Thursday – June 21, 2012
Our journey began yesterday, June 20th, with a long flight from JFK to SeaTac Airport near Seattle, Washington. After waiting on the TSA security line for an hour and 45 minutes, we ran to catch our 4:10 flight on Delta only to learn that the plane was late. We finally left New York at 5:15 PM. Again we were reminded of how much we hate Delta Airlines. We had to pay $50. extra for our checked luggage, although they ran out of overhead storage and made people check their bags anyway. There was no meal service on this flight of 5 ½ hours airtime with no prior warning. We had to purchase snacks of fruit and cheese on-board. I was reminded of one of Tom Paxton’s folk songs. We sat on small hard uncomfortable seats for over six hours, in the next to the last row near the only two toilets in the plane of 130 other passengers. We pledged again never to fly on Delta in the future!
View of Downtown Seattle
We arrived in Seattle about 8:00 PM Pacific time, which was 11:00 PM eastern time. Knowing that we would arrive late and be tired, we planned to stay near the airport for one night and go into the city in the morning. We had stayed at the Doubletree on a previous trip and like it. Recently, it received good reviews on tripadvisor.com, so we reserved a room for one night. We easily took the shuttle bus from the airport to the huge 800-room hotel. It is a very clean and attractive hotel with a nice garden and a lovely pool. It’s located just outside the SeaTac Airport. By the time we checked into the hotel, it was after midnight body-time and we were very tired.
Seattle Monorail
Of course this morning we were up and about early. We had cappuccino at the coffee bar in the lobby of the hotel and afterwards caught the airport shuttle-bus back to the airport. Sea-Tac is an amazing transportation hub. In one location there are buses, taxis, trains, cars, and planes ready to go wherever people want to go. We walked to the light-rail station and had an easy 35 minute ride to the center of Seattle for the senior rate of seventy-five cents each. The cars of the train were very clean and modern and even had a place for people to hang up their bicycles.
Inside the Monorail
We rode the train to the University Avenue stop and walked up hill (of course!) to the Seattle Hilton where we had reservations. We checked in, dropped off our luggage, and went out to explore the city. There were high clouds, but the sun was shining and it was a pleasant 68 degrees.
First Car of the Seattle Monorail
We walked a couple of blocks to the Monorail station and bought our tickets. It had been built in 1962 for the Seattle World’s Fair to transport people from downtown to the fair grounds. It looks like the futuristic vehicles we used to see in magazines when I was a kid. Every city was supposed to have monorails and other wonderful high-tech transportation “people movers” in the future.
The Monorail at the Station
Unfortunately, the future is today and Mono-ails didn’t proliferate due to the increased development of highways and the lack of municipal spending on public transportation. This Monorail ride was fun, but too short!!
Dale Chihuly’s Glass Forest
In a few minutes we were at the former fairgrounds, now called the Seattle Center. The Monorail leaves tourists off just under the Seattle Needle. Our first stop was Chihuly Garden and Glass which is an exhibition space built to show Dale Chihuly’s glass works and collections.
Chihuly’s Sea Life
He was born in nearby Tacoma, Washington in 1941 and is an internationally known artist. The glass pieces are bright-colored and whimsical and glow in the light. They’re fun to look at!
Part of the Persian Ceiling
The exhibit follows the development of Chihuly’s concepts and shows some of his most famous works. The amazing and large pieces have interesting names like: Sealife , Persian Ceiling, Ikebana, and Mille Fiori. Dale Chihuly was influenced by the Northwestern Native American crafts of baskets and blankets.
Glass Baskets
In one of the rooms there was a display his glass pieces next to the soft woven baskets which inspired the glass. Clearly, Chihuly drew inspiration from nature and the natural world.
Mille Fiori
We decided to have lunch at the Chihuly Collections Cafe. We immediately noticed the accordions hanging from the ceiling in the restaurant. The hostess told us that there were 82 accordions which were part of the 500 accordions from Chihuly’s collection.
The Seattle Needle in the Background
Then she pointed out the wall shelves packed with more items from some of Chihuly’s other collections. Each table in the Cafe was built with a storage box recessed in the center to show other different collections.
Glass Reflection in the Garden
Our table had antique bristle shaving brushes. Other tables had tin toys, lead soldiers, colorful fish decoys, 1950s plastic cameras, alarm clocks, ink wells, and small ceramic dogs. The walls were full of metal bottle openers, vintage plastic radios, and chalkware figures given as prizes at traveling carnivals. I decided that Chihuly must be a hoarder.
Glass Flora
The other museum that we had planned to visit was the EMP Museum also on the the Seattle Center grounds. The full name of this place is the Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame. The sign on the front of the unusual Frank Gehry designed building states the purpose of the museum as: Music + Sci-Fi + Pop Culture.
Silver/Purple/Blue EMP Museum From the Monorail Station
The sheet-metal exterior is a mixture of metallic textures and colors: blue, red, silver, black, gold, silver, and shades of purple. When it was built in 2000, Forbes magazine described it “as one of the world’s 10 ugliest buildings.”
Part of the EMP Museum
Also, an architecture critic for the NY Times said that the building looked like “something that crawled out of the sea, rolled over, and died.” The colorful eye-catching building has also been compared to a “smashed electric guitar.” I think it is an interesting looking building that defies the concept of a standard rectangular “building.”
The Sky Church Inside the EMP Museum
The unusual structure seems to be an appropriate place for the world’s largest collection of Jimmy Hendrix memorabilia and science fiction artifacts. Several current exhibits exemplify the range of music and pop culture in America.
Entering the Sci-Fi Room
There was a display of AC/DC heavy metal memorabilia in one room and in another area there was a sizable exhibit describing the rise and popularity of the Seattle “grunge luminaries,” Nirvana: Taking Punk to the Masses. Another Seattle-born musician was Jimmy Hendrix. His exhibit showed early influences of rhythm & blues and the development of the Hendrix rock sound.
Cyclone of Guitars
Another interesting exhibit was entitled Sound and Vision: Artists Tell their Stories. This is a collection of videotaped oral histories of some of the most influential artists in popular culture. Jeff’s favorite exhibit called Icons of Science Fiction had memorabilia from many of the most popular Sci-Fi movies and television programs.
Darth Vader’s Light Sabre From Star Wars Five
Another exhibit, Can’t Look Away: The Lure of Horror Film, displayed horror movie props and director’s video tapes and film clips of popular films. On the top floor there was the “Sound Lab” which encouraged hands-on multimedia participation by visitors to try playing guitars, pianos or sing in mini-sound studios.
Alien Weapon from Men In Black
After all this exploration of “pop culture”, we were exhausted so we decided to return to our hotel to rest a while.
Captain Kirk’s Enterprise Command Chair from Star Trek
We rode the Monorail back to the city center and walked to the hotel. After a few hours, we went out and walked a few blocks to an Asian restaurant called Wild Ginger. We sat and relaxed and had a tasty meal of satay, prawns, and Mongolian noodles. This had been a full first day in Seattle, Washington. We’re looking forward to tomorrow.
Detail of the Guitar Cyclone