My Seattle story: Concorde, sunshine and that "R"
 

Ever since he was little my eldest son, now 12, has had a love of Concorde (as do all good British engineering or aviation enthusiasts!) and our quest to see all 18 surviving planes has taken us around the UK and to Paris, Toulouse, New York, Dulles... and now Seattle. This trip was literally years in the planning and of course it became about much more than just Concorde. It's a beautiful part of the world and you can see my pics from our short interlude in Vancouver here.

Driving from SeaTac to our Airbnb rental we passed a building on I-5 with this "R" sign on top that caught my attention. What could this mean?


The next day we did the Boeing factory tour in Everett. No photography inside of course, but here's the exterior of the world's largest building by volume:


Day 2 was a killer, taking in four museums. First up was the Museum of History and Industry...


...which is located in a cool Art Deco building...


...and there's that "R" again! It's from the old Rainier Brewery. The sign in the museum is the original, while the one on the building is a replica.


I'm going to have to find some of this Rainier Beer:


Ha! A rain globe in the gift shop. I'm surprised these haven't caught on in the UK. But the sun shone almost the whole time we were in Seattle. There were a few short showers but nothing like the constant drizzle we're used to in Wales.


1962 World's Fair memorabilia:


Architectural model of the Kingdome, built in 1972-6 and demolished in 2000:


After a visit to the Living Computer Museum I had to get a shot of the Starbucks Centre. I love how the logo adds to the Art Deco flair of the tower rather than detracting from it:


The superb Pinball Museum. Admission allows unlimited play on all of the machines:


Some of which are very old:


After dinner in Chinatown...




...it was free First Thursdays after 5pm at the Museum of Flight (with very tired feet). As it turned out, Concorde was recently moved into a new pavilion that wasn't open yet, so we couldn't look inside, but fortunately we could see it over the fence:


The pretty Red Barn was the original home of the Boeing company, dating from 1909. It was moved two miles in the 1970s to its current position at the museum:


Drive thru Starbucks in shipping containers near the Museum of Flight:


Day 3 and the obligatory view from Kerry Park:


Mount Rainier:




More views from the Skyview Observatory atop the Columbia Center:


















I-5:




I-90 floating bridges:


Bellevue:


WA-520, the world's longest floating bridge:




I-5 under the Washington State Convention Center:


Mount Baker on the horizon:


Two Union Square and Lake Union:


St. James Cathedral:


The Starbucks Center:


Back down on the ground:


The beautiful Arctic Club Building, built in 1916:




The Downtown Transit Tunnel:


Essential shots of Pike Place Market and the original Starbucks:










Former Kress store on Pike Street:




We did the Underground Tour as recommended by a grocery delivery driver in South Wales! Original ground floors became underground after the city raised the streets following the great fire of 1889:


Day 4, sea planes and views from Gas Works Park at North Lake Union:




The Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room, located in a former Packard auto showroom:












More views, this time from the Mount Baker Ridge Viewpoint:




Pacific Tower, built 1932 as a Marine Hospital; former Amazon HQ:


Northwest African American Museum, housed in the former Colman School, built 1909:


Day 5 was a rest day, but I felt compelled to check out the Amazon bookstore at University Village:




Day 6, SPACE NEEDLE!












Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper building globe:


WA-99 Alaskan Way Viaduct plunges into the Battery Street Tunnel:


Looking back towards Kerry Park:


I-5 bridge over the Lake Union Ship Canal:


Gas Works Park, located on the site of the Seattle Gas Light Company gasification plant and converted into a park in 1975:






The monorail:






Rainier Tower, completed 1977:




Seattle Central Library, built 2002-4:




Back on the monorail to the Space Needle and the EMP:






Days 7-13 were spent in Vancouver, Leavenworth (which probably deserves its own thread), Tacoma, and at the Woodland Park zoo.

I cheated and visited Piroshky Piroshky in Northgate Mall as the lines were too long at Pike Place when we were there. Their marzipan rolls are amazing:


Day 14 we visited Snoqualmie. Not really Seattle, but not enough to make a separate thread. The Northwest Railway Museum:


Snoqualmie Falls:


Travelling back to Seattle on I-90. The Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge is the second longest floating bridge in the world (the longest being the WA-520 bridge just to the north).


I decided I needed to stop and get a decent shot of that old Rainier Brewery:


Day 15, our final day, we went to Alki Beach:




The scale Statue of Liberty is one of more than 200 erected in 1952 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America. The Alki statue was re-cast in 2004 due to corrosion:




Views of Seattle from Alki Beach:






Alki Beach houses:








Our final meal out, at Blue Moon Burgers, in a converted gas station:


And it ends where it all began... with that "R":


Oh, and in case you're wondering, we only have two Concordes left to see: in Germany next month, and Barbados... at some future date!

My other Concorde pictures on Flickr

the pacific northwest delivers on schedule.

nice shots.

Great photos. And accurate notes!

I have never seen the Space Needle deck so deserted, and I've been there in the fog and rain.

Great set. Makes me homesick for a place I've never called home.

Fantastic tour, loved the variety and crispness of it.

My god I need to see that bird in person!

I feel so lucky to live here.

They limit is I think 150 people on the observation level plus whatever the restaurant is doing below. I think they keep a count and only let people up when others go down, because it seems like the same number every time I go. But 150 can spread out. There's the outer deck plus the interior maybe 30inches higher (the view is nearly as good). If it's cold or by simple chance there can be gaps in the crowd outside.

Nice pictures! I like the mix of historical tour and day-to-day life of a tourist. I had to look up Leavenworth to see where it was. I'm looking forward to those pictures!

Thanks for all the comments.

We were literally first in line waiting for it to open! I went straight out on the deck before it filled up.

Here ya go!

Love that city! I wanted to move there 5 years ago but an opportunity in DC popped up instead of Seattle. So here I am, which has actually been great! Still, I'm definitely open to relocating in the future for the right opportunity. :tup:

Nice job! I lived in Seattle 20-something years and didn't even know it had a pinball museum.

monorail! monorail! monorail!

The piroshky lines...holy god. I work near there. The line is too much for the sidewalk. Now they're taking a couple parking spaces and put the overflow there. There can easily be 50 people in line. And another 50 in line for Starbucks, particularly Asians off buses. I was able to get piroshky in the winter though. The Pike Place Market has dozens of places to get lunch but it needs more. Thankfully they're building an addition that will have more retail space and even seating. PS, I love crowds anyway.

Awesome stuff!

Thanks for the tour. I've been to Seattle a few times but it's always nice to reacquaint myself with the city.

Fascinating tour along Seattle! Thanks for sharing.

I like all the Seattle´s skyline pictures you took, with the view of Mt Baker and Mt Rainier in the background. Amazing mountains!

The aerial views are really good.

This´s a very complete tour. Great job!

Congrats and greetings from Madrid, Spain.:tup:

Statue of Liberty
 

Fascinating set!

Your photos and explanation of the Statue of Liberty in Seattle answered a childhood question from years ago that I had...and had forgotten I had.

- Why is there a Statue of Liberty in Columbus Mississippi?

http://www.pushmataha.org/archives/M...of_liberty.htm

It would be kind of cool to find how many of these survive across the land.

awesome photos and tour, makes me want to go back.
and in Germany you'll also get to see Concordsky for an interesting comparison.

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Great photos! :tup:

Incredible visual tour. Thank you.