Lockdown Walks Down Memory Lane: Seattle, Washington State, US
Not quite sure what ‘Lockdown Walks Down Memory Lane’ are all about? Find out here how they started.
After a sleepless night dreaming about sea monsters, pirates and all thanks to our last walk, I thought we should head over to Seattle today… get it?! Sleepless in Seattle…? Never mind, I shall stop the terrible movie references going forward, … maybe.
It is quite a dreamy city though, so I thought it would be a nice location to include on our lockdown walks to reminisce for a little while, take in the sights, maybe add some to your future travel list, and just to get us out and about for a bit, without having to face the rainy weather Seattle is known for. Apparently, a bad reputation it does not seem to deserve when looking at the actual wettest cities in the United States with Mobile, Alabama, in the lead, followed by Pensacola, Florida and New Orleans, Louisiana.
I can confirm the last one to be true for sure having been drenched various times when there. And when it rains in New Orleans, it truly pours, which might be the explanation for Seattle’s undeserved rep as it’s not on top of the list when it comes to rainfall totals but rather the number of days with precipitation, in the US that is.
With that in mind, let’s see how the day pans out for us:
Rainy or not, I do hope you enjoyed the stroll. If interested in further information on the sights that were featured in the video, check out the Bonus section. If done with Seattle but not with walking, feel free to head down Tromsø’s streets for a little while.
But make sure to come back for our next walk… hope to see you there! ☔🎒🙋♀️
When was I there? Besides the reminiscent stroll today . . . on 15 September 2012
Informative Bonus
The Museum of Pop Culture or MoPOP is a non-profit museum dedicated to contemporary popular culture which was founded in 2000 by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen as the Experience Music Project, EMP in short which is how I got to know it. Unfortunately, I did not visit this “intriguing and super rad Museum,” as one of the many positive reviewers called it who was blown away by their Marvel Exhibit displaying real life props at the time, as well as their music interactions and gaming sections. If you love all things horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and pop-culture in general, apparently it’s the place to be.
If staying a bit longer, the Seattle City Pass might be the way to go, which will also get you into the Chihuly Garden and Glass Exhibit and the infamous Space Needle, from where you can see the top of the MoPOP building which is shaped like a guitar — how cool is that?! I don’t remember spotting that myself, one of many reasons to pay Seattle another visit.
The Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibit is located in the Seattle Centre, at the bottom of the Space Needle showcasing the studio glass of Dale Chihuly. It opened in May 2012 replacing a defunct amusement park, Fun Forest, which is somewhat neat as the exhibit does have 3 primary components, one of them being a Garden. The other two are interior exhibits as seen in the video, and the Glasshouse containing Chihuly’s largest suspended sculpture measuring about 30 metres (100 ft).
The building also includes a 50-seat theatre and lecture space I remember spending some time in as I watched a video about Chihuly’s approach, which was rather inspiring. Being a pioneer in his field, Chihuly continuously experimented with new ways of working with glass, often stretching his chosen media to the limits while displaying it in the most unlikely places, be it a series of glass chandeliers hung over canals and in piazzas throughout his favourite city, Venice, or tossing it into a river in Nuutajärvi, Finland, so it could float downstream. The latter approach resulted in his team salvaging a local rowboat and filling it with a variety of glass firms, a beautiful sight floating by I’m sure. So, keep your eyes peeled next time you go for a stroll along a river, Chihuly might send a little surprise your way?!
Be it through an exhibit or at an unexpected place along your travels, I do hope you get a chance to experience his artwork at some point because it is rather fascinating. “I want people to be overwhelmed with light and colour in some way that they’ve never experienced.” – Dale Chihuly. Well, mission achieved, mister.
The Seattle Space Needle, a 184 metres-tall (605 ft) spire, is one of the most recognisable landmarks in the world, which was built for the 1962 World’s Fair. It draws visitors from all over the world with its 360-degree indoor and outdoor panoramic views of downtown Seattle, Mount Rainier, Puget Sound, and the Cascades and Olympic mountain ranges, as well as its cinematic fame as symbol of the Pacific Northwest. We mentioned Sleepless in Seattle already, and you might have guessed it from the video, Grey’s Anatomy and Twilight have helped giving Seattle and Washington State a dreamy but yet rainy reputation.
On the funnier side, some of you might remember it as Doctor Evil’s base of operations from 1993’s Austin Powers. And even better yet, it oftentimes has been used for practical jokes throughout the years, especially on April Fool’s Day, such as the one in 1989 when KING-TV’s Almost Live! announced the collapse of the Space Needle causing frantic people calling emergency services, a scenario that sounds familiar thinking of The War of the Worlds radio broadcast from 1938. H. G. Wells was probably proud, but the city was not so amused and requested an apology which I’m sure the channel happily granted.
Intrigued, I looked up the book once more to find out that one of the unnamed protagonists fought for his life in Surrey, my current homestead. While it does look a bit apocalyptic these days, no Martians around just yet — see, it could always be worse, ey?!
Pike Place Market is ‘a’ or ‘the’ Public Market to visit in Seattle which was opened in August 1907 making it the oldest continuously operated public farmers’ market in the US. It’s named after the central street Pike Place, and is built on the edge of a steep hill overlooking Elliott Bay waterfront on Pudget Sound. While the upper street level offers a variety of fresh produce stands, jolly fishmongers as seen in the video, and craft stalls, the lower levels are worth exploring as well featuring antique dealers, comic book and collectible shops and apparently one of the oldest head shops in Seattle, possibly a leftover from the 1960s hippie culture. Speaking of leftovers…
The Gum Wall, well, what can I say?! Located in Post Alley under Pike Place Market, it’s what it says it is, a brick wall covered in used chewing gum. How did it come about? Who is the ‘artist’? To pass the time while waiting in line for shows at the nearby improv theatre Unexpected Productions, people started sticking gum and coins to the wall since the 1990s, a sticky pastime gathering 2,350 pounds, more than 1,000 kg of gum that was removed in 2015 in order to preserve the historic buildings in the district.
No need for disappointment, the cleared wall did not last long. It’s already been ‘re-gummed’ and you can add your bit in the future if you like, although I might have come across something else worth a look while chewing my way through Seattle trivia — apparently there’s a troll causing havoc under the George Washington Memorial Bridge (also known as Aurora Bridge). He’s clutching an actual Volkswagen Beetle which might have tried to make its way over. Intriguing I would say, so the choice is yours as always. Not so much on the last sight though if you are a coffee lover…
The First Starbucks Store opened in 1971 and is located on 1912 Pike Place. If worried you might miss it since it is a rather small store being the very first one after all, trust me, you won’t, as there is always a queue. Very un-British, I did not get into it hence the cheeky pictures through the window but if you’re a Starbucks enthusiast, I guess this would be your mecca. I had things to do, places to see, so moved on but can see the appeal and will now happily retire for the day with a Surrey-brewed cuppa.
Cheers, my dears and till next time! ☕
P.S.: If you’ve encountered the troll and made it out alive, do share below, we’re all ears!!
