New Years in Seattle - Day Two
Again, a slightly haphazard collection of my notes from my second day in Seattle.
Last night I was concerned that my rambunctious neighbors would keep me awake. As it turns out, it was the yahoos outside that I should have been worried about.
I just took a horizontal shower. Seriously, the water pressure in my shower is so intense that it pounds straight from one end of the shower to the other. To make matters worse, the showerhead is really low, at about eye level. I spent more time trying not to drown than I did trying to get clean.
Excellent free hotel breakfast. Nom, nom, nom.
It’s amazing how quickly my neighbors went from asleep to loud.
Seattle Center is deserted this morning, which just seems strange compared to last night’s crowds. The ground around the Space Needle is littered with confetti, crushed party horns, and streamers. There is surprisingly little other debris.
There are people in costume in line for the Harry Potter Exhibition at PacSci! They’re not dressed as recognizable characters, either, but just wizarding folk. One of them sees the Slytherin patch on my jacket and greets me, saying, “Oh, Slytherin? Well, that’s okay. We know some very nice people who were Slytherin.”
The Harry Potter Exhibition blew my mind. Seriously. Wow. All the props and costumes and set pieces. It’s very immersive. You go from Platform 9 ¾ (with snow!) to the Gryffidor dorms to classrooms featuring different teachers to sections about Quidditch. You walk through a recreation of Hagrid’s hut complete with rattling dragon egg and into the Forbidden Forest and then a section of “Dark Arts”. My only complaint from this section is that it featured two of McGonagall’s wizard chess pieces. While they were amazing and impressive, how were they dark art? The exhibition ends with the Great Hall. I got choked up when I saw Fred and George’s school uniforms, because I am a ridiculous fangirl.
Best thing I heard? A couple of girls looking at Ron Weasley’s school uniform had the following exchange:
“So, is this like the real costume?”
“Yeah.”
“So, like, What’s-His-Name actually wore those pants?”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
Pause. “Do you think they have Cedric’s pants?”
“Oh my God!”
I got through the gift show with only one small purchase, though I confess I carried around Sirius’s wand around for several minutes before putting it back.
The rest of the museum is filled with children. Eek.
The Butterfly House is beautiful and fragrant and terrifying. There are butterflies everywhere, including on the ground. I am afraid I will step on one and the others with gang up to avenge his death. I know they’re only butterflies, but there are a LOT of them.
For lunch, I am back at the Bamboo Garden. I have been recognized at the strange girl who ate alone here last night. If I wanted to convince them that I’m not a food critic, I probably shouldn’t have taken a photo of my lunch. It just looked SO good! I wanted to show it to the HLP.
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame! Boy, howdy! They had some amazing stuff, and I loved how even movie props were still referenced from a literary point of view. I wanted it to be bigger, though, and some of my favorite science fiction wasn’t represented. Seriously, they couldn’t get a Dalek? The Battlestar Galactica exhibit was impressive mostly because of the ships. The Cylon Raider actually came alive at times, red light darting back and forth. Aside from the ships, though, it felt a little thin. I wanted more props and photos and, you know, stuff.
After a walk through the Experience Music Project as well, I headed off to see Harry Potter. Once again, I got choked up by Fred and George. Not because of what happens in this movie, mind you, but because of what I know happens in the next.
There is a vegetarian hot dog place that I was pondering after the movie, but I decided I didn’t want to go looking it in the dark and instead I’m at the McMenamins by my hotel. Something familiar is kinda nice. After all, McMenamin’s are to Portland what Starbuck’s is to…Portland.
Have I mentioned I’m drinking a hard cider? And I’m a lightweight?
I can see the Space Needle from my table.
By the time I leave, I have had enough to drink that I’m glad my hotel is downhill, but I’m still sober enough to recognize the drunk guy staggering toward me and get out of his way.
Washing my face just now, I discovered that I still have fake snow in my hair from Platform 9 ¾.