Seattle Adventures!
Visiting the Emerald City
Atlas Obscura is an excellent travel resource, and gives you all kinds of good things to explore and to enjoy. So when I had a day in Seattle, I used Atlas Obscura to find some interesting things - and I was not disappointed! I like to go find things off the beaten path, and this is an easy way to go.
Of course, one of the best things to visit in any city is the public library. And this one was wonderful! Of course I had read about it, and was ready to admire it. But I was expecting to see books, and there was so much more. Including…well, look at the photos below.
The first photo is the bookmobile! I was very excited to see it as it drove by me on the street while I was strolling around. Bookmobiles are awesome. In the next two photos you can see the very cool architecture of the building, which has won a few awards. All those glass panels and shapes in the metal are very cool looking, and they really make the building stand out in the neighborhood. If you slide down to the next photo on the right, and the one on the bottom left, you can see some the very cute things they have to emphasize the fun of a library. Look at that - it’s octopus arms coming out of the shelves! I have got to figure out how to put that into my library. And in the bottom left photo you can see the tree that looks like it’s growing out right next to the wall. It was roped off with those yellow ropes, and I’m guessing it is not quite finished. And there a window next to the tree that appears to be coming out of the wall, with a scary monster reaching some arms outside! I’m not sure what’s going on there, but I am fully in favor of it.
And then there is that photo in the middle of the left side. It’s red. All red. Shiny red. What’s with the red walls? I have no idea, but it was interesting to see. You can’t just take the escalators up to the fourth floor where this is; you have to go down a set of stairs to get here. It looks like they do some training in the rooms here. Why is it red? Why is it shiny? Why is the ceiling so low on this weird little floor? I have no idea, and I probably could have asked someone. But I kind of liked not knowing, and having such a weird mystery in the library.
I like history, and exploring things most people aren’t seeing. And this tour of the underground of Seattle fit both things! There were complications after the buildings were constructed, the city burned down, and they ended up building the city on top of the first round of the city. There was a period of time where the people who lived there would have to climb up and down ladders to get across the street or to other stores and establishments. But there were a few places that retained their access to the underground, where, unsurprisingly, vice and excitement happened.
Today, there seems to be less vice (not on my tour, at least!), but you can take these organized tours of the underground places that remain. There are assorted things around in the rooms we walked through, nothing too thrilling. It was just cool to be underground, as the people walked above us - oblivious to our presence under the street. The thing that I was excited to see were these purple pieces of glass. They are in metal frames in the sidewalks up on the “main level” of the city, but when you are underground you can see the purple glass letting light into the lower area. You can see it in the middle photo on the left side. There is a very nice pupper sniffing around the glass up on the sidewalk level. (I was grabbing a photo of the metal frame and hexagons of purple glass - it’s one of the originals from the old days of Seattle. The very nice pupper was just a bonus!) Then in the photo below that one, you can see the purple glass from the underground level.
I’m always a fan of these interesting little things that are right in front of us all the time, but we don’t always notice them. (And purple. I like purple things. And glass.)
Of course, when you are visiting Seattle you have to at least see the Public Market - it’s a rule. The oceanfront area is pretty, and if it feels very touristy, well that’s okay. It’s designed for tourists. There is a new Overlook Walk area, and it’s very nice.
I visited the Seattle Art Museum! Atlas Obscura had a note about that big statue out front in the first photo: Hammering Man. There was a lot to admire, of course, but there were a few standouts for me. The big deal was a very large exhibit by Ai Weiwei. He is a Chinese artist, and very prolific at it; and also an activist who has been openly critical of China’s human rights abuses. One of his interesting art works was a reproduction of the room/cell where he was held without charges after some of his criticism. He was allowed to leave China, and continues his work in the US and other countries. The second photo has information on a sign about him. The third one on the top row is one of his creations: Forever Bicycles, composed of 42 bikes welded together.
The first photo on the bottom row above is from a room filled with porcelain plates and other items. I love glass and assorted breakable things, and while the photo is admittedly pretty terrible - it at least gives an idea of the room. Picture these vertical rows of plates, covering the walls of this small room. It was impressive! The middle photo was one of my favorite things: a wire outline of a flat fish shape, with a bunch of little items hung inside it to make a mosaic. I love mosaics, and this one was in a small collection by Alexander Calder. He makes mosaics and mobiles - and I love everything he’s done with this kind of art! The final photo is a bunch of glass cups and bowls and a few other things, attached to metal chains hanging from the ceiling in rows. It’s beautiful.
Of course, if there is a National Park attraction in an area - I’m there! This was a small, but very full, museum about the Klondike Gold Rush. Seattle was the location many people left from to hit the gold rush. The extent of people’s delusion was pretty clear here, and that was sad. But the celebration of people’s determination and toughness was also clear, and impressive.
I made it a point to stop in, because the tour guide from the Underground told us all that they were hearing this museum was going to be closed as part of the Idiot In Charge’s plans to destroy the National Park Service. I realize that I’m just another voice saying the same thing, but the extent I hate having the best, most interesting, most human, most cultured parts of our country destroyed by a collection of badly behaved toddlers in adult bodies, idiots obsessed by the shortest view of greedily grabbing every dollar they can get their sticky little hands on, is extensive. (I’m taking a deep breath and moving on, because I’m also not letting them destroy my mental health.)
Another Atlas Obscura location is The Arctic Club, specifically the polar bear. “Before Seattle was at the epicenter of business and technological innovation, it was a hub for mining, fishing, and logging. About 100 years ago, throngs of workers would come back home to the city’s center for a drink and conversation after spending long hours outside. And one of the favorite spots for get-togethers a century ago still exists downtown: the Arctic Club.”
You do not just go up the original Otis elevator to the top of this very tall building. Instead, the Smith Tower provides a continuing series of information about people who had worked there in history, with information about their assorted activities - criminal and not. (Spoiler: the lawyer seemed to be the ringleader of the criminals. I was un-shocked.) This was a nice touch, giving you things to read about the real people as you walk down hallways and ascend to the top. I’m always a fan of history and information signs! “Rum runners, the founder of a a typewriter, romantic superstitions, and ties to royalty are all woven into the historical fabric of this icon, which presents a window into the Emerald City’s colorful past. Classic architecture evokes an opulent era, a backdrop of craftsmanship that lives on through carefully crafted cocktails from an unrivaled, breathtaking vantage point high above Seattle.”
Near my hotel was a cute little art museum: the Frey Art Museum - proudly telling the world they are the only free art museum in Seattle! It’s not very large, but it’s nice. I was pretty exhausted by the time I got there, so I was mostly just blundering around and looking at things. My favorite room was the bottom left photo: it was covered with paintings in big gold colored frames - just what you think of when you think “painting.” The other rooms seemed kind of empty, or maybe it was a deliberate minimalist design choice. I almost always stop by the gift shop as I depart museums of any sort - I have to buy a magnet or some other small souvenir to add to the dozens and dozens already covering my fridge and freezer. I accidently found myself outside, without buying a thing here; and I’m not sure if they didn’t have a gift shop, or if I just strolled by in a daze. (I was listening to a very good book while I was strolling around this area, so it’s entirely possible I missed all kinds of things! One of my very favorite things it to stroll around, look at things, and listen to books.)
Another stop on the Atlas Obscura tour was the Wing Luke museum, in Chinatown. “As a National Park Service Affiliated Area and the first Smithsonian affiliate in the Pacific Northwest, the Wing Luke Museum offers an authentic and unique perspective on the American story. The stories you see and hear within our walls are their authentic experiences and perspectives. From the struggles of early Asian pioneers to accomplished works by national Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) artists, their contributions give us a look at what it means to be uniquely American.”
There were many interesting galleries and displays here - the building looks much smaller up front than it is. (Yes, it’s like a Tardis: bigger on the inside!) But I was really taken by the Bruce Lee exhibit, and all the information there. And I liked the stories of all the cultures of people who had war come to their country or to their area (Laos, Vietnam, Hmong, etc.), and they are able to pull their lives together enough to escape and restart their lives in a new place. I can hardly imagine having that kind of fortitude. I’d be interested in more information about their reactions: were they happier? Sadder? Missing their original home? Lots of all of that combined? Several years or decades later, was it a good decision? I’ve read a lot of books on this, and the stories are individual; but amazing to hear.
I stopped at several other places in Chinatown, but am skipping the pictures because this is getting out of control in how long it is!
I stumbled on this little pocket park, Waterfall Garden Park, during the Underground tour, and circled back to check in on it. So cute! I can personally attest that when you are exhausted with all the walking, and need to take a little break in your visit, stopping in here to enjoy the sound of running water, the smell of the water and the green plants all over the place, and the nice benches is just lovely. I also zoomed around with my Seek app, scanning all the plants (not many seen in these photos) to add more West Coast plants to my history. And, to make it a little more cool, in a historic sense, this is located where UPS started in 1907! So it’s also called UPS Park.
And finally, last summer I really fell in love with noticing and taking pictures of mural art all around cities. Right in line with my interest in small, unnoticed but awesome things, I think most of us just zip by murals without really noticing them. So enjoy a few from around Seattle!
Whew! This took a while, so if you hung in all the way down here: thanks! Seattle is filled with interesting things to see - this wasn’t even 1% of it all. And everywhere is filled with interesting things to see! So go outside, and enjoy some of the fun things in your area. Life is short, and we should enjoy it!