Day 8 — Seattle

My Dear Natalie,

It was a busy day, and we tried to hit all the requisite tourist sites:

First stop: Pike Place Market. We were early enough that we could watch the vendors get their stands set up for the day. Fish, fresh flowers, farm-stand fruit and veggies. Beads. Jewelry. Lavender soaps.  Homemade sausage. The market is a carnival for the senses.

"Stop by Pike Place, throwing fish to a player."

Yummy! Red currants, black currants, gooseberries, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries. Best ten bucks I ever spent.

Next: The Seattle Art Museum (SAM), just a few blocks away. We focused on the galleries of American native art as well as an irresistible exhibit of African masks and a striking display of “Untitled” by Jean-Michel Basquiat — the first time the work has been shown on the West Coast.

This for you, Nat.

We were especially captivated by this late 19th-century platter from the Haida people, from islands off the coast of British Columbia: 

The label explains: “In this story, Raven, in human form, along with with Fungus-Man as his steersman, goes in search of the rock chiton — guarded by the sea monster below the canoe — that will change some of the all-male human beings into females.”

Say what? The label explains exactly nothing and instead inspires so many questions:

1. Fungus-Man?
2. Is he a super hero? If so, what is his super power? 2a.) Is he on a t-shirt? Can I please have one?
3. Is it bad if I can’t decide who is more awesome: Fungus-Man or the sea monster? I love them both.
4. Wait … why do they need to change the all-male humans into females?
5. “All-male humans?” Did the Haida recognize a spectrum of male-ness? Were there humans that were only part male, as well? 

From there: About a mile-long hike to the flagship REI store, where we could have spent hours and hours losing ourselves in the extravagantly inviting displays of outdoor clothing and adventure gear. The building — a striking work of architecture with redwood beams, corrugated metal siding and a large covered deck — is right off of Interstate 5 on the edge of downtown, but it’s surrounded by a lush rainforest landscape, so it feels as if it’s in another world.

After that: Just a few blocks to the Amazon headquarters — a 3.3 million-square-foot high rise complex that also includes the Seattle Spheres — conspicuously shaped indoor gardens where employees can connect with nature and find inspiration. With more than 45,000 local employees, Amazon is Seattle’s largest employer, and the company occupies the largest share of prime office space in the city (20 percent). The buildings are hailed as models of sustainability and energy-efficiency, featuring salvaged and locally sourced woods, green roofs that reduce heating and cooling loads, recycled heat siphoned from a nearby data center, and public plazas and pockets of open green space outside. I looked into a tour of the downtown campus, but those are apparently booked months in advance, so we missed out. 

Instead, we hit up the innovative Amazon Go store, which opened to the public in January and features the same technology as self-driving cars: We gained access to the store using my Amazon Go app, and while we shopped, sensors and cameras kept track of what we took off the shelves. The store is stocked with ready-to-eat snacks and lunch items: sandwiches, salads, granola bars, chips, gum, yogurt, cheese, drinks. It’s the nicest, coolest, up-scaliest convenience store I’ve ever visited. We filled a shopping bag with lunch goodies and planned to take them to a park down the street for a picnic. When we were done shopping, we simply strolled out with our items. No check-out lines. No cashiers. Amazon charged the credit card on file with the app, and I received an emailed receipt shortly after we left.

In the afternoon: We rode the monorail to the Seattle Center — a large campus of tourist attractions and arts venues, including the Space Needle, the Chihuly Garden and Glass museum, the Seattle Children’s Museum, the Pacific Science Center, the Museum of Pop Culture, an IMAX theater, the Seattle Children’s Theatre, the Seattle Repertory Theatre and more. It’s a lot like Navy Pier in Chicago — a cultural attraction epicenter. 

Seattle, which was incorporated in 1865, is a very modern city, and lately, with employment on the rise thanks to the likes of Amazon and Microsoft, there is a huge housing boom. You can’t spit without hitting a construction project downtown. So the Space Needle and the monorail, which were built for the 1962 World’s Fair — seem extraordinarily, weirdly outdated — like Epcot at Walt Disney World. They’re much too old to be state-of-the-art, and not quite old enough to be old-timey. The Space Needle and the monorail are the architectural equivalents of 46-year-old humans. The monorail itself, the poor sap, travels only a mile between downtown and the Seattle Center and has exactly two stops: at each end of the line. It serves only tourists who are looking for a shortcut from their hotels to the Space Needle. I feel kind of bad for it.

While we were at the Seattle Center: We spent time at the Museum of Pop Culture, where we strolled through an exhibit about Nirvana (very interesting!) and another one about Marvel Comics (more interesting for Dad than for me).

Kurt Cobain's sweater, and other stuff

Charlie had fun in the Sound Lab at the Museum of Pop Culture.

Next up: A trip to the top of the Space Needle. On this clear, warm day, we had great views of downtown, with Mount Rainier looming in the distance. 

Unfortunately closed for a special event: The Chihuly Garden and Glass museum. We’ll have to come back another time.

Dinner: At a wood-fired pizza joint, Serious Pie, across the street from our hotel.

At the end of the day: We are exhausted, but pleased that we were able to cover so much territory. I am so wiped out that I just tried tp get Dad’s attention by snapping my fingers at him — because I couldn’t remember his name. I’m that tired. He’s so irritated by that that he may not be speaking to me for the rest of the trip. 

Analysis: Seattle is a gorgeous city, and we got only the tiniest taste today. We’ll have to come back to see more!!