the top it was though! Looking out over the Puget Sound, even as the mist still clung to the bottom of the mountain ranges and whisped over the city. The straight lined grid formation of the streets looked impressive from up high and the canyons in between the skyscrapers of downtown were deep.

If you look hard you can just see the peak of Mt Rainier literally peeking out through the grey clouds.

Down below in the grounds of the Seattle Center the huge International Fountain spouted high into the air. Giant daddy long legged spiders crawled over the rooftop of the Seattle Centers admin building and the beautiful geometry and flower sculptures of surrounding gardens looked stunning from up high looking down. The structure of the building also looked a long way down and pretty impressive through the glass floor.

Taking advantage of our high vantage point, glass floors, balconies and interactive site cameras Rosie and The Operator thought we would have a little lame photographic fun.  Part of our entrance ticket also gave us a Virtual Reality experience…The Operator was game, Rosie was glad she didn’t as it was a bungee jump from the top of tower with planes flying all around you at the same time….The Operator though it was incredible….Rosie just felt sick thinking about it.

Our next visit was to Chihuly Glass right next door to the Space Needle. Rosie was in two minds whether to visit. It is a permanent exhibition by local and world renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly and she was so glad she did. It was just mind blowing.

Chihuly started blowing glass in the 70’s and won a fellowship to study in Murano, Venice, the epicenter of all things glass. He kind of turned the glass art world on its head with his never done before art glass installations. They are totally mesmerizing, beautiful and monumentally big. The scale is huge and so many different pieces make up each piece if you get Rosies drift….just look at the installations and you will get it.  Remember…..everything you see here is made of glass!

Chihuly organised and worked within a community of glass blowers to experiment and create glass art forms using new techniques he created.  It is all these multiple glass pieces put together that make up his works of art.

The dark room settings and exquisite lighting brings the colours of the glass to life and they paint such a vibrant picture. Each piece is handmade, unique and so huge.

The hanging chandeliers are 10 foot long by half again as wide and the record price for a chandelier (which ironically does not shed any light you have to put light onto it to get the full effect), at auction was USD$200,000 in 2015.

These floral shaped designs above, are different colours on the inside and outside, they are mind blowing in the design and just wait till you watch the short video on how they were made…just incredible, the experimentation and crazy techniques used to get the finished product is incredible.

Inside the huge glass house is an enormous autumn coloured, floral glass installation that just glows with life as the natural light filters through it. Looking up through the glass ceiling the space needle is positioned perfectly.

But the exhibition doesn’t stop there. Outside there are twists and turns of beautiful gardens full of glass. The accents and the contrasts to the plantings are just stunning. Rosie is sure everyone comes away wanting a garden that looks like this….she sure does, they are amazing!

Rosie and The Operator bought a combined ticket to visit both the Space Needle and Chihuly Glass which was quite a saving over buying the tickets separately.  There are quite alot of different ticket combinations available for visiting the sites within the Seattle Center and they are all better value combined.  We bought our tickets at the electronic booth outside the Space Needle.

There are so many great activities and sights to see in the city you might want to consider buying The Seattle Pass which is greatly discounted tickets for certain sights and has VIP access.  Rosie and The Operator weighed it up….wasnt worth it for us and what we wanted to see.

At the foot of the Space Needle sits the Monorail which was also built for the 1962 World Fair and whisks you to and from downtown.  On we hopped. The groovy, now retro, yet once futuristic carriage whisked you whisper quiet between the buildings and terminated at a large Downtown shopping center which we promptly exited…no shopping for Rosie. We were hungry and on the hunt for the best place in the city to buy a Seattle Dog.

According to the voting public, here it is, a small hole in the wall called Dog In The Park. It was manned by one young guy who was cooking, chatting, taking orders and payments all at once. His line always had about a steady 5 people in it and he was a hot dog making machine!

The Seattle Dog is a must try whilst you are in town and it did not disappoint! A fresh white hot dog bun, beautiful long, smoked frank sausage, caramalised onion, pregrilled and fried veges and the local secret ingredient that makes the Seattle dog what it is…a wodge of cream cheese. Rosie added mustard, ketchup and a sprinkling of celery salt and my word, it was mouth wateringly delicious as we sat in the park and devoured it.

A coffee was in order after our lunchtime dogs and believe me, you do not have to walk very far in the city of Seattle to get a coffee. The folk of this city consume more coffee than any other city in America and Seattle is home to the original Starbucks store which was founded in 1971, check out the original mermaid logo.

Now this coffee chain employs 291,000 worldwide. There is a Starbucks on every single city block and the original store with the original mermaid logo is on Pike Place and a mecca for all coffee drinkers, Rosie included.

Across the road is the iconic, colourful and busy Pike Place Public Market, its multiple levels are built on the edge of a steep hill overlooking and leading down to Elliot Bay. The Market was first opened in 1907 and is one of the oldest continuously run markets in the USA comprising of a labyrinth of laneways and corridors that house the arts and crafts halls, restaurants, produce and fish markets.

Pike Place Market is alive and buzzing with over 10 million visitors a year making it one of the most popular places to be in the city. The distinctive neon signs that sit on the rooftops are ablaze day and night and stand out well in the daylight against the grey skyline of the city.

One of the major attractions of the market is the Pike Place Fish Market where the plastic apron clad employees are stationed at ice clad stands stacked high with whole fish and when filling orders they throw three foot long salmon and fish to each other rather than passing them by hand. Why would you genteelly pass, when throwing them to the packer at the check out seems so much more fun!

Each toss is accompanied by a loud incoming call from the fishmonger and a loud receiving answer from the catcher. There is always a crowd and it is a lot of fun to watch the antics.

The Fish Market morphs into the produce market and Rosie can honestly say these are the most colourful stalls and have the most variety of produce she has ever seen anywhere. The long corridors have bright neon signs from decades ago advertising family restaurants and pointing to stalls and advising on where to go. You will never go hungry or thirsty amongst these walls that is for certain as there are so many places to eat, pause and watch the world go by.

Down an alley way off the Market is a bizarre Seattle tourist destination, The Gum Wall. Yes, it is exactly what the name implies and has become a local landmark. The whole stretch of alley smells of sugary sweetness and is coated in multi coloured blobs of chewed gum that just go on and on and on. It is truly bizarre and quite artful in its own icky, germy way.  The alley way houses a theater and the gum tradition started at the stage door where the cast would leave their gum stuck to the wall before entering and doing a show….

This was a kind of Instagram haven…girls wearing bright bubble gum coloured clothes, trying to look cute whilst blowing gum bubbles next to the gum laden walls was more barf inducing than the actual wall itself.

Rosie thought that the Post It Note Wall around the corner was much more interesting, insightful, philosophical….and clean.

The unofficial mascot of the market is Rachel the Pig, a bronze piggy bank that weighs 250kg. Rachel collects over $9,000US in all types of world currency annually and these proceeds are donated to the running of the market and the social services it provides the community that live within the market.

Rosie and The Operator wandered around the market nearly everyday and discovered something different each time. Including these quirky light fittings, murals and the best chowder shop ever!

The chowder was so good here at Pike Place Chowder that they are banned from entering the North West Chowder Competitions as they have won every year…since forever. Rosie was sceptical…she has tasted good chowder…but wow, this was creamy delicious heaven and the perfect reward for braving the ques that stretch around the block…everyday!

The Crumpet Shop was established in 1976 and is incredible! Savoury or sweet whatever tickles your taste buds these old fashioned favorites are baked onsite and you can sit and watch the process whilst you devour the hot, freshly baked spongy crumpet slathered in Rosie’s choice of maple butter….heaven!

Downtown, Pioneer Square has a rich history and is the beating heart of Seattle.  The Old Town originated from a logging port in the early 1800s and was built in the lowest point of the city next to the harbor. Being the lowest part of the town it was a terrible sewerage cesspit due to bad design, bad planning, tidal floods and general nonchalance during the first fifty years of existence.

Hard times beset Seattle and according to the residents of the town, the best thing that happened to the swampy, sewerage filled inner city, was that it burnt down in 1889. Completely, to the ground. This incentivised the city to rebuild better, learn from their past mistakes and from this rebirth the town flourished and grew into the city it is today.

Rosie and The Operator went on an Underground Seattle Tour to learn more about the tales of the good and the bad of the city during this time. The tour was hilarious, informative and one of the best historical tours we have ever been on to help us understand this city.

After the Great Fire of 1889, brick was the only building material allowed in the city and all of the new buildings had to be a minimum of three stories high. With the understanding that the bottom story would eventually become an underground basement as they were going to raise the road level, when city finances allowed, to be able to incorporate a new sewerage system above the tide line. You can see where the original first story of the cities buildings has been covered up and the level of the road raised in the picture below.

So right now, underneath the Old Town is a subterranean level warren which used to be the original street level of Seattle. Now closed up and abandoned, or retained by some buildings as basements for storage.

The old windows and doorways are still apparent and this is a creepy, dark labyrinth which has become a dumping ground over the decades for old building materials and ancient abandoned shop fittings.

Original skylights to the street above cast shafts of light into the gloom and you can see the shadowed footsteps of the pedestrians overhead as they walk above you.

We pass through the basement of an old bank and see the original tellers cage. The teller was killed in an armed hold up here and his ghost is said to still roam.

There is a big question here as to who paid for the construction of the new city sewerage system? Seattle was poor and still hurting from the rebuild, so the mayor conducted an audit on all of the professions in the city and decided to tax the most lucrative of them. It turned out that the City of Seattle had more ‘seamstresses’ in gainful employment than any other occupation. The mayor thought this was odd and decided to conduct a personally extensive, exhaustive, investigative audit on all ‘seamstresses’….and discovered not one sewing machine in the city…..

If you haven’t already worked it out, seamstress was a ‘code word’ for ‘lady of ill repute’, and through the taxing of the Seattle prostitutes pretty much alone, the whole city of Seattle benefited from a beautiful new shiny, perfectly working, sewerage system. Here is a picture of the wealthiest ‘seamstresses’. Remember it was late 1800s and they are living it up by the looks of their furnishings and the electric lights….guess they needed good lighting to see their stitching.

Pioneer Square is the shining jewel of this rebuild and showcases the living history of those times in the beautiful brick buildings found throughout the neighborhood. The Merchants Café is one of the oldest taverns in the Old Town and the surrounding square full of leaves and shadows looks stunning.

Lanes full of art and the homeless link the city blocks and Occidental Square was empty and full of autumn promise as we walked through it on our way to lunch.

The rebuild had just finished and the city was shining new when the next best thing to happen to Seattle made it boom. The discovery of Gold in the Klondike in 1898. Seattle was the port at the end of the line that tens of thousands of eager West Coast prospectors fueled by gold fever and the promises of riches up north flocked into to get supplies for the final trip by boat up north to Skagway.

Canadian authorities had a check list for each prospector making the journey and they had to have enough provisions to last one year as the infrastructure up north in Dawson City on the banks of the Klondike goldfields was non existent at the time.

The city flourished from the sales of goods to make up the prospecting supply kits and Seattle stores ordered in so much stock at the time to accommodate that they had to stack it out on the street.  The population of the city also boomed as most that arrived in Seattle never made it to the goldfields up North due to the expense of setting out.

Today the city is still growing and is home to some of the worlds biggest hitting companies and employers.  Boeing is the biggest and employs 80,000 staff in the city! Microsoft employees 42,000 and Amazon employs 25,000 and houses its head office and creative team in a tree house rain forest within three glass spheres. True! Inside the spheres is a forest consisting of 40,000 different plant species. Workers use this space to chill, lounge and ‘think differently’.

Rosie and The Operator are suspicious…they have heard the whispers of the conspiracy theorists around town and its seems Amazon are experimenting with an off world, Mars style ark type biosphere thingummy jiggy…Amazon is all set to abandon the world as we know it and re establish on another planet. Yes, they are a very progressive company, watch this space.

Walking back to our apartment in Belltown from Pioneer Square you merge back into the new, high rise strewn cityscape.  Car parks line the roadside and are full of retro signage and street art.

This sign below, made us smile…you are warned up front and at least they are honest. We didn’t give them a chance to cheat us but went next door to have another of Seattles specialties, a Dutch Baby.

Cooked in a cast iron skillet like a souffle but tasting like a pancake, these too were delicious. The top one is a savory Baby and the bottom is the Classic – custard lemon curd with icing sugar and a squeeze of lemon….then a light pour of maple syrup.

What a great start to our stay in Seattle!  Tomorrow we are off to visit the suburb of Fremont, self proclaimed as The Centre of The Universe, we have some beautiful city skylines to capture and a wee bit of celebrity stalking…..