My plan for this morning was to head over to the Seattle Center, a huge square area west of downtown Seattle that houses a bunch of landmarks and points of interest: first and foremost the world famous Space Needle, but also the Chihuly Garden and Glass, the Museum of Pop Culture, the Pacific Science Center, the Climate Pledge Arena, and even two or three theaters.
Our first order of business was of course to see the Space Needle, which is huge up close and visible from any point in the park. We had no intention of going up, not just because that too is expensive but because the view we wanted was the view of the tower. I think it’s such a beautiful design; my first thought is to say that it’s timeless, but in a way it does have a 60s silhouette, it’s just that it remains as elegant now as it did in 1962 when it was built. Although you can marvel at its size from the base (apparently it’s just as tall underground as it is on the surface, as a measure to shield it against earthquakes) but it’s a good idea to walk away a little bit to be able to gain some perspective.
My plan was to then go to the Chihuly Garden and Glass right next to the Space Needle, as it’s a quintessentially Seattle exhibition about Dale Chihuly’s glasswork (if you’re in Europe, you may have seen his work hanging in the entrance of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London). I was prepared to fork over $25 because everything here costs $25, but we were shocked to discover the price is now $39 a ticket! The museum is lovely but not that big, and anyway I’d already been, so we decided to give it a pass. I don’t remember it being that expensive when I visited in 2018, they must have hiked up the price!
So instead we went over to MoPOP, the Museum of Pop Culture, which started as a space dedicated to PNW musicians like Jimi Hendrix or Nirvana but later grew to also encompass sci-fi, fantasy and even video games. The latter exhibit felt lackluster to me: it was just the one room with a bunch of kiosks where people could try indie games. Good on them for showcasing independent works, sure, but I had hoped for some explanatory materials to teach people something about the craft.
I skipped the music exhibits because I saw those in my previous visit, and instead geeked out at the fantasy & sci-fi sections. Seeing the costumes from Battlestar Galactica or Blade Runner felt like encountering holy relics.
We sat outside in the sunshine to take stock of our itinerary: we were massively early for my schedule, which had us even having lunch at the Seattle Center (I was going by my 2018 schedule, which of course was for a first-time visit). We considered having a coffee break at the museum’s cafe, but the croissants on display looked like they were made of styrofoam so we instead walked out of the center to Cherry Street Coffee House, another local coffee shop where at least the offerings didn’t look as industrial.
After a good rest, we walked over to the Olympic Sculpture Park, named after the Olympic Mountains west of Seattle, not the sports competition. It’s an open-air park near the shore with several modern sculptures. The guidebooks and even my own description probably make it sound like more than what it is: I was expecting a proper gallery of sculptures but the park turned out to have… like three? Still, it was lovely to see so much water, to take pictures of the tower through the sculptures, and also to sit down in the sun for just a little while.
By now my itinerary was done and dusted and it was like one o’clock. I had Kerry Park in mind as a possible visit, but it didn’t really feel worth going all the way up the hill just to see the view of the Seattle skyline as we might see that from the ferry tomorrow anyway.
Instead, we took the bus over to Pioneer Square to check out some home design shops recommended by my guidebooks, but found it so derelict that even if there were designery shops around the corner, we didn’t really feel like walking around. Everybody had told me about the homelessness crisis in Portland and Seattle; I thought they were exaggerating because I had been here in 2018 and didn’t think it was that bad, but it truly feels like it’s got much worse in the years since.
So in the end we hopped on another bus (for free, thanks to our transfer tickets) and just made it back to our apartment to rest before heading back out for our show. With a previous stop at a nearby Mexican restaurant to have a couple of delicious tacos, I should note.
The show was a touring Broadway production of Funny Girl at the Paramount Theater, which made for a great night out! The theater has an appropriately old-timey feel to it, given the play, and we were able to get pretty good seats for a good price thanks to last minute cancellations.
(Yes, that is a car on display at the lobby.)
I was impressed by how much of a blockbuster this production was, at a time when more and more plays barely employ three actors and use the most austere settings possible. This one had a full ensemble, lots of costume changes for everyone, set dressing… and, of course, the cast was great and the lead singer had an amazing voice! A cultural shock moment: when the lights came on and the cast came out on stage for their final bows, people began walking out of the theater in droves! In full view of the poor actors! I swear some people are not raised to live in society.
That’s it for our second day in Seattle! Our plan for tomorrow: day trip to Bainbridge!
This Is A Lake 