Coddiwomple Stardate 180519

-

We arrived in Seattle just after midnight on Monday 14th May. I was up at 6.00am to have my first view of mainland USA. You are always told Seattle is overcast and raining. Our captain must have sailed to the wrong port. The day was warm with bright clear sky’s. You could see snow capped mountains to the NW and snow-covered Mt Rainer to the SE. The night before I saw the dorsal fin of an orca as we were sailing past Vancouver Island.

You can choose to leave the ship between 6.30 and 8.00am by carrying off your own bags but we chose to go with the allocated time of 9.45am. That way we had time for breakfast and didn’t have to carry our bags through security.

We scanned our sea-pass card when we left the ship picked up our bags in the terminal and just walked into Seattle. No one even looked at our passports. We found a cycleway/walkway that took us around the bay. It was a 5km walk to get us to “The Pensione B&B” where we stayed for 3 nights. There was some nice small parks and great views of the harbour. It was 28 degrees C. By the time we reached our accommodation we were very hot.

We left our bags at The Pensione then went out for more walking. We didn’t get far after passing plenty of bars I decided it was a good omen and settled on a nice bar called “Old Stove Brewing Company”. We had views over the bay and those snow capped mountains again.

After leaving the bar we walked to the Sheraton Hotel to meet up with 4 of our friends Jeff, Kerry, Ben & Linda”. We had arranged this a couple of years ago when we knew we were coming to Seattle. That night the 6 of us went out for dinner to plan what to do for the next 2 days together. The 6 of us all live within 100m of each other back at Wellard. Travelling half way around the world to meet just seemed so normal and like any other great time we have had together in the last 20+ years we have known each other.

Tuesday we all did the underground tour of Seattle. Our guide was a Mr Bean look alike with the  humour to match. The original Seattle was built on low ground and prone to flooding due to rain and tides. On June 6, 1889 Seattle burnt to the ground. The town planners decided to built a better Seattle above the water line. There was a 49 degree hill behind the original townsite that was used to wash dirt down hill to raise the level of the new Seattle. It was a 10 year project. Business people couldn’t wait 10 years before they could open for business again. The businesses built new premises on the original ground level while the engineers raised the street level around them. It is these old building you see underground.

After leaving the underground, we made our way to Seattle’s monorail that was built in 1962 for the World Fair. Then up the Space Needle that was also built for the World Fair. The Needle is 605 feet (185m) and a 41 second ride up the lift to the viewing platform. It was another clear day and the views were spectacular. After this it was the Chihuly Garden and Glass. This is an exhibit by a glass blower by the name of Dale Chihuly (He is blind as well which makes it even more amazing) and was certainly my highlight of the day. The colours and stunning creations are a must see. Then it was onto our first Baseball game. Seattle Mariners vs Texas Rangers. With plenty of food and FULL-STRENGTH beer available it was a great experience although long. The game started at 7.10pm with 9 innings ahead of us. By the 9th innings it was 8 all. The game cannot finish unless there is a clear winner. As the temperature drops the clocks move onto midnight the Seattle Rangers finally win in the 12th inning. If any ball lands into the spectators area, they can be kept and you receive a card to tell you who hit the ball and it is placed into a clear acrylic box. There were many balls that night going into the crowd. One made it our way where Ben very quickly snatched it up before anyone else. Ben had already purchased a ball from the game so now he had a ball from both teams.

Wednesday we all took a 1 hr ferry to Bremerton. Another clear day as we made our way through Puget Sound. It was very picturesque with nice houses plenty of trees those snow capped mountains again and lots of seals to be seen. We arrived back in Seattle and Jeff, Ben and myself went on a small pub tour while the girls shopped. Then dinner at a nice freshly made pasta restaurant then a teary farewell and words of "we miss you, come back home!, before we all left on Thursday to different destinations in the world.











Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Coddiwomple Stardate 180922

-
Image
Our Uber driver dropped us near the Union Station and told us to head down a walkway which we did. After wandering around for 15mins I checked out our offline maps and realised he directed us in the opposite direction. Back on track we only had to wait 30mins before boarding. We are in economy which means 4 nights of sleeping in a seat. Amtrak seats were far more comfortable to sleep on. These trains are 60 year’s old. Amtrak were only 50. The train has two engines, 21 carriages and is 500m long. We have carried on two bags of food and planned on just buying our dinner. There is an observation deck which both of us has taken advantage of many times. They also put on entertainment by a duet. Our first stop we were able to get off for a stretch in a town called Hornepayne. Staff made the announcement we would be arriving in 10mins. The town has a population of 1000 and their train station is a two story brick building built in 1929. Something to check out. When we arrived the station w...
Read more

Coddiwomple Stardate 181203

-
Image
Our first day in London was cold and clear. I spent the morning plotting all the places to see on my offline maps for the next 8 days,  thanks to Jason's long list of things to see. Most of the places to visit don't open until 10.00am which gives us plenty of time just to lounge around in the warm hotel room. Before heading into a 2 degree morning. It is about a 10min walk to our closest tube station Kilburn on the Jubilee Line. You can use your credit card on the entrance gates to the trains so no travel card or tickets need to be purchased. We also could of payed with C/C on the buses in Thornhill, Scotland. I was thinking how far more technologically advanced the UK is compared to the US. You may have read from my previous blogs on how outdated payment options were in the US compared to other countries. I have also watched plenty of people paying for purchases and train fares on their phone by tapping. The US was fascinated when we showed them you can tap a card for purch...
Read more

Coddiwomple Stardate 180424

-
Image
After leaving New Zealand we were back in Australia for 3 weeks before heading on our 23-day voyage to Seattle. We spent 2 weeks in Melbourne catching up with family and friends before catching a train to Sydney. Then a week in Sydney once again catching up with more family and friends. We filled up our time well in Sydney by boarding several ferries that took us to Parramatta, Cockatoo Island, Manly and Toronga Zoo. Also caught a bus down to Coogee and walked back to Bondi. I had to try one of the many rock pools along the coast and chose a nice one recommended by Jade at Bronte Beach and it was a warm day for a refreshing swim. On the 22 nd April we boarded our cruise ship “Explorer of the Seas” It took us 1½ hours to get on the ship. I felt like cattle being herded to slaughter through multiple check ins and the border force. The ocean liner has 14 levels 4000 passengers and 1200 staff. This cruise ship holds 13 x the amount of people that are living on Stuart Island. The ne...
Read more