Ah, Seattle, my former home. I tried to think of how long it had been since I'd visited - I'd driven through many times, but when was the last time I'd come to visit the city itself?
Seeing the city again was like revisiting an old friend. Or an old girlfriend, maybe, seeing as I left her. Oh, she has her charms, but she was always more ambitious than me, more interested in looks and money. But we had some great times together.
Getting off the Amtrak bus at King Street Station, I got a new Orca card and gave it a bit of funding for my transportation needs. Then it was down International Station to the bus tunnels. The stations were just as I remembered them from the 90s. Getting off at Pike/Pine, I checked into my hotel, then set off on my first destination, the new downtown library. Designed by Rem Koolhaas, I'd been eager to see it for quite a while.
The upstairs floors are not level but slightly tilted, enabling a single spiraling ramp to traverse those floors. It's a bit disorienting but very fun.
Next it was over to Westlake Center to ride the classic monorail to Seattle Center to see the Experience Music Project. (As long as I'm mentioning architects, this one's was Frank Gehry.)
I'd been to EMP before, but since I'd been last, the Science Fiction Museum had opened, which was what I most wanted to see. It's small but very nicely curated, and serves to house some of Paul Allen's collection. The man has great taste. I got to gaze upon ...
- The skull of the Terminator T-800
- Robbie the Robot from Forbidden Planet
- Captain Kirk's chair from the Enterprise bridge
- The UFO toy used in Plan 9 from Outer Space
- Space guns from Mars Attacks!, Men In Black, and many others
- Neo's cloak
- A Dalek
- Darth Vader's lightsaber
- Data's uniform from Star Trek: The Next Generation
- The xenomorph and the facehugger from Alien
- The bloodstained shirt worn by Simon Pegg in Shaun of the Dead
Not to mention Jimi Hendrix's Stratocaster, Nirvana's gear, and lots more.
Back at the hotel, I popped up to the 35th floor swimming pool to get some night shots of the skyline. Unfortunately they were all rubbish as the interior lighting was too overpowering. Except for this sort of amusing one.
Then it was off to dinner up the hill at Elysian Brewing. I'd become an admirer after having several of their craft beers up north, and consider them one of the most interesting brewers in the Northwest. Like Rogue and Central City, whatever they brew, even if I don't personally like it, it will certainly be interesting to me. I enjoyed a bratwurst special with a very tasty sample of specialty beers including an imperial IPA, "golden treacle pale", winter ale, Belgian IPA, and an "experimental ale". I was bummed to hear the Death Star Black Wheat Wine was out, but got a brown instead.
On the way back I visited another Everyday Music store. We don't have many good music stores up north, so when I visit one, it's an oasis in the desert. I hadn't intended to get much, but when I see used (and perfectly playable) CDs for $4-8.50, uncompressed of course and cheaper than online albums, well, opportunity cost drove me to get more than I thought I would. Besides a few others, I indulged in some very low-priced Steely Dan and Donald Fagen that I haven't seen much anywhere, ending up with a good chunk of their catalogue for no more than $6 each. (Hey, you can spend that much on a coffee!) It wasn't so much scratching an itch, as gouging a tear.
Further downhill I decided for one more stop at the McMenamins pub for a special Belgian Dark and some dessert. Then it was to my room and to sleep.
In the morning I had time to hoof it to the Pike Place Market for some Market Spice Tea and hot chocolate for Sarah. Then I checked out and hoofed it to a nearby coffee shop to meet Todd, an old friend and resident. For the next few hours, Todd and I caught up as he gave me a tour of the city.
We started with a proper breakfast at a diner inside a record store in West Seattle, the dishes named with admirable musical puns. (Mine was the Hank Williams Western omelette; his the James Browns potatoes.) While waiting for a table, one more Steely Dan catalogue item joined my collection for another $4. Should I feel guilty, or proud of my bargain-hunting?
Then it was downhill to Alki Beach and perhaps the best view of Seattle.
The skyline is mostly the same as when I lived there. The major components (the tallest Columbia tower on the southern/rightmost edge, Seafirst, Washington Mutual, Two Union Square, US Bank Centre, the stubby black Darth Vader building on the left), but there was lots of new infill, especially in Belltown on the left.
Todd took me back through to Ballard, our old neighbourhood and where he and his wife Maureen live. My first residence was blocks away, and we have a huge amount of history there. On the way I kept noticing new buildings, but could never remember what was there before. But it was also fun to see what hadn't changed, like the cheesy older businesses, and the beat-up concrete streets.
After dropping bags at their house, we took a walking tour of the neighbourhood, taking in a farmer's market as well as several unique indie businesses, reflecting a vibrance and culture that is so sadly missing in Vancouver.
We picked up some dinner, ate it at their house, and afterwards Todd and I caught up on shared interests like music and hifi and audio production, auto racing and Top Gear, politics, and Northwest culture and Portlandia. We also shared some favourite musics on his hi-fi, taking notes on new bands to investigate.
In the morning we made breakfast and lounged, then Todd drove me to catch my late morning bus, giving us a bit more time to visit over coffee in Pioneer Square before leaving, ending a great visit.
