Day 1: Seattle World’s Fair

Friday

In 1962 Seattle played host to the World’s Fair. It’s most obvious legacy has been the Space Needle, so this part of town seemed a good place to start our exploration of Seattle. Seattle is also very water oriented, as it is built on an isthmus and surrounded on three sides by water. So on arrival at the Seattle Center our first activity was to take an orientation ride on a Duck. The tour leaves from just outside the Seattle Center and it took us on a 90 minute tour of downtown Seattle and then on to the waters of Lake Union, which gave us an ideal intro the world of Seattle. We were fortunate enough to ride with a Volleyball Team from Lafayette in Pennsylvania, so it was a very lively party as much as a tour. We loved Union Lake, with it’s many (501) houseboats, including, much to Sally’s delight, the Houseboat used by Tom Hanks in Sleepless in Seattle. 

After our fun tour on a duck (which is an amphibious truck, which was built as a workhorse of the Allied invasion of Europe, but then used all over the world) we had to move smartly to The Space Needle, where we had booked a table for lunch. At this point we can reveal that the weather was absolutely wonderful, clear blue sky and good visibility, the views of the surrounding city, mountains and waterways were amazing. We were shown to our table, which was a table for two beside the window, when we sat for a couple of hours, watching the world revolve round us (though of course it was the restaurant which was revolving) relaxing and enjoying a wonderful meal, wonderful view and wonderful company.

When we had eventually finished our meal we took a ride up one floor to the observation deck and had a wander round outside. We watched a number of seaplanes fly past quite close to the building. We looked down on to the buildings below, many of them with roof top gardens, One building had giant spiders either painted on, or were giant models. We could also see the International fountain, which looked a lot of fun. Eventually we returned to earth and took a stroll round the Seattle Center grounds, ending up at the International fountain. The fountain has a number of displays which are accompanied by music. The water is thrown way into the air across its giant bowl. It was fun to watch brave souls and children trying to get to the centre of the fountain without getting wet. Once again we marvel at our fascination for moving water.

 Having spent a great day in Seattle Center we returned to our car to find we had a ticket, which was quite distressing, but we think that it was issued in error, as they may not have recognised Sally’s Disabled Badge, so watch this space for a result on that one. We also realized one of the downsides to living in Seattle – The traffic is awful at drive time and all the little ways of making the traffic flow better are merely confusing for the casual visitor – special cycle and bus lanes, lane markings you cannot cross, one ways, it was a bit of a nightmare getting our of the city.