How to start a new year well
I slept in this morning (despite Zeke's best efforts to dislodge me from the bed), and had a fairly late breakfast. At around 1 PM, I met varina8 at the Museum of History and Industry because they were offering free admission--it's Free First Thursday, so it seemed like a great opportunity to explore the museum's new location (at South Lake Union) and facility.
The new museum building is just gorgeous--broad and light and airy, with clerestory windows that let in the soft sunshine. The exhibits are well-deployed and much more modern than in the old facility. The top floor has an exhibit about maritime Seattle and features a beautiful march of windows that overlook Lake Union. You can see some of the boats from the Center for Wooden Boats, and watch as seaplanes swoop in to land on the lake at the Horizon Air water terminal.
One of the reasons that we went was to see a particular exhibit they were offering: Shalom! Open for Business: Tales of Jewish Merchants in Washington State. The exhibit was terrific. I learned about how big a role Jewish merchants have played in Seattle's growth and development. I was struck in particular by how influential the Sephardic community is in Seattle--struck but not surprised, since one of my earliest encounters with the Jewish community in Seattle was to attend a Sephardic Passover seder--one of my fondest memories of my early days here. Strolling through the exhibit was fun partly because, well, Jewish history and Seattle history, but also because of the number of business names I recognized. (Costco was founded by Jews! Many of the first fish mongers in Pike Place Market were--and still are--Jewish. Three Girls Bakery? Jewish!)
After we finished with that exhibit, we strolled through the maritime exhibit and then went downstairs to the cafe--which has a very nice menu--for some lunch. We poked through the gift shop, where I picked up Starvation Heights (Powells.com), a book about the quack, swindler and murderer, Linda Burfield Hazzard, whose notorious "sanitorium" was the last destination for many of her victims. It's a fascinating story that I've heard about as oral history and as snippets in TV documentaries about women serial killers; I decided I wanted to read what's considered one of the authoritative narratives of her grim and terrible tale.
We concluded our visit with watching an entertaining multimedia presentation about the Great Seattle Fire (including the notorious glue pot in which said fire began).
All in all, it was a lovely way to begin the new year. If you're local and you can catch the exhibit (it closes January 20), I highly recommend it.
The new museum building is just gorgeous--broad and light and airy, with clerestory windows that let in the soft sunshine. The exhibits are well-deployed and much more modern than in the old facility. The top floor has an exhibit about maritime Seattle and features a beautiful march of windows that overlook Lake Union. You can see some of the boats from the Center for Wooden Boats, and watch as seaplanes swoop in to land on the lake at the Horizon Air water terminal.
One of the reasons that we went was to see a particular exhibit they were offering: Shalom! Open for Business: Tales of Jewish Merchants in Washington State. The exhibit was terrific. I learned about how big a role Jewish merchants have played in Seattle's growth and development. I was struck in particular by how influential the Sephardic community is in Seattle--struck but not surprised, since one of my earliest encounters with the Jewish community in Seattle was to attend a Sephardic Passover seder--one of my fondest memories of my early days here. Strolling through the exhibit was fun partly because, well, Jewish history and Seattle history, but also because of the number of business names I recognized. (Costco was founded by Jews! Many of the first fish mongers in Pike Place Market were--and still are--Jewish. Three Girls Bakery? Jewish!)
After we finished with that exhibit, we strolled through the maritime exhibit and then went downstairs to the cafe--which has a very nice menu--for some lunch. We poked through the gift shop, where I picked up Starvation Heights (Powells.com), a book about the quack, swindler and murderer, Linda Burfield Hazzard, whose notorious "sanitorium" was the last destination for many of her victims. It's a fascinating story that I've heard about as oral history and as snippets in TV documentaries about women serial killers; I decided I wanted to read what's considered one of the authoritative narratives of her grim and terrible tale.
We concluded our visit with watching an entertaining multimedia presentation about the Great Seattle Fire (including the notorious glue pot in which said fire began).
All in all, it was a lovely way to begin the new year. If you're local and you can catch the exhibit (it closes January 20), I highly recommend it.