Day 2 begins
So the hotel internet pooped out, probably immediately after I lauded it as the first thing that went right on the vacation. (I'm not complaining!) No really, things are okay. I have a cold--delightfully named disease that I tend to get in the summer--and went far too long without eating, so I shouldn't have been typing. Anyway, I feel better about Seattle in general, now. Everyone seems to be pretty damn friendly and fairly intelligent and clean and in many cases, hip. It's like a cross between San Francisco and Vermont.
We spent much of our tourist time yesterday in the Seattle Center, which is the area immediately around the Space Needle. I couldn't stop thinking about Itchy and Scratchy while I was at the needle itself, especially when I saw the gift shop. It's like a much-reduced version of the CN tower in Toronto, but it's actually pleasant to be in the observation deck (no winter coat required). We used the view to orient ourselves so we could walk around a bit.
Outside we found lots of urban birds in the park. Crows (not sure of the species--probably American crows, but they sounded a little off, and they were on the small side) were common and came quite close to us. They seemed to be filling the starling niche in that part of town (I saw maybe two starlings and probably 60 crows). Large gulls (California Gulls?) were being fed in the park, and we sat and watched interactions between them and the crows, the pigeons and the house sparrows. I saw a white-crowned sparrow, and got a craptastic picture of it. Hopefully I'll see another. Haven't done enough research on the trees yet--some gorgeous Asian-looking spruces, lots of cedar/juniper things, tons of London planetrees, and a whole row of plum trees along the street our hotel is on.
The Seattle Center has a bunch of memorials and fountains. I can't quite put my finger on it--they weren't solemn exactly, but dignified--it felt like they were celebrating humanity, not patriotism--even the 9/11 memorial. It was nice. Not that I'm not patriotic, but I don't think the best response to a national tragedy is to wave an American flag. There was a memorial to the vicitms of a shooting rampage (that I'm embarassed to have forgotten about) that had magic markers attached to it so you could write your feelings on it. Surprisingly, that's what was actually written on it, no "Pearl Jam Rulez" or "You Suck Dead People" or anything like that. Are people here more civilized? Maybe. Unlike Boston there's actually a skate park, and there was someone in it painting a landscape painting of it.
We ate finally at a bar (big surprise) which was fine. I won't go into the size of the fried cheese block that I ate. No, Alexis, I didn't photograph it (I did photograph my artichoke dip) but Rebecca would have loved it.
I'm keeping us in the hotel room longer than we should because the internet is working. Local news (Top story: Police are stopping speeders on Interstate 5!) tells us that today will be the pick of the week. It may get up to 77 degrees. We're going to walk to the waterfront and then drive to the rainforest. Now it's a vacation!
We spent much of our tourist time yesterday in the Seattle Center, which is the area immediately around the Space Needle. I couldn't stop thinking about Itchy and Scratchy while I was at the needle itself, especially when I saw the gift shop. It's like a much-reduced version of the CN tower in Toronto, but it's actually pleasant to be in the observation deck (no winter coat required). We used the view to orient ourselves so we could walk around a bit.
Outside we found lots of urban birds in the park. Crows (not sure of the species--probably American crows, but they sounded a little off, and they were on the small side) were common and came quite close to us. They seemed to be filling the starling niche in that part of town (I saw maybe two starlings and probably 60 crows). Large gulls (California Gulls?) were being fed in the park, and we sat and watched interactions between them and the crows, the pigeons and the house sparrows. I saw a white-crowned sparrow, and got a craptastic picture of it. Hopefully I'll see another. Haven't done enough research on the trees yet--some gorgeous Asian-looking spruces, lots of cedar/juniper things, tons of London planetrees, and a whole row of plum trees along the street our hotel is on.
The Seattle Center has a bunch of memorials and fountains. I can't quite put my finger on it--they weren't solemn exactly, but dignified--it felt like they were celebrating humanity, not patriotism--even the 9/11 memorial. It was nice. Not that I'm not patriotic, but I don't think the best response to a national tragedy is to wave an American flag. There was a memorial to the vicitms of a shooting rampage (that I'm embarassed to have forgotten about) that had magic markers attached to it so you could write your feelings on it. Surprisingly, that's what was actually written on it, no "Pearl Jam Rulez" or "You Suck Dead People" or anything like that. Are people here more civilized? Maybe. Unlike Boston there's actually a skate park, and there was someone in it painting a landscape painting of it.
We ate finally at a bar (big surprise) which was fine. I won't go into the size of the fried cheese block that I ate. No, Alexis, I didn't photograph it (I did photograph my artichoke dip) but Rebecca would have loved it.
I'm keeping us in the hotel room longer than we should because the internet is working. Local news (Top story: Police are stopping speeders on Interstate 5!) tells us that today will be the pick of the week. It may get up to 77 degrees. We're going to walk to the waterfront and then drive to the rainforest. Now it's a vacation!