Tuesday 9 th to Friday 13 April, 2012Seattle: 2011 Population: 612100
Within the same precinct as the Needle was the EMP Museum (Experience Music Project) which was featuring a Guitar exhibition, but the thing that took our interest was an AC/DC Family Jewels event, not on until 28th April and we would be long gone from Seattle. http://www.empmuseum.org/?gclid=CLL0n9GLuK8CFQ0DQAodPWtDhQ
But the other thing across the road from both of these was the “Duck Tour”, not the flying kind, but Army Ducks.
We then spent the rest of the day getting around the markets which sell everything from crafts, fresh seafood, flowers, and we even saw some substances and items which would be banned anywhere else.
By days end we were knackered and the first thing we spotted hopping off the bus was the 74th Street Ale House, a traditional English pub, without the TAB, Sportsbet, Keno – how refreshing and just what we needed! The 74th sold mainly boutique beers, and so happened we arrived during their happy hour (shucks). And it was only about 150 metres from our abode which was a roll (I mean a stroll) down the hill. The staff were really great, kept bringing out the different brews and even provided samples before you would buy. Don’t know of any other pubs that offer that kind of service. Tony couldn’t make up his mind which beers he liked so he kept on trying more and more. He was half charged before he bought his second beer. Geez. The staff were also interested in where we came from. Now how could they tell? Was it because it was our accents OR was it because we were the couple in the corner near the heater freezing their arses off? As for the beers if Tony can remember which ones he tasted I’m sure he will include in his Food and Drinks blog.
The day ended up being really cold and miserable unlike the day before. (OH I forgot to mention that it was 10 degrees at 1pm that afternoon and the locals are walking around in t-shirts). I found the best tasting Cider at that little Ale House – a Blackthorn, even better than a 5 Seeds, and that says a lot. So we just had to try the “Cask Firkin”. Apparently the pub taps a keg from a boutique brewery and sells pints at happy hour prices. I enjoyed my ciders again thank you, and “big Hello” to Steve Hart the Bar Manager at the Ale House. And whilst on the subject of drinks, just about every supermarket stocks a huge variety of beers, with a variety of names to match.
We took advantage of the change in weather the next day which was clear blue skies and about 6 degrees in the shade, but we took a $7.50 return ferry ride over to Bainbridge Island, a half hour trip each way. The island and houses are so picturesque and just like over in Seattle the flowers grow wild everywhere – and at this time of year most trees have no leaves only buds or flowers. Many people commute from Bainbridge into the city each day as the ferry carry cars, motorbikes and cyclists and run fairly regularly all day.
We’ve had a few short stops including Everett which is a US Navy base with a fleet of Aircraft carriers bordering on the Sound, then up to Spokane by 12.30 last night. Other places/sidings have interesting names ie. Libby, WhiteFish, Wenatchee, and Icicle Canyon (no description needed to that one).
After having the terrible experience of delayed trains getting from San Francisco to Seattle and a 5.30am arrival we decided to make the most of the time after a bit of a snooze then took the No. 5 bus from 74th Street, Greenwood into Downtown. We were dog tired but we just had to get out and see the sites. And it was a fine day, blue skies and about 14 degrees.
Markets was a definite, the piers and wharves and the famous 605ft Space Needle which was built for the 1962 World Fair.
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| Space Needle, Seattle Washington |
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| Duck Tour |
These tours are so popular that they run every half hour and take in the sites of Seattle plus a cruise on Union Bay. They say the “Duck” was voted the most popular tourist attraction in Seattle. We can vouch for that. It was the best 2 hour laugh we’d had in a long time. The driver jokes all the way, plays music and encourages passengers to make real “gooses” of themselves, and giving commentary along the way. Does sound dangerous juggling all that but it was AND there was NO COLLISIONS and, thankfully he didn’t use his mobile phone which is also against the law in Washington !
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| We will just put them amongst the Nuts and dried fruit - no one will notice. |
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| Pike Street Markets |
By days end we were knackered and the first thing we spotted hopping off the bus was the 74th Street Ale House, a traditional English pub, without the TAB, Sportsbet, Keno – how refreshing and just what we needed! The 74th sold mainly boutique beers, and so happened we arrived during their happy hour (shucks). And it was only about 150 metres from our abode which was a roll (I mean a stroll) down the hill. The staff were really great, kept bringing out the different brews and even provided samples before you would buy. Don’t know of any other pubs that offer that kind of service. Tony couldn’t make up his mind which beers he liked so he kept on trying more and more. He was half charged before he bought his second beer. Geez. The staff were also interested in where we came from. Now how could they tell? Was it because it was our accents OR was it because we were the couple in the corner near the heater freezing their arses off? As for the beers if Tony can remember which ones he tasted I’m sure he will include in his Food and Drinks blog.
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| 74th Street Ale House |
Now where we stayed was about 10kms from Downtown (why do US cities always have a Downtown?), a peaceful surburban neighborhood, and our hosts were really delightful. We stayed in a separate area which was once a basement converted to an apartment – just fantastic and private. Big hello to Jessie Redstone for making us feel so welcome. I was amazed that daffodils, freezias and tulips grow wild on the footpaths, and one day we even had a squirrel run across in front of us while we’re walking on the footpath. If it had been in Oz it would have ended up as road kill.
Now back to the touristy things….after another day of seeing the sites we went back to the 74th Street Ale House which was putting on a “Cask Firkin”, but back to that later. We ventured into Downtown that morning and decided to get on another of our Mystery Tours, unintentionally. We caught the No. 5 and instead of jumping off the last Downtown stop the bus kept going, and going and going. Up an over Freeways, over the Seattle ViaDuct and before we knew it, about 10-12 kms later, which was the near the last stop the bus makes, we asked this bloke where we would end up. He tells us – “White Centre, but you don’t want to go there!, it’s the Bad Ass end of town”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Center,_Washington
Great, just what we needed to liven up the day even more. He tells us we should hop off at the next stop and not go any further…and he would ring the bell at California Street, West Seattle. Now, here am I thinking – why is he doing this for us and secondly why is he staying on the bus ?? Actually, he was just being courteous, and we ended up in an area that has an eclectic mix of shops, cafes, bakeries and music stores which still stock old vinyls, cassettes and 8-track tapes. For our younger folk who don’t know, these were what we listened to before CDs and Ipods. We would often see reminders of Seattle’s famous Son – Jimi Hendrix memoribillia and posters. After slowly sipping the worst coffee we’ve ever tried, EVER, we caught the next bus going back into town. I think it was a double shot of TAR !!!
Great, just what we needed to liven up the day even more. He tells us we should hop off at the next stop and not go any further…and he would ring the bell at California Street, West Seattle. Now, here am I thinking – why is he doing this for us and secondly why is he staying on the bus ?? Actually, he was just being courteous, and we ended up in an area that has an eclectic mix of shops, cafes, bakeries and music stores which still stock old vinyls, cassettes and 8-track tapes. For our younger folk who don’t know, these were what we listened to before CDs and Ipods. We would often see reminders of Seattle’s famous Son – Jimi Hendrix memoribillia and posters. After slowly sipping the worst coffee we’ve ever tried, EVER, we caught the next bus going back into town. I think it was a double shot of TAR !!!
The day ended up being really cold and miserable unlike the day before. (OH I forgot to mention that it was 10 degrees at 1pm that afternoon and the locals are walking around in t-shirts). I found the best tasting Cider at that little Ale House – a Blackthorn, even better than a 5 Seeds, and that says a lot. So we just had to try the “Cask Firkin”. Apparently the pub taps a keg from a boutique brewery and sells pints at happy hour prices. I enjoyed my ciders again thank you, and “big Hello” to Steve Hart the Bar Manager at the Ale House. And whilst on the subject of drinks, just about every supermarket stocks a huge variety of beers, with a variety of names to match.
We took advantage of the change in weather the next day which was clear blue skies and about 6 degrees in the shade, but we took a $7.50 return ferry ride over to Bainbridge Island, a half hour trip each way. The island and houses are so picturesque and just like over in Seattle the flowers grow wild everywhere – and at this time of year most trees have no leaves only buds or flowers. Many people commute from Bainbridge into the city each day as the ferry carry cars, motorbikes and cyclists and run fairly regularly all day.
An important thing that we’ve noticed here is that the community is very conscious of recycling/reusing and you see it everywhere even has a high proportion of hybrid cars on the roads. In the supermarkets if you don’t have a shopping bag they will ask if you want paper or plastic. Aus has a long way to go!
14th April, 2012………
At this point in time we are on the “Empire Builder” train from Seattle to Chicago, about 18 hours into a 47 hour journey. Unlike our previous trip the train departed Seattle on time at 4.40pm. We're currently travelling through the Montana plains and the scenery since we left Seattle has been nothing but spectacular - snow capped mountains of the Cascades, Puget Sound (the train travels about 30 miles along the shoreline), wild creeks and streams and just a mile of snow everywhere you look.
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| Cascade Mountains, Washington, USA |
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| Sunset over Puget Sound, Washington, USA |
Just like the other trips there are some really colourful characters on board. For example, a little earlier this guy in front of us got on his mobile phone and of course, the whole carriage could hear – his name was Clay. Well Clay has just ordered a Dominos Pizza “the Canadian Meat Special” to pick up at the next stop (10 minutes away). Now we were thinking that this was his destination, but NO, he jumps back on the train with this large Canadian Special Pizza. We are all jealous because the smell is now wafting through the train. He must do this trip often enough to know when to order. LOLOL!! He should have let us know so we could place an order too.
Then there was another situation with senior-aged passenger who became more disorientated as the trip went on. During the night he woke Tony up to say that he needed to move because he was in his seat. Then he proceeded to try and take the blanket from the woman behind Tony. As the trip went on he continued to pace up and down through the carriages and when asked if he was lost or whatever, he would make excuses that he was looking for something he had lost. That was the first night, and during the day he would pace up and down the carriages. The next night he got worse. Reports were that during the night he tried to open the back door of the moving train (59 miles pr hr or 96 Kms pr hr). Because of his behaviour the train crew were monitoring him and when asked if they could contact relatives - his reply was that they had gone on holiday and don't take their 'cell' phone with them. Some time much later at a scheduled train stop, the train was met by paramedics and he was removed from the train - the place - Forks.
Then there was another situation with senior-aged passenger who became more disorientated as the trip went on. During the night he woke Tony up to say that he needed to move because he was in his seat. Then he proceeded to try and take the blanket from the woman behind Tony. As the trip went on he continued to pace up and down through the carriages and when asked if he was lost or whatever, he would make excuses that he was looking for something he had lost. That was the first night, and during the day he would pace up and down the carriages. The next night he got worse. Reports were that during the night he tried to open the back door of the moving train (59 miles pr hr or 96 Kms pr hr). Because of his behaviour the train crew were monitoring him and when asked if they could contact relatives - his reply was that they had gone on holiday and don't take their 'cell' phone with them. Some time much later at a scheduled train stop, the train was met by paramedics and he was removed from the train - the place - Forks.
So far we have covered 5 states ie California, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon and Washington. By the time we get to Chicago we would have crossed over into another 6 ie. Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin then into Illinois and the count will continue as we head into the deep South.
Until next blog, which should be from New Orleans sometime next week, when we can tell you about the Chitlins, Grits and Gumbo, and any other exciting 'situations' we encounter. Cheers for now.
Liz and Tony
The link showing our train trip from Seattle to Chicago- http://g.co/maps/y547y
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| Pike Street Markets and Seattle Skyline |
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